Anna V.
Private tutor in Mountain View, CA
Education
University of British Columbia (2016 - ongoing) PhD in Language and Literacy Education University of Arizona (2013 - 2015) MA in Russian with a focus on language acquisition and teaching. + Certificate in College Teaching National Aerospace University "KhAI" (Ukraine, Kharkiv) (2008 - 2013) MA in Applied Linguistics with a focus on translation and language teaching
Experience
Currently I am doing my PhD in Language and Literacy Education. I specialize in personalized instruction, place-based teaching of foreign and native languages. I am teaching a course on Geography, Modernity and Globalization for international students where a big portion of instruction is carried out through field trips and guided tours through parts of Vancouver, visits of museums and other places of interest. During these visits my students encounter manifestations of the concepts studied in class and learn them through experience. For example, during a walking tour through an older part of the city they can learn a concept of gentrification by taking notes of contemporary looking, higher-priced, middle-class oriented venues emerging among the more traditional, cheaper-priced, local community oriented ones. Later students can recall the images they saw during the tour, analyze the feelings and thoughts they had when they saw them, and thus arrive to their own interpretations of the concepts they were encouraged to pay attention to. In such a way my students learn the vocabulary of Human Geography that they can later apply in class when writing research papers. This is how, I believe, the vocabulary is learned best. Learning language through the interaction with it in accessible locations provides more opportunities for learners to connect the new information to the previously learned one by engaging a wider range of sensors and perceptions and thus to learn the concepts deeper. When focusing on several concepts during a walk in a physical environment, a person relies on seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, feeling with their body, experiencing comfort or discomfort in this environment to familiarize themselves with and to interpret the concept. Engaging hearing, spatial, olfactory, and tactile information for perception of phenomena allows for a richer interpretation as compared to just visual (or visual and audio) allowed for by the sources and materials traditionally used in classes (texts, audios, and videos) to explain concepts. Such instruction has great results for the learning of cultural concepts that allow to build the cultural basis of the language and to make further connections with information and language describing it. Most of the big cities have locations where language or cultural artifacts associated with a culture you are interested in are produced, used, and can be experienced. Immigrants bring with them and preserve elements of their culture that they find most valuable. These are the things that make their culture different. By understanding the value of these things and the cultural practices associated with them you may learn so much about the culture you are interested in by also learning the language at the same time! For instance, you are interested in learning Russian. You can start by going to your local Russian store and getting familiar with the assortment of goods there and reflecting on it. Where is this store located? What does its location say about your local Russian diaspora? What kinds of goods are sold there? What can you infer about your local Russian diaspora based on the assortment of goods? What are traditional Russian preferences in food? Why are so many foods pickled? What does the traditional diet say about the community values? Have Russians traditionally preferred to make a lot of preserves? What for? Do you think including a lot of pickled items is a matter of taste or a result emerging from a combination of conditions? What are the qualities these types of foods are valued for? What does it tell about the geographic, economic and political conditions of the place where it originated? Could it mean that people used to not have a year round access to the food they needed? Were there food shortages in the stores? Where? Why? Were employment conditions unstable? Now try something. Why would people eat it on a regular basis voluntarily? What can you infer about their customs? How could they come to like what they like?.. There is so much you can talk about in a pickle! And in talking about it you can activate all your knowledge and vocabulary associated with Russian culture, history, and politics. You probably already have (or can easily find on the Internet) factual knowledge connected with Russian culture. Connecting the facts into a coherent system is a task that requires guidance. You can start this process by interpreting the cultural artifacts around you and by eventually using them to navigate through the cultural space on your own. I have obtained a Certificate in College Teaching from the University of Arizona. In the course of getting this certificate I took general teaching classes, classes on learner-centered teaching and instructional practicums. I also took a Technology in Language teaching class. I am currently in the process of obtaining a certificate in distance language teaching from STARTALK. I have taught beginner and intermediate level Russian on the University level. I taught 7 classes, 3 of them were intensive courses. During my studies at the U of A I also tutored two beginner level students of Russian. Together with another graduate student from my department I organized and led Russian speaking club for intermediate and advanced learners of Russian. During the first year of my Master's program I have developed a multilanguage community on a Russian social media site vk.com connecting English speaking learners of Russian from the U of A with Russian speaking learners of English from the National Aerospace University in Ukraine. Back in Ukraine I was teaching an English course for Engineering students at the NAU "KhAI". I was also tutoring 8 students with different proficiency levels. Prior to that I was working as a freelance translator in aircraft engineering. I have experience working with individual students as well as with groups of students of different ages. I am tying curriculum to my students' needs. Based on your interests and goals in learning Russian it can be a Russian for specific purposes course (Russian for traveling, business Russian, technical Russian, etc.). Components of the course may also vary according to your preferences; if you choose so, our classes can be culture or literature loaded, based on authentic or on specifically designed learning materials.
Availability
Any day at any time
Can Meet
Up to 5 minutes away for no additional charge, Up to 15 minutes away for no additional charge
Hobbies
My research interests at the University of Arizona included Russian literature. I also wrote my Master's thesis on teaching Russian through fairy tales. If desired by students I can incorporate contemporary and classic Russian literary pieces to instruction. I read a lot myself, took several literature courses and will be glad to familiarize my students with Russian literature. I constantly research teaching-related materials and have recently got interested in technology-mediated, Internet-based and distance learning so these components can be integrated to my students' classes too. In the free time I enjoy reading, hiking, riding bikes, jogging, doing yoga, cooking, watching movies and many other things)
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