Debbie
Hello!
After my “mini-break” from Cambly, I find that I'm excited about returning to the work I love most – helping my students develop fluency in English, so they can pursue their life’s dreams & personal goals! Please understand that my focus, as a teacher, is to help you improve the specific kind of English that reaching your goals and dreams will likely require, and I am not really equipped to teach absolute beginners who cannot understand most of what they hear and can only say a few words in English and must rely on reading and using the Cambly translation function to communicate. I prefer to work with students who speak at an Intermediate to advanced level of English skill. NOR DO I TEACH CHILDREN WELL. PLEASE DO NOT MAKE A RESERVATION FOR ME TO TEACH YOUR CHILD. There are other very good tutors on Cambly with both of these kinds of expertise. In addition, please do not request a class with me while you are driving. My son was in an automobile accident because he was talking on the phone, looking at it instead of the road, and I am not willing to participate in a situation with a student that could result in the same thing for them. Because of this, I will immediately end your lesson and "return your minutes to you" so you can use them at another time, or schedule a class with another tutor who is willing to do these things. Thank you for understanding. I do this not only for my own sake, but also to ensure that you or your child have the best experience possible on Cambly! If we have never talked before, I look forward to meeting you for the first time. I have enjoyed so many different hobbies during my life-time, including sewing (making quilts), swimming (and teaching swimming), water ballet, sailing, making art & jewelry, raising rabbits, chickens, puppies (and my son!), so I am certain we will find something in common to talk about. I especially enjoy watching wild birds come to my bird feeders while I eat breakfast (and laughing when my silly dog tries to catch them and repeatedly fails, since she can't fly)! I love to grow flowers and vegetables in my garden, too, although global warming is making it increasingly difficult to do that, so these days, I garden indoors in my sunroom! As a cultural and medical anthropologist, I love eating foods from many different nations, reading books about the history & culture of many places around the world, and hearing how, despite our cultural and linguistic differences, underneath, we are all the same, when it comes to the important things that influence our lives. I especially like to hear how people practice their faith, celebrate holidays and learn about family traditions, and hope you will share with me about your family, city and country! I look forward to meeting you!
As you can probably tell from my video, I might be old enough to be your grandmother or even great-grandmother, but I am still interested in the world around me and people I meet! Having taught over 11,500 lessons and had conversations with more than 2,600 wonderful students in >140 countries, I find that everyone's life is like a story waiting to be told. Our stories bring us together, like movies do, often with laughter and sometimes with tears. But your story is very special and I hope you will share it with me as we get to know each other and move forward. I often feel my students are on a grand adventure in their lives and love to hear about where they have been, what they are doing now, and hope to do next! My story has taken me to four different countries and into many different kinds of work--teaching medical terminology, working in military hospital operating rooms, running group therapy sessions in addiction recovery programs, doing medical research (mostly about people with kidney or liver transplants, alcoholics with HIV/AIDS, and children with cancer), substitute teaching children a number of different subjects towards the end of the COVID pandemic, and now tutoring adults. I have taught 5-13 year-old children how to swim and young girls how to sew, too. Now I look forward to helping you learn to understand and speak English to the best of your ability! I hope you will give me a chance to be your tutor!
About
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Teaching Style
Please schedule all lessons with me either at the beginning of an open hour, or half-way through (not starting at either 15 or 45 minutes after the beginning of an hour). I often work late into the evening, so that I can accommodate my Asian students who need lessons early or late in my day due to time zone differences, & I am willing to add individual lessons at times later or earlier than I normally make available on my schedule (so just text me and let me know your needs, please), when your time zone or work responsibilities (especially in what I know are the busy, busy lives of medical & nursing personnel) cause my normal work schedule not to work for you. I ask all my students to be considerate of other students (and myself!) so if you make a reservation, please try very hard to show up for your lesson, or, if this is not possible due to work or family obligations, please cancel as early as you can, so other students can use that time slot. I know that "life happens" to all of us--including me!--but repeated no-shows with no text message letting me know what happened, may eventually result in no longer being able to make reservations with me. I am happy to teach students whose English skills are at a Beginner Level, IF they are willing to work hard on their pronunciation, so I can understand them when they speak. This is because I have a slight hearing loss and it can be hard for me to understand you if you don't speak clearly. I do not find it useful for students to ALWAYS rely on the translation tool for EVERYTHING that they are trying to say, or I am trying to teach. A little bit in the beginning can be very, very helpful, but it is not something that should be used forever. I prefer to teach students whose English skills are at the Intermediate or Advanced level, so we can focus our lessons more on exactly what you need to learn to reach your specific goals in life, or give you opportunities to have conversations at a high literacy level, especially about your work and career life. I do hope you will consider my teaching style to be patient and understanding. I have lived in 2 countries (Mexico and Germany) when I was still learning the language and I remember how hard it was to understand, and be understood, when you are still learning. Especially when there are sounds in that language that are not a part of your own. As a young child, I had trouble saying some sounds in English, and my parents sent me to a speech therapist. Because of that, I understand how learning the specific mechanics of using your tongue, lips and throat can make all the difference in the world and help you learn to correctly pronounce words quite quickly. I especially enjoy working with Japanese or Mandarin speaking students who need help saying the letters "L" and "R" (and a few other sounds), as well as Portuguese- and Turkish-speaking students who need help pronouncing "W," "V" and letter combinations like "TH". Finally, living in the Southern part of the US, where most people DO speak more slowly, I have learned to speak V_E_R_Y -- S_L_O_W_L_Y, to help you as you seek to improve your listening skills. I hope you will find my methods encouraging and helpful to you!