Nico Bruno, Tutor

Hi, my name is Nico and I'm an English teacher and linguistics graduate student from Portland, Oregon, USA. In 2022 I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Spanish as a Foreign Language from Portland State University. During my studies, I gained extensive experience writing academic essays for English-speaking audiences in linguistics, philosophy, law, and computation. I also worked at the university as a student-teacher, where I graded hundreds of undergraduate essays in a course on critical thinking.

During and following my studies I have been honored to receive several prestigious scholarships, including two, the Critical Language Scholarship and the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship, which allowed me to study language abroad. Since then, I have also helped several students craft their own successful application essays for universities and scholarships in their dream country.

Education and language are my passions. In addition to English, I speak Spanish and intermediate Italian, French, and Chinese.

I specialize in two key areas: conversational American English and academic and professional writing for English learners. Specific lesson topics commonly include exam preparation, academic application review and writing revision, core language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking), American accent coaching, vocabulary by topic (such as computer science or current events), and various topics in grammar. The exact structure and topics of each lesson are of course dictated by the goals and preferences of the student.

I start each lesson with a quick review of the previous one and an outline of the day's focus, tailored to the student's interests and goals. After each lesson, I provide a summary, notes, and personalized resources for further study. As a language learner myself with plenty of experience tutoring English to students from all around the world, I've developed a good collection of general study-resources and a clear understanding of what makes lesson time well spent.