Kurt

English Teacher, Chicago Illinois / Master's Degree Educational English, Northern Illinois University, PhD British Literature, Tohoku University, Japan, 30+ years English teaching experience

I've always enjoyed teaching - watching students learn and grow. I do what I can to individualize all of my classes, especially private lessons, to better meet the needs and interests of students. I have created hundreds of fun lesson materials for students to enjoy while improving their fluency, pronunciation, syntax and vocabulary, etc. Since I live in Japan, I understand the difficulty of communicating in a foreign language so I am sensitive to students doing the same with English. Although I keep tabs on all of the structures of learning English (grammar, pronunciation, reading, writing, speaking, spelling, listening), I am mostly driven to help students communicate effectively. I opened my own English Language school in Japan in 1992 and have been teaching mostly Japanese students since then. I also outsource to universities and hospitals to assist doctors with their speaking and writing. When the Corona virus hit, I started doing many lessons on-line (Zoom and others). I totally enjoy the interaction with students from all over the world. For me, the ideal student is motivated and willing to do the homework assignments I tailor make for individual students.