Alan: Bergen County tutor
Certified Tutor
My varied experience, approachability, and talent and facility with languages make me a skilled tutor. I have engaged in tutoring in a wide spectrum of contexts. I have tutored in English while studying in France. I have tutored in French while living in the USA. I have tutored in English with dozens of international university students over many years. In addition, I ran an English tutoring business for 9 months out of my home in Japan while simultaneously teaching English classes for the town government in a public building. I have tutored 6 students with Professional Tutors of America, mostly in Math and English, occasionally branching over into other subjects.
I speak French at a very high level and use it on a weekly basis in a professional environment. To be specific, I am required to join at least two conference calls per week of at least 90 minutes in length, conducted entirely in French, and must contribute status updates and presentation regarding my side of the business to the team in Paris. I have proofread and redacted hundreds of pages of material professionally translated into French as well as prepared and published technical translations of my own onto my company's website and Knowledge Base.
My Spanish level is also high though not the same level as my French. I almost achieved a minor in Spanish. For more than two years I was a technical support agent for my company, and I was responsible for all the phone calls and email correspondence in Spanish, so there have been times I have used it on a daily basis at a professional level. As with French I have also served as proofreader for hundreds of professional translations of technical material as well as preparing written translations of technical documents to assist customers.
I have lived in France and in Japan (just under a year in each) and have been acquainted with hundreds of internationals over the course of time, and with my teaching and professional experience, I believe I am an excellent fit for Varsity Tutors.
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Undergraduate Degree: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus - Bachelors, French
Foreign languages, reading history, theology, philosophy, ping pong, coffee
What is your teaching philosophy?
I place great value on interaction and speaking practice. Reading and writing can be practiced on one's own time, and I am happy to help with things like this, but the value of speaking and listening, engaging in conversation, quickens the brain and stimulates comprehension, and it cannot be replicated outside of interaction with another living human being.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
Generally, I want to know the ways I can help; the areas in which the student feels weakest.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
I place great value in finding how the student best learns so that we can focus on that/those strategy/ies.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
I like to remind people of real-world use cases for the language we are learning.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I am skilled at helping people address a particular point from numerous different angles.