- Name: Yvan R
- Los Angeles Classes: English Second Language, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
- Locations: Online
- About: I am a proud advocate of multiculturality. My ancestry and family history have strong intercultural roots (French, Spanish, Italian and Mexican). I remember my grandparents reading me different stories in three different languages and different places: French, Spanish and Italian. The first words I heard were in French from my mom, but my dad always insisted on teaching me both Spanish and Italian to somehow rival my mom culturally, so I did not lose track of my other backgrounds. When I was only 9 months old, my parents and I moved to France. I grew up in a beautiful city, the capital of France's Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region: Lyon. My dad’s job involved moving throughout France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy. Moving to northwestern Mexico (Chihuahua and Baja California) because my father inherited a ranch and a vineyard, did not represent a cultural shock but meeting instead the other part of me I was never able to discover while in Europe. I, thus, embrace cultural diversity, and would always love to bridge cultures through my job as a language tutor along with my mission as an internationalist whose flag is diversity, inclusion, and tolerance. So far, I have two majors: International Relations and French Language and Culture. Also, I am close to graduating with a BA in Italian Teaching, and one more in English Language Teaching. I simultaneously studied two of them and started college at age 16. I am currently writing the thesis of a master’s degree in International Cooperation at the University of Bologna, ranked oldest in the Western hemisphere, among the most prestigious in the world. I began tutoring French, Italian, Spanish and ESL when I was 16 years old. I have taught all these languages for about nine years, and I do not feel like stopping ever in my life. Every time I teach them, I become a cultural ambassador of the countries where they are spoken, which is a huge amount of land in the world. I love spending time surfing, jogging, hiking and occasionally trekking. I also enjoy cooking, listening to music and walking my three beautiful dogs by the beach. I would not tag myself in terms of leisure activities, as I could go from playing some video games, to watching a nice movie while having ice cream, or spending a Saturday rainy afternoon with friends at an art gallery or a music concert. I do not believe in a single teaching methodology. As a recent graduate of a BA in French language, I learned that combining teaching techniques and methodologies results in a more personalized teaching style, always aiming to tailor my teaching to the needs of my students. Notwithstanding, the communicative approach is a solid base of my practice. I was a language learner too. When I was learning English and German in Europe I really appreciated when I had a teacher who made me speak. So, I’ll make you speak. Finally, I highly recommend using “Alter Ego” and “Tendances” for French, “Chiaro” and “Caffè Italia” for Italian, “Aula Internacional”, “Nuevo Español en Marcha”, and “Gramática de Uso del Español” for Spanish and “Top Notch” for English. I take language tutoring seriously.
