Alexander & Devon

United States
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Profile information

Travel information
We are currently
Travelling
Activities we are interested in:
We would love to do a language and cultural exchange! We also are glad to help out with children, dogs, and some house and garden work.
Description
Available in February until 22/2/2024.

About us:
We have a passion for languages, teaching, and learning. We work full-time as university instructors in Tokyo, Japan and travel as much as possible.
We both love to sing and play music. Alex plays guitar and bass, and Devon plays piano.
Our hobbies are watching and critiquing TV and films, listening and playing many types of music, strength training, yoga, cooking and eating delicious food, hosting our neighbors and friends at our home, reading, Pokemon and Zelda games, word games, and trivia.
Devon has experience with animals from growing up on a farm and riding horses.

Education/qualifications:
We have Master's degrees in linguistics with an emphasis on language teaching.
Devon has a CELTA certificate.
Alex has a K-12 US teaching certification.
We have experience teaching English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese.
We have taught all ages: preschool through university and adults.

Helpful info:
We have received both doses of the Moderna vaccine and the booster.
We both have our international driver's licenses.
We are both non-smokers and prefer non-smoker workaways. We drink little and rarely.

So far, we have done Workaway seven times.
We helped a family's children with English for 5 weeks in Bormio, Italy.
We helped a family on their farm near Pescara, Italy.
We practiced/taught English and Portuguese to a family in Verona, Italy.
We taught English and guitar to a family's young children in Annecy, France.
We helped a family with their local canning business near Lyon, France.
We helped a family take care of their dog and garden in Geneva, Switzerland.
We taught English to a professor near Sevilla, Spain.
Interests
LGBTQ
Yoga / Wellness
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Performing arts
Mountain
Water sports
Sustainability
Self development
Photography
Outdoor activities
Nature
Music
Movies & TV
Hiking
Gardening
Languages
Fitness
Farming
Dancing

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Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Italian: Intermediate
Chinese (Mandarin): Intermediate
Japanese: Beginner
More details about my language interests
Can teach: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese Want to improve: French, Italian, Spanish
Find a language buddy
Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
We're interested in:
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Eco Projects
Charity Work
Art Projects
Some knowledge of:
Gardening
Babysitting and creative play
Being an elderly companion
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Life at a Farmstay
Animal Care
Hospitality/Tourism
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Able to teach about:
Helping around the house
Languages
Teaching
More details about your skills
As teachers, we have experience teaching English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese. Alex is also conversational in French and Italian.
We have also taught guitar, geography, and physical education classes.
We grew up around animals and have experience working with horses, cows, and dogs.
We enjoy cooking and baking. We would be glad to help in the kitchen and learn new recipes.
We are also fast learners and are always open to learning new skills.
Age
32 & 36
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  No.
- Special dietary requirements
  No. We are always excited to try new foods.

Feedback

27 Feb 2024

Left by Workawayer (Alexander & Devon) for host (Looking for an English ...)

Overall, we enjoyed our experience with Tizy's family in Bormio in the summer. Tizy is very friendly, as well as her husband, children, and extended family. She and the children speak English well, but the Workawayer knowing some Italian would be helpful. Tizy was mostly responsive to texts and calls. However, she made it clear from the start that… read more it was their "busy season" and she wouldn't be around the house a lot.
We've done multiple Workaways, and a few in Italy, and this one was a mixed bag. As we were the first couple this family had ever hosted (the family had done many individual Workaways before), the room and board situation was interesting. We were provided with a cute, small apartment in the main shopping street, but it was very noisy at night because it was across the street from a nightclub and bars, had no place to hang up laundry, no AC or heat, and no wifi. The no wifi situation was especially difficult as my partner and I both needed our laptops to stay connected to work and had to pay for extra cellular data for the whole month to use our smartphones. We asked the family about this issue, but they didn't feel the need to resolve it. We also only received one to two meals a day, 5 days a week, instead of the typical three meals a day. This was quite frustrating as we didn't always know day-to-day -- for a month -- which meals would be provided. It was made more odd by the fact that the family owns a grocery store a block from their home and had cheap and easy access to food. This put my partner and I in a daily awkward situation of feeling like we had to ask for food when that is the guaranteed arrangement for Workaway. It also resulted in our trip to Italy being more expensive than anticipated due to the extra food, internet, and laundry costs. We extended our stay by one week after some discussion, and the family said they couldn't promise us meals. Instead, Tizy's sister kindly stepped in and cooked us delicious dinners. However, breakfast and lunch were on us. This was a shock to us since we were still working with the children.
The children (teenage boy, girl, and preteen boy) were generally well-behaved, smart in their English studies, social, and very friendly. However, after the first week or two, the children started being no-shows for their scheduled time with us and opted instead to hang out with friends around town. My partner and I understood why since they were on summer break and wanted to hang out with their friends...However, it made us feel useless and at loose ends day after day. We often planned our days around the children's study schedule, and when the children stopped showing up at the house, it was frustrating to hang out at the house alone when we could have made other plans. Whenever we were with the children, though, we highly enjoyed the time talking and exploring with them, especially when walking around town with Mocha, a family dog. The children are very talented and sweet, and we hope to keep in touch!
Bormio and the surrounding area are absolutely stunning and worth visiting. We would be excited to go back and would be glad to catch up with this family again.

(Very good )

2 Feb 2022

Left by Workawayer (Alexander & Devon) for host (Looking for a workawayer to ...)

I got to stay with José Luis for a week. He is extremely intelligent and was a great student. I was able to see a lot of progress with his English in a short amount of time. He has a passion for Spanish culture. He taught me about historical events, celebrations, and traditional cuisine. We went on excursions to places few tourists know about. In… read more

(Excellent )

1 Feb 2022

Left by host (Looking for a workawayer to ...) for Workawayer (Alexander & Devon)

I have been lucky enough to have Alex at home for a week. Being an experienced teacher of Spanish and English, I had high expectations for his English classes and, indeed, his classes have turned out to be as interesting as he imagined. His knowledge and skills of both his language and teaching techniques are qualified and professional. He is a… read more

(Excellent )

4 Aug 2021

Left by Workawayer (Alexander & Devon) for host (Introduce our children to the ...)

I stayed with the Laubie familly for almost two weeks. They were very welcoming and I enjoyed getting to know them. I mostly helped the kids with English practice. Victor, Salomé and Corentin are smart, cute kids. Annecy is beautiful and I did a lot of bike riding in my free time. The family introduced me to a lot of the local cuisine and they're… read more

(Excellent )

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27 Feb 2024

Left by Workawayer (Alexander & Devon) for host (Looking for an English ...)

(Very good )

2 Feb 2022

Left by Workawayer (Alexander & Devon) for host (Looking for a workawayer to ...)

(Excellent )

1 Feb 2022

Left by host (Looking for a workawayer to ...) for Workawayer (Alexander & Devon)

(Excellent )

4 Aug 2021

Left by Workawayer (Alexander & Devon) for host (Introduce our children to the ...)

(Excellent )

4 Aug 2021

Left by Workawayer (Alexander & Devon) for host (Experience Verona like a ...)

Lorenzo, Valentino and Victor are great. I stayed with them for two weeks and helped them with English and various household tasks. During my stay, we went boating and swimming at Lake Garda, visited downtown Verona, went to Parco delle Cascate and I got to experience living like a local. Valentino introduced me to his group of friends and they're… read more

(Excellent )

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