Matthew
Hello!
Greetings and salutations from Woking in the United Kingdom! After studying Modern History at St.Anne's college, Oxford University, I studied Japanese and taught English at Daiichi Keizai university in Fukuoka. Since then I have had many years of working experience including times as an English language teacher at the Elizabeth Johnson Organisation, at Hammersmith, Ealing and West London college as well as Woking college. I have also worked at a National Autistic Society school and three primary schools in year four and year two as a teaching assistant, working mostly with children aged between 7 and 9. In my last school I taught the class French as well as working in small groups with students across the curriculum. In 2014 I passed the Department for Education tests in literacy and numeracy. I also gained a TEFL qualification with Course Central in 2022. In 2022 I have taught students online with Spanish language proficiency for Erie Neighborhood House and Manos de Cristo in the USA as well as Japanese students from right across Japan with Native Camp. So I have a lot of experience of teaching English - grammar, punctuation, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary to all ages and a wide variety of different ages and stages. In Japan I even taught babies of the age of only a few months old! Join my class and start learning!
In my spare time I am learning Japanese, French, German and Portuguese. Out of all of these I am probably best in French and Japanese (the former since I did it at school and the latter since I lived in Japan for one year). My German and Portuguese are not so good. So I understand a lot about the process of learning languages and the way in which it is a bit like a rollercoaster ride - you seem to be making a lot of progress one day and then suddenly you find yourself met with a level of complexity that is difficult again the next. I understand the discipline and dedication it takes to learn foreign languages and to try to express yourself in a tongue other than your native or mother tongue. I am interested in a lot of different things including history (ancient and modern - particularly modern totatlitarian regimes, the Romans, the Second World War and the English Civil War); space exploration and the discovery of new planets and stars and galaxies; fish (I have two pet fish, Isosceles and Triangle); films and TV; reading online newspapers about world news; football, cricket and tennis; parallel universe theory; philosophy and theology; international relations; music of all sorts of different kinds, from pop to classical, drum n bass to hip hop, indie to emo, punk to ambient and house to hard house. In football, I support Crystal Palace, Woking, Oxford United and Avispa Fukuoka.
About
Languages
Industry familiarity
Specialties
Teaching Style
My teaching style is based largely on the needs of the particular students. I carefully tailor my lessons to the precise level and proficiency of the student and try to make sure that their abilities are challenged and tested in a way which is stimulating and interesting. I have a lot of experience of teaching and have taught a mixture of free conversation on the one hand and on the other working from specific textbooks such as the Pearson Future 4 and Dorling Kindersley books and with structured materials tailored either to beginners, intermediate or advanced learners. I believe that immersion is a very good technique for language learning and that exposure to as much of the language as possible is the best way to make excellent progress.