Mark

I am an British teacher who teaches English language skills, primarily to secondary, university, and adult students. I am currently employed at the University of Leeds. I am primarily looking to teach motivation, goal-oriented students online in the evenings (UK time) or on Saturday mornings, though I would consider teaching face-to-face if you live in the local area.

As an IT professional working in the higher education sector, I also offer one-to-one computer skills lessons (e.g. PC and online security, basic PC maintenance, word processing and other software skills).

Tutoring Experience

I have been teaching English as a foreign or second language since 2008. I have worked with a large variety of students from elementary, to secondary, to university and professional adults. However, I personally prefer to teach older students, in particular exam skills like IELTS, study skills, business English, EAP, and general English communication. Most of my experience has been teaching Chinese, Japanese, and middle-eastern students.

With regards to teaching information technology, I have taught a range of computer software programs and concepts, most notably having taught Cambridge A-levels in information technology.

Tutoring Approach

I adopt a student-centered approach to my teaching, and encourage students to be goal-oriented. My classes are highly communicative, which means that my students get significant amount of time to practice the skills they want to improve; whether this is writing, speaking, listening, reading or vocabulary. A communicative classroom also means that I do not provide lecture-type classes.

Additionally, I provide feedback on my students writing and speaking work, and this will be given both verbally and in writing. Finally, I am pro-active in using and adapting the most suitable teaching materials for each student I teach. After all, no single student is the same, and everyone has different abilities and needs.

I speak Mandarin Chinese at an intermediate level, which can sometimes be helpful when teaching students with weaker English communication ability. However, I usually use only English unless necessary.