Experienced Berkeley PhD in Vancouver teaching Latin, Greek and Linguistics at all levels

I had Tom for first year Latin at Berkeley. He's a great teacher, his explanations are super clear and he's patient and doesn't make you feel stupid when you get something wrong like other teachers I've had! I really liked how he would mix things up with activities like bringing in funny quotes or having us write short stories in Latin just to get a change from all the endless grammar. Tom was one of my favorite professors at Cal and I would definitely recommend him as a tutor.

Dr. Tom Recht is an excellent tutor and teacher of Latin and ancient Classics and Greek. His way of clarifying and focusing, and vast knowledge and skills had helped me enormously in my studies.
Iris Yotvat.

Tom is an excellent teacher. I had the pleasure of studying Latin with Tom for a year at UC Berkeley. His approach to teaching is thoughtful, giving students space to explore the complexities and nuances of an incredibly difficult subject. I always appreciated the structure and pacing of his classes as it never felt rushed but were always an intellectual challenge. The discrete assignments he gave us were always reasonable and never felt extraneous. Due to his vast experience with Latin grammar and texts, everything he taught and assigned had etymological context and could be immediately applied to accompanying readings. I also appreciated Tom's sense of humor and how he brought levity to our classes by selecting witty texts and commentaries that made the class laugh. I so appreciated the calm he brought to every class as well as how well he listened to the class's feedback and struggles. Working with Tom one on one was also very effective, as he has great skill distilling particular challenges for his students and giving corrections with clear precision appropriate to the specific questions. It was a wonderful experience learning with Tom.

Tom is receptive to your personal frustrations in learning the material. He roeganizes the grammar and practice materials so that you can learn from many different approaches. It really strengthens what you have learnt and what are you are learning.
He also knows how to use his wry sense of humor to lightens the mood.