IELTS/TOEFL-Tutor mit mehr als 10-jähriger Erfahrung. Außerdem 10-jährige Erfahrung als SAT-Lehrer (sowohl verbal als auch mathematisch).

Mehr über Alex erfahren

• Wie kommt es, dass Du diese Sprache fließend sprichst? Hängt dies mit Deiner Herkunft zusammen oder hat einst ein/e Lehrer/in die Leidenschaft dafür in Dir geweckt?

  I started learning English basics when I was 4 or 5, like numbers, colors, and basic vocabulary. When I turned 10 my parents hired a private tutor. Can't say it was exactly she who inspired me, but her systematic approach gave me an indispensable foundation - structure, grammar, and understanding of how the language works. Later on, I was able to improve my English at a Russian university as an engineer after this degree. The most interesting and valuable, however, started with my first work which I was able to successfully combine with my university studies. It was a job at an IT company that specialized in distributing software products, and it was my job to communicate with vendors. I will never forget how my hands were shaking when I first approached an English-speaking person to discuss some work-related matters. This is when I understood how important this language is and that I have to be capable of mastering it. That's what I did. I was working for different international companies in IT for 10 years, and I remember I was always on business trips. Meanwhile, I was able to live in Germany, England, and even India and Bangladesh. I was also able to get certified in English proficiency and even got a degree in psychology at that time. Finally, I realized that English is my passion and utilized all my knowledge and skills to change a profession and become an English teacher. I've passed a 15-year long way as a teacher to get where I'm now, from teaching small kids to tutioning of adults and preparing for IELTS and TOEFL, as well as the American SAT (also, having perfect references from all my students).

• Nenne uns eine Persönlichkeit, egal ob lebend, historisch oder fiktiv, die für Dich diese Kultur am besten repräsentiert!

  For me, it's definitely J.R.R.Tolkien. It's not just his books that I adored in my teenage years and not only the fact that he was a professional linguist who was able to create a dozen of new languages to make his imaginary universe even more realistic and inspiring. It is the fact of how sophisticated his English language is in his art and how useful it proved to me in learning English.

• Gibt es in der Sprache, die Du unterrichtest, ein Wort, einen Ausdruck, eine Tradition oder eine typische Verhaltensweise, die Dich ganz besonders beeindruckt oder amüsiert?

  Might sound a little bit nasty, but my favorite expression in English is "Don't touch my air". It refers to a situation when you invite someone to your place and don't want them to put off their shoes. In my opinion, it is kind of funny, but what's more - it precisely characterizes British culture.

• Warum ist es Deiner Meinung nach so wichtig, diese Sprache zu beherrschen?

  There's no doubt English is extremely important as an international language. No matter which country you're going to visit or even live in, you'll always be able to get by having some English skills. And of course, this language is totally irreplaceable if one wants to make a career at a large company because all communications will be in English. Last but not least is getting a degree in another country, which a lot of students desire - most courses will be in English as well.

• Worin liegt die besondere Schwierigkeit, wenn es darum geht, diese Sprache zu lernen bzw. warum lohnt es sich ganz besonders?

  I believe that there are 2 major difficulties for foreign learners when it comes to English. The first one is mastering the structure of the language: how sentences are built and how different parts of speech are formed. Without understanding how it works and learning to use this knowledge, no decent communication in English is possible. The second one is connected speech which is like singing when every following word floats out from the previous one when it might be challenging to understand where a particular word finishes and another one starts. This is the major issue for those lower than the intermediate level, and once again, without being able to utilize the connected speech in both listening and speaking, it's impossible to communicate fluently.

• Gibt es im Zusammenhang mit dieser Sprache eine Anekdote aus Deinem Berufsleben oder Deiner Schulzeit, von der Du uns erzählen möchtest?

  Not sure that the word 'Anekdote' has the same meanings in English and German. In English, it's just some personal story, but I believe that in German it has some connotation relating to the fun. I guess for me, it's a story, be it real or fictional, about Hemingway. They say he won a bet by writing this six-word story: "For sale: baby shoes. Never worn". No matter how desperately depressing the story might sound, it embraces the genius of both the author and typical English sarcasm.

• Hilf uns, Dich ein wenig besser kennenzulernen, und erzähle uns ein wenig mehr über Deine bisherigen Reisen und/oder Auslandsaufenthalte.

  I have been traveling around the globe all my life. And by saying traveling I don't mean just spending a beach holiday somewhere - I mean I was on business trips almost all my career having visited almost all of Europe and Asia. During that time I lived in the UK, Germany, and even Bangladesh for extensive periods of time. And since I started teaching English, I left Russia almost instantly. Starting from that time, I lived in both north and south of Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Now, I've been living in Turkey for 3.5 years already.

• Kurz und knapp: Was macht aus Dir einen Superprof?

  I'm strongly convinced that the thing which makes me a superprofessional is that I don't just sell my time as a tutor - I clearly understand what my clients want and sell them a solution to their problems.