
Your Personal Tutor

Home About Me Books and Materials SUBJECTS AND SERVICES Editing Service English Tutor Computer Tutor Spanish Class Resumes-Interview Skills Payment Contact Me My Favorite Links	English Tutor Online Writing Course Online Writing Tutor How It Works Online Grammar Tutor Online Chatting for Conversation Practice Local/Home English Tutor (Oakland/Berkeley area only) References Online Writing Course This course is designed for people who are learning English as a Foreign Language, but native speakers of English are welcome to reply too. This is a personal class to help you with your individual problems in English writing including grammar, vocabulary, and paragraph structure. The first assignment is listed below. From that first paper, I will have an idea of your writing level, your ability in grammar and structure, and your interests. Then I will create the next lessons specifically for your needs. $20 (U.S.) TRIAL! So you can get to know me and see if you like my style, I charge just $20 for the first paper (1-3 pages), including grammar lessons as necessary. If you decide this class is good for you, we will set up a schedule for your course. The Plan You will decide how much work you want to do. You can do 1-2 papers per week or we can go more slowly if you need to. Each time you write a paper, I will correct and return the paper with comments and correction notes. I will also create and attach mini-lessons in grammar or paragraph structure if you need that. You will rewrite the paper, do the grammar lessons and get the next writing assignment. This can continue as long as you want. The standard plan is for 8 papers (charge: $300 for eight 1-3 page papers) over 4-12 weeks. After the introductory essay, I ask for a commitment for at least 4 papers . How it Works - A Writing Sample with Corrections You write: When I was young man, I said my mom I want to comeback my country. She said me, no, stay there. The life is better. I respond: When I was [a] young man [Man is a singular count noun. Every singular count noun needs an article or other determiner] I said [told you say words, tell people. Say good morning. Tell her goodbye.] my mom I want [If you put this in quotes, you can use present tense, but the sentence is in past tense. It would be better to stay in past tense. Use wanted.] to come/back [Two words. Also see the note below] my country. She said me [Again, you tell+person. She told me.], no, stay there. The life is better. [ The is OK here. Usually, life is a general noun, noncount, no article, but in this case the life in one place is a specific way of life, different from your mother s. The article the is OK here.] Notes on come/go: It depends are where you are when you speak. If you are in California, you say you want to go to your country (away from where you are) and come back to California (returning towards where you are). If you are in another country, then you can say you want to go back to California (away from where you are). Come is towards where you are. Go is away from where you are. Take and bring work the same way. You take something away from where you are. You bring something towards where you are. Top of Page Online Writing Tutor If you prefer a less structured tutoring, we can make an agreement as we go along. Each time you write a paper, we will need to agree on the length and charge (see Payment link for the prices). This plan is recommended if you want to work on papers required in your other classes when they are assigned. To see how online correction works, see the Online Writing Course description above. Top of Page Online ESL Grammar Tutor For general English tutoring, I charge $40 (U.S.) per hour. I can help you with the class you are taking or we can work through a book together. You can ask questions, do grammar lessons, practice idioms and learn vocabulary. Native Speakers: If you have grammar issues or other English questions, please feel free to contact me so we can chat about what your needs are and whether I can help you. Top of Page Online Chatting for Conversation Practice By appointment, we can chat through Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger or MSN Windows Messenger. I will chat with you about your interests and, if you want, will copy the chat into a word document and send it to you with corrections. $40 per hour. Top of Page Local/Home ESL Tutor (your house, my house or public place) Local tutoring is available to anyone in the Oakland/Berkeley area. I can drive up to an hour away, but there is an extra charge for travel time. Charges: $35/hour in my Oakland home, $40 elsewhere in the Oakland/Berkeley area (within 20 minutes). $50-60/hour in the greater Bay Area (depending on travel time). Accent Reduction Your pronunciation problems are individual. I will make lessons to meet your specific needs. We will do exercises and a lot of practice to help you sound more like a native speaker. Conversation/Vocabulary If you need to practice talking about your interests or career to improve vocabulary and pronunciation skills, we can create lessons that meet your needs. I can create mini-lessons in grammar as problems arise. Grammar We can choose a book to work through together or I can respond to your errors in speech and writing and create personalized grammar lessons from your problems. TOEFL Preparation Course I can help you with a class you are taking or we can buy a TOEFL book and work through it together. Each week, you do exercises from the book. Together we review those that caused problems. I can give you grammar lessons for your specific difficulties. Your score will go up quickly! Writing If you bring writing samples to me, I will correct them, make comments, and create mini-lessons in grammar or structure as needed. I will give you assignments or we can work with writing you re doing for another class. Workplace Specific English Learn the vocabulary, common commands, etc. for your workplace. This class is good for gardeners, nurses, construction workers, and many other careers. See what other students have said about me: References Top of Page