I am an American native English speaker who has taught English in South Korea, Spain and the Czech Republic. I spent a total of seven years living outside of the United States, which has given me an international perspective that helps me connect with students of all ages from all over the world. I have lived in South Korea, Spain and South Africa and have traveled throughout India, Cambodia, and most of Western Europe.

What I love about teaching English is the relationship aspect. Language is the tool humans use to build relationships, so I believe connecting with students and really engaging with their interests is key in developing their language abilities.

Aside from English teaching, I am also a musician, songwriter, writer, art director and website developer. I speak Spanish and learned it as an adult in an immersion environment while living in Spain. So I have first-hand experience with the challenges surrounding learning a language as an adult. I promise - it can be done! And I'd love to help you get there.

- 4 years experience teaching English

- Bachelor’s degree in Communication and History from the University of Oregon

- 100-hour TEFL certified

- 7 years international work experience

- Spanish speaker

Education

2004 - 2007 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon

Major in Communication, Minor in History. Dean's list freshman year and junior year, presidential scholarship sophomore year, continued scholarship through graduation, early graduation.

Fall 2006 University of Oviedo Oviedo, Spain

Spanish Language Immersion. An Immersion Spanish program that included a home stay with a family who spoke only Spanish and university Spanish classes covering subjects from Spanish history to Spanish translation. Awarded university credits for advanced proficiency.

February 2009 International TEFL Teacher Training Seoul, South Korea

100-hour TEFL Certification. Accredited by the International Accreditation of TESOL Qualifying Organizations.

Work Experience

11/2011- 4/2013 ABC for Life Cape Town, South Africa

Communication Director. In charge of marketing and community relations as well as fundraising for a supplementary English language school located in Hangberg, Cape Town, South Africa.

7/2010- 6/2011 Elison English School Barcelona, Spain

Private School English Teacher. Completed a one-year contract working as a private English instructor to individuals in their own home, classes at the school, as well at corporate clients at their offices. All ages and levels.

3/2009- 3/2010 Yong-Ho Middle School Gunpo, South Korea

Public School English Teacher. Completed a one-year contract as the only foreign English teacher at a public middle school teaching students from age 13-16. For eight months of the contract, I was responsible for designing a curriculum for my advanced classes of 16 or less students with an emphasis on oral communication. For four months of the contract, I taught and formulated interactive lessons for groups of 40 students with a co-teacher who spoke fluent Korean. Also responsible for teaching and designing lesson plans for summer and winter camps of 20 students or less and for teaching adults at the school twice weekly.

3/2009-3/2010 Gunpo-Uiwang School District Gunpo, South Korea

Elementary English Teacher. Completed a one-year contract teaching elementary aged students at the intermediate level once a week using my own material as well as a textbook. Formulating fun and engaging lessons including games and speaking activities in order to help the students enjoy learning English was an important part of this position. Also responsible for being a summer and winter camp teacher and writing a chapter of the textbook for the winter of 2010 camp on situational English.

8/2008- 2/2009 Kid's College Private School Guri, South Korea

Kindergarten and Elementary English Teacher. Responsible for teaching five classes of kindergarten and 4-5 elementary classes each day. A high-volume teaching experience where I planned each lesson and activity based on the curriculum available at the school as well as my past experience. Daily lessons included: science, language arts, phonics, journal, creative writing, math, arts and crafts, music, gym, cooking and sentence building.

Summer of 2007 Josiah Adventure Tabor, Czech Republic

Middle and High School English Camp Teacher. Responsible for teaching a group of 10-15 students the English language based on their comprehension level. I taught different groups from age 12 to 18 and from beginner to advanced. Responsible for tailoring an interesting, fun and real-life scenario curriculum for my groups each week.

2002-2003 Gresham-Barlow School District Gresham, Oregon

Tutor at Gordon Russell Middle School for junior high students ages 11-13. I tutored all subjects but was specifically hired to tutor writing composition and English grammar.

Languages.

English mother tongue, advanced level of Spanish, functional Korean.

My approach is based on friendship. I genuinely care to get to know my students, learn what they are most interested in, and find out based on their personality and learning style how I can best help them reach their language goals.

After a first trial lesson where I will assess your level, your language goals/needs and your interests, I will prepare news articles, poetry, short stories and other reading materials that we will read together in the first part of the class. We will build your vocabulary as well as improve your pronunciation during this reading portion. Then we will discuss the reading material, it's meaning, what it means to you, your opinion on the matter and so forth. The lesson will be very conversational after the first 10-15 minute reading portion. I believe speaking conversational English about topics that actually interest you is the BEST way to build your confidence in the language.