Improve your English with AmericanEnglishCoach

Would you like a private English coach to help you improve your English

in the comfort of your own home?

I offer personalized English lessons on Skype to help you meet your goals. Do you want to work on American English pronunciation, English conversation or prepare for a job interview or test?

If you want an English tutor ready to guide and support you in meeting your goals to understand and speak English, you're in the right place! Please bookmark this site (save to your favorites). Look at my fees by clicking the "Schedule Appointment" button below. If my fees look reasonable to you, then feel free to schedule a free trial lesson or keep reading below the black button to learn about taking lessons with me.

Schedule Appointment

So many English learners have spent years studying grammar and learning to read and write English but still have trouble speaking English!

Does this describe you?
Your schools and teachers failed you by not facilitating enough English conversation practice! They didn't explain how important listening is, did they?

You can improve your English now by taking English lessons on Skype!

Listening and speaking are the most important skills. We learned our first language by listening and speaking, remember? Lots of listening and then speaking little by little. Of course we did all our thinking in our mother tongue. We all have the capacity to learn a language this way but have been redirected from these skills by the poor language instruction most of us have had in school.

As your personal American English coach, I will constantly remind you to improve your English by listening and speaking. I will tell you to push yourself to think in English. With practice, you will be able to flip a mental switch and think in the target language. Like turning on a light switch, you will be able to turn it off and back on as needed. This is the basis for fluency in English conversation.

For listening practice, try www.lingq.com, www.eslpod.com, www.elllo.org, www.esl-lab.com, and www.learningenglish.voanews.com and for speaking practice, www.englishcentral.com is really great. To help yourself think in English, be sure to use an English language dictionary, not a translation dictionary. Once we begin working together, I'll give you lots more resources and materials to use and we will decide together what materials to focus on for the lessons we do in class on Skype.

In our classes together, you will do a lot of talking and some listening. I'll correct your grammar and pronunciation mistakes. Depending on your needs, we may do some reading, writing, pronunciation practice and looking at grammar to increase your awareness. English fluency is the goal.

Relax, Repeat and Review

Always relax yourself before self-study or a class by using whatever methods you know. You will learn more and enjoy yourself more if you are not tense.

Repeat everything! Listen to audio files, podcasts or songs several times, not just once. Each time you listen, focus on something new....comprehension, pronunciation, intonation, word order, collocations. Listen again and try "shadowing". Echo what you hear, or if there is a text, read it out loud immediately after the voice on the recording. We can talk more about shadowing in class.

Review any lessons that you have done a week later, then, three weeks later, then, a few months later. This is the way to be sure that you have moved the lessons from short term memory to long term memory and really learned the material. Flash card programs like the app on https://apps.ankiweb.net/ are good for learning vocabulary with a built in system of review. I will put comments and corrections in the Skype chat box which you can read over/review from time to time.

Relax, Repeat and Review = Recall

Repetition and review is key to language learning. Repetition and review is absolutely key. Read this again next week. ;-)

I encourage you to use English language dictionaries instead of translation dictionaries, not only to learn the proper pronunciation of a word and its meaning, but also to read sample sentences and see how we use the word so that you will be able to use the new vocabulary yourself !!! That's what you want, right? In these sample sentences, I want you to try to identify collocations (common phrases). Notice the words before and after the target word. You can pick up some phrases as you study the target word. If the target word is traffic, you will probably see phrases like "heavy traffic" and "traffic jam" in sentence examples.

All this will help you with: Thinking in English, Recall, and Fluency.

Thinking in English + Recall + Fluency = Confidence

Why do I call myself an English coach and not an English teacher?

As you know, teachers usually teach from a book with little regard to the knowledge and capabilities the student may already have. I learn what your goals, wants and needs are and customize lessons to teach you only what you want and need.

I use a notebook on a clipboard like any other coach. The lessons can change like a game plan depending on your challenges. I want to help you meet your goals! We want to win!

I'll give you tips on how to improve rapidly. I will draw from many books and resources I have acquired in my twenty years of instruction and tutoring. You will keep me informed on your interests and goals, ask me any questions, tell me what you enjoy and what you find boring. Remember, this will be a collaborative effort.

You will be the driver of your English education.

Please don't think I can "feed English" to you.

You must have motivation and be willing to put a lot of effort into achieving your goals.

Please don't think you can lie down on the job.*

* lie down on the job: idiom meaning to not work as hard at something as you should

You are in the driver's seat!*

*in the driver's seat: idiom meaning to be in control; to be in charge of things.

We can work on:

English conversation practice and conversation skills building

Idioms and phrasal verbs
American English pronunciation and accent reduction
Preparation for IELTS, TOEFL or TOEIC

Business English

I'll help you with job interviews, work-related e-mails, presentations, or other projects.

Here Is what you will need:

1. a headset for the best sound quality (A headset helps prevent an echo.)

2. Please add my Skype name, americanenglishcoach to your Skype contacts list;

Please test your audio equipment on Skype before class. On Skype, click tools>options>audio settings.

3. a computer with Adobe Reader to read pdf files and a media player like Windows Media Player, VLC or other

We can have classes using Skype by phone, but in order to receive the files I'll want to send you, a computer is necessary.

4. Basic English - enough to understand directions (Beginners who speak Spanish are okay, as I speak Spanish. All others should be on at least the pre-intermediate level).

5. A strong desire to improve your English and enough time for lessons and self-study.

I think learning a language is similar to learning to play an instrument like violin or trumpet. You must enjoy playing your instrument and be willing to spend time practicing. Imagine the difference between the musician who practices an hour a week compared to two hours a day. Would you even want to hear the unpracticed musician?

Of course you can only practice English according to how much free time your schedule allows. Be creative with time management. Begin talking to yourself in English first thing in the morning and listen to podcasts during your commute to work. Carry reading material to waiting rooms. Also, while you are waiting, look around the room and describe the environment and people there in your mind using English. Book vacations where you will meet English speakers, or join a tour in your own town where you will meet English speaking tourists.

What to do now:

Click on the tab "Schedule lessons/Buy packages" on the top of this page now to schedule a free trial. Choose "free trial lesson".

Let's discuss your goals. I'll show you some materials and resources we can use (no charge for materials).

Once you've had your free trial lesson, you may request lessons designed to help you meet your goals. Lessons are paid for at the time of booking. You can choose to buy a single class or a package of six or ten classes at a discount.

1.   To schedule the next class, click on the tab on the top of this page "Buy lessons and packages".

2.   Choose fifty minutes ($17.90) or twenty-five minutes ($8.95). You will be taken to PayPal to buy time on my calendar. If you intend to take at least one class a week, you may choose to buy a discount package. (ten fifty minute lessons for $164.50 or ten twenty-five minute lessons for $82.30) If you want to buy a package, click "Buy Package"
There are even greater discounts available for students who can commit to at least three classes per week -$16.90 per fifty minute class and $8.45 per twenty-five minute classes.

4.   Did you add my Skype name to your contacts? If not, please do it now. My Skype name is americanenglishcoach

5.   Make yourself comfortable, check your Skype audio settings and put yourself in a relaxed and positive state of mind.

6.   Be prepared to answer the question:   "What have you done to improve your English since our last class?" Making English part of your everyday life as well as taking one on one online English classes is the best way to reach fluency.

Do you want to be on the "fast track" and realize improvement in a short time?

Yes? Take at least two lessons per week and be prepared to work on your English at least six days a week. The seventh day may be needed to visit with family members who don't speak English.

Make English part of your everyday life. Change the language settings to English on your computer and phone. If we elect to use a coursebook for your studies, stay at least five pages ahead of our class so that our class becomes a review session. Listen to the audio files and read the conversations aloud.

Use English language dictionaries, not translating dictionaries most of the time. Translating dictionaries can be used for names of fruits and vegetables or if you're in the middle of a conversation and just need one word. But to really understand English words and phrases and get an idea of how to use them, then an English dictionary is critical to your success.

Look for songs with lyrics on www.youtube.com and www.lyrics.com. Listen to songs in English. Read or sing the words out loud. If you find some that you like and listen several times, the melody and rhythm will help you remember the lyrics....words you can use in future conversations. Plan to do as much listening to podcasts, watching movies and TV as your schedule allows. Search and learn jokes from the Internet. If you are really ambitious, begin keeping a journal or daily diary in English today! Read out loud.

Please do not underestimate the benefits of self-study.

Though my guidance and correction will be crucial to the improvement of your English proficiency, the deeper thought involved in self-study, listening, reading aloud and additional conversation practice are even more important!

Speaking practice should be done as much as possible. Whether it's talking with other English learners online or talking to yourself; the more speaking you do, the better speaker you will be! Simple, right?

You might be saying to yourself: "Talk to myself in English?" Yes, I'm not kidding! This will help you think in English! Speak your thoughts aloud. Begin your day saying "Good morning" to yourself. Tell yourself what is on the agenda for the day. Talk about what you did yesterday and what you are going to do tomorrow. Talk about why you need to improve your English and what you hope to achieve in the future!