English (ESL) with Ola P.

Hello! ¡Hola! Cześć! Привет! I am a learner, tutor, and lover of many languages, recently graduated from the College of William and Mary, B.A. in Government and Hispanic Studies. I have a years-worth of language-teaching training and experience and this fall I'm moving to Spain to teach English. I grew up as a bilingual ESL student myself, learning Polish and English at two different schools at the same time, all the way through high school. I started learning Spanish 10 years ago in middle school and Russian 4 years ago in college. I've been in so many different language classrooms, with various teachers, lessons, and activities that have strengthened my skills and inspired me to tutor and teach languages as well! I first started tutoring Spanish and ESL in high school, immersing myself in a diverse community, meeting students from all around the world, and getting to know their backgrounds and cultures for a better understanding of their interests and learning styles. I've translated and incorporated many activities from my own language classes to help my peers in their studies, which they've found very useful! In my undergraduate career, I studied Spanish language and culture in Spain 3 times, I lived in the on-campus Hispanic House for a year, I taught arts-enriched English at a camp in Poland for a month, interned at the Spanish Embassy in Washington D.C., took ESL teaching courses, mentored new students transitioning to college, and participated in endless language and culture events. My well-rounded education and experience influences my fun, variety-filled lessons and tutoring approaches! I love to use authentic documents, like movies, music, viral videos, recipes, advertisements, to give students the 'real-world' language learning experience, so they feel confident using their language skills outside of the classroom. Outside of my passion for languages, I am an avid singer and dancer! I sang in my college choir and oldest acapella group, danced and choreographed in various theatrical productions, and taught ZUMBA at the campus rec center. I sometimes channel audio-visual and kinesthetic learning into my beginner lessons, as I've found them to be the most engaging, effective, and memorable lessons I've experienced. Overall, I am a passionate linguist willing to work with students of any age, catering to their needs and interests so they can become better learners and lovers of language themselves!