• Pain points (Professional development frustrations; etc.; traditional language school approaches/groups are flawed, and private tutoring just replicates that model for the individual; either don’t care about a test, or taking a test doesn’t apply to you; you find it difficult to learn via “grammar” route alone.

• Sweet spots (getting a better handle on American English/culture; life-long interests fulfilled/accessed; customized/individualized; intensive, goal-based preparation rather than test;

• Pain points and sweet spots are also to say that this kind of coaching is geared toward what kind of client? What does it assume of the client’s knowledge of English?

• My background in literature and cultural critique, as well as my decades-long experiences of teaching English as an additional language and learning a language myself makes me uniquely suited, as does my years of working one-on-one with both students and musicians/artists.

• Coaching vs. teaching, which I accomplish, in part, by building an individualized curriculum based on the student’s achievable goals and personal interests and, in part, through relating it back to and through the American popular culture we all have such extensive and pervasive access to and relationships with.

This approach also assumes a student/client who is willing and able to invest a certain amount of time and energy into the process on a regular and consistent basis. In addition to varying degrees of “book learning” from language manuals, the more fruitful and perhaps advantageous opportunities for engagement come from the cultural component of the pedagogical approach and coaching. Trust the process — a novel might not seem directly related to a goal of leading a workshop on health, for instance — and allow these three components to weave together in ways that not only help you achieve your goal(s), but do so in ways that stimulate the individual and engage their interests in tandem with their goals.

Goals can vary widely, and are as individual as are the work plans I produce to achieve them. They can be professional — write and give a speech (i.e., coaching on formal language, oration, what makes an effective speech), lead a professional workshop (coaching on public speaking, fielding and responding to questions, and …), etc — or more personal — finally reading and understanding a particular literary text (i.e., coaching you how to read for language and what it tells us in a text), being supported in your exploration of creative writing in a new language (i.e., helping you to expand your vocabulary, coaching on genre and narrative, advice on approach and style), etc. My three-pronged approach adapts to you, and facilitates a well-rounded attainment of the goal.

Due to the high level of complexity and customization, what I offer here is a model for the attainment of a short-term, three-month goal. While following the same general model and pedagogical approach, longer goals — those of 6 months to a year — have their own unique challenges which must be taken on a case-by-case basis…

Custom designed curriculum developed through the same principles I bring to my university-level students. Except, it’s designed with you in mind.