English Private Lessons with the Native Speaker Stephen in Berlin

English Private Courses with Stephen - About Me

I am a native speaker of English from the UK and I'm motivated to help English language learners improve their language skills and achieve their goals. I have an in-depth knowledge of linguistics and phonetics in relation to English as well as other languages, which I've gained over the course of more than 20 years of academic study, professional work, and experimental research, all focused on speech and language. With respect to dialects of English, aside from my native British English, I'm also familiar with other global varieties of English, particularly American and Canadian varieties, since I lived in North America for over a decade.

I hold a Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults and a PhD in Language & Cognition. I worked as an Assessment Specialist at ETS, creating, editing, revising and analyzing TOEFL and TOEIC test items and test forms, and I've served as an examiner in IELTS-format speaking tests. In addition to these tests, I'm also familiar with the format, structure, and scoring of Cambridge English Language Assessments, the Duolingo English Test, and the Pearson Test of English (PTE; academic and general).

My Experiences as an English Teacher in Berlin

I'm an easy-going, approachable, attentive, insightful, clear, and sensitive teacher. I have over 18 years' experience teaching, tutoring and mentoring students of English and Linguistics. I've taught students of all ages and all levels of proficiency, from beginners to near bilinguals: A1 to C2 and beyond. I have particularly extensive expertise in pronunciation and academic writing, which have been central to my academic career for over 20 years. If you have a special interest in developing and practicing these skills, I'll be especially useful to you.

My Lessons and Teaching Style for English Private Classes

I like to get to know my students and their skills, so we'll likely spend the beginning of our first session chatting about ourselves, while I'll take as an opportunity to identify some of the strengths and weaknesses in your English language skills. I tailor my sessions and materials to cater most directly to your goals, and I'd be happy for you to share your personal learning preferences with me. All else being equal, I generally aim for a mixture of thematic presentation, focused practice, freer practice, and spontaneous conversation in any given session, as long as our timeframe permits that. I keep up to date on developments in language teaching and learning research, so that I can bring to my students those teaching methodologies and techniques that have been proven to be best and most effective.