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Austin G.'s Photo
Austin G.'s Photo
Austin G.'s Photo

Austin G.

Spanish Teacher with Methods that Actually Work

Spanish Teacher with Methods that Actually Work

$54/hour

5.0 (1,063 ratings)

  • 2,903 hours tutoring

About Austin

Bio

Hello, my name is Austin. After attending Columbia University in NYC, my wife and I have dedicated ourselves to volunteer work. We have been living outside of the USA for about 7 years now in Bolivia. My wife is a native Spanish speaker, and most think I am as well. With help from friends and AWESOME techniques that I came across, I was able to become fluent in Spanish in about a year while in the USA. I feel so bad for so many Americans who spend so much money on Spanish lessons and...

Hello, my name is Austin. After attending Columbia University in NYC, my wife and I have dedicated ourselves to volunteer work. We have been living outside of the USA for about 7 years now in Bolivia. My wife is a native Spanish speaker, and most think I am as well. With help from friends and AWESOME techniques that I came across, I was able to become fluent in Spanish in about a year while in the USA. I feel so bad for so many Americans who spend so much money on Spanish lessons and still can't actually speak it. The way most teachers and famous programs teach appeals to many who don't like to do work, but they don't end up being able to actually speak Spanish.

I'm 33 years old and have been tutoring for over 10 years. I've tutored at Barkely Elementary School in Phoenixville PA, at Phoenixville High School, at Barnard College in the NYC, and for a company called "Ivy League Tutors" in NYC where the only tutors were students of an Ivy League university. My approach to teaching Spanish is different from most. Most harp on the fact that memorization is not the most important part to learning a language, that you can learn by conversation instead. However, if you never memorize the verb conjugation patterns in the beginning, you will never reach the conversational stage of Spanish. That's why in other countries there are jokes about Americans speaking Spanish that center on two things: 1) their terrible accent and 2) their inability to conjugate verbs correctly. So, instead of focusing on teaching you numbers, phrases, and vocabulary in the beginning of our lessons, I will focus on teaching you to do something that rarely Americans learning Spanish can do, conjugate the verbs in ALL the various necessary tenses. Once you can do that, you will actually be able to form your own sentences and practice the language by speaking, that is, more naturally learning the other parts of Spanish. But it all starts with the verb conjugations.

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Education

Columbia University
undergrad

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $54
  • Rate details: The charge for a lesson will go through without 2 hours notice of cancellation or if student is 10 minutes late without any notice at all.
  • Lesson cancellation: 2 hours notice required

  • Background check passed on 3/18/2017

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

Schedule

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Subjects

Corporate Training

ESL/ESOL,

ESL/ESOL

I have spent much time during the past 5 years in Bolivia adapting my extremely successful method of teaching Spanish to teaching English. The combination of focusing on verbs and controlled conversation allows students to learn English even faster because the verb conjugations are not as complex. Literally after a few lessons, my students can already be speaking English, conversationally.
Spanish

Spanish

If primarily you just want a good grade in your class, any tutor would probably suffice, including myself. However, I am really excited about teaching ones who would really like to learn to dominate the language in a short period of time. I really believe that in 14 weeks if you have the right attitude I can give you all the tools you need to be able to become a fluent Spanish speaker without the need of a tutor anymore. Just to give you an overview about the difference in the way I would teach you and the way most others would is that I will focus on helping you to be able to CONJUGATE verbs in all the various necessary tenses as quickly and easily as possible so that you can get to the conversational stage of Spanish quickly. Once you can conjugate verbs, you can converse, and from there you will naturally be able to learn other things (the alphabet, numbers, time, phrases) that most teachers spend a lot of time on in the beginning. This error in most people's method of teaching is part of the reason why it is extremely rare to find an American who can speak Spanish to the point that many native Spanish speakers can't tell he or she is American. I know exactly how everything connects from English to Spanish and the best way to explain it because I've already been through it and have succeeded.

English

ESL/ESOL

ESL/ESOL

I have spent much time during the past 5 years in Bolivia adapting my extremely successful method of teaching Spanish to teaching English. The combination of focusing on verbs and controlled conversation allows students to learn English even faster because the verb conjugations are not as complex. Literally after a few lessons, my students can already be speaking English, conversationally.

Homeschool

ESL/ESOL,

ESL/ESOL

I have spent much time during the past 5 years in Bolivia adapting my extremely successful method of teaching Spanish to teaching English. The combination of focusing on verbs and controlled conversation allows students to learn English even faster because the verb conjugations are not as complex. Literally after a few lessons, my students can already be speaking English, conversationally.
Spanish

Spanish

If primarily you just want a good grade in your class, any tutor would probably suffice, including myself. However, I am really excited about teaching ones who would really like to learn to dominate the language in a short period of time. I really believe that in 14 weeks if you have the right attitude I can give you all the tools you need to be able to become a fluent Spanish speaker without the need of a tutor anymore. Just to give you an overview about the difference in the way I would teach you and the way most others would is that I will focus on helping you to be able to CONJUGATE verbs in all the various necessary tenses as quickly and easily as possible so that you can get to the conversational stage of Spanish quickly. Once you can conjugate verbs, you can converse, and from there you will naturally be able to learn other things (the alphabet, numbers, time, phrases) that most teachers spend a lot of time on in the beginning. This error in most people's method of teaching is part of the reason why it is extremely rare to find an American who can speak Spanish to the point that many native Spanish speakers can't tell he or she is American. I know exactly how everything connects from English to Spanish and the best way to explain it because I've already been through it and have succeeded.

Language

ESL/ESOL,

ESL/ESOL

I have spent much time during the past 5 years in Bolivia adapting my extremely successful method of teaching Spanish to teaching English. The combination of focusing on verbs and controlled conversation allows students to learn English even faster because the verb conjugations are not as complex. Literally after a few lessons, my students can already be speaking English, conversationally.
Spanish

Spanish

If primarily you just want a good grade in your class, any tutor would probably suffice, including myself. However, I am really excited about teaching ones who would really like to learn to dominate the language in a short period of time. I really believe that in 14 weeks if you have the right attitude I can give you all the tools you need to be able to become a fluent Spanish speaker without the need of a tutor anymore. Just to give you an overview about the difference in the way I would teach you and the way most others would is that I will focus on helping you to be able to CONJUGATE verbs in all the various necessary tenses as quickly and easily as possible so that you can get to the conversational stage of Spanish quickly. Once you can conjugate verbs, you can converse, and from there you will naturally be able to learn other things (the alphabet, numbers, time, phrases) that most teachers spend a lot of time on in the beginning. This error in most people's method of teaching is part of the reason why it is extremely rare to find an American who can speak Spanish to the point that many native Spanish speakers can't tell he or she is American. I know exactly how everything connects from English to Spanish and the best way to explain it because I've already been through it and have succeeded.

Most Popular

ESL/ESOL,

ESL/ESOL

I have spent much time during the past 5 years in Bolivia adapting my extremely successful method of teaching Spanish to teaching English. The combination of focusing on verbs and controlled conversation allows students to learn English even faster because the verb conjugations are not as complex. Literally after a few lessons, my students can already be speaking English, conversationally.
Spanish

Spanish

If primarily you just want a good grade in your class, any tutor would probably suffice, including myself. However, I am really excited about teaching ones who would really like to learn to dominate the language in a short period of time. I really believe that in 14 weeks if you have the right attitude I can give you all the tools you need to be able to become a fluent Spanish speaker without the need of a tutor anymore. Just to give you an overview about the difference in the way I would teach you and the way most others would is that I will focus on helping you to be able to CONJUGATE verbs in all the various necessary tenses as quickly and easily as possible so that you can get to the conversational stage of Spanish quickly. Once you can conjugate verbs, you can converse, and from there you will naturally be able to learn other things (the alphabet, numbers, time, phrases) that most teachers spend a lot of time on in the beginning. This error in most people's method of teaching is part of the reason why it is extremely rare to find an American who can speak Spanish to the point that many native Spanish speakers can't tell he or she is American. I know exactly how everything connects from English to Spanish and the best way to explain it because I've already been through it and have succeeded.

Other

ESL/ESOL

ESL/ESOL

I have spent much time during the past 5 years in Bolivia adapting my extremely successful method of teaching Spanish to teaching English. The combination of focusing on verbs and controlled conversation allows students to learn English even faster because the verb conjugations are not as complex. Literally after a few lessons, my students can already be speaking English, conversationally.

Summer

ESL/ESOL,

ESL/ESOL

I have spent much time during the past 5 years in Bolivia adapting my extremely successful method of teaching Spanish to teaching English. The combination of focusing on verbs and controlled conversation allows students to learn English even faster because the verb conjugations are not as complex. Literally after a few lessons, my students can already be speaking English, conversationally.
Spanish

Spanish

If primarily you just want a good grade in your class, any tutor would probably suffice, including myself. However, I am really excited about teaching ones who would really like to learn to dominate the language in a short period of time. I really believe that in 14 weeks if you have the right attitude I can give you all the tools you need to be able to become a fluent Spanish speaker without the need of a tutor anymore. Just to give you an overview about the difference in the way I would teach you and the way most others would is that I will focus on helping you to be able to CONJUGATE verbs in all the various necessary tenses as quickly and easily as possible so that you can get to the conversational stage of Spanish quickly. Once you can conjugate verbs, you can converse, and from there you will naturally be able to learn other things (the alphabet, numbers, time, phrases) that most teachers spend a lot of time on in the beginning. This error in most people's method of teaching is part of the reason why it is extremely rare to find an American who can speak Spanish to the point that many native Spanish speakers can't tell he or she is American. I know exactly how everything connects from English to Spanish and the best way to explain it because I've already been through it and have succeeded.

Examples of Expertise

Austin has provided examples of their subject expertise by answering 2 questions submitted by students on Wyzant’s Ask an Expert.

See all of Austin ’s answers ›

Ratings and Reviews

Rating

5.0 (1,063 ratings)
5 star
(1,051)
4 star
(12)
3 star
(0)
2 star
(0)
1 star
(0)

Reviews

Show reviews that mention

All reviews engaging encouraging helpful patient definitely recommend

Featured review

Hands-down, the Best Tutor I've Ever Had!

I've been having tutoring sessions with Austin for the last couple of weeks now and I can already see an improvement in my ability to understand and speak Spanish. He's a highly knowledgeable and patient tutor, and even when I make a mistake, he'll explain what to say and then connect it back to what we're already talking about. In that way, Austin is also really thorough, and makes sure that I understand a concept before moving on to something new. I also found his teaching style to be unique and really helpful, in that we'll actually have a conversation in Spanish, which would lead to a lesson or how to fix this or that. Although somewhat unorthodox, I found it extremely helpful, since I not only learn grammar, or verb conjugation, but I actually get to practice what I learned in real conversation. Since I've always been one to focus on the real applications of things, using real conversation is really helpful and makes the lessons all the more engaging and exciting. The pacing of lessons is also really nice and I'm often surprised by how much we actually cover in an hour every week. He's, hands-down, the best Spanish tutor I've ever had and I'd highly recommend him to anyone trying to learn or become better at Spanish.

Shadman, 54 lessons with Austin

great tutor

Austin has a clear plan for improving my Spanish and is effective in pointing out the details that matter. I’m learning a lot from working with him; he’s great at quickly determining where your level is and working on next steps.

Matt, 6 lessons with Austin

Patience and Sense of Humor Greatly Appreciated

I can't begin to express my sheer joy, satisfaction and appreciation for my tutor Austin's patience and instruction. I have been feeling more comfortable in my ability to speak and understand the Spanish language than I have ever had. I feel Austin is correcting the bad habits I have developed over the years in my many attempts to learn to speak the language. I was pleasantly surprised that we started speaking right away. Simple sentences and repetition is what is allowing me to learn how to speak the language in the way that I naturally speak English. I am learning that how I speak does not always translate well, but Austin is still able to understand me, gently correct me and provide the opportunity to learn and practice within the lesson. They say when the student is ready the teacher w

MICHELE, 15 lessons with Austin

Outstanding knowledge, service, patience, and work ethic

Austin's personality and energy is amazing, and I immediately felt at ease when starting my first session. I learned so much within a short period of time. I had to take a minor break due to familial issues. However, I will be resuming lessons this summer and I cannot wait! He challenged me because he realized I was a little more advanced, than I was giving myself credit for, and he helped boost my confidence which allowed me to stretch myself even more.

Monique, 3 lessons with Austin

A great tutor!

Austin is a good tutor. He taught my kids the basics to Spanish, and more. My kids have been with Austin for about four months. He did a very good job, speaks clearly, and has good teaching techniques! We look forward to working with Austin in 2021.

David , 26 lessons with Austin

Great tutor!!!!

Austin is a great teacher. He makes things easy to understand, but still challenges me just enough. I really feel confident in my progress and that’s all thanks to Austin.

Brandon, 14 lessons with Austin

Excellent Spanish tutor

My daughter had her first session with Austin last week and she seems pretty relieved. My daughter struggles in high school Spanish and Austins confidence in her ability is great.

Sarah, 13 lessons with Austin

Begins where you are at...

The lesson started right after we both said Hello. Austin utilized a simple conversation to start teaching but also assess my knowledge and level of comfort. I will admit my head hurt and my mouth hurt from my concentrated efforts to understand and respond correctly. Austin's gentle demeanor eased my anxiety and insecurity about speaking. His corrections were patient and he allowed me to work it out. I appreciated his boisterous way of validating me when I figured out the correct way to answer his questions. I spoke alot today which was good for a first lesson. Looking forward to making notes from our recorded session and practicing the language. I have homework and notes from the white board. I am encouraged and excited about becoming more fluent in the use and understanding of the Spanish language. I am finally speaking the way I have wanted, correctly without fear. Thank You Austin!

MICHELE, 15 lessons with Austin

Great lessons and very patient

I am learning so much and having fun at the same time learning Spanish with Austin. Each session gets better and better. Austin’s technique is great! Thanks Austin!

David, 7 lessons with Austin

A knowledgeable and charismatic tutor

I truly appreciate Austin because he is very motivating and encouraging to people who want to learn Spanish. He encouraged me to not just respond to questions but to respond in a full sentence. I appreciate a tutor who teaches a skill and then practices that skill along with previously learned items. This ensures that I am constantly building upon the knowledge I already have. Austin is patient by allowing you to respond at your own speed and builds your confidence by providing positive and corrective feedback. He is an awesome tutor who explains the language in an easily understandable manner.

Kierra, 8 lessons with Austin
Contact Austin

Response time: 3 hours

$54/hour

Austin G.'s Photo

Austin G.

$54/hour

  • No subscriptions or upfront payments

  • Only pay for the time you need

  • Find the right fit, or your first hour is free

Contact Austin

Response time: 3 hours