Gideon

Gideon Tutor Interview

Q. Hi, Gideon Aggrey! please introduce yourself!

A. Hello good people of Cafetalk community I am Gideon from Ghana, currently residing in Italy with my family. I am a Christian and most of my time aside my work is spent doing Church work and teaching the Word of God to others and etc. I have been teaching since 1993, in Ghana, South Africa and here in Italy. My teaching experience in Italy has been on private bases. Both online and the traditional method. I really love imparting my knowledge to others as well as working with people of different cultures and backgrounds.

Q. I want to know where you live. Could you please tell us about your current city?

A. I live with my family in a northern Italian town called Oleggio Castello (NO) in the Piedmonte Region. Oleggio Castello is a very small place with just a Pre and Primary school. The population is a little over 2000 and it’s a major industrial location for metal mechanic work. The inhabitants here normally visit Largo Maggiore (Lake Maggiore) and a giant statue San Carlo measuring 3188cm in height in Arona a nearby tourist city mostly during summer alongside other tourists from elsewhere.

Q. How do you spend your days off? Is there anything you’ve gotten into lately?

A. I mostly spend my days off with my family visiting friends and places of interest. Yes, recently my long time prayer was answered in August 2016. That is when I joined Cafetalk as one of the tutors.

Q. Have you studied a foreign language before? Do you think it’s hard to adapt to a different culture without learning its language?

A. In South Africa I studied Zulu. They have 11 official languages, therefore English alone is not enough if really you want to adapt to their system. It is the same everywhere it wasn’t easy when I started learning Italian. The answer to the question “Do you think it’s hard to adapt to a different culture without learning its language?” The most important thing is to get yourself involve in all they do as people, meaning understanding the culture then the language will be easier for you.

Q. Please tell us about the main feature of your lessons.

A. We all know that language acquisition has four dimensions, namely reading, writing, listening and speaking. I personally believe that to learn a language one must practice all the time. Therefore apart from my normal grammar, every day English and so on, I try to create lessons that will stimulate students to be curious to talk. For instance I have a lesson labelled “My South Africa” In the introduction I will state 1 woman = 11 Cows. With this here the student will definitely ask a question. And normally one question leads to the other. Anyway “My South Africa” is about marriage, customary rites; the process a young man will have to follow to get married and some other peculiar culture in the land.

Q. What are you most careful of when you teach your students?

A. When I am teaching I always seek to know whether I talk fast or not. And in every step of the way I want to make sure the student understands. And normally I get it from their response. I make sure students see the 45 minutes to be like 20 minutes. That is to say that they enjoy the lessons very well

Q. Finally, would you like to leave a message for our students?

A. Dear student I am here as “African Ambassador” in Cafetalk to assist you in your journey of English language acquisition. With me as your tutor you have no problem. I send free weekly lessons to my students to help them in their studies. Once you request your first lesson you become part of the family. Most of the time I offer good discounts. Request a lesson and find out yourself. Thank you very much.

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Gideon

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