Colin: Lyons tutor
Certified Tutor
Servus! Ciao! Languages have been my passion my entire life. Since teaching myself German at the age of 10, I have since gone on master the language of Goethe and Schiller, as well as achieve a high level of knowledge of Italian. I spent time in Dresden, attended a Realgymnasium for a year in Vienna, Austria and most recently worked on fellowship for five months in the German Bundestag. There I conducted research for my parliamentarian, Dagmar Freitag, and interpreted at official functions. Italian I have been learning since since 2008 and now speak at a proficient level.
During this process, I have also enjoyed teaching German and Italian at summer immersion camps, and on a one-on-one basis with middle school, high school and college students. I look forward to meeting you and helping you on your way to achieving your goals in your language learning! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
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Undergraduate Degree: American University - Bachelors, International Studies
Traveling, martial arts, dance, scuba diving.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Discover what the student's strengths and weaknesses are. Discover their history with language learning in general, as well as with their target language. It is crucial to develop a rapport with the student, as well, to create better mutual understanding. This helps make working together easier.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
As a strong autodidact (a self-teaching person), I can bring in my many experiences throughout my time learning languages, which will then allow them to develop their own self-teaching strategies.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
It is important to create goals, as well as incentives, in the learning process. These can be anything from receiving a particular grade, to being able to read an interesting text and understanding more.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
It is essential for a tutor to be patient when a student is having trouble understanding a concept. I learned these languages just like you and struggled with the same concepts at one time. It is necessary to find other ways of explaining or showing the concept. Other times, it is a good idea to not constantly repeat a concept, but to rather put it aside temporarily. Breaking down the concept, though, comparing it to the already acquired knowledge of the target language (or other languages), helps significantly.