I am a CELTA-certified (Pass A) teacher of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), with over 20 years of professional experience in law, business, and technology. In addition to the CELTA, I am also certified in Teaching Business English, Teaching Advanced Grammar, Teaching Pronunciation, IELTS Speaking and Writing Exam Preparation, and Editing. I have a BA in Writing and a Juris Doctor. Before I became a teacher, I practiced law as a regulatory and technology attorney; prior to becoming an attorney, I had decades of cross-sector multinational professional experience in marketing, human resources consulting, publishing, and technology training.

My students are executives and professionals who are primarily seeking to enhance their English skills for career advancement, including leading meetings, giving presentations, interviewing, and networking. Many students work for multinational corporations and need to be able to speak English with both clients and colleagues around the world. Although my primary focus is on teaching advanced English-language learners, I am also available to help native speakers with navigating career transitions and improving their professional lexicon.

My approach to teaching is communicative, emphasizing learning through communicating real meaning. I use authentic materials in my lessons: audio, video, and written materials students might encounter every day at work and in their personal lives. Because I customize my lessons for each student, we can prioritize the areas where a student is most interested in improving. Additionally, I offer practical real-world roleplaying scenarios in the business context; I also provide my students with custom digital flash card decks for learning industry jargon, idioms, phrasal verbs, and collocations. 

At the initial consultation, I provide each student with a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) Goal Setting worksheet. This allows us to establish specific goals with clear milestones to track progress towards achieving them. I strive to create a positive and supportive learning environment for my students, with an emphasis on continual improvement. In conjunction with helping students build fluency through communication, I also believe that increasing accuracy through targeted error correction is a fundamental element of the language acquisition process. Some errors can be addressed unobtrusively, simply by modeling the correct language for the student. I correct errors which impede the progression or understanding of the lesson more directly. I also take detailed notes during each lesson and set aside the last 5-10 minutes to address systematic errors and highlight achievements and opportunities for improvement. All corrections are made with empathy and sensitivity.

When teaching pronunciation, I focus on showing students how to build awareness of the way the mouth and tongue move when correctly pronouncing sounds in English. I believe that the paramount goal of learning to pronounce words correctly in English is comprehensibility; as English becomes the universal language of business, speaking English with an accent lends depth and richness to the language and is not something that needs to be eliminated. Rather than seeking homogenization, I approach pronunciation, and teaching English generally, as a pathway to foster greater understanding and connection across cultures.

Please feel free to contact me for a complimentary initial consultation and needs assessment. I’m looking forward to meeting you soon!