I am a qualified ESL teacher with a master's degree in linguistics. I have experience teaching children as well as adults. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jordan I taught English to fourth- and fifth-grade girls in a village school. This experience taught me the importance of flexibility and cultural sensitivity. Exposure to a culture different from my own enriched me and broadened my perspective. It also made me aware of the high value placed on learning English by people of other lands to achieve social and economic success.
Building upon my initial ESL teaching experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jordan, I recently taught English to adult refugees mainly from Iraq through the Grossmont Adult School. Previous to that experience I taught ESL to adult students with the San Diego Community College District in California. Hailing from twelve countries and representing a range of exposure to the English language made teaching this diverse group of students challenging. In response to this I augmented my ability to explain concepts in multiple ways to ensure that all the students understood the material.
Having attempted to learn the French and Arabic languages, I am aware of the difficulties that students learning a second or third language can experience, thus allowing me to empathize with students attempting to learn English. This, in addition to my academic preparation in linguistics, and my overseas and domestic ESL teaching experiences have made me a highly qualified and caring teacher who understands the importance of tailoring the learning experience to fit the needs and desires of each student.
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