English Tutoring with Violet Squirrel

Online private English lessons provided by a certified English language tutor based in Munich. Online tutoring is available throughout the EU.

Tutor: Dustin Cardenas

Education

  • Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) from the University of Washington in Seattle, Wa

  • MBA (International Business) from Seattle University in Seattle, Wa

  • CELTA Certified English Language Teacher

Teaching Experience

  • English Docent (Munich Volkshochschule)

  • English Tutor (In Person & Online)

  • Teaching Assistant (University of Washington)

About Me

Born and raised in the northwestern United States, I speak English as my first language with a neutral American accent. I grew up in a bilingual English/Spanish household.

I moved to Munich in early 2023 with my spouse and have been tutoring English part-time since then.

I have a strong interest in languages and linguistics. I am fascinated by the differences between English dialects and between English and other languages.

My Teaching Style

I focus on you.

Every student is unique and so is their reason for learning English. I listen to you and adjust my teaching strategies to fit your strengths, interests, skills and needs while staying focused on your goals.

I focus on practice.

The best way to learn and retain a language is to actually use it. This means we need to practice all four of the language skills; Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. Practicing what you’ve learned greatly improves your ability to remember and use English in varying situations.

I focus on effective communication.

Too often I find students and parents focus on sounding like a “native” speaker of English without stopping to think about whether that goal is achievable. Many Africans, Germans, and Indians, among others, use English effectively every day without sounding like native English speakers. What is important is that the English we use helps us to communicate with the person in front of us.

My Language Philosophy

Interesting and engaging activities help us learn faster.

Simple and repetitive memorization techniques that don’t have real English context require more energy, effort, time and work. They also makes learning less fun. There will always be the need to remember new things, but when we learn and have fun with purpose we have something else to focus on rather than just memorizing.

Practice is better than study.

Speaking gives us the opportunity to see if we are easily understood. It also gives us real English experiences with context. We should use both to adjust and focus our learning efforts.

“Perfection” is not a good goal, understanding is.

About 3.5X more people speak English as a second language than as a first language. Even speakers of English as a first language have disagreements about the “correct” meaning, spelling, pronunciation and usage of English. If we focus only on speaking “right,” we get anxious and stop speaking entirely because we are afraid of making mistakes. What matters most is that we speak and are understood by the person we are communicating with.

FAQ

  • We'll start with a free consultation to get to know each other and align on your educational needs.

  • Standard Pricing is listed in the pricing section below.

  • I have time for new students Mondays through Thursdays from 09:00 - 17:00.

Standard Pricing

Online Lesson - 60 minutes

One full hour English Lesson.

Price: 40€

Contact

Use the following form to book a consultation or ask questions about my service. Your message will be answered via email within 3 days.