Aaron

Dr Aaron :

I am linguist and private tutor who specializes in using memory palaces – spatial memory techniques – to teach the complexities of language in a fun and engaging way. Rather than drilling dry grammatical patterns, Aaron guides students through virtual spaces, helping them create their own mnemonic stories to remember all the details of vocabulary, conjugation, declension, or usage. The results are immediate and impressive, providing students with the foundation they need not only to succeed on exams, but also develop a real proficiency within a language.

I am currently accepting students for French and German, both of which I speak fluently.

Memory Palaces in VR:

I became interested in medieval memory techniques during my PhD in medieval studies and Germanic philology at Cornell University. I was fascinated by how monks and scholars were able to perform incredible feats of memory and composition without writing anything down. Experimenting with these medieval systems, I then spent several years developing the tools and techniques necessary for applying memory palaces to learning modern languages. I now use my own software for building and sharing memory palaces in 3D and virtual reality. We can use this software via screenshare during private tuition sessions.

Students with Learning Disabilities:

Children with learning disabilities – particularly dyslexia – have especially good success with memory palaces. By removing text from the learning process and replacing it with spatial and creative learning, we can provide dyslexic students a powerful means of mastering content that previously seemed out of reach.

I have also worked on projects with the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University.

Availability: Flexible, generally afternoons, evenings, and weekends.

Willing to travel: 5 miles

Experience: • Several years experience developing language training courses and materials
• Have taught both groups and individuals extensively
• Experience with both adults and children
• Extensive formal training in languages and linguistics
• Custom developed language training programme for Ministry of Defence
• Taught writing at Cornell University
• Supervised undergraduate study in Old English language at University of Cambridge

Academic Background

• Cornell University – PhD in medieval studies, focus on medieval Germanic literature and historical linguistics.
• Cornell University – MA in medieval studies
• Cambridge University – MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County – BA in English and Modern Languages and Linguistics with a concentration in German. Graduated top of the year.

My first foreign language was Japanese, which I studied for 10 years at school. I began German at age 11, then pursued it as a concentration as an undergraduate. Also as an undergraduate, I became interested in historical linguistics, and studied all the dead Germanic languages, from Old English to Old High German. I learned French as an adult using my own techniques, and now speak it daily at home – my girlfriend is French.