About me

Hi! My name is David. My interest in foreign and exotic cultures started when I was 6 years old. Being fascinated by Ancient Egyptian culture, their art and hieroglyphics, I would draw, collect statues and artifacts (replicas of course), as well as make my own costumes (which looked ridiculous) while growing up in Kristiansand.

Ancient China

A few years later (at age 10) I also got interested in ancient China. Again I found myself collecting artifacts, drawing and making stuff.

My path: language and cultural exchange

Having grown up with an interest in ancient cultures and exotic written languages, in addition to my two native languages (Norwegian and English), I earned two language degrees (one in Russian language and literature and one in Chinese language and culture) from the University of Bergen while working as a Norwegian language instructor (levels A1-B2) at Folkeuniversitetet Vestlandet (Bergen). I had never thought teaching could be as fulfilling as it turned out to be. In the meanwhile, I also continued to learn about my own students` cultures and languages.

Being proficient in Russian, I taught courses (levels A1-A2) for Russian speakers using Russian instead of English as a supportive language. The same year, I was also selected to instruct a lieutenant from the British Royal Navy (in preparation for United Nations participation along the Norwegian coast). The course (levels A1-B2) was taught one to one intensively over a six month period.

Having developed educational software (for the courses "KJEM140 - Molecular physical chemistry" and "MOL100 - Introduction to molecular biology") on a voluntary student initiative (at the University of Bergen) as a chemistry student, I realized how computers can also play an essential role in language instruction.

So, on December 16th 2019 I founded the company Singularity Linguistics - my goal being to provide a language teacher for every language learner. As of today, an introductory course (Max, level A1) in Norwegian is ready for a new test phase.

Teaching experience

2020- Norwegian language instructor and developer, Lingu.

Levels A1-B1 and C1.

Product development and revising Web-based language learning application (Teach/Samanehs reise).

2014-2019 Norwegian language instructor, Folkeuniversitetet Vestlandet.

Number of courses (levels A1-B2) taught: 48 (2543 hours).

Courses include 3 courses (levels A1-A2) for Russian speakers taught in Russian, and a 440-hour long training program for the British Royal Navy.

2011-2012 Learning assistant (LA) for master students taking the course "Experts in Teams" (EiT). Responsibilities: Facilitation and enhancement of group cooperation dynamics.

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Educational software

2019-2020 Development of software (chapter quizzes) in Python 3 for the courses "KJEM140 - Molecular Physical Chemistry" and "MOL100 - Introduction to Molecular Biology". The quizzes contained a variety of different practice problems, and were designed to be used by students (available through the course website) to test their understanding of the cyllabus in preparation for the exams. Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, The University of Bergen (UiB).

Translation experience

2017 Physics translations (Norwegian - English) of course descriptions for seven master`s programmes in physics for the university homepage: Biological physics/medical physics, physics didactics, nuclear and particle physics, materials/nano physics and quantum technology, space physics and technology, theoretical physics, microelectronics and sensor technology, signal processing and imaging. The University of Oslo (UiO).

Max

The program (Max) was named after our dear neighbor dog, which I would sometimes take for walks in my hometown Haugesund.