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John T.
Private tutor in Tempe, AZ
Education
Extended BS in Geography, 3.61 gpa, Northern Arizona University
Experience
I've just returned from 8 years of teaching English to adults, university and secondary students in Bangkok, Thailand. There I developed my own special method for teaching English as a foreign language. It involves sentence puzzles and games in a series of 15 levels. Each level has 20 - 27 games. My students can track their progress and attempt to get awards for each game they play. For some levels, they can "level up" by getting a gold award three times in a row. These games include a very valuable self-editing process and pronunciation section, with feedback. My students never get bored nor do they ever have to sit and listen to me talk or write on a whiteboard. It is similar to the Montessori technique, only for languages. Other than my 15 levels of games, I have conversation and listening classes to practice what has been learned or introduced in the games. For students with nearer goals, I have individual courses and accelerated learning options. One is called A.F.S. Super Grammar Game. This game quickly teaches 80% of all English grammar regarding tenses, their uses, and structures. "A.F.S." means "announcer, fortune teller, storyteller." Using a somewhat rigid structure, students write third person objective narrations about short video clips. First, they use present tenses only, then, future/present and finally past. Ten of these games are enough for some students to gain a clear understanding of English grammar, including participles and other word forms. Students who can graduate from these games will have very accurate descriptive writing skills, and as with all of my lessons, there is pronunciation and speaking each round. To graduate, students must get a gold award three times in a row using their own chosen video clips. Advanced students will find that they have learned to write movie scripts without even knowing it. In Thailand, one of my students improved so drastically, he was able to be accepted at an international school. Motivation is not as much of a challenge using my method and it can reach most individuals and classes. Also, it can be done via email and chat, though in-person is always best. Native English speakers can also benefit from my games, especially middle-schoolers who are just starting to notice the difference between their English and what adults typically use. I am confident that my method can help whoever studies with me and that it will never be dull for either student or teacher.