ACT Writing and ACT Reading tutor

About Marie

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. - Mark Van Doren

Hello and thank you for considering me! I am a University of Cambridge CELTA-certified English/ESL teacher, a magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University, and a dedicated educator. I have tutored and taught adults, youth and children in private lessons, the public school system and through nonprofit educational organizations for more than ten years.

As a teacher, I have three important priorities: 1) to help students to improve their English (or Spanish) communication and comprehension skills, 2) to build their self-confidence in speaking, reading and writing, and 3) most importantly, to enjoy learning. I care deeply about my students' interests and goals, and that guides what and how we study together. I believe that learning should be interesting, challenging and fun, and I want my students to love learning as much as I love teaching.

I travel throughout San Francisco and the Peninsula and also offer classes at a discounted rate in Pacifica.

As I get to know a student's learning style and personality, I see how each student learns best and I adapt my teaching style to find the best fit for each student. I'm a flexible and creative tutor, and I enjoy finding the most effective teaching methods for each of my students.

I offer a free one-hour consultation meeting, so I can learn more about potential students and they can learn more about me before deciding to study with me.

As a professionally trained ESL teacher, I can teach students all aspects of the English language including speaking, conversation and public presentation, reading and listening comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, writing, English literature, and TOEFL test preparation. Please read my subject descriptions for more information on how I can help students in each area.

I am an experienced English Language Arts teacher and am familiar with the California State/Common Core Language Arts Standards. I have taught all aspects of English Language Arts, with a special emphasis on reading comprehension and academic and creative writing. I also teach phonics, word decoding skills and fluency-building techniques for beginning and struggling readers. I have a specialty in the area of academic intervention: supporting students to learn and achieve their educational goals by helping them to discover their preferred learning styles and to effectively utilize learning strategies based on those learning styles. I believe that all students should have the joy of understanding what they read and the satisfaction of expressing their ideas clearly and compellingly in writing.

I have helped scholars and students, from Stanford and UCSF PhD and post-doctoral scholars, to college, high school, and elementary school students, improve their ability to communicate their ideas, insights and creativity in both writing and public presentation. I have edited academic papers, grant proposals and articles for publication and helped students prepare presentations in the fields of Medicine, Biotechnology, Environmental Science, Psychology, English Literature, Spanish, and Business and Nonprofit Marketing. I especially enjoy helping non-native speakers of English communicate complex ideas in writing and speech.

I teach SAT, ACT, CBEST, and TOEFL test preparation with a special emphasis on English, reading comprehension, writing and critical thinking skills. These tests measure not just skills and knowledge but test-taking ability, so I help students to develop effective test-taking strategies that build on their strengths and improve their weaknesses.

I teach and tutor Spanish, and I am the editor of a Spanish textbook published by Internacional del Español in Ecuador. I can help students understand the crucial differences and intriguing similarities between Spanish and English. I teach Spanish speaking, reading, and writing.

I have more than ten years of teaching experience with children, youth and adults. I am patient, friendly, responsible and dedicated to my students' educational progress and enjoyment of learning.

I graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University in 1991, completed advanced level Spanish studies at Academia Latinoamericana de Español in Ecuador in 2011 and earned my University of Cambridge CELTA ESL teaching certificate (TESOL) in 2012 at St. Giles International. I have lived, studied, volunteered and traveled in North and South America, Asia and Europe. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to offering you a free consultation to learn more about tutoring with me.