Haris

Certified Tutor

I graduated St. Olaf College in May of this year. I got a BA degree in Political Science and German Language and Literature. Prior to that I graduated from the United World College (UWC) in Mostar, generation of 2012. Between my time at UWC and St. Olaf I took a gap year to spend time with my family and help them on our newly purchased home.

I primarily tutor German. While at St. Olaf, I worked for the St. Olaf German Department for four years as a teachers assistant. I also worked as a German tutor for the St. Olaf Academic Support Center for two years. In both cases I helped my peers with any difficulties they had while learning German. I worked on helping them with assignments, presentations or exam preparation. We worked on learning the grammar as well as conversational German. It is important to learn how to practically apply the theoretical knowledge gained in the classroom.

Every student prefers a different learning method. When learning a language, two things are important. First, you need to find most suitable way to learn the language. Whether you are a visual learner and we make charts or you are simply good at memorizing a lot of materials, there is a method out there that will help you overcome any obstacles you might have. The second part is that one has to reflect on the reasons why you are interested in learning the particular language? Maybe you like classical music, in that case we would incorporate that into our study sessions. Maybe you are a fan of a particular sport or parts of history of a region. What ever it is, it can be used in the learning process and often times helps cover some of the more dry materials that one finds while purely focusing on grammar for example.

I speak six languages and am currently working on learning Norwegian. I started learning German since I was 4-5 years old. I like learning new languages and the amazing doors they open. I'm also interested in linguistics in general. I understand the common struggles that come up when you try to tackle something as big as learning a whole new language. I practice martial arts, primarily Judo. It was a part of my life from a very early age and it's something I always enjoyed. I play the guitar. I started learning since I was six. I like a variety of genres but mostly play classical, primarily flamenco. I am a big fan of movies and cinema. I like to watch anything from The Grand Illusion form 1937 to any of the today's new releases. I like to read. Some of my favorite authors are Isaac Asimov, Adam Douglas and Professor J.R.R. Tolkien.