Teaching English for real life - Not just textbooks and exercises
I help learners move from understanding English in theory to using it naturally in real situations. My teaching focuses on clear communication, confident speaking, and practical language skills that carry over into daily life, school, and work. Lessons are structured, flexible, and built around how language is actually used — not just how it appears in textbooks.
- ESL /EAL Teacher
- CELTA Certified
- 8+ Years Intl Experience
Professional Journey
Lausanne, Switzerland
Now based in Lausanne, I teach English across age groups and levels, supporting learners in using the language with clarity and confidence. Working in a multilingual Swiss environment allows me to bring together structure, sensitivity, and real-world communication.
Paris, France
Living in Paris shifted my relationship with language entirely. Learning French while teaching English revealed the subtle dialogue between languages — rhythm, sound, and meaning — and showed me how that awareness could be shared in the way I teach others.
Chicago, USA
Chicago is where it all began. Through teacher training and internship experience, I gained my first real exposure to the classroom — learning how lessons are built, how students engage, and how structure supports confidence in early language learning.
Certifications
My teaching is supported by internationally recognized training, with a focus on practical classroom application.
CELTA
Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
TEFL Certification
Teaching English as a Foreign Language
TYL Certificate
Teaching Young Learners Specialization
Areas of Expertise
These are the areas I focus on most often in my lessons, depending on the learner’s goals and level.
- Adult Learners
- Young Learners
- Conversation Practice
- Pronunciation Focus
- Real-World English
- Creative Expression
- Cultural Fluency
- Confidence Building
- Personalized Lessons
- Business English
Teaching philosophy: Mistakes are proof you're trying. Confidence comes before perfection. Every student teaches me something new.
Student Demographics
Over the years, I’ve worked with learners from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and learning contexts. Some students are building a strong foundation, others are refining how they communicate in specific academic or professional environments. What they share is the need to use English with confidence and clarity in real situations.
- Corporate professionals (tech, finance, hospitality)
- University students preparing for study abroad
- Young learners (ages 6-16)
- Adult career changers
- Expats integrating into new countries
Teaching Approach
I design lessons around real communication, not scripted dialogues. We work with the language people actually need — for work, daily life, and moments where clarity matters.
Lessons are structured, but never rigid. We stay with a sound, a sentence, or an idea until it lands. Pronunciation, rhythm, and clarity matter as much as grammar, because being understood shapes how a message is received.
Having learned languages myself as an adult, I know how easily confidence can slip when words don’t come out the way you intend. That experience guides how I teach. I create lessons where students can test language, ask questions, and adjust without pressure.
The goal is simple: practical English, steady progress, and the confidence to use the language beyond the lesson.
The Human Behind the Teacher
Hi, I’m Dan.
I work with languages, but most importantly, with people. I teach English to those who hesitate before speaking because they’re afraid of saying something wrong, being misunderstood, or losing confidence halfway through a sentence.
English, for me, isn’t about sounding perfect or “native.” It’s about helping people trust their voice, speak with confidence, and feel understood — even when the words are still coming together.
Everything else here? That’s the rest of the human behind the lessons.
The Human Behind the Teacher
Hi, I’m Dan.
I work with languages, but most importantly, with people. I teach English to those who hesitate before speaking because they’re afraid of saying something wrong, being misunderstood, or losing confidence halfway through a sentence.
English, for me, isn’t about sounding perfect or “native.” It’s about helping people trust their voice, speak with confidence, and feel understood — even when the words are still coming together.
Everything else here? That’s the rest of the human behind the lessons.
The Human Behind the Teacher
Hi, I’m Dan.
I work with languages, but most importantly, with people. I teach English to those who hesitate before speaking because they’re afraid of saying something wrong, being misunderstood, or losing confidence halfway through a sentence.
English, for me, isn’t about sounding perfect or “native.” It’s about helping people trust their voice, speak with confidence, and feel understood — even when the words are still coming together.
Everything else here? That’s the rest of the human behind the lessons.
Things That Make Me, Dan
🎵 Teaching Soundtrack
I’m drawn to music that doesn’t interrupt thought, but gives it somewhere to go.
Enya, Enigma, London Grammar, and the Aria albums by Paul Schwartz create wide, airy soundscapes — the kind where your mind can settle between notes. There’s emotion, but also structure. Something soothing, almost transportive, that lets ideas move without being pulled out of focus.
🧠 Curiosity, Always
I’m curious by nature.
Languages pulled me in first, but that curiosity spills everywhere — web design, HTML and CSS, how things are built, and why some ideas work better than others. I like to dabble, test, and figure things out as I go.
🌶 A Not-So-Mild Obsession
I collect spicy sauces — the kind you only find in specialty grocery stores. I’ll happily wander aisles just to see what’s new, and I’ve never met a heat level I didn’t want to try at least once.
💬 Words That Don’t Behave
I’m endlessly amused by words that refuse to cooperate — especially the ones that look the same between two languages but change rhythm, stress, or shape when pronouncing.
“Reservation” still trips me up. Same word, different music. One wrong intonation and the whole sentence collapses behind it.
🌍 Teaching Diversity
Over the years, my classroom has quietly included people from dozens of countries. Not all at once — but over time. Teaching across cultures taught me quickly that fluency isn’t just about words; it’s about rhythm, confidence, and being understood without shrinking yourself.
🚶 How I Reset
I think best while moving. I zigzag through streets, take the long way home, and let thoughts untangle themselves step by step. Walking has always been how I process — cities included.
What I love to cook...
🥑 Guacamole
I make guacamole that people remember. The kind that gets requested, even when the invitation doesn’t always follow. Finding real jalapeños in Europe feels like a small victory, and when I do, a batch usually isn’t far behind.
🍪 Baking (Still in Progress)
I’m a confident cook and a very average baker. I’ve made more batches of chocolate chip cookies than I can count — all edible, none legendary. Former coworkers loved being my test audience. I’m still chasing “great.”
Languages I Speak
🇺🇸 English
Native
🇫🇷 French
Conversational
🇩🇪 German
Learning
🇪🇸 Spanish
Rusty
Living in Europe forced languages out of theory and into daily survival. French challenged my confidence, German humbles me regularly, and Spanish shows up when I least expect it. Being a learner again keeps me honest as a teacher.
Currently...
📚 Reading
Curiosity has always guided me. It shows up in language, in sound, in food, in how systems are built and ideas connect. Not everything needs to be finished to be meaningful. Some things are allowed to take shape slowly.
Learning — whether it’s a language, a skill, or a version of yourself — isn’t about rushing toward mastery. It’s about staying present long enough for confidence to grow.
Language opens doors.
Confidence is what lets you walk through them.
🏔️ Exploring
Learning a language as an adult is like building a wall.
You collect bricks from everywhere: school, television, music, conversations, half-learned rules. Over time, you stack enough of them that something begins to stand.
But without mortar, the wall won’t hold.
The mortar is grammar, structure, pronunciation, rhythm, and idiomatic meaning — the unseen material that allows language to carry weight and move fluidly from mouth to ear. Without it, even familiar words collapse when placed into a sentence.
Fluency doesn’t come from collecting more bricks.
It comes from understanding how the pieces hold together.
Languages I Speak
🇺🇸 English
Native
🇫🇷 French
Conversational
🇩🇪 German
Learning
🇪🇸 Spanish
Rusty
Living in Europe forced languages out of theory and into daily survival. French challenged my confidence, German humbles me regularly, and Spanish shows up when I least expect it. Being a learner again keeps me honest as a teacher.
"I moved to Europe to teach English. I stayed because my students taught me how to see the world differently."
Music, Stories & Language
📖 Books and Papercuts
I tend to drift between fantasy and language history. I grew up escaping into fantasy worlds, and these days I’m just as fascinated by where words come from — how English was built, borrowed, and reshaped over time. Podcasts on etymology still feel like comfort listening.
🎼 Catching the Crescendo
Music taught me what textbooks couldn’t: rhythm matters. Intonation matters. Silence matters. Language works the same way. Words don’t just mean things — they move. When students find that rhythm, pronunciation stops feeling forced and starts feeling natural.
Weekend Rituals
My weekends are quieter than I’d like — for now.
They’re usually about resetting my space, catching up on life admin, and spending time with my cat Grizzou, who knows paw, fist bump, high-five, and “speak” (when he feels like it).
- 🎸 Saturday strummings of the guitar
- 🏞️ Afternoon lake walk (rain or shine)
- 📝 Sunday lesson planning + hot cocoa
- 🐈⬛ Playing with Grizzou and teaching new tricks
- 👨🏻🍳 Cooking experiments that take over the kitchen
Why Teaching ?
Honestly, I didn’t follow a straight path into teaching.
What kept me here wasn’t grammar or lesson plans. It was the moment someone realized they could communicate — even imperfectly — and felt proud instead of embarrassed.
I teach to bring the magic of language to people who are afraid to use their voice. To help them find the confidence to speak, to be understood, and to show up as themselves.
Language opens doors, but confidence is what lets you walk through them.
