About Tom
New York native Tom Penketh has over 20 years of experience as an editor, copywriter, and journalist.
He wrote for publications at Nielsen and Meredith, worked with financial research at Alliance Bernstein and TIAA-CREF, and edited medical journals at Reed Elsevier.
Tom taught English at NYC's International Center for more than six years. He helped students from Asia, Europe, and Africa to improve their conversation, writing, and pronunciation skills.
In 2016, he started Tom's Tutoring NYC to teach ESL to adults full time.
Tom is a top ESL events organizer for Meetup and Duolingo, hosting four to six online and in-person events every week that help expatriates improve their English. His groups have more than 12,000 members combined.
In between trips to Taiwan to visit their extended family, Tom and his wife live on a tree-lined street in Brooklyn, NY.
“Tom is very professional. He adapts the classes to your needs and helps you to gain confidence. I will keep working with Tom even after I return home.”
Testimonials
“Tom has been one of the best things that happened to me in NYC. He helped me to prepare for TOEFL and so much more. He is an amazing teacher and an incredible person!”
“My conversation ability is soaring with Tom’s help. He has taught me much about American culture, language and history. Tom is good-natured and patient. It’s been a pleasure to work with him.”
“Tom is an terrific tutor. He helped me to improve my conversation skills and my knowledge of American grammar, idiom and vocabulary. Plus, he has an great sense of humor, which makes the classes fun! ”
“Tom is a great listener. If I do not understand a word, he finds a clear way to explain it. I’ve learned so much from him.”
“Before I started working with Tom, I dreaded speaking with my NYC clients. But now I feel much more confident at work. Thank you, Tom!”
“Tom helped me prepare for the GRE. He makes complex topics easy to understand. In particular, my writing has improved 100%. A terrific teacher!”