Testimonials!

1.

Ekaterina is one of the most professional and dedicated language teachers I have encountered in the course of my adult studies. She is extremely dedicated to her students and is always willing to help you, significantly beyond the scope of the hour or 2 hour lesson you are paying for.  She possess an organic (not just trained, in a formalized linguistic sense) understanding of the metaphorical and functional differences in translations between the English and Russian languages, which means that she is able to explain nuances and differences in usage and style that is impossible to get from even a well crafted textbook or dictionary.  Further, She has experience with all of the major college level language textbooks, from 1st-4th year, as well as her own materials.  Therefore, if one decides to take a Russian course for a grade, there will not be a deficiency in approach or need to “retool” the lessons.  She is very patient and is able to change her approach toward each person’s learning style as needed.  She has helped me enormously with pronunciation, phonetics, explaining grammar rules in a much more complete context than my written materials, and improving my writing style over the course of the last year, allowing me to progress smoothly from a weak “2nd year level” to a solid 4th year level with only a few lessons a week.

Jim O’Keefe

2.

Ekaterina Pytel has been my Russian tutor on and off for about 5 years now, and you could not find a better tutor of Russian. She is patient, attentive, and flexible, as well as being quite experienced. I was immediately impressed by the fact that she is open to your needs and adjust her teaching plan accordingly. Though she has general suggestions for the course of your study, she is open to different structures and orders to teaching. For instance, I said once that I would like to work on the genitive case, and get that out of the way before addressing any other case. She immediately agreed, and that is what we worked on. She is also responsive to your particular needs. After awhile I said that I would like to have a lesson summary sent to me via email after each lesson. This is exactly what she did. The course of your studies goes as quickly or as slowly as you need. If you need 5 minutes to learn the numbers, she’ll spend 5 minutes. If you need 5 months, she’ll do that as well, showing no signs of impatience. I have improved greatly from lessons with Katya. I began studying with her without taking any formal Russian college class, and those went very well, and then once I started taking college classes on Russian, she structured her lessons around material that I was covering and needed to know for that class. She works well in both circumstances; whether you’re hiring her to supplement Russian you are learning in school or as your soul medium through which to learn Russian. I passed my Russian class with a 96, mostly thanks to her. I am able to communicate many things in Russian, and am well on my way to fluency, also thanks to her. She is also very reliable, and is just a phone text or email away if you should ever have any questions. Katya was the first and only Russian tutor I ever went through, and I consider myself lucky, as people often have to look far and wide for a tutor like her.

-Zoltan Berkowitz

3.

Ekaterina Pytel has been my Russian language teacher for the past 3 years, starting  from my very  basic understanding of the Russian language to a more intense learning of a one on one conversation. She has been such a positive and understanding teacher with me. Since she has left Austin we have kept up with our weekly lessons via Skype and feel that we haven’t missed a step. I continue to grow in my understanding of the language and culture of Russia.  She is more than a teacher, she is a mentor to me. You can’t go wrong with her as your teacher. Good Luck and enjoy the experience.

Sincerely,

Mike Ramirez

4.

I am pleased to be able to highly recommend Ekaterina Pytel for a teaching position. She is responsible for teaching Russian at various levels, from basic to advanced, including company classes at our client’s locations. She teaches in both individual and group settings.  She has excellent communication skills and a love for the Russian language. She works tirelessly to inspire her students to perform to a very high level. Her dedication to her students is reflected in her popularity among the students.

She does not only teach the language but also explains traditions, culture of this beautiful country.  I would love to add that Ekaterina’s lessons are always different, never boring. She even organizes cooking classes, teaching her students preparing traditional Russian dishes. During those lessons Ekaterina interacts with her students mostly in Russian. What a better way to learn the language.

If you hire Ekaterina to be your Russian language tutor, you will never regret it. She will bring your Russian and your knowledge about the country to a very high level.

– Heather Noyes

5.

« Hi my name is Emil and I’m from Denmark and I’m 18-years old.
I was searching for a Russian teacher that could teach me how to speak, read and write Russian language online via Skype, then I found Ekaterina’s website. I speak with her three times a week and I enjoy every minute of it. She’s a great Russian teacher who speaks perfect English and is very kind and always smiling.
If you want to learn how to speak, read and write Russian, this is a great way. 
It’s definitely worth it!

Emil Voehlert, Denmark

6.

« Being a stay home mum, Ekaterina gave me full support by helping me learn Russian at the comfort of home and at the time when it is most convenient for me. I also like the fact that I am able to learn what interests me most and Ekaterina is able to customize my Russian learning content to fit my needs. Having a one to one Russian tuition is a luxury to ensure I learn at my own pace and it is a very enjoyable experience too. I find learning Russian online via Skype is pure genius as it provides full flexibility and accessibility from anytime anywhere and would definitely recommend it to those interested!

Bian Hong, Malaysia

7.

« I highly recommend Ekaterina for learning to speak Russian via Skype. I have tried to learn a new language before and it can be a very overwhelming and sometimes frustrating endeavor, but Ekaterina makes it an easy and enjoyable experience. She speaks excellent English and knows how to explain the differences between the way you would speak in Russian and the way you would speak in English in an easy to understand way. She has structured Russian lessons that are easy to follow and is also flexible in helping you to focus on the things you want to learn. The interactive lessons are excellent because it helps you to feel confident in speaking – and Ekaterina helps you not to feel embarrassed about trying to make new sounds that you may not be comfortable with. It is an excellent Russian language program that I would recommend to anyone!

Michelle Jackson,Calgary Canada

8.

“Having been taught by a few different Russian teachers, I would rate Ekaterina very highly. She is an outstanding teacher, who puts a lot of thought, effort and preparation into each class. She is a very personable and friendly person and this makes each and every lesson fun, interesting and productive. I am amazed that she uses a lot of her own material; therefore she really understands the lessons and what you are supposed to get out of them. My Russian has improved so much in the last year, thanks to Ekaterina. One last point, with Ekaterina as your teacher even your homework is fun!”

Peter – IT Consultant 

9.

I remember my first class with Ekaterina moved me very much! I could feel her passion for teaching her students.

The most important thing is the teacher— Ekaterina is a highly qualified, she has broad knowledge and extremely well prepared for each class. I liked her ideas to improve my Russian. She gave me the ongoing homework, which was to watch russian videos every night.— Can you believe? Watching T.V was my homework! Everyone liked this simple but helpful work! So, I watched the videos and we discussed it in the class. It helped me to understand the culture easily. And for our assessments she always gave me a very clear and corrected feedback.

She is friendly and helpful always give me lots of information and advice to improve my further study until now. I would like to call her ‘mentor’ instead of teacher. Thank you Ekaterina!

Autumn Zheng

10.

When I started studying my Russian language I was not confident and secure enough in my Russian language skills.

To have Ekaterina’s as my Russian teacher , I would say: “was lucky”. She is an excellent teacher and such a positive person that makes her classes very enthusiastic and makes you feel more interested to study.

Being a student of Ekaterina was absolutely fantastic, besides being an excellent teacher she encouraged myself to believe when I was not believing: “to be confident in my Russian language skills”!
(Physiotherapist)

Maria Di Giusto