Maria's Virtual ESL School
"Motivated, empathetic and creative, Maria brings together professional
and personal conditions that make her an excellent language teacher.
Our experience at the Free University of Berlin is the best testimony."​
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- Graciela Vázquez, Ph.D., Privatdozentin, Free University of Berlin, Germany
Maria Koutovenko, MA
Certified Instructor of English, French and Spanish
"Maria was my Russian instructor throughout my undergraduate degree and it’s thanks to her that I was able to build a foundation in the language that has carried me through my professional life. Over the course of three years, Maria helped me go from an absolute beginner to an advanced student of the Russian language — and she always approached teaching with the utmost kindness and enthusiasm. Maria is a very attentive teacher, who develops interesting lessons and, even when juggling many classes, tries to bring out the best in each student individually. She also motivated me to apply my language skills in the “real world” as soon as possible, encouraging me to study abroad and volunteer. These experiences gave me the confidence to continue using my language skills outside of the classroom."​
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- Eilish Hart, European and Russian Studies Graduate, Dalhousie University, Canada
Denis Kozlov, Ph. D.,
Associate Professor,
Department of History,
Dalhousie University,
Canada
I have known Maria Koutovenko since 2013-16, when she taught in the Department of Russian Studies at Dalhousie University, which I then chaired. Maria was an excellent instructor. The entire teaching of the Russian language in the department, from first-year to more advanced undergraduate courses, was her responsibility. As a teacher, she was highly effective: hard-working, enthusiastic, attentive to the students' needs, open-minded, and overall most capable of ensuring the students' academic success. Over the three years that I worked with her, I noticed how, thanks to Maria's efforts, our students literally picked up the language from scratch and began reading, writing, and speaking Russian -- by far not the easiest language to learn. It was thanks to Maria's pedagogical talents that this success became a reality.
María José Giménez, Ph. D.,
Associate Professor,
Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies,
Dalhousie University, Canada
Maria has always demonstrated a great interest in linguistics which led her to learn several foreign languages. She has also developed her aptitude for teaching. In addition to obtaining the highest grades, she supported other students as a volunteer. Her training along with her empathy make her an excellent teacher.
Nanette Bouvier,
TESL Instructor,
Oxford Seminars, Canada
Ms. Koutovenko is an excellent teacher who truly understands what students need in order to learn. She is very creative and develops lessons that are organized and fun for her students. She uses methods that ensure students maintain the new material in their long-term memory for future retrieval, such as the Silent Way, the Direct Method and TPR. She creates her own materials that are quite impressive. Her instructions are clear and she demonstrates what she wants her students to do. Her students use the three learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic so her students' preferences for learning are met.
Ryan and Jessica Dubowezky,
students,
Canada
Ryan: My wife and I have been taking language lessons from Maria since 2018. Since then, our improvement has been steady and consistent. Maria has a great, well-rounded approach to teaching. Our classes cover a good variety of areas (grammar, vocabulary, conversational practice, etc.). Maria has been encouraging, flexible, patient, understanding and fun to interact with on a regular basis. We're always looking forward to our next class!
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Jessica: I am so happy to be learning a language with Maria. It has been really great to learn and develop my skills during my 5 years with her. I love each and every lesson. Maria is a very patient and understanding teacher. She uses a variety of resources tailored to your individual need, you can really tell she is passionate about what she is doing.
Erica Armstrong,
Russian Studies Graduate,
Dalhousie University,
Canada
I studied with Maria when she was my professor in language and culture at University. Her techniques are diversified while being student focused. She helps students find what they are passionate about in life and express themselves in a foreign language. She had us focus greatly on oral output, helping us with pronunciation and communication skills. She carries excellence and passion, driving her students to achieve their language goals. I would recommend Maria to anyone interested in studying language.
Mari Henderson,
Russian Studies Graduate,
Dalhousie University,
Canada
Professor Maria Koutovenko is indispensable to my learning experience. She is always enthusiastic, positive, compassionate, sincere, supportive, and sympathetic to the needs of all students. She is inclusive of her students without any hesitation, should they need it. She displays strong interpersonal skills in performing this job, one example being her natural empathetic ability. These innate skills are enough to be the difference between students wanting to survive or to thrive. I see that she is always positive in everything she does, and genuinely cares about students. Personally, she inspires me through her passion, experience and similar interests through which we also connect. I feel encouraged and supported by her unconditionality, and see her encouraging all students in this exact way. She motivates me and inspires me to push myself, and yet I feel that I am still being cared for and guided. She always treats everyone with this same caring encouragement. Maria stands out for her intelligence, kindness, enthusiasm and ability to connect with anyone.