English and Philosophy
My teaching work with students and clients is a unique blend of conversation and practical learning. I explain the cognitive linguistic and psycholinguistic insights behind learning through conversation and practice. Many of my students progress to learning English through philosophy, others through in-depth conversations from business case studies, economics, finance, monetary theory, international relations, investment, political science, legal and ethical case studies…to popular culture, film, music, books, and the like. My philosophy teaching is aimed at anyone who wants to learn the basics and beyond, yet also the deep roots of ancient Greek philosophy and embodied cognition. It is my belief that having some grasp and understanding of philosophy can be beneficial to anyone's life both personally and professionally.
English
English learning in a nutshell
" My teaching philosophy is grounded in insights from cognitive linguistics and embodied cognition, and the usage-based approach to language acquisition: this is the simple yet powerful idea that language acquisition relies on domain general cognitive skills, such as pattern-finding ability and intention-reading ability. Pattern-finding ability enables us to recognise complex patterns in many domains of perception and perform intuitive unconscious statistical analyses of such perceptual inputs. This, coupled with our intention-reading ability, intuitive ability to recognise human language users as intentional agents and thus read, scan, and interpret intentional cues, and something called joint-attentional frames, how humans can attend to the same stimuli as a frame of reference in communication, all comprise the usage-based approach to language acquisition. This also means that at its heart language learning is a form of communication directed cultural learning. Put more simply learning a language through natural conversation and having a teacher act like a language parent, is one of the most intuitive and effective ways to achieve conversational fluency in a foreign language."
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.”
Flora Lewis,
The Polish Volcano: A Case History of Hope
What I provide and why:
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Natural and embodied approach: students learn through engaging in natural yet three-level structured conversations that recruit an array of psycho-emotive skills. This is to respect the cognitive linguistic and psycho-linguistic findings that humans use pattern finding abilities, intention-reading abilities, and joint-attention frames to acquire language. This embodied approach aligns with the most optimal brain-body processes for deep learning. This is coupled with practical exercises to stimulate and reinforce learning.
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Cultural and social understanding: it is vital to have a deep cultural and social understanding of a language if you want to achieve fluency and deep awareness, as you cannot divorce a language from a culture. I guide students in understanding the cultural nuances intertwined with English and the socio-anthropological, historical, literary, musical, and comedic influences that all shape the language.
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Exam and interview preparation: I prepare students for the Cambridge exams (FCE, CAE, CPE, and IELTS), I also provide English coaching for university and job interviews. Past successes include guiding students through interviews at UK universities including the University of Oxford and LSE, and at companies including Goldman Sachs, Facebook, Frontex, and more.
Learning dynamics:
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Relaxed yet challenging, yet also stress-free environment: lessons and sessions are characterised by a relaxed yet challenging conversational atmosphere, where students often find themselves immersed, engaged, and challenged in English from the first moment to the last, yet students report rarely feeling stressed, as I am devoted to the idea that we learn best when we are truly challenged yet unstressed.
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Customised learning: I encourage students to voice their preferences, ensuring lessons align with their goals and interests, while using cognitive behavioural insights that influence and shape learning to mould and improve learning outcomes.
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Critical thinking: emphasizing a critical and questioning mindset, I encourage students to come prepared with questions — be they about vocabulary, grammar, behaviour, or from their favourite TV shows and films.
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Contextual learning: sensitivity to context is at the heart of language learning, by constantly reading and scanning context, I strive to predict words phrases, idioms students want to use or need, and this makes the whole lesson process smooth and seamless, and more engaging, and constantly reinforces the role of context in the usage-based approach to language acquisition.
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Documented progress: all students get a digital record of our lessons, tracking new vocabulary and ensuring a systematic approach to learning, and online lessons can be recorded for revision, future reference, and self-monitoring.
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An abundance of resources: a wealth of books and materials to enrich the learning experience, sharing valuable resources that compliment our lessons, also a monthly newsletter with articles and material to discuss and present in lessons.
One-to-one English
For academics, professionals, and students
Key benefits:
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Fun, engaging way to work on English
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Overcome conversation anxiety
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Stop being inhibited and stressed when speaking
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Improve vocabulary and cultural awareness in English
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Full attention, care, and ear, of someone that wants to help you become a confident and slick communicator in English!
One-to-one English sessions are one of the most popular formats. Students have 1, 1.5, or 2 hrs in which to fully immerse in English. Lessons can be in person, at a place of work, or online. Lessons focus on natural yet multiple topic three-level structured conversations (see my starter pack to learn more), on articles, presentations for work, scenario role-playing, and much more depending on the needs of the student. A common structure is 1:1 conversation and practical exercises.
I have worked with students from all over the world, Spain, Italy, Poland, South America, Russia, South Korea, China, and from institutions such as the Spanish and Italian police and military, Frontex, Polish national and public institutions, and private companies such as PZU, ING, Accenture, Goldman Sachs, Orlen, Phillips, Facebook…and universities including the University of Warsaw, Warsaw University of Technology, the Jagiellonian University Kraków, The National University of Seoul…
For academics, professionals, and students
Key benefits:
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Build confidence and competence in work- and industry-related English
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Perfect way to start, end, or take a break in, the working day
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Fun way to spend time with work colleagues
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Improve your vocabulary and cultural awareness in English
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Guidance in many work-related behaviours and dynamics
English for groups is a great choice for companies and institutions that want lessons that work best best with anything between 3 to 7 people per group, or for people who would like to learn in a group with similarly minded friends or acquaintances. Lessons for groups typically range from 1.5 to 2 hrs, and work best in person at a place of work, or a hired meeting place, which I arrange. The lesson dynamics for my groups focus more on group socio-cognitive mechanisms for learning such as roles within groups, rotating note-taking, fact checking, translating, peer-correction, and more. Lessons can have different focuses depending on the needs and desires of the given group.
Over the years I have delivered, and continue to deliver, group lessons for students in various Polish institutions and private companies from levels B1 and upwards.
Group lessons can be highly effective once a great group dynamic and solidarity has been created, where people are not stressed or scared to speak out, and where an atmosphere of mutual support, learning, and curiosity is created and nurtured: and that's exactly what I do!
English for Groups
English for Highschoolers
To advanced matura level
Key benefits:
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Build a solid foundation for matura and university
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Become fluent through philosophy
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Learn English through engaging, thought-provoking lessons
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Improve your vocabulary and cultural awareness in English
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Exam peace of mind
English for high schoolers are some of the most effective 4 years of English learning in all my experience. This window of opportunity is where I have seen students go from struggling to express themselves to a high level of fluency and ease of expression. Many of my high school students continue working with me after primary school, but new high school students are welcome at anytime. Lessons are typically for 1 or 1.5 hrs.
Many of my high school students work to achieve a solid grasp of English at the standard of the Cambridge FCE for adults and progress to mastering the Cambridge Advanced (CAE) material. This ensures that by the time students reach the advanced matura their level is much higher. Lessons also involve a lot of warm-up word games from the New York Times, to improve word logic and language mastery.
Most high schoolers progress to mastering English through learning philosophy, something I uniquely specialise in, and something which has proven to aiding students to achieve a genuine level of fluency, as students are demanded to read, discuss, debate, formulate arguments, and reason in English, which has an astonishing effect on students' mastery of the language and their ability to think creatively, improve their general knowledge, and what's more their overall intellectual and interpersonal confidence.
English for Kids
To eighth class level
Key benefits:
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Build a solid foundation for the 8th class exam and high school
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Have fun after school in English through games, activities, puzzles…
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Active lessons, getting your child moving, improving confidence through progressively challenging physical games
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Build a solid foundation in reading and comprehension equivalent to UK primary children
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Exam peace of mind
Kids are welcome to work with me from the age of 8 or 9 depending on their maturity and willingness. Lessons with kids are fun and engaging, as kids have their lessons after school, so they need to be stimulated and excited to learn. Lessons are typically for 1 or 1.5 hrs.
Lessons involve a lot of movement, games, soft ball games, word games, geography games, quizzes, traditional and ancient board games, calligraphy, building and making, painting, drawing, and more. When weather permits lessons can be outside.
The back bone of my teaching with kids is reading. I use the Oxford Reading Tree books, which are used in the majority of UK primary schools to teach reading and comprehension mastery for primary school kids. I also prepare kids for the Olympiad exams if they wish to participate. Several students have gone on to be winners and achieve a free passport to the high school of their choice.
Former winners have gone on to schools such as Cervantes, Hoffmanowa, Witkacy…
Philosophy
Philosophy in a nutshell
" The only thing anyone needs to learn philosophy is their curiosity to know. This is what makes philosophy one of the most universally accessible fields of learning, yet paradoxically one of the most least studied and accessed. It is my deep-held view that it shouldn't be that way. Early philosophy was taught and learnt my the Greeks in places called gymnasia. These were spaces for physical training, exercise, and martial ways. But the air was not only filled with blood, sweat, and tears, but the excitement and expectation that comes with lively philosophical discourse and inquiry. Such places are hard to imagine for the modern mind. But for anyone who believes that you cannot train the mind without first training the body, such an idea will make intuitive sense. One of the magical ingredients to understanding philosophy is understanding why humans began to philosophise and how. Once we understand this, with the help of the Greeks, it becomes more intuitive to learn philosophy. It also sets the foundation of how to learn philosophy as a spiritual practice. My way of teaching philosophy is all about giving students a big picture view of philosophy and its origins. From the ancient Greeks to the present day. The reason for this is my belief that we inherit all that is most important and essential to philosophy from the Greeks. Yet the twist is that only thanks to the great work done by scientists, particularly cognitive scientists to understand the nature of the human mind, do we have a truly evidence- and fact-based perspective of the human mind. With this new perspective philosophy right from the Greeks to the present day must be reevaluated in order to strive for a scientifically responsible philosophy. To do this students must study the cognitive and embodied nature of language, thought, and meaning, and from that we can establish a reliable big picture of philosophy. To do this we make an in-depth study of one of the most revolutionary books in philosophy, by two of the greatest minds in the field. Students who make it this far , in my humble view, have one of the best groundings in philosophy; something hard even to find on most university degrees."
“Science is what you know. Philosophy is what you don't know.”
Bertrand Russell
Philosophy means the love of wisdom. It's both the king and queen of the sciences and arts. Yet it's amazing how few people have the opportunity to learn about this beautiful, wondrous subject.
Learning philosophy with me is a unique opportunity to acquire a deep understanding about the nature of our world and our place in it, in a way that is once intuitive and entertaining. Students learn the historic and cultural conditions out of which philosophy was born, and the role philosophy continues to play in our world. Thanks to learning philosophy people develop a more confident and assured world view, grounded in the balance of facts and truth while also cultivating the skills to continue nurturing one's worldview in a healthy, balanced way. This is something that has become absolutely essential in our world due to the ever increasing problems of misinformation, fake news, and the overwhelming presence of unauthenticated information in the digital realm.
My students learn philosophy by learning the big history context of how humans arrived at philosophy as a discipline and most likely why. We begin at the heart of philosophy that is ancient Greek philosophy. Most people are curious why when we learn the subject we mostly begin with the Greeks. The short answer to this is that the written historical record of philosophy mostly comes from ancient Greece. More manuscripts and philosophies, and philosophers to whom they were attributable were to be found in ancient Greece than any other place and culture on earth, despite the fact that the vast majority of ancient Greek manuscripts were lost or destroyed, the ancient Greek philosophical corpus is by far the most extensive and comprehensive.
Learning philosophy, as the Greeks have taught us, is essential to a life well lived. Philosophy furnishes our minds and bodies with the abilties and tools to live in the face of adversity and to find happiness and good in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances. That is because the Greeks believed that philosophy is a spiritual practice that should be learnt through continuous practices of mind and body. It is these practices (practicums) that overtime evolve into the well adapted abilities and tools with which to face life in all its enormity. This idea is also what informs and structures my guiding and mentoring.
The way I teach philosophy is further informed by my own extensive experience having been taught the subject and teaching it myself. There are many ways to teach philosophy. The way I teach it is a reflection of how I think the subject is best taught and learnt. Also what I what believe gives students the best grounding in the subject for life.
The first stage is for students to learn through a very fun preliminary text. This encourages students to do close reading, provokes discussions, and debate, while I fill in all the gaps with interesting facts and insights. This text gives an overall structure to philosophy through the ages, and introduces students to many philosophers from the Greeks to the present day and their most prominent ideas. The second stage is to dive deeper into Greek philosophy to really understand the origins of philosophy, how it should be practiced as a spiritual discipline, and to learn how if even in the present day we can live a life of philosophy, as the Greeks envisioned. The last stage, is to examine and understand the nature of human embodied cognition, language, and meaning making and truth. To do this we look at what is, in my opinion, one of the most important texts of philosophy ever written.
These three stages of study in my view, give the average person a beyond average understanding of philosophy, and a way of approaching life and life's problems with an array of knowledge, tools, and perspectives that are a great intellectual, and mind-body investment.
English through Philosophy
For adults and students - B1/ B2 level and above
Key benefits:
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An extremely enjoyable way to learn English almost passively, and unconsciously
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Learn to think and speak in English
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Develop a profound and deep understanding of philosophy as a way of life
English through philosophy is my unique approach of killing two birds with one stone, by helping students learn both English and philosophy at the same time. Lessons are typically 1.5 to 2 hrs. Students receive a digital copy of the course books, but books can also be bought.
Lessons involve students studying a fun core book, which we use to learn the overview of the history of philosophy right up to the present day. Students read the book in depth during lessons, while I ask various questions, and provide fun facts and insights. All the while I assist students with their English so that they can follow the philosophical ideas and arguments. In this way, students improve their grammar, vocabulary, and spoken English through philosophy.
Students gain a comprehensive understanding of the origins of philosophy, the big history context of the subject, the core tools required to do philosophy well, a deep understanding of ancient Greek philosophy and the origins of western culture, science, and thought.
Philosophy
For adults and students - C1 and above
Key benefits:
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An extremely enjoyable way to learn English almost passively, and unconsciously
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Learn to think and speak in English
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Develop a profound and deep understanding of philosophy as a way of life
My philosophy course is a unique approach of killing two birds with one stone, like my English through philosophy course. While the course content is similar, more advanced users of English will be able to progress through the material and ideas more swiftly, to more advanced material. Lessons are typically 1.5 to 2 hrs. Students receive a digital copy of the course books, but books can also be bought.
Lessons involve students studying the core course book, which we use to learn the overview of the history of philosophy right up to the present day. Students read the book in depth during lessons, while I ask various questions, and provide fun facts and insights. All the while I help students learn all the vocabulary in English, and we make extensive notes to aid learning. For more advanced students we progress to two more advanced course books, highlighted in "Philosophy in a Nutshell".
Students gain a comprehensive understanding of the origins of philosophy, the big history context of the subject, the core tools required to do philosophy well, a deep understanding of ancient Greek philosophy and the origins of western culture, science, and thought.
COMING IN 2025!
Philosophy for groups
Fees and prices (updated 2025)
children, young people, students, adults
in person, or online, one-to-one lessons (all Europe):
1 hr 150 PLN / 35 EUR
1.5 hrs 225 PLN / 52 EUR
2 hrs 300 PLN / 70 EUR
in person, travel to student (for Warsaw-based clietns and students):
+ 25 PLN
1 hr 175 PLN
1.5 hrs 250 PLN
2 hrs 325 PLN
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Euro prices based on an average of 1 EUR to 4,27 PLN for 2025.
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Potential students and clients who are specifically interested in working with me for the unique services I provide, but are deterred by the prices, are very welcome to contact me to negotiatie a price they can afford. I treat clients and students on a case-by-case basis, and I believe money should not be a hinderance to working with me, most importantly students and clients should be passionate about our cooperation Though places are very often limited and I do have waiting lists, so I thank everyone in advance for their patience.
CEOs, executives, company owners, established actors and artists, embassy and expat workers
in person, or online, one-to-one lessons, includes travel (for Warsaw-based clients and students):
1 hr 250 PLN / 59 EUR
1.5 hrs 375 PLN / 89 EUR
2 hrs 500 PLN / 117 EUR
groups
in person, or online, includes travel (for Warsaw-based clietns and students):
1 hr 250 PLN
1.5 hrs 375 PLN
2 hrs 500 PLN