Austin
About Me
Lessons
Availability
Reviews
Visited 16 hours ago
Austin
Professional Teacher![]()
Teaches
English
Native
Chewa (Chichewa)
Speaks
Swahili
Spanish
Amharic
Teaches
English
Native
Chewa (Chichewa)
Speaks
Swahili
Spanish
Amharic
About Me
Me as a Teacher
My lessons & teaching style
Resume
From United StatesLiving in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (05:58 UTC+03:00)
About Me
italki teacher since Aug 25, 2020InterestsReadingWritingHistory
NOTE: I currently offer classes 6pm-8pm Tuesdays (Ethiopia time), I work full time outside of iTalki so have limited availability outside those hours, but message me and I'll see if we can work something out.
• I majored in Philosophy and Theology in university and I love having abstract conversations about these topics.
• I play guitar and piano. Music is a big passion of mine, along with writing.
• Finally, of course, I love languages / linguistics. I speak Chichewa (due to living in Malawi for 3 years and the fact that my wife is a native speaker of this language), Swahili at an advanced level, and Spanish at an intermediate level. I'm currently learning Amharic.Me as a Teacher
I have been teaching English for 10 years, inside and outside of the United States. I primarily have experience teaching refugees in the US (particularly one-on-one) and I spent 2 years teaching English to secondary school students in Malawi, a small land-locked nation in Southern Africa. I have a TEFL certification in English and an LPI (OPI) certification from the ACTFL in Chichewa.My lessons & teaching style
ENGLISH: I treat most lessons more like conversations. I take notes as we talk and share these with you in a Word Doc after the lesson so that you can learn what you have done well and what still needs improvement. I organize them by grammatical topic, pronunciation issues, and new vocabulary learned. I do not give corrections during the lesson unless the student requests it. I tailor each lesson to the individual student and we will learn at your pace and comfort level.
CHICHEWA: I use a different, much more structured lesson style (with PowerPoints) you can find in the Chichewa lesson description. All of my Chichewa lessons have been reviewed by a native speaker to ensure accuracy.My teaching material
- PDF file
- Audio files
- Test templates and examples
- Flashcards
- Text Documents
- Image files
- Articles and news
- Graphs and charts
- Homework Assignments
Certificates
160 Hour TEFL - TEFL Full Circle - 2021A 160-hour Course which reviewed various teaching methodologies, their strengths and drawbacks, as well as specific grammatical and phonetic qualities of English.
Certificate verified
LPI Certificate in Chichewa - Superior - Peace Corps Malawi - 2019An extended oral interview which contained random and unexpected bits of small talk, along with a difficult scenario question surrounding an abstract topic. My scenario was to describe in detail how gender roles differed in the United States and Malawi, whether this was good or bad, and how the country should go about resolving negative aspects related to these gender norms. I scored a Superior, the highest possible score on the Peace Corps version of the ACTFL ranking system.
Certificate verified
Education
2015 - 2021
Master's - Master of Divinity
2011 - 2014
Bachelor’s - Philosophy / TheologyFocused on Ancient Philosophy and Global Theology, with an emphasis on syncretism in world religions.
2021 - 2023
Master's - International Public Affairs
Work Experience
2016 - 2017
ESL Assistant TeacherAssisted the primary ESL Teacher for Advanced students in lesson planning and facilitating lessons, as well as working with clients to get to appointments throughout the city and guiding them through the process of interacting with local officials.
2017 - 2019
Secondary School English TeacherTaught Secondary/High School Students English for 2 years. During this time, I also became fluent in the national language (Chichewa/Chinyanja) and developed a 200 page manual describing English Grammar written in Chichewa.
2019 - 2020
PCVLAssisted the Programming Team in training new teachers and preparing volunteers to become English Educators for the next two years. Additionally, assisted in cultural awareness and sensitivity workshops.
5.0
Rating
93
Students
845
Lessons
100%
Attendance rate
100%
Response rate
Chewa (Chichewa) Lessons
Chewa (Chichewa)
English
Trial Lesson
30 lessons completed
USD 16.00+
Beginner's Chichewa for English Speakers
A1 - C2Language Essentials146 lessons completed
USD 19.00+
Package with 6% off
Availability
Based on your timezone (UTC+00:00)
My creations
Quiz (1)
70 Reviews
All
Chewa (Chichewa)
English
Patrick
16 Chewa (Chichewa) lessons
Teacher’s pick
Austin helped me understand context & some of the “why” behind what I am studying. Now studying on my own I will be able to learn better from his materials he gave me
Apr 23, 2024
Muhammedali AKTAS
30 English lessons
Teacher’s pick
He has a genuine personality and is always genial and patient. I have gained a good improvement especially in my speaking skills with him. İn particular, the feedback notes about my weaker sides were very useful for me. Thanks, Austin. I look forward to booking new lessons.
May 12, 2021
Adrian Kiec
50 English lessons
Teacher’s pick
Another excellent lesson! Austin understands my level of English and knows which area I need to improve to achieve my goals.
Nov 2, 2020
Juju じゅじゅ
1 Chewa (Chichewa) lesson
めちゃくちゃわかりやすく、教材も作り込まれていて、練習も何度もできて最高でした。文法だけでなく、普段どうその表現を使うかも教えてくれて文化背景もわかりました。必ずまたレッスンを受講したいです。
Dec 19, 2024
Patrick
16 Chewa (Chichewa) lessons
Austin is Great & had me learning quickly!
Apr 23, 2024
Laura Euller
6 Chewa (Chichewa) lessons
Austin was such a wonderful resource, helping me learn some chicewa phrases and get ready for a work trip to Malawi. I appreciated his thorough resources and teaching approach.
Feb 23, 2023
Trial Lesson
USD 16.00
Your final payment will be made in USD