I specialise in taking your English from functional to precise, persuasive, and professional in the moments that matter to you: job interviews, academic presentations, subject-specific exams, and high-stakes conversations.
** MY APPROACH IS PERFECT FOR **
**Goal-Focused Learners** You have a clear, specific target (job interview, subject-specific exam, or social situation) and want efficient lessons built around that one goal rather than generic textbook units. I quickly diagnose your starting point and design a focused plan so every session moves you measurably closer to that outcome.
**Learners Seeking In-Depth and Nuanced Feedback** You already communicate well in English but want to refine argument, tone, and style so your rhetoric is precise and powerful. We dig into structure and word choice, and you get detailed, line-by-line feedback that turns “correct” English into compelling English.
**STEM students & corporate professionals** You work in a technical or business environment and need your English to match your expertise. Drawing on my experience in tech and corporate strategy, I help you refine the vocabulary, jargon, and communication patterns you use in reports, slide decks, emails, and meetings so you sound as confident and credible in English as you are in your field.
** TEACHING ETHOS**
I have lived and worked in 7 countries and self-taught 3 languages so I have strong sense for the situations where complete confidence in a new language is critical: being able to quickly and fluidly reply in a social setting, using the appropriate jargon to convey complex ideas in an academic settings, confidently asserting your opinions in a business meeting, navigating bureaucracies in your new home country, ensuring that job applications and interviews genuinely reflect your abilities.
I also understand the effort and opportunity cost that can go into making time to study a language and, having been on the other side of this platform looking for tutors in German, I appreciate the leap of faith when choosing a tutor. As a result I am committed to delivering you the best value for money lesson with high-impact and targeted learning strategies which set you up to continue progressing until our next session. More on our lesson structures below.
** ABOUT ME **
- I am a native English speaker from New Zealand with excellent academic writing skills and deep appreciation for the finer points of the English language. I have won several speech awards and an NZQA scholarship for Literature.
- Scored 97th percentile for Verbal Reasoning on GRE & 94th percentile for Critical Reading on SAT.
- Former executive for a fortune 500 company and worked in tech development for many years (SpaceX research grant, patent for computer vision)
- B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
- Current graduate student in Science and Technology Studies at TUM
- Experience tutoring academic writing and physics, mentoring elite students, and coaching students in various competitive environments
** TEACHING STYLE **
- My teaching style is calm, organised and collaborative. In our first lessons I like to “diagnose” what scenarios or milestones matter to you and what is really blocking your English.
- Based on the scenarios and milestones we will work with role play those exact situations and work with real-life texts (meetings, errands, presentations, phone calls etc) so I can explain why some phrases and structures work better than others, and then we can practise them until they feel natural.
- Based on the blockers we can zoom in on the problem areas—whether they be vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar habits, or structural uncertainty—and then build a simple, efficient plan to fix it.
** LESSON STRUCTURE **
In our first lesson we will talk about your goals, current level, and one concrete situation or text that matters to you (a presentation, interview, exam, email, or everyday scenario). We will do a short diagnostic (speaking and, if useful, a short piece of writing) and then design a study plan that fits around your schedule and focuses on the skills you actually need rather than generic textbook units.
Typical lessons include a mix of:
- Roleplaying specific situations with clear feedback on pronunciation, rhythm and natural phrasing
- Discussing texts which require defending an opinion using vocab and rhetorical techniques specific to your goals
- Focused examination of problem areas to identify underlying misunderstanding or pattern
- Spaced interval repetition of mistakes from previous weeks
- If applicable: Academic or professional writing support; targeted grammar and vocabulary work; exam preparation including test strategies and timed practice using real tasks
- After each session you leave with a short, realistic practice task and clear notes, so you know exactly what to focus on before our next lesson.
