“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”
— Derived from Xun Kuang, Confucian Philosopher
English Language Coaching
Communication is the inherent currency of our world. It has facilitated the emergence of governments, religions, technologies, sciences, and other fundamental systems of civilization. Today —and throughout history— the stronger one’s ability to communicate outside his immediate circle, the richer he is in opportunities, resources, and perspective.
With this core belief, I’ve continually sought chances to teach English, which outranks Mandarin Chinese as the most spoken language worldwide. My hope is that a tight grasp of English, whether written or oral, will correspond with an improved quality of life for my students and produce a multiplicative effect.
I’ve come to learn through my ventures into English coaching that communication is splintered by locale and dependent on access to education. These are key drivers of my interest in bridging regional gaps and minimizing barriers to access.
Role: Tutor at the Knight Writing Institute
Dates: October 2016 to December 2018
Role: English Program 1-on-1 Tutor
Dates: July 2020 to Present
Role: College Application Essay Coach
Dates: September 2020 to Present
John S.Knight Institute
for Writing in the Disciplines
While studying at Cornell University, I took on a part-time job as a Writing Tutor with the Knight Writing Institute. Here, I collaborated with students of all ages, across all of Cornell’s departments, ranging from Engineering to Human Ecology.
A typical tutoring session involved a student visiting the Knight Writing Institute with a writing prompt from a course and either an intermediate or near-final paper, in search of guidance on brainstorming, organization, or revision.
Key Learnings:
My role is that of a counselor, not an editor. Writers ultimately control the fates of their papers, no matter my intentions.
Be careful not to “fix” a piece of writing on behalf of the original student-writer.
Exercise a tutoring philosophy of empowerment. Encourage students to challenge and engage with their pieces, emphasizing holistic review and reflection before focusing on specific sections or grammar.
Over 2 years, I built familiarity with writing styles suited to high academic discourse, ESL writers, writers with disabilities, and situations with difficult subject matter. My time at Knight Writing Institute imparted to me the confidence and training necessary to pursue English tutoring with Paper Airplanes and The Opportunity Network.
Paper Airplanes
A little over a year into my career at Blackstone, I felt professionally steady. So, I searched for avenues to teach English and reconnect with an academic audience. Soon, I discovered Paper Airplanes, a nonprofit organization that pairs together aspiring English-learners afflicted with regional conflict and virtual mentors fluent in the language.
Here began lifelong friendships and my most rewarding tutoring experiences to date. Through a matching system that optimized for availability and student skill level, I was paired with Mounira Haidar, a full-time Accounting professional and part-time student based in Syria, and later with Zia Yazdani, a translator employed by ITM to support the Asylum Services of Greece.
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At the start of our weekly sessions over Google Meet, Mounira had basic proficiency in English but strived to further improve her grammar and speaking fluency. She had placed into the Upper Intermediate bucket (out of 4 possible options: Beginner, Lower or Upper Intermediate, and Advanced) through her Paper Airplanes entrance exam.
Over the course of consecutive semesters, Mounira and I jointly defined attainable goals for her English-learning journey and regularly tracked her progress and morale.
As Mounira’s mentor, I utilized various resources and the pre-defined curriculum provided by Paper Airplanes to move towards Mounira’s targets.
During each session, I incorporated speaking, reading, and writing elements and patiently allowed Mounira to grow her comfort with new vocabulary and grammar.
Now, Mounira has separated from the Paper Airplanes program, but she hopes that ongoing study of English will support her in the TOEFL exam and applications to graduate universities in the United States.
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Unlike Mounira, Zia had placed into the Beginner bucket through his Paper Airplanes entrance exam English-learning journey, but like Mounira, he is incredibly passionate and dedicated in his pursuit of improvement.
Early on in our partnership, Zia was prevented from advancing to the next level in the curriculum by the Paper Airplanes staff due to a low score on the previous level’s Final Exam. This was inconsistent with my impression of Zia as an ambitious and committed student, so I was inclined to review the Exam’s grading. Several grading errors that I identified increase Zia’s score and qualified him for the next level!
Zia and I continue to participate in weekly lessons held on Google Meet, and I continue to leverage Paper Airplane’s materials as we progress through the curriculum. Though, Zia has expressed an added personal interest in developing writing-oriented and grammatical skills, so I emphasize the activities that build those more heavily.
During each session, I incorporated speaking, reading, and writing elements and patiently allowed Mounira to grow her comfort with new vocabulary and grammar.
Now, Zia has advanced 3 levels in the curriculum, and our work together is not yet done!
Both students have consented to the sharing of their LinkedIn profiles above.
Sample Tutor Resource: “Teaching the Perfect Progressive Tense”
Sample Lesson Plan: “Home and Emergencies,” including 6 sections: Warm-Up, Pre-Activity, Activity, Post-Activity, Reflection, and Homework
Sample Student Learning Journal Entry, with reflection on progress and new goals
I learn something new from each interaction with Mounira and Zia, but here’s what I’ve learned so far:
Be Nimble
Many of my conversations with Mounira steered away from the pre-set curriculum. Instead of stemming these deviations and adhering rigidly to the curriculum, I gave way to Mounira’s curiosity and natural inclinations while still incorporating key elements from the original lesson plan.
Prioritizing genuine bonding before learning has also proven effective with Zia. How else would I know that he goes to the beach to swim often or how to make Mantu, Afghan dumplings, one of Zia’s favorite dishes?!
This way, my students gain trust in me, and I am able to deliver lessons organically, making them easier to retain and recall in the future. As an added bonus, both parties grow richer in friendships!
Be Persistent
Scheduling conflicts are not the exception but the norm when setting up weekly sessions with my students.
Despite the tendency of ad-hoc sessions to slow our momentum, Mounira’s conflicts were fully understandable given some of her situational constraints, such as electricity cuts in Syria and technology limitations. I stymied the impact of these issues by persistently messaging Mounira for her availability and repeatedly verifying that she was equipped with the necessary resources to complete her independent assignments.
Zia, a full-time employee, is available only in the evenings for our lessons, which translates to during the workday for me, given the time difference. As a result, I persistently contact Zia to arrange meetings on holidays or weekends, aware that this is generally agreeable for both him and I.
Be Innovative
Some form of technology was usually accessible to Mounira, but it was not always a laptop. Mounira was also more comfortable communicating over WhatsApp than email, which would have otherwise been our standard mode of exchanging course materials and updates. Combined, these factors required me to adapt resources and assignments to fit with Mounira’s available technology suite.
In Zia’s case, given audio issues that we experienced repeatedly on Google Meet, we opted to start a Google Meet session, on which we both mute ourselves, simply for screen-sharing, and carry out conversation through a simultaneous WhatsApp voice call.
Whether we are working through audio files or written worksheets, I incorporate my students’ preferred mediums of consumption into the lessons.
The Opportunity Network
Even while working with Mounira H. and Zia Y. (described above), I had the capacity to give more and a lingering urge to connect with students, given the isolation brought about by COVID-19 and the remote structure of Paper Airplanes.
I searched for additional opportunity to teach English and found The Opportunity Network (OppNet), a nonprofit organization strengthening students in New York and New Jersey in their response to inequities, disproportionately affecting students of color and low-income communities. At the time, OppNet was recruiting Essay Coaches for the Fall 2020 term.
The physical proximity of OppNet (headquartered 5 minutes away from my then-apartment) was a delight.
Furthermore, OppNet required less of a time-commitment, as I would only be active as an Essay Coach for half of the year, during college application season.
Together, these factors meshed perfectly with my lasting interest in English coaching. I joined OppNet in September 2020 and began supporting High School Seniors (those were the days!) as they ideated on, organized, drafted, and revised personal statements and writing supplements for universities.
Remembering my time at Knight Writing Institute, I empower my students to (1) embrace their creativity, (2) be open to iteration, and (3) both challenge and take pride in their writing.
I also volunteered as a Career Mentor with OppNet in 2024. With a wider scope of responsibility than my former position as an Essay Coach, I thought through my own professional journey and pulled out key takeaways. More tangibly, I passed on contacts in the industry as well as blueprints for common documents. My student seemed to enjoy and gain confidence from our mock interviews, resume workshops, and general recruiting preparation.
By working with OppNet students, I have:
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Developed different ways to be supportive and thoughtful through various stages of the writing and recruiting processes, each requiring different amounts of asking, speaking, and listening on my part.
2
Understood the vulnerability and creativity that characterizes early essay drafts as well as drafts of responses to interview questions, which require any criticism to be constructive and high-level.
3
Solidified the type of student-teacher relationship I want to maintain with all of my students going forward, by witnessing my students’ openness to feedback incentivized by current practice.
4
Experienced complete ownership of my tutoring style (in the absence of formal curriculum or handbooks), and in the process, grown independent and confident in my ability to be a compassionate and adaptable mentor.