Although Canadian by birth, I presently call Greece home. I love teaching, and learning from, students from all countries.

I have taught students from all over Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa, India, and even my home country, Canada (university students). (Sorry, no one from Antarctica yet!). I am also an accomplished artist (Facebook: Paintings by David Short).

I have very wide interests: from downhill and cross-country skiing to landscape design. (I have even jumped from airplanes). I love nature and do my best to protect the environment (I also have a degree in Biology). I also enjoy writing. So feel free to talk to me about any of your interests - well, maybe not string theory in Physics.

I have had a long and varied teaching career. Until 2002, I owned an English language school in Patras, Greece, where I taught all ages from 7 to 70.

During the past 12 years, at the International Centre for students at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, I taught English for Academic Purposes (EAP) , and set up and managed a Writing Centre for undergraduate students. At the same university, from 2009 to 2013, I taught Academic Writing 1000, an undergraduate writing course.

I am also an experienced one-to-one tutor: all ages and interests.

I have also taught portrait painting and maintained a studio at CASA, a centre for arts in Alberta, Canada.

Before we begin, I would like to learn something about you. What is your reason for learning English? For business? Pleasure? Do you need English for your studies? To pass an examination? For travel?

My approach to teaching takes into account your approach to learning. The advantage of one-to-one tutoring is that the lessons can be tailored to the needs of the student, in other words, you. Although much of the lesson will naturally focus on conversational English, I will also assign material, based on your needs, which could be anything from listening to online videos to written work. So the first lesson will be learning about your needs in learning English, and getting to know each other.

After a brief warm-up phase, most of the lessons will continue with input, when I will present the new language, depending on your needs. We will follow this with controlled practice of the language by which I will guide you into practicing correct form. You will then have the opportunity to use the new language in a freer production stage, when we use dialogue, mock interviews, discussion, comparing pictures, etc. that target a natural use of the new language. Finally, I will give feedback and assign homework when required.

My job is to make the lessons, for you, a rewarding experience. By rewarding, I not only mean that you learn, but also that you enjoy. My wide interests will ensure that I will find you fascinating to work with. I look forward to the learning experience together.