Instead of a 30-minute trial lesson, I prefer a full 1-HOUR trial lesson. This is YOUR customized Swahili (or English) trial lesson– whether you want help with a certain area of the language, or if you want to see if I am the teacher for you. 🤓 

With my curriculum and materials, I generally work with motivated students for the long term, especially students who have partners, friends, and relatives who are Swahili (or English) speakers. It's fulfilling to help connect families across cultures. Before our Trial Lesson, try to tell me as much as you can about your language journey so I can prepare for our first lesson. 

If you are a beginner in Swahili, you will walk away knowing greetings and how to introduce yourself. 🤝 If you are at an intermediate level in Swahili or English, we will start with the area of the language that YOU want to focus on. 🎯 If you're interested in conversational lessons, we will ONLY speak Swahili (or English) from our first lesson. 🗣️

⚡ Get to know each other– brief Tutor/Tutee introductions!
⚡ Discuss WHY you are studying this language– family, work, travel, volunteering, etc.?
⚡ Your PLAN: what YOU want to know– what GOALS do you want to FOCUS on?
⚡ Tell me the LEARNING style you prefer– conversational, organized step-by-step, or both?
⚡ What TOPICS do you like, want, or need to be able to discuss in the language?
⚡ Assess your CEFR language LEVEL– and what apps, materials, classes you have taken?
⚡ Recommend a course PATH for you & the best way to develop YOUR Swahili or English
🔥 Demo teaching: Dive right into a lesson on the first day and start speaking! 🗣️ 
⚡ Summary, Homework, and our Next Lesson plans
⚡ You will leave with my customized Introductory Swahili PDF "packet"

You will walk away from this lesson with a specific language learning goal in an established amount of time. For example, "I want to be able to _______ in Swahili within ____ months."

Karibu! Bienvenue! ¡Bienvenido! Welcome!

Virtual Reality tours, 📸 Graphic Novels, 💥 and more– This is a stress-free guided conversation practice that is 100% in Kiswahili. 🗣️💬 You'll know you're ready when you can do most things in my Foundations of Kiswahili course (you are approaching level B1+) and you can understand answers and phrases of slowly and carefully spoken Kiswahili directed towards you. No English needed. 🗑🔥

👉 Let's talk about: daily routines, recent activities and events, language learning, music and movies, something or someone in popular culture– even history and current world events! You can also come to class with specific grammar areas of Kiswahili that you want to practice through conversation. I enjoy talking about culture and society, anthropology, history and world events, and I love learning new things.

👉 We can go on adventures by reading original stories, a Comic Book, or Graphic Novel together 100% in Kiswahili! 💥📚 Through music and images, we can check out the environment of Lake Tanganyika and its towns, villages, and farms from of my years of research and living in Kigoma, Tanzania! 📸 🌴 We can take Virtual Reality tours using videos, 360º photographs, and Google Maps! 

We will develop more complicated grammar such as verb extensions, conditional and compound tenses, negative tense in past and future, the location noun class, compare noun classes, and build professional and academic vocabulary for research or work. I'm confident I can get you to a B2-C1 level in the time your personal commitment allows you to, where you feel comfortable not using English with native speakers. 

I use the Comprehensible Input (Krashen) and Total Physical Response (Asher) theories in language learning.💡🙌 You will be surprised how much you understand with visuals, dynamic gestures, miming, and props to create an interactive experience as we converse together, and talk about stories and pictures. I can write new vocab in the chat and send you a document after each lesson. 📄

Mazungumzo kwa Kiswahili 💯 100% Kiswahili Conversation Practice 🗣️

In this course, you will build the foundations for navigating daily life in your Kiswahili "safari." This is a curriculum I have designed using the most recommended Kiswahili resources, my own immersion experiences with the language every day, and other resources I have found during my research.

☑️ Conversational Kiswahili– natural everyday spoken Kiswahili 🤝 NOT outdated textbook or tourist Kiswahili 🙅
☑️ Structured learning plan customized to your level and needs that integrates grammar and conversation in a no-stress, clear, and organized curriculum 📚📓
☑️ Engaging supplemental learning aids delivered to your inbox– online resources, videos, songs, and films. Personalized according to your interests! 🍛🎶🎥✈️
☑️ Customized, teacher-created PDFs and audio recordings together with easy real life stories 📄🎧📖
☑️ Personalized feedback and homework after every lesson– you know your next steps ✏️
☑️ I'm available between lessons– you can send me messages & voice messages for questions, feedback, and corrections 📱💬
☑️ Exclusive access to monthly group lessons with other students🧑‍💻🧑‍💻🧑‍💻

☑️ Resources only teach coastal Kiswahili ⛔️ but my curriculum includes continental Kiswahili. This includes Kiswahili of inland Tanzania and Eastern Congo 🌍
☑️ Methodology: Comprehensible Input (Krashen et al.) and Total Physical Response (Asher et al.) using visual images and gestures 🙌
☑️ Start constructing sentences from day one– we will converse in Kiswahili naturally in every lesson 🗣️
☑️ I have been there myself and understand the challenges of being an adult learner– you will have the strategies and shortcuts that few people are taught 💯

We will immerse ourselves in Swahili culture, history, and politics through speaking, listening materials, videos, music, films, and real life stories. Let's prepare you for your first day, week, and first months with confidence. Our goal is to find you a conversation partner by the completion of this 28 lesson course. 🚀

FOUNDATIONS OF KISWAHILI 🏠 The Fundamentals Customized For You 🚀 Step by Step Kiswahili Acquisition

Please contact me if you are interested in a different study plan or arrangement from the other two Kiswahili courses.  Previous inquiries and arrangements for this course have included:  group lessons,  translation & transcription support,  research preparation & consultation,  cultural consultation,  Congolese (Bantu) Swahili,  focus on East African music,  lessons for adolescents (14+),  a self-study independent curriculum,  arrangements to meet in person,  and specific learning plans based on focused aspects of standardized Swahili grammar.  Contact me BEFORE booking this customized arrangement, and to discuss pricing.

Customized Kiswahili Lessons, Study Plans and Language Services

I'm Tina, and I'm from California, but I live in East Africa. I have a passion for teaching Swahili on italki, but now I have the opportunity to help you with your English! I use some of the techniques and strategies from my Swahili curriculum to help English learners of my native language. 🤓

Let's improve your pronunciation and fluency by reading and discussing short stories and photographs of people from different countries around the globe– including people of the United States. 🌎 We will work on pronunciation and putting the stress, rhythm and melody of American English in the right places. 🗣️

We will read sad stories, funny stories that will make you laugh– even stories that you might relate to! A sense of humor is important in learning! We will tour the world and use the "Humans of New York" travel series as our pronunciation and conversation guide. We can also use Google Maps to improve our geography knowledge of the speakers in each story and which country or city they live in.

As a linguistic anthropologist, I want to help you with pronunciation from the perspective of your mother tongue. 🗣️ Before tutoring English on italki, I have helped Spanish, Swahili, Russian, and French speakers improve their American English pronunciation and conversational skills while having fun and learning about different cultures, including the strangest culture in the world– American culture!

I DO NOT TEACH BEGINNERS IN ENGLISH. (ONLY SWAHILI BEGINNERS).
FOR ENGLISH LESSONS, YOU MUST BE AT INTERMEDIATE LEVEL (B1) OR ABOVE.

💯 Conversation Practice 🗣️ 🇺🇸 American English Pronunciation with "Humans of New York" Travel Series 🌎

⚠️ Please contact me BEFORE booking this service
❌️ This service does NOT include a video lesson
✅ This is only a proofreading & feedback service via chat or email

I proofread your essays or whatever document you need help with. You send in the work and I send it back once I proofread it. Corrected versions will be returned within 48 hours of the scheduled "lesson" time. If work is sent late, return within 24 hours is not guaranteed. Please send documents on time.

For one document up to 1,500 words, we will use the 60 minute option (1 hr proofreading). If your writing is between 1,500 and 4,000 words, we will use the 90 minute option (2 hrs proofreading). I do not proofread documents more than 4,000 words total. 

I am a Fulbright Scholar and linguist with a Bachelors in Anthropology and a Masters by anthropological research in language, culture, and music. Whether you're aiming to excel in university essays, create a business document, or master the art of crafting a compelling resume– you'll receive expert proofreading and feedback designed to elevate your writing prowess.

Important: All proofreading bookings will be moved to time frames outside of my usual teaching hours.

⚠️ Please contact me BEFORE booking this service
❌️ This service does NOT include a video lesson
✅ This is only a proofreading & feedback service via chat or email

🎉 New! 📝 Offline Proofreading Service (No Lesson)

Conducted research and interviews in Kiswahili language about music culture through community immersion; Facilitated community Music & Debate Classes in Kiswahili language without use of English, interpreters or translators.