I Tutor for you

We learn new things here.

This is an English as a second language (ESL) site taught by Native Speakers.

Visit english.

I am John Warnken

john@itutorforyou.com
jbwarnken@gmail.com

Phone 870 228 4110

I tutor for you aka itutorforyou~~~~

We need language tutors to help in our project in Indonesia. All that is required is a fast Internet Connection a headset and Skype. Visit www.skype.com for the software. My skype id is jbwarnken add me as a contact. My story of language teaching was profiled in the Oprah Angel Network. http://oprahsangelnetwork.org/stories/661-using-skype-to-learn-a-new-language. ] Also visit my facebook page http://facebook.com/jbwarnken

This article was in the Citrus County Chronice. Inverness Florida. http://www.chronicleonline.com/cgi-bin/c2.cgi?071+article+News+20090625215715071071001

Small world: ECCC teacher becomes international tutor
By Taylor Provost
6-26-2009
Inverness Florida

Three years ago, as he stood in front of a small class of Inverness seniors interested in learning to use a computer, John Warnken had no idea he’d wind up teaching English to high school students all the way in China, Indonesia and Russia, from the comfort of his home office chair.

“It doesn’t matter where you live or where you’re at,” said Warnken, 58, who left the county two years ago and has since begun tutoring people in native English over the Internet. “You can do this from anywhere. It’s an incredibly uplifting experience.”

While recuperating from open-heart surgery in Inverness in 2006, Warnken began teaching an introductory course in computers for seniors at the East Citrus Community Center (ECCC). It was there that he first discovered Skype, a software application that allows users to make phone calls over the Internet, complete with video. To make the class more interesting for the seniors, he installed Skype onto the ECCC computers and began teaching them how to chat with family and friends via instant messaging and videoconference.

“(Warnken) would always bring something exciting to the class,” said Patty Alberts, who took Warnken’s class at ECCC from October 2006 through January 2007. “We were all beginners and were eager to get our mind off the keyboard. One day we started playing around with Skype — wow, that was different!”

During one of their in-class sessions, a Chinese man called Warnken on Skype and asked him to talk so he could learn and pronounce native English more comfortably. Warnken had students introduce themselves one at a time, allowing the man to pick up on accent and inflection.

“What happened was remarkable,” Warnken said. These seniors had an audience to listen to what they wanted to say. They just lit up. They got excited to learn.” Having discovered something the seniors truly enjoyed doing, Warnken integrated Skype into the class, showing the group how to call down the street, or over to Egypt, pinpointing the exact location of the speaker on Google Earth to provide a visual for the seniors.

“John (used) Google Earth to zero in on who he (was) speaking with,” said Alberts. “This really brought the whole world before us.”

Warnken began tutoring English to people overseas as a hobby, and it quickly escalated into something more. English as Second Language (ESL) teachers from China, Indonesia, Russia and Iran have asked him to help them teach classes of up to 40 students.

“They’re teaching English from a book, but they have trouble pronouncing native English,” said Warnken. His method of speaking to the teachers via web camera, then typing the words that can’t be understood into an instant message box has become a sensation for students in foreign villages. An Indonesian newspaper reported that Warnken’s help in the classroom helped raise test scores and graduation rates in one city. The mayor invited him to speak in person. He even gave the commencement speech at the Indonesian school using Skype.

Warnken is in talks with that Indonesian school system to incorporate Skype and his teaching method into the curriculum officially. He has recruited volunteers from around the United States through a language learning Web site to help him in the virtual classroom. Having already published his accomplishments on Oprah’s Angel Network Web site, Warnken said he hoped to garner enough attention to have Oprah interview his Indonesian class on her show via Skype. Oprah is a self-proclaimed fan of the software.

“Virtually everything started with that class at ECCC,” said Warnken, who now lives in Helena, Ark. “It was like an epiphany—like a light bulb went off.”

On the net: www.skype.com.



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