English Native Tutor in Moscow

      A native of the United States, I have been working in Moscow since 2015 and am highly attuned to the unique needs, difficulties, and goals of Russian students. I am eager to work with adults and motivated teenagers of all levels who want to learn English for any number of purposes, whether it be for foreign travel, business networking, or meeting their educational objectives.

        My own educational background is in psychology, for which I have obtained a master’s degree in mental health counseling. This greatly informs my work with students of all ages, as I approach every lesson with patience and a goal of understanding their motivations and mental blocks.

         Thanks to an interest in the mechanics of English, a natural gift for writing, and my intensive CELTA training, I have a high level of language awareness; this means that I not only know what word choice or grammatical form is correct, but can also explain why it is so.

       Over the years, I have helped students with a wide variety of needs beyond just ‘general English’. One of my specialties is preparing students to apply for or enter foreign universities, as many are unaware of just how different the admissions system is outside of Russia. Most institutions do not place much emphasis on exam scores, and instead want to see that prospective students have a resume that reflects their many diverse interests, strong letters of recommendation, and a personal essay that expresses why they would be a perfect fit for the university. I also offer similar training for adults who are seeking jobs abroad, as awareness of cultural differences and expectations are often just as important as the language.

      Knowing how to structure a business proposal, article for a scholarly journal, assigned research paper, cover letter for a CV, or persuasive essay can be a daunting task if these skills were not part of one’s basic education, and I have found that a lot of Russian students lack practice in formal or academic writing. For all of the above and more, I have experience providing comprehensive support in helping students become more familiar with the requirements of each format.

      I have also had many students who are looking to overcome their shyness in actually using English in extemporaneous speech, even though they can confidently apply all the rules in exercises from their textbook. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed if you are trying to communicate with perfect accuracy, so I always remind my students not to lose sight of their purpose for learning English and how they will use it in the real world.

       Many of my students come to me at zero level, as they do not want the option to default to communicating in Russian. My focus is on teaching functional language through dialogues and role plays of real-world situations with the grammar being learned inductively along the way, which looks very different to the way children are taught in their school programs. For complete beginners, it is incredibly easy to see signs of progress early on, which of course serves as a great incentive to learn more.

     Although I am a serious teacher, in the outside world I am a stand up comedian and organize English-language comedy shows around Moscow in my free time. I consider myself to be very well-traveled, having lived and worked across four continents, but I also love cats and have four of my own who keep me at home.