English ESL IELTS PTE lessons at affordable rates in California from Certified teaching professional!

Learn more about Maany

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I had always been a good storyteller, even as a child. I developed a passion for teaching as I enjoy sharing stories and experiences with my family and friends. My previous experience working in a teaching academy exposed to me, some of the challenges my students were facing with group classes. I felt inefficient and constrained, not being able to invest time into each of my student's personal development. That was the turning point when I decided to spend my time in private tutoring, where I could work with my students with individual attention and personalized lesson plans.

• Tell us more about what you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  I teach English to non-native English speakers who want to improve their general English, or those who are preparing specifically for an English exam like IELTS or PTE. I always encourage my students to discuss their long-term goals with me, so that it enables me to see what motivates them in life. I also am interested to understand their background. The hardest topic to teach and discuss has always been English Grammar. I try my best to make it encouraging and fun when I can, so that my students don’t doze off by the end!

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  My role model when it comes to teaching had always been my mom who is a professor of the Tamil language. I learnt from her, that language and literature required a certain art to teaching, one simply cannot teach a language if they don’t full enjoy the nuances of it themselves. She had also inspired me to pursue what I love, even if it meant I need to invest some extra time into it.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  I think the most important quality to be a successful tutor is resilience. I think some of you might find this hard to believe, but as a teacher, I never give up on my students. I think everyone has their own pace of learning, some slower than others. Having said that, I think the tutor’s patience to stay with their students through this learning journey, constantly encouraging them, despite the mistakes and the misconceptions, really defines a good teacher.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  ‘Everyone can be Shakespeare’

• What is the main difficulty in learning English and what can help the process of learning?

  English language has no rule-book, there’s always exceptions to every grammatical rule. The biggest challenge, that I still struggle with, is to ignore the rule and accept the exceptions. I tell my students, if there are no exceptions, there is no beauty in English.
  
  Another difficulty I think is to fully understand the many colloquial aspects of the language. The vastness of its usage also means that English is spoken differently in different continents with expressions that probably would not make any sense in other regions. As a non-native speaker, this is the hardest aspect of learning the language.

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  I love teaching in general, but I am particularly passionate about teaching English writing. Being a writer myself, I tend to enjoy the thought processes I go through, the mid maps I create, before I begin writing. To be able to share this with my students makes it a rewarding experience.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering this interview questions :-P)?

  I am a Superprof because I believe every student can improve some aspect of themselves 😊

• Did you grow up speaking this language? Or were you inspired by a trip abroad, an individual or a certain aspect of the culture?

  I grew up speaking Tamil at home, but my entire schooling from kindergarten onward was in English. In that way, I could say I enjoyed the best of both worlds. Grounded in my own tradition, I got to explore the ideals and cultural beliefs of some of my favorite English authors too.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  William Wordsworth, if you read his poem ‘Daffodils’, you will know why 😊