Meet Native English Tutor Taryn
Tell us a bit about your past experiences teaching English
While I don’t have formal ESL classroom experience, during my travels I have taught colleagues in New Zealand, village children in Zambia and friends in France.
Tell us more about your education?
I have a bachelor of science in communications, and also studied business and journalism at university.
How would you describe a typical English lesson at Spoken English Practice?
After a warm welcome and introductions, I like to begin by asking my student how he or she is, and if they have any questions since our previous conversation. From there, I ask the student if he or she has a preferred topic to discuss. If not, that is ok because I always have a conversation subject in mind. Before the English lesson ends, I ask the student if he or she has any lingering questions or concerns.
What are your favorite conversation topics?
Home renovation projects, gardening, cooking and baking, travel, family, hobbies, pet parenting, pop culture, TV series, yoga, outdoor recreation, and snowboarding.
In your experience, what area in English do students need the most help? Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation or something else?
This depends on the student and their learning style. I encourage my students to feel confident speaking English, and offer corrections. Over time and with practice, students will have proper pronunciation, vocabulary expansion and grammar.
What are your top 3 tips to ESL students around the world?
Practice a little bit everyday, be confident in yourself and push yourself to keep learning English.
A little bit about what you like to do when you are not teaching English.
I run my own public relations business. Additionally, I enjoy traveling, baking sweets, watching TV series including, Grey’s Anatomy, Orphan Black, The Mindy Project and any home renovation shows. I also love being outside with my dog, paddle boarding in the summer and snowboarding in the winter.
What kind of students do you prefer?
I look forward to conversing with students who are excited to learn, friendly, open to feedback and willing to practice.
