English tutoring that turns ideas into clear writing

Who this is for

English is deceptively hard to get help with. Math has right answers; an essay comes back with a number on it and a comment like "needs more analysis", and neither the student nor the parent knows what to do next. We spend a lot of our English sessions translating that feedback into something a student can actually act on.

We work with elementary students building reading stamina and sentence control, high school students who need to argue a point about a text without simply retelling the plot, and university students facing longer research writing with real citation expectations.

What we cover

• Reading comprehension and inference — getting past the surface of a text
• Sentence and paragraph craft: clarity, variety, transitions
• Essay structure: thesis statements, topic sentences, evidence and analysis
• Literary analysis: theme, character, narrative technique, poetic devices
• Grammar, punctuation and usage — taught in the context of a student's own writing
• Research writing, referencing and citation conventions at university level
• SSAT preparation for elementary and middle school students
• English 10, 11 and 12, and university-level academic and research writing

Where students commonly struggle

The most common problem is summary masquerading as analysis. A student describes what happened in a text, believes they've answered the question, and loses marks without understanding why. We teach the move from "what happens" to "what the writer is doing and why it matters" as an explicit, repeatable step.

The second is the blank page. Students who plan badly write badly, not because their ideas are weak but because they discover their argument in paragraph four. We spend real time on planning — a rough thesis and three supporting points before a single body paragraph is drafted.

The third is timed writing. In-class essays punish students who can only write well slowly, so we practise producing a defensible structure under time pressure.

How sessions work

Sessions are one-on-one and usually built around whatever the student is currently reading or writing, because that's what keeps the work relevant. We annotate a text together, plan an essay together, and mark a draft together — with the student holding the pen. Between assignments we work on the underlying skills: vocabulary, syntax, evidence selection. We track progress across drafts so improvement is visible rather than just felt.

In person and online

In-person sessions run across Metro Vancouver; online sessions run anywhere in the world over Zoom, with a shared document so both people can see the writing as it changes. Online scheduling is flexible across time zones, which suits families abroad and students working around evening classes.

Studying more than one subject with us? See math, biology, or online tutoring worldwide.

We also work with students who have ADHD or other learning challenges, breaking work into manageable steps and keeping sessions structured and calm.

Course-specific help

We also prepare students for independent school admissions:

• SSAT preparation tutoring