Need to Focus on Something?
We provide general English lessons, but here are some samples of specific lessons which we do. Please suggest your own lesson ideas!
Fees are generally $30 per hour, but can be lower if you choose a package deal of five lessons. You can also take lessons with me through italki.com. Here are my italki profile and schedule.
Lesson: How to Overcome English Phone Phobia
Do you get very nervous or “tongue-tied” when you have to make or answer a phone call in English for work? Or are you scared to make a doctor’s appointment by phone? Sometimes I get nervous making phone calls, believe it or not, and I’m a native speaker. In this lesson, we’ll figure out the problem. Is it:
- Understanding the speaker on the phone?
- Knowing how to respond?
- Worrying about pronunciation mistakes?
- Not having enough vocabulary to answer the speaker’s questions?
- Being unsure about how to start or end the conversation?
Whatever you have trouble with, we’ll work together to figure it out and practice your English so you gain a lot more confidence in making and receiving calls.
This is usually a two-session lesson, but it can be tailored to your individual needs.
_______________________________________________________________________
Lesson: “Tell Me Something About Yourself”
It’s the most common question and often the most scary to language learners: “Please describe yourself.” In this brief lesson, you’ll learn how to:
- Describe yourself adequately in one sentence for a job interview.
- Talk about yourself for the oral part of English-language examinations, such as the IELTS or the TOEFL.
- Come up with good points about your character, skills, education and experience that will impress whoever is asking you the question.
- Know when to stop talking about yourself--telling too much is as bad as not telling enough.
At the end of this lesson, you’ll stop dreading the “describe-yourself’ question and start looking forward to it!
_______________________________________________________________________
Lesson: How to be A Good Listener in English
There’s more to a conversation than just smiling or nodding your head. The key to really understanding the person you’re speaking to is to be an active listener.
- Learn how to use follow-up questions to get more information from an English speaker so you can continue the conversation much more easily.
- Learn what to say to show you’ve understood what the speaker has said to you.
- Learn when and how to sympathize--and when to empathize.
After this lesson, you’ll feel more comfortable about taking part in conversations. You’ll start using English to speak; not just speaking to use English.
_______________________________________________________________________
Lesson: The Monday Morning News
Monday is a great day to take this course because we take a look at the big Sunday issues of some of the best English-language newspapers--The London Times, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post (both of which I’ve written for), among several others. Here’s what you’ll get out of this lesson:
- Learn to comprehend, discuss and enjoy international newspapers in English.
- Pick up news-related and general vocabulary. In fact, you can select your own vocabulary to learn from the article(s) you choose.
- Learn how to skim and scan news and feature articles.
- Find--and then practice--various grammar structures in the paper.
- Practice writing direct and indirect quotes.
Best of all: the newspaper lesson is a relaxing activity for a Monday morning (or any other time of week we choose together).
_______________________________________________________________________
Lesson: How to Write Your First Article in English
Learn to comprehend and discuss "How-To" articles, one of the most common types of published articles in English and one of the most easiest to write. An example is "How to Bake Great German Bread" or "How to Survive the Traffic in Rome."
We begin by analyzing the parts and functions of a "How-To" article. I provide a number of samples for you to choose from. After reading and discussing a couple, you will then select a topic of your choice to write about in the form of a "How-To” article.
I will guide you through the whole process--from picking the topic to formatting the article and editing/proofreading the final draft. I will help you with vocabulary, expressions, grammar and punctuation. In the end, you'll have an article that will be suitable for publication online.
_______________________________________________________________________
Lesson: Don't Be Afraid of the Past Perfect
Many EFL students in my classes had been afraid of recognizing or using the past perfect tense until I showed them how useful it is in expressing themselves. In this brief course, I'll help you familiarize yourself with the past perfect tense (two events or actions concluded in the past) and show you how to use it. You'll also see the difference between the present perfect and the past perfect. In fact, at the end of this class, I bet you'll actually like using the past perfect.
_______________________________________________________________________
We can arrange for face-to-face meetings to work on your writing or speaking through Skype or email. Please contact Ilene Springer at [email protected]
"Ilene is literally teaching you the REAL THING. She is imparting the knowledge you need for real conversations with native speakers. The well known (mostly unnecessary) textbook exercises do not play a big role in her lessons...no, much better, she is going interactive: iPad, YouTube, Internet, newspapers, magazines or even a copy of her health insurance contract are used by her to keep the lessons alive and to give you very interesting information about valuable facts from the US or other countries. Every lesson is exciting because her methods are sometimes unconventional, but you will learn a lot useful things and expressions for daily life and the daily use of the English language."
Steven Klötzer, 26, Dipl- Verwaltungswirt (FH)
Personalsachbearbeiter (Executive Officer for Human Resources)
Wiesbaden, Germany
** Disclaimer: Chocolate English eu is not a language school, does not provide any official English-language test preparation or any official certifications.
***Copyright: All photos and lesson material--unless otherwise indicated--are property of Ilene Springer and cannot be reproduced without written permission from the author.
About the Author and Teacher
Ilene Springer is:
- The first ESL teacher for McDonald's in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- A native-English speaker from the U.S., with an understandable American accent, but also well versed in British English.
- The recipient of the internationally recognized CELTA, issued by Cambridge University, England.
- A teacher of English (American and British) in language schools in Malta from 2009-2014.
- A writer for major American publications including Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, The Boston Globe, among others.
- Author of The Diary of an American Expatriate, published by AUK in London, and available on hundreds of sites, including Amazon.com.
Please contact Ilene Springer at [email protected]