I have worked with children for a long time as a piano teacher, and a history, reading, and writing tutor in the United States. I have worked in Ukraine and as a teacher at a Linguistic Gymnasium as well as at private schools. I love working with children because they open-minded and curious. While I found it very rewarding it was at times stressful and now I teach exclusively online.

I like teaching online because the internet is a fantastic resource for learning about the world. Oftentimes I pause during a lesson and look online for a map, a chart, a picture, or a Wikipedia entry that is relevant to what are discussing. My hope is that my students not only learn English but learn a how to gather information and gain autonomy in their learning (and realize that intellectual exploration can be fun).

International academic discourse and the internet are predisposed to English. If you search in Ukrainian for information about China the text you receive will most likely have been translated from Chinese to English and then from English to Ukrainian, not by a translator but by a bot. Curating information has become critical. Wording an online search query correctly now makes a huge difference in not only the relevance and accuracy but also the partiality of the results one gets.

The educational system in Ukraine is still influenced by the Soviet educational mentality, where the teacher tells the student how it is and the student is then graded on their ability to remember and recount. When I ask questions, young people and even adults, will agree or disagree, say they like or don’t like, but can’t don’t explain why. Many are unprepared for study abroad or for working in careers that will require critical thinking, analysis, and problem-solving. My style of instruction encourages dialogue, inference, reasoning, and drawing conclusions.

“Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas.” If you think your son or daughter might benefit from lessons please contact me. Group lessons are also available.

N.B. I scored in the top one percent of students taking the SAT (the test American high school students must take to apply to university) and graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New Jersey. If your child is a student of mine they will be prepared for working and studying abroad. I have experience teaching the IELTS, TOEFL, and CAE and can help with test preparation and the entire university applications and interview process.

Disclaimer* My lessons require that students already be able to speak English at a solid intermediate level. I give every student a trial interview and evaluation before accepting them. If I feel they are not yet ready for one-on-one lessons with me I can recommend group lessons or lessons with one of our Ukrainian partner-teachers.