Paul Z Tutor Interview

Paul ポール Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Paul, would you like to give us a quick self-introduction?: A. Hi my name is Paul. I am from Slovakia but I spent a big portion of my life in the English-speaking countries. I am 36 years old (or I should say 36 years young :) and married to a fantastic woman called Sesil. Additionally, the year 2015 will always be special to me because my daughter Petra was born. Apart from my family, it is English teaching that fulfills me. Teaching English is my profession, my hobby and my passion.
Q. Tell us something about Slovakia.: A. Slovakia is a small and relatively unknown country, which in the business world is known for producing cars. For example, Volkswagen, Hyundai and soon Jaguar have their productions here. On the other hand, Slovakia is called the roof of Europe because many rivers run from our high mountains to the rest of Europe.
Q. Please tell us about your hometown.: A. My hometown is called Bardejov and it is UNESCO World Heritage site. It used to be a king´s town where and busy trade went through it. The town is not too big or not too small by European standards. That is good for families because the town is safe and everything is nearby (everything except for nice Sushi/sashimi restaurants because we do not have any sea).
Q. I learned from your profile that you stayed in Japan. How was your experience.: A. Yes, when I was 20, I went to Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku. It was an eye-opening experience because everything was new to me. I was fascinated by the Japanese people, language, food, festivals, nature and so on. In Japan it felt like I was a child again, curiously exploring the world.
Q. How do you spend your days off? Is there anything you are into right now?: A. Well, right now I am enjoying being a father. It means employing all my natural instincts to help my wife raise our little daughter. I want my daughter to be bilingual so I speak to her only in English.Moreover, I sing and play guitar for her and she is my favorite audience also because she does not say “stop playing dad, you don´t play and sing that well.”
Q. Please tell us about the main feature of your lessons.: A. I have three kinds of lessons. The first one is a conversational freetalk lesson where the student and I get to know each other. In the first fifteen minutes I learn what level is the student at and during that time the student learns whether he or she is comfortable with me. With some students I continue in this purely conversational method. My second type of classes is Easy speeches. I am a certified public speaker and I strongly believe that a student can learn English faster through these prepared Easy speeches. Most of my students who take this class draft their speech, write down a few notes, and then speak for about 7 minutes about the topic they chose. I also give them an option just to read the speech to me. My students usually talk about what is close to their hearts- like their hobby, job, and other interests. The good thing is that the student talks for about 70 percent of the time. The remaining 30 percent I give the student my evaluation, which focuses on what the student has done well in the speech. The third type of class is my CV/resume writing class and preparation for the job/MBA interviews. With the CV/resume writing the student sends me their resume beforehand and then I correct it before the lesson while discussing the changes during the lesson. With my preparation for the interviews class, I design mock interviews and then I give my feedback to the student.
Q. Finally, would you like to leave a message for our students.: A. Here is one final short story. When I was only five years old I went on my first vacation abroad and I made a shocking discovery: “Wow, not everyone in the world speaks the Slovak language:) I realized this fact during my first vacation when I met a Danish boy who seemed very friendly. We became friends even though we did not speak a common language. However with time, my passion for meeting people from different cultures grew and with English as a common language my friendships grew stronger. For example in Singapore, my best friend was a Kenyan! What I want to say is that you can learn English through creating friendships and thus think of us at Cafetalk as your potential friends. English is great because it connects people, so enjoy connecting with people from all over the world. Finally, I want to thank all the students that I have connected with through Cafetalk.