Hello, my name is Yorgos Tsalamandris and I'm an experienced native Greek language tutor currently living in Greece. I have been teaching Greek online since 2018. I am currently offering a free initial trial lesson for new students.
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About me - English
Born and raised in Greece, currently living in Athens.
I am a dedicated and attentive native Greek teacher, focused on building confidence and fluency skills in my students. As a teacher of Modern Greek I demonstrate a high proficiency in reading, writing and speaking and with these skills I am able to create an environment for students to learn effectively the vocabulary, the grammar, the accent as well as spelling and other mechanics of language. I always bring a lot of enthusiasm and energy to my lessons and love to have fun whilst learning. I adapt lesson plans to my students interests and love the sharing of cultures that Greek language teaching brings.
I'm amazed by the people who want to learn such an exotic language (not that widespread) as Greek.
Qualifications & Experience
I hold a bachelor's degree in Greek Philology, majoring in Linguistics and I've been awarded a master's degree in Teaching Greek as a second/foreign language from the University of Athens. I have been working in this field of Education for almost a decade and especially in teaching Greek as a second/foreign language for more than 4 years, I have taught all levels, ages and specialties, gaining enough experience with adult students in non-formal contexts. I have also experience preparing students for the Certificate of Attainment in Greek (Hellinomathia).
Over the last three years I have been working as a Greek tutor in the philanthropy industry teaching Greek to adult refugees and immigrants for the facilitation of their integration. I've also gained a lot of experience in the framework of the EU's programme, Erasmus+, as a Greek tutor at the Official School of Languages of Barcelona (Escola Oficial D'Idiomes de Barcelona) and the Greek Community of Catalonia (La Comunidad Griega de Cataluña).
Teaching Approach
The more you are exposed to the Greek language, the better. Occasionally, speaking English may be necessary, but a lot of the time, it is not. Immersion can help you use Greek more independently and this can lead to increased confidence and better vocabulary. In this frame, you will be encouraged to use the language, even if you make mistakes, because you should remember that communication is the key.
Basically we are going to use the communicative approach which emphasizes the learner's ability to communicate various functions, such as asking and answering questions, making requests, describing, narrating and comparing. Task assignment and problem solving are the means through which the communicative approach operates. Through this method, grammar is not taught in isolation and learning happens in context, so that fluency can be developed through communicating in the language rather than by analyzing it.
A communicative lesson includes activities through which a student is able to work out a problem or situation through narration or negotiation, and thus establish communicative competence. Thus some activities might include composing a dialogue in which the participants negotiate when and where they are going to eat dinner, creating a story based on a series of pictures or comparing similarities and differences between two pictures.
You should never forget that grammar is the foundation for building language skills. Communication is a crucial part of language and so is grammar, you need each other, because an effective lessons strike this balance between the two so that you can learn, enjoy and make progress in the target language. Learning grammar enables you to speak and write more accurately, confidently and fluently. Focusing on grammar rules can be boring but including games, activities and video clips that use certain grammar points can be real fun.
The more you learn, use and practise the language, the more accurate and fluent you become. Repetition and practice are essential to many skills, and this is especially true when learning a language. In order to consolidate lesson learning, we will repeat and revisit grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation regularly, through activities such as singing songs, filling in the missing words and memory games. It is true that a language is cumulative and it must be consolidated after the lesson. This can be done as homework by regular activities that require revision. Its a good way to do some practise at home so you can take something away from each lesson.
As an essential part of language learning we are going to highlight cultural as well as linguistic differences through television programmes or films. Being a firm believer in interaction in the learning procedure I would also like to give me your feedback, what do you already know about Greek culture and what else do you want to know?