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DO NOT PAY FOR LESSONS UNTIL YOU HAVE CONTACTED ME TO ENSURE THAT I HAVE AVAILABILITY FOR LESSONS WITH YOU.

Please read the Individual Lesson

FAQs & Cancellation Policy.

YOU are responsible for knowing the

Cancellation Policy for Individual Lessons.

Individual Lesson FAQs

ReaLifEnglish Lesson Topics

I am NOT shy about correcting your English!

I will correct your English throughout the lesson

no matter what we are doing or discussing.

Lessons can be

One, some or all of the below topics; a mixture so that each lesson is different and unique.

and/or

Augmentation discussion for any of the non-certificate self-paced courses.

and/or

Augmentation discussion for any certificate self-paced courses AFTER the course is successfully completed.

and/or

Remedial discussion of the self-paced course materials IF there are three failed attempts at the final evaluation for certificate.

1

Open Discussion & Activities

Most of the time, my clients and students do not choose any of the below lesson topic options. They prefer to have real life discussions about their life situations, their work/job, current events, or anything that they want to discuss. No religion and no politics discussions! Often, we use the first half of the meeting time for open discussion and then use the rest of the time for Scrabble or a trivia quiz.
I also include American profanity (bad words) because they are needed for proper understanding and use of American English.
2
Challenging English Usage
Modals
Hypotheticals
Conditionals
Intonation
Prepositions
Articles (in/definite)
American profanity

Americans use modals, hypotheticals and conditionals with accompanying intonations everyday in almost every situation and venue including in the workplace where MHC (Modals, Hypotheticals & Conditionals) are used in planning and forecasting meetings as well as problem solving and emergency situation meetings. They are also heavily used in personal relationships, the medical realm, conflict resolution, negotiations, law and law enforcement. Not understanding MHC with the accompanying varied intonations can cause miscommunication which can cost in terms of time, money, ego and self-confidence.
I also include American profanity (bad words) because they are needed for proper understanding and use of American English.

Activities
- Fun, funny, interesting, fantasy and/or serious MHC questions.
- MHC questions about a movie, a short story, a video clip, a news story and/or a criminal case.
3
English Training (& Self-Awareness) via Fun Activities
Trivia games
Crossword puzzles
Scrabble
Interactive maps
American profanity

This is the option for you if you just want to have fun while speaking and honing your English skills as well as finding out about your inner qualities. Games are a great way to learn about oneself and one's English skills. Practice and use your English skills through low stress and fun, games and discussion! You will get practice with reading, pronunciation, new vocabulary, intonations for intended meaning, and listening skills as well as new grammar and vocabulary.

I offer a variety of fun activities for discussion, knowledge and vocabulary all whilst I correct your English errors and you evaluate your thoughts, feelings and reactions during the course of the activity. Being a sore loser is not good but being a sore winner is even worse. I also include American profanity (bad words) because they are needed for understanding and use of English.

Being able to chat and think at the same time in a language other than your native language is a sign of fluency.

Being perfectly correct in the trivia games and crossword puzzles is NOT necessary! The idea is to use your English skills, and maybe learn some new information, so receiving a 100% for correct answers is NOT the goal here. No cheating allowed, which means you cannot use Google or other internet resource to answer the questions.

Activities include:
- Trivia Games: Topics include almost any subject. Most people choose food, geography, history, myths, traditions and word-related games. This option is an excellent choice for discussions and explanations as well as learning to express yourself and your opinion. It is also an opportunity to learn something new! MHC are also frequently used in this activity. For example, "I should have chosen my first answer!" or "I wouldn't have gotten the answer wrong if I had understood what I read".
- Interactive Maps: Maps are great for using prepositions, the use of directional words, and giving/receiving instructions/directions. Maps consist of current countries, flags and historical geography. They often spark related discussions.
- Crossword Puzzles: I give extra clues in English to help you complete a crossword puzzle in English because crosswords are difficult for people who are ESL (English as a Second Language). In some cases, I may give you the word in your native language if I can pronounce it. Crosswords are a good choice for synonyms, antonyms, spelling, and parts of speech in English. With English crossword puzzles, the answers must match the clue in number (singular or plural), in parts of speech, and in tense (past, present or future). Unfortunately, in English, many words can be 3 parts of speech like the word book.
Noun: I already read the book.
Adjective: I need a book cover.
Verb: I'd like to book a table for 8 pm tonight
- Scrabble: Through an online site, we play Scrabble in English. I help you make words with the letters you have. I may give you clues or hints of the words I can make with your letters, or I may actually give you the words directly. In some cases, I may give you the word in your native language if I can pronounce it. MHC are also frequently used in this activity. For example, "I wish I had had this R two words ago!" or "I wish I would have had this D two words ago!" or "I wish you wouldn't have used the spot I was thinking of putting a word!"
NOTE
Scrabble is meant to be a fun activity and to learn new words that you might actually use in real life. If winning at all costs (such as cheating) and annihilating your opponent (me) are extremely important to you at the expense of not learning new words but for honing your cheating skills, then this activity is not a good option for you.
4

1:1 Book Club

Short stories
Various genres

This option is based on the traditional idea of a book club where many people read the same novel or story and then get together in a group to discuss it. Instead of a group of people, the "group" only consists of 2 people; you and me. The materials for discussion are typically short stories from different genres. Short stories work best for people who are ESL and the entire story can typically be discussed in 55 minutes, or in two 25-minute sessions.
5

English for Turbulent Situations

Modal intensive
Intonation
Vocabulary

Communication in English is easy when interactions are good, peaceful and amicable. What happens when there is conflict? Public school English classes and ESL schools only teach academic English which doesn't teach you how to communicate through turbulent interactions. While it is much easier for two people who are ESL to resolve conflict because they have similar academic-only English knowledge, it is much more difficult to resolve conflict if one of the people is a native English speaker and one is ESL. For native English speakers, intonation and word choices can either help resolve the conflict or escalate it.
*** Resolving turbulent situations in English relies heavily on word choice, intonation, modal usage and emotional intelligence.
6

Course Learning

Alison.com
Stepik.org

For this option, you choose a course from either Alison.com or Stepik.org. We both work on the course by ourselves and then discuss the materials including any questions either of us have about the content. We may need to use supplemental materials to learn more about a certain topic mentioned in the courses. One of the more popular topics is nutrition. I use two pdf books to learn more about the human body and nutrition in English. Since there are videos in the courses and reading in the pdf books, you get new vocabulary and listening comprehension practice.

Individual Lessons

FAQs & Cancellation Policy

Meeting scheduling options:
a. You can choose to meet at the same time on the same day each week or every other week.
b. You can choose to float your lesson for each week or every other week.

All meetings are on a prepaid basis.

Payments must be received no later than 8 hours

before the scheduled lesson time.

If you purchase a package of lessons, all lessons must be used within 90 calendar days from the date of purchase. If the lessons are not used, they will be forfeited when they become stale dated on day 91 after purchase.

If your intent to cancel is received by me at least 8 hours before the start time of your scheduled lesson (permanent or floating), then no penalty, except if it is the third consecutive cancellation (see below). The time stamp of your data messenger message or email will be used as the notification time.

If your intent to cancel is received by me in less than 8 hours before the start time of your scheduled lesson (permanent or floating), the lesson will be charged as if it was attended. The time stamp of your data messenger message or email will be used as the notification time.

For three or more consecutive cancellations, the third and any subsequent cancellations will be charged as if they were held regardless of when the cancellation notices were received by me. Due to this stipulation of my cancellation policy, please plan your vacations accordingly or choose an appropriate amount of lessons so that no lessons will be forfeited for any reason.

I do realize that sometimes circumstances beyond our control happen.

Because of this, I may or might waive the penalty for less than

8-hour cancellation notice and/or three consecutive cancellations.

*Each situation will be evaluated if needed.

I'm rather flexible and quite accommodating if you communicate with me.

Please be aware!

There may be times when I must cancel a meeting due to personal circumstances such as doctor appointments, for emergencies with my pets and animals, for scheduling conflicts that cannot be changed, and/or for acts of Mother Nature (especially severe storms) that cause interruptions to internet and/or electricity. If I must cancel, I will try to give you the most advanced notice that I can. I will also reschedule the meeting at a mutually agreeable time.