About Me

Hi, my name is Christian! I was born in the US, and I grew up in Canada. I've been teaching English professionally to students like you since 2023.

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As someone who has always been interested in learning languages, I've felt frustrated by the traditional approach: You sign up for a class with many other students, the teacher forces you to follow a boring curriculum you don't like, and you barely get any opportunities to practice speaking! 

 

This was my experience when I started to seriously study Spanish at the age of 21 (Yes, you can still learn a new language, even if you're an adult). I did everything I could to immerse myself in the language: I signed up for a course at university, I used Duolingo every day, and I even took several trips to Latin America.

 

While these typical methods had some merit, I wasn't seeing the progress that I truly wanted. However, this changed once I found an online tutor. We started meeting together one-on-one for 50 minutes, 1-2 times a week, and he introduced me to an approach that I had never considered before: The natural approach. Whereas traditional classrooms are based on the grammar translation method (students are taught in their L1, and the focus is on writing), the natural approach mirrors how children naturally pick up language: Classroom instruction is conducted almost exclusively in the target language, only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught, and oral communication skills are built up in a carefully graded progression organized around question-and-answer exchanges. Grammar is usually only taught inductively.

 

Through this approach, my Spanish tutor and I had real-world conversations about topics I was interested in, and he corrected my mistakes. The strategy is simple, but it's highly effective, and the research confirms this. Language learning shouldn't be overcomplicated; it should be straightforward and practical. By the end of our time together, I had attended over 100 classes, and I felt confident communicating in Spanish like never before. 

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My current mission is to make one-on-one language learning based on the natural approach the new norm in the industry, because I know it works.