Hi, everyone! My name's Layla and I'm a native Californian here to help you improve your written and spoken English and French on iTalki.
My degree is in French and Philosophy and, in my spare time, I enjoy studying languages, traveling, playing with my cats, & listening to foreign music. My main job is currently a French Kindergarten teacher--a role I love.
Being a student of French, Serbian, Portuguese, and Russian, I understand the need to practice with native speakers in order to maintain and improve your language skills. In my experience, the best thing for you to do is SPEAK.
My students have described me as patient, helpful, encouraging, and assiduous. :)
Me as a Teacher
In class, my goal is to have YOU speaking most of the time.
I'm a huge proponent of free-flowing conversation to learn a language. This translates into the iTalki classroom in this way: if our lesson is structured as a conversation, we can take periodic breaks to discuss the grammatical points that I noted during said conversation. I find that speaking as much as you possibly can is, without a doubt, the best way to learn how to comfortably express yourself.
I can suggest grammar exercises to reinforce your English, too. You can also watch videos or read articles and summarize them for me, which I can correct for you. (This is helpful for a native-like style and diction!)
My lessons & teaching style
For our first lesson, I like to break it down into 3 steps:
1. Intro
In this way, I can learn about you, what your likes/hobbies are, and get a feel for what we can talk about during our lessons...because talking about what you love makes learning a very enjoyable process!
2. Objective(s)
This helps me tailor a learning experience specifically to your needs. (For school, for conversational purposes, for pronunciation purposes, for studying abroad, et cetera.)
3. Conversation
This step lets me see your current level. Once I know why you're learning English and how exactly you speak it, we can work together to figure out how I can best structure my lessons to help you. :)
Layla is a great communicator.
She was especially good at letting me continue speaking. I was comfortable throughout the class. She also showed me how I could paraphrase what I said to sound more like native speakers. Awesome tutor!
Feb 10, 2021
Vladimir
75 English lessons
Teacher’s pick
We have discussed recent tragic events all around the world, a bit of politics, and traveling. If I'd had as many red marks and corrections on my homework in the 3d grade, my father would have spanked me. Despite (or thanks to) this fact, It was the best lesson I have ever had. Thank you, Layla!
Mar 20, 2020
Ekaterina
36 English lessons
Teacher’s pick
I've booked a lesson with Layla for my 14-year-old son. The teacher managed to make him speak most of the time (though it was his first experience in talking with a native speaker). Layla is great at creating a friendly and comfortable atmosphere at the class which is very important for successeful language learning. We are very lucky to have Layla as a teacher. Highly-recommended!
Jan 10, 2020
Caitlyn Lussier
21 English lessons
Amazing instructor! Highly recommend!
Apr 12, 2022
Аlex
2 English lessons
I liked our lesson a lot!:) It was comfortable and relaxed, and it's important for me, because usually I always in a rush, and with Layla I feel I can take my time, do not run, but take a pause and have an enjoyable talk with someone very attentive. So I felt welcomed and more peaceful inside than usually
Feb 9, 2022
Fabien
14 English lessons
Highly recommended ! She’s very patient i love lessons with her
Oct 15, 2021
Trial Lesson
USD 15.00
This teacher isn't accepting lesson requests. You can try to contact the teacher to arrange a lesson.