Redwood ESL

Free ESL Tutoring For Immigrants

Hello! We are a dedicated team of volunteer ESL tutors. We work with adults who live in select cities in San Mateo or Santa Clara County.

Any adult immigrant may request these free tutoring services:

• ESL classroom support

• ESL conversation practice

• ESL writing/grammar practice

We lead classes and tutor individuals online or in person. We have worked with students from: Canada College, Sequoia Adult School, Palo Alto Adult School, Upward Scholars, English Together, and Tutoria. We have tutored many students and we teach weekly courses at adult schools.

Most immigrants struggle with English, so we tutor at a comfortable pace. Each student has their own set of skills and learns English at their own pace. If someone wants to go faster, we move along more quickly. Many students are working people who cannot afford to take time off from work or pay for a tutor.

Tutoring Services We Provide

Classroom Support

• If you are taking an ESL class, we will help you with homework and projects. We will also help you prepare for tests and explain things that were not clear to you when your professor taught them in the classroom.

Writing/Grammar

• If you want help with writing and grammar, we will use free online programs to learn nouns, verbs, and other parts of speech. We will often write sentences together. If we are working on grammar or writing, you will need to spend at least one hour a week doing assignments on your own. 

Conversation

• If you want help with conversation, we will talk about family, work, hobbies, sports, health, and other topics. We can talk about your background, your challenges, and anything else that is interesting to you

More Information About Our Tutoring Services

Where do we meet?

• We will always hold in-person meetings in public places like libraries, schools, or cafés in San Mateo or Santa Clara County. For online meetings, we both need to be in our own quiet spaces.  For in-person meetings, we will be in a library or cafe in one of the Cities mentioned above

When do we meet?

• We usually meet once a week on any day except Sunday. If you want to meet more frequently, we can try that. Our available hours are 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

About Us

We work as volunteer tutors because we enjoy working with people, and find it rewarding to see them gain skills and confidence in expressing themselves. The harder a student works, the more we want to help them succeed. Language skills can open doors. We are mostly retired professionals who speak native, American English.

Getting Started

• When you click the Contact Us button below, you can tell us what ESL help you want. You can also make comments and ask questions.

• We will respond to your message by email within 48 hours to schedule a Zoom meeting.

• At our Zoom meeting, a tutor will determine what kind of ESL help you need.

• After the Zoom meeting, we will help you decide on the next steps.

What You Need

• You need basic English language skills. If you can read and understand this website, you are ready to start. Most of the people we work with struggle with English, so don't let your language struggle stop you.

• For conversation support, you will need a smartphone, a Mac, or a PC with a working camera. For classroom support and writing/grammar, you will need a desktop or laptop computer such as a Mac or PC with a working camera.

• For online meetings, you will need a quiet place with reliable internet service.

• You will NOT need to pay any fees or buy any books. This service is completely free.

 We would like to hear from you! Take a big step forward by clicking the Contact Us button below!