Jaqueline

Certified Tutor

I am a recent high honors graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in International Relations and Global Studies. I have a general knowledge of most of the world, however my focuses include Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

I know about both history around the world and current events! To supplement these area studies, I studied Mandarin Chinese every semester during my four years of undergraduate studies, along with one year of intensive Arabic, and received excellent grades in all of my language courses. Specifically, I have studied and worked for a brief period in China, where I also lived with a Chinese roommate, and which provided me with invaluable cultural and linguistic knowledge and practice. I also speak Spanish and have ESL tutoring experience with a native Spanish speaker.

This student was struggling in his high school courses and falling behind because he didn't understand what was being asked of him in many of his classes, and at the same time, he was wanting to prepare for the SAT. We worked together to figure out what his teachers were trying to convey during his class time (in various subjects, from math to history) and what exactly he was being asked to prepare and complete for various tests, homework, and projects. I used minimal Spanish, only when it was necessary, and I believe that this truly pushed him to learn out of his comfort zone, and he eventually became much more comfortable and confident being surrounding by English, in addition to being able to better understand what was being asked of him in his classes. Once we reached this point, he was better equipped to prepare for the SAT (reading & writing sections), which we did using practice material that he had purchased and brought to our sessions. We worked through some problems together so that I could help him understand the nature of the types of questions that are often asked in such standardized testing, and then he worked on these questions independently, asking questions when he ran into serious confusions or was unable to understand specific material.

While I currently only have experience tutoring a Spanish-speaking ESL student, I would also love the opportunity to tutor any foreign-language speaking ESL students! I love studying languages and any opportunity to interact in different languages! In addition to the subjects surrounding my major, I also have a minor-level background in Linguistics.

Not only do I offer ESL tutoring, but I also after tutoring for students who would like to start learning Mandarin, Arabic, or Spanish! I am likely to go about this tutoring in ways that are similar to they ways that I began learning, and continued to learn, each language in school because these methods have proven effective in my experience. I have learned that covering reading, writing, and speech evenly is highly important when maximizing your linguistic abilities in another language, and so I intend to practice each aspect with my students. Each language is very different, and therefore requires different approaches in its teaching method. Additionally, some students move more quickly through languages than others, and so I am open to tailoring language tutoring to and individual student's needs.

Moreover, as a Liberal Arts major, I developed strong reading and writing skills, along with important analytical skills. I am confident in my ability to help others improve their reading, writing, and analytical skills. Throughout my undergraduate studies, I personally excelled in all of my courses that involved reading and writing. I have an excellent command of the English language, abundant experience peer-editing students writing, and knowledge about a variety of citation formats, such as MLA, Chicago, and APA.

I also understand the importance of tailoring edits and feedback to each individual writer based on their level of ability, reasonable goals, and the purpose, or focus, of each specific piece of writing. In addition to general reading and writing improvement, I am also able to assist students in preparing for specific testing formats. Concerning standardized testing, specifically the reading and writing portions of the PSAT and SAT, I have personal experience taking and succeeding in these. Therefore, I understand the preparations that are required to do well on such tests, and I am confident in my ability to teach my students the skills that it takes to be successful.

Lastly, I would like to say that I love learning and helping others learn! I don't know you yet, but I am already excited about the prospect of getting to teach you! I understand that each student is different, and so I am flexible and adaptable to all levels of ability and goals.