ESL and French language tutoring

Greetings! My name is Sophia and I exclusively teach English and French in an online format through platforms such as Zoom, Skype, and Facetime. I implement various methods and techniques that I have learned from my TESOL and CELTA certifications, as well as my International House Certificate in Teaching Young Learners and Teenagers (IHCYLT). One of my highly effective approaches is my use of guide-like questions. This enables me to utilize English less during lessons, instead avoiding a lecture-like atmosphere. Rather, posing these questions allows the students to take up the majority of speaking time, engaging with the material and allowing me to serve as a mediator. To follow the 80/20 rule, I prioritize dialogue, language games, critical thinking games, and role-plays, ensuring that 80% of the lesson is dedicated to practicing language skills.

My lessons are always engaging and geared towards conversation, with a plan tailored to my students’ goals. I begin each lesson with a fun and engaging warm-up to review previous material, providing an opportunity for students to practice their skills and build their confidence. Depending on the student’s level, we tackle a variety of materials such as articles, educational videos, songs, or audio. These are meticulously selected to help students achieve specific language goals, such as speaking fluency, elaborate writing, a wider vocabulary, proper grammar usage, and pronunciation.

I teach ESL from the beginner to proficient level, to students ranging from 6 years old and up in elementary school to high school. I also teach general and conversational English for tourism and business purposes to adults. Additionally, I offer conversational English lessons to teenagers aged 12 years old and above. My lessons also prepare students for notable exams such as TOEFL, IELTS, CAE, YLE, FCE.

Through my classes, students have attained a range of achievements such as improved business communication with foreign partners, better school performance, language fluency, passing international examinations, and the ability to study abroad in English or French-speaking countries.

My teaching environment is welcoming and encourages students to feel comfortable sharing their ideas and thoughts in English, even if that means making mistakes. I also offer my students the opportunity to be teachers themselves, inspiring greater motivation and exploration of the language to achieve their goals in life.

I began teaching English and French following my graduation from V. N National Karazin University and even studied Spanish as a third language while there. Additionally, I have tutored elementary, middle, and high school students in English for five years. I have been an online teacher at Skyeng school in Russia since 2017 and currently work as a part-time online French tutor through Skype. I genuinely love my profession and have received my TESOL certificate from Arizona State University in 2018, my CELTA certificate in New York in 2019, as well as IH (International House) certification in 2019 for teaching young learners and teenagers.

In my free time, I enjoy traveling, riding a bike, and reading French literature. However, my primary hobby remains working with international students, elementary, middle, and high school students.