"I began tutoring when fellow students in my first Spanish class (Spanish 1, at UCSB) were having difficulties. As I had had 4 years of Latin in high school, the discipline of language studies was very familiar to me. I was majoring in Sociology at UCSB, but because of planning to become a Social Worker, Spanish was recommended. Out of an interest in it, I went on to get the equivalent of a BA in Spanish and, later, an MA in it. I perfected my Spanish while living in Spain, where I taught ESL for 4 years. Since then, I went on to get another MA, in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

I have been tutoring for many years, since January of 1976. It is a labor of love, as it combines my interest in languages with my strong desire to help others.

My enthusiasm, my expertise, and my enormous amount of energy, in addition to my extensive studies/education.

I like to schedule one free lesson, to begin with. It is for the purpose of the student's getting an ample sampling of what goes into a productive tutor/tutee relationship before deciding on whether to continue. (I ask the student to come to the session with whatever they want or need to improve. That way, when we've finished, we can judge whether, all factors considered, I, as a tutor, am effective." less...