Getting to Know Nathan English Tutor! (Bonus Episode)

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Nathan teaches Thinking in English Classes!

Welcome to a Patreon exclusive bonus episode. Today we are getting to know Nathan English Tutor. Hello, that is me. Nathan English Tutor is my identity for everything related to my English language teaching online, when I tutor adult learners one-to-one, when I teach group classes on Zoom and when I moderate conversation clubs on Discord.

Over the past 4 years I have delivered more than one thousand English language tutoring one-to-one sessions. I have even delivered some German language sessions to beginners. I have taught groups ranging from two up to twelve online and up to thirty in the classroom. I also volunteer my teaching to refugees. Currently I work with a local charity to support Ukrainians who have fled their country.

I became a professional language teacher because I am a passionate language learner. Over 15 years I improved my German from beginner to C1 (near-native) proficiency. I fully understand the challenges adults face with mastering advanced language because I have faced these challenges. 

I lived for a year in Vienna, Austria when I was 22 years old. The year before I lived in the Netherlands for a 8 week semester when I was 21 years old. Earlier, I lived in Hamburg, Germany for 2 weeks on an exchange program when I was 16 years old. I love that I can take my language skills from the classroom to the real world and communicate effectively. At the end of my university studies, I completed my degree with a distinction in Spoken German.

At university, I also took beginner Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and Luxembourgish language courses too. I continue to learn Spanish and I will be taking my second set of Lingoda Spanish classes soon with the Thinking in English discount. In 2021, I completed 40 classes online for Spanish as well as taking one-to-one tuition elsewhere. Now that we have Spanish speaking members from all over Spain and Latin America, I am more motivated to keep up learning this language. 

I feel very happy that I work together with the Thinking in English team. I was teaching English independently for 3 years when I joined up with Thomas. This year we teamed up with Tom Wilkinson and we have been working hard on the Thinking in English Blog, Classes, Discord, Youtube and so much more we are excited to share with you. In fact, I am writing this script and recording this episode in the first week we have taken off in 6 months of our joint project!

So let’s answer some Questions and I welcome you to see how my answers compare to the Tom and Thomas.

Get to Know Nathan!

Do you collect anything?

I am a big football fan and I currently have a collection of football tops, scarfs, pins and tickets. I support Liverpool first and have been to Anfield 3 times. I went for the first time to see the Liverpool Legends play Bayern Munich Legends (these are old players for both clubs who have retired from professional football). I was lucky to witness 10 goals as the match score finished 5-5. On the other two occasions I saw Arsenal play Liverpool in cup competitions. The most exciting tie involved a penalty shootout and luckily Liverpool won. I did my best to keep my emotions in check because I was sitting with my friends, Arsenal fans, in the Away section.

I have also seen matches in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France and South Africa. Most recently I saw a sold out non-league match in the 5th league of England where the attendance was 9,000! The atmosphere was electric and the quality of football was surprisingly good. 

Where is the coolest place you travelled?

I have a special place for several cities in Europe. Vienna, Hamburg and Sheffield are all very special for me as I have spent significant time in each city and I travel back to these places whenever I have the opportunity. 

In Hamburg I enjoy the football rivalry between St. Pauli and HSV. The Nightlife, especially staying up until the Fish market opens. I went to my first ever nightclub in Hamburg when I was 16. As one of the big ports of Germany it has a very modern and international outlook.
I love the art and cultural scene in Vienna. The music, architecture and cuisine are all superb.  Best of all is the Vienna metro, trams and buses bringing all these things closer together.

Sheffield is notable for its nature, creativity and friendliness. Sheffield is a city of two of the biggest universities in England by student numbers. This is how I ended up in this city as I studied here. Sheffield is the home of snooker, the football teams the blades and the owls, has the highest concentration of ale breweries in England and lies next to the Peak District, making it a great place for the outdoors.

What is the biggest risk you ever took?

Skiing – While I was in Austria, I had a flatmate who took me to a nearby mountain for a skiing trip . After only one morning practising basic manoeuvring on the beginner slope, I was persuaded to join my Austrian friends to go to the more advanced slopes.

I can still recollect the experience of taking the ski chair lift to the top of the piste where we were greeted by party music being played at the station. There I was given the choice of coming back down on a red or blue slope. The blue slope was intermediate and the red slope more advanced. My friend was confident I would be able to join them and take on the red slope. Not wanting to be left out, I took the risk to join them on the more difficult slope.

I slowly started to slalom with the group and things were looking positive. Moments later, however, I was leading the group at the front as I started to accelerate. My friends started to laugh and shouted at me to slow down but soon enough, I was face down in the snow, one ski attached to my leg in the air while the other ski slid gently away after impact.

What is your favourite random fact?

South Africa has 11 national languages and the national anthem is sung in 5 different languages. The anthem ‘Nkosi sikele’ changes its key and is one of only 3 national anthems to have this feature. I was born in South Africa and so I always have a curiosity for the ‘Rainbow Nation’. My other favourite fact about this region is that it contains one of the 6 unique floral kingdoms of the world, named the ‘Fynbos’. The beauty of this region is undeniable.

What is the strangest food combination you enjoy?

My strangest recipe this year is as follows: A roast parsnip with blue cheese sauce, topped with sauerkraut and cracked black pepper in a sourdough baguette. This has sweet, sour, savoury all in one as well as a mix of interesting flavours and textures. My advice would be to not knock it until you have tried it.

What is your go-to karaoke song?

I would go for ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You by KISS’ – There is no topping Glam Rock fusing with Disco when it comes to performance value. I most enjoy playing air guitar when singing karaoke.

What is the dumbest way you injured yourself?

This is boring but I would say repetitive strain injuries. Like many I experienced lower back pain during the pandemic when life was more restrictive and sedentary. Since then I’ve invested in better ‘lumbar’ support and make an effort to stay mindful of ergonomics when working.

What is your useless talent?

I can perform a front somersault on a trampoline. I think there would be few occasions where a front somersault is something that could come in handy. Perhaps in some sort of action movie sequence I could play a stunt double. But I’m not going to get my hopes up on this one.

What are you most looking forward to?

Like Tom and Thomas I am an avid sports spectator. This summer I will be looking forward to the Rugby World Cup, the Hundred cricket competition as well as the Womens’ football world cup and Wimbledon. This is just to name a few sporting tournaments. Besides, I am always looking forward to Liverpool’s next match.

Final Thought

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know me a bit better. I hope if we have met yet, you can join in our Conversation Club on Discord, where you can meet me as well as interesting English learners from all over the globe.

If you are motivated to take more structured English language lessons you can visit our site https://thinkinginenglish.link where you can book in one to one tuition and group classes. You can follow me on instagram @nathan_english_tutor. My inbox is always open if you have questions or if you want to send a friendly message. Email me at nathan@thinkinginenglish.link