Xavier

Certified Tutor

I started teaching in my junior year of high school where I was a part of the Virginia's Teachers for Tomorrow program. With this program, I taught Spanish and French to Middle School students. I was also sort of a teacher's aid when it came to helping students in my mixed AP German class assisting the other students who were taking German I. World languages are my fort and I enjoy helping others to understand them better.

Since my teaching revolves around language learning, my teaching philosophy focuses on how to achieve fluency. There are several skills that involve language learning which include speaking, writing, reading, grammar, vocabulary, and listening. Everyone is quick to say that speaking is the most important and the only skill you will need to have. However, I have been in many German, Spanish, and French classes and I always see a pattern. The pattern is that students are able to say any sentence in a language, but have difficulty responding to what a native speaker says. This is why I believe that listening is the most important skill in acquiring fluency. A conversation dies if you are not able to understand what was said to you.