Hi, my name is Andy. I'm a native English speaker from sunny southern California, though I live in New York. I've been a "Conversational English Tutor" -- which basically means that I help people improve their English through conversation that includes corrections and suggestions -- for around 7 years.
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Services
Conversational English Lessons
First and foremost, I take pride in the fact that my lessons feel more like friendly conversations than traditional classroom-based lessons, except that I provide corrections and suggestions.
My lessons are usually sixty (60) minutes in duration and are conducted online, via Skype (though there are other options, if necessary), and I take contemporaneous notes during every single lesson that I provide to my students. Here is a sample of my notes.
5 Lessons
- Ideal for casual learners who don't have a lot of time to practice, but want to identify their mistakes and gain some confidence.
- For casual learners, I recommend at least one (1) lesson per week. Otherwise, significant improvement is unlikely.
$110
10 Lessons
- Ideal for those who are willing and able to put some time into studying English and want to see moderate improvement.
- In my experience, two (2) lessons per week is the minimum for those who want to improve.
$220 $200
20 Lessons
- Ideal for serious learners who are committed to fixing their grammatical mistakes, reducing their accent, and/or sounding more natural.
- The students I see three (3), or more, times per week are hands-down the ones who make the most progress.
$440 $360
Copy Editing
There are several different types and levels of copy editing based on the amount of work required. The services I offer are proofreading, line editing, and rewriting, mainly for print media and translations.
The rates listed below are *bate rates,* which is to say that the final price depends upon the following:
- the complexity of the subject matter (e.g., a kid's book, a university essay, medical text, etc.);
- the length of the text (e.g., a CV, a website, a short story, a book, etc.);
- the date it is required by, if applicable.
Here is some additional important information:
- there is a minimum fee of €18;
- copy that was translated into English by a non-native speaker or online translator (e.g. Google Translate) will most likely require the "Rewriting" level of copy editing (see below for more info).
For a quote, click the "Request Quote" button and submit your document.
Proofreading
- Minor corrections such as punctuation, tense, subject-verb agreement, and sentence structure that require minimal structural changes.
- Generally requires little-to-no additional communication with the author(s).
- Generally requires only one pass.
Base Rate: €0.02/word
Line Editing
- Minor proofreading corrections, PLUS;
- Moderate corrections such as clarity, tonality, accuracy, consistency, etc., that require a fair amount of structural changes.
- Generally requires some additional communication with the author(s).
- Generally requires one pass, and potentially a partial second pass.
Base Rate: €0.04/word
Rewriting
- Minor proofreading corrections, PLUS;
- Moderate line editing corrections, PLUS;
- Major corrections such as flow, logic, and syntax that require the text to be mostly or entirely rewritten.
- Generally requires extensive additional communication with the author(s).
- Generally requires at least two passes, possibly even a third.
Base Rate: €0.8/word
About
In 2014, I sold everything to travel and spent the following six years bouncing around merrymaking in the US, South America, and Europe.
Along the way, I realized that nearly everyone I met said they had been wanting to improve their English. Many even knew a native English speaker(s) who didn't offer corrections.
Shortly thereafter, I started offering conversational English lessons that feel more like friendly conversations. Now, a few years later, I've given nearly 5,000 hours of lessons!
Oh, and I dabble in photography and travel blogging.
Testimonials
Over the years, several of my students have written testimonials for me. Some are in English and other are in their native language. Below are snippets from three of them and the rest can be seen here.
Yulian
Bulgaria
"I've been with Andy for 8 months now. Three times a week, 1.5h lessons. Right now we have lessons everyday and I can say that that's the most well spent money ever!!!"
To see the full testimonial, click here.
Misha
Netherlands
"His lessons don't feel like 'lessons,' by the way. They feel more like conversations you have with a friend. We talked a lot about personal interests, politics, news, and whatever came to mind."
To see the full testimonial, click here.
Elvira
Ukraine
"He is patient, with a good sense of humour. We spoke on various topics, discussed articles and movies. For me personally, 'minutes' after every lesson are another great advantage, where all mistakes, corrections, pronunciation and new words were recorded."
To see the full testimonial, click here.
FAQs
Where do lessons take place?
Generally, lessons take place online, via Skype. I'm open to using other video platforms, if necessary, but Skype is my preference.
If you prefer in-person lessons, you can come to my location (Grigorescu, in Cluj-Napoca). Contact me for more information.
Note: I'm from California in the US, but I live in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in the GMT+2 time zone.
Do you offer group lessons?
No, I don't. While group lessons are often cheaper, they are also less effective. I prefer one-on-one lessons because they allow me to focus on the specific needs and goals of each student.
Who do you help?
My focus is adults who already speak English at a conversational (intermediate) level, more or less, but want to improve. This is because if your level is less than intermediate, it will likely be difficult for us to communicate.
One of my only requirements is that you are *self-motivated* to speak/converse. Think of it this way: when you meet up with your friends, do you make them give you topics to discuss? No, of course you don't. You just start talking.
For that reason, the tone of my lessons is more like a conversation than a regular English class. So, please be prepared to keep up your end of the conversation. If you do, we'll never run out of things to talk about, I promise!
What can you help me with?
My specialities are as follows:
Grammar Correction (e.g. tenses/aspects, syntax, prepositions, articles, etc.)
Pronunciation Correction (e.g. explicit mispronunciations)
Accent Reduction (e.g. native language accent, British English versus American English, connected speech, etc.)
Vocabulary Expansion (e.g. common everyday words, idioms, expressions, phrasal verbs, etc.)
What is the difference between "accent reduction" and "pronunciation correction"?
Accent reduction is the reduction or elimination of one's native accent.
One example of this is if someone is from, say, Switzerland and they know they incorrectly pronounce the word "the" (phonetically, it should sound like [ thuh ] or [ thee ]) as [ zuh ] or [ zee ], respectively, and simply want to get better at the [ th ] sound.
A more extreme example is if someone is from, say, Russia and they want to sound exactly like an American or Brit and have no trace of their Russian accent when they speak English.
Note: First, entirely eliminating an accent is very difficult and time-consuming because, depending on the thickness of your native accent, you might have to change how you pronounce almost everything you say.
Second, unless you do something that REQUIRES a perfect American or British accent (e.g. acting) it makes more sense to spend time practicing connected speech and phrasal verbs, which are crucial if you want to sound natural.
Pronunciation correction is the correction of explicit mispronunciations.
For example, if someone pronounces the word "sea" (phonetically, it should sound like [ see ]) as [ see-uh ], that is explicitly incorrect. In other words, it's not an accent-based mispronunciation.
What methods and materials do you use?
How many lessons do I need to take in order to improve?
The truth is that there is no magic number of lessons or hours. Simply put, everyone's goals and needs are different so there is not, and indeed cannot be, a one-size-fits-all answer.
If you truly want to improve, there's a simple rule that applies to learning anything, whether it's a language, a sport, or how to juggle flaming knives: the more you practice the better you'll get.
What is your policy on cancellations, rescheduling, and late arrivals?
Late Cancellations & Rescheduling
If you miss your lesson entirely, are more than 10 minutes late, or cancel or change your appointment with less than 24 hours notice, you will be charged 100% of the price of the lesson.
Late Arrivals
If you notify me in advance that you will be late, I will wait for you for a maximum of 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you will be charged 100% of the price of the lesson.
If you do not notify me in advance that you will be late, I will wait for you for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you will be charged 100% of the price of the lesson.
"Three Strikes"
If I have to charge you in full three (3) times for any of the above instances, I reserve the right to cancel all remaining lessons, without a refund, and to decline service in the future. Please respect my time.
Emergencies
I understand that sometimes life gets in the way of our plans. In the event of an emergency, please let me know and we can discuss making an exception to any of the rules above.
If I purchase lessons, do they expire?
Technically, there is no set expiration date. However, if a student fails to respond to multiple messages or otherwise disappears thereby leaving me unsure as to whether they plan to continue taking lessons, I reserve the right to cancel and charge them for any remaining lessons.
All I ask is for the courtesy of letting me know what's going on. If you want or need to stop or take a break, let me know and we can work something out.