KATIE MEHLE
Katie is a new ESL instructor with
English&More.We are so happy to have her on board!
Katie recently moved to Charleston from the state of West Virginia. She lives with her husband, Jesse, in James Island.
Katie comes to us from West Virginia University where she was teaching ESL to university students. Katie misses the mountains of her home state, but she is really enjoying Folly Beach and the beautiful ity of Charleston. She first fell in love with teaching English while working as an EFL instructor in Mexico.
Katie also enjoys sewing, doing Zumba, playing volleyball, camping, hula-hooping, going to the cinema, and attending concerts.
Katie comes to us from West Virginia University where she was teaching ESL to university students. Katie misses the mountains of her home state, but she is really enjoying Folly Beach and the beautiful ity of Charleston. She first fell in love with teaching English while working as an EFL instructor in Mexico.
Katie also enjoys sewing, doing Zumba, playing volleyball, camping, hula-hooping, going to the cinema, and attending concerts.
We asked Katie to tell us an interesting story about her experiences with ESL students:
"While teaching English in Mexico, my husband and I had the pleasure of
seeing some of our students finish the English program and move on to jobs,
university studies, or international travel.
One of our students really wanted to get a visa for the United States. She talked about it often and she was always trying to imagine the questions that her interviewer would ask on her big day. She finished the English program and her big day finally came!
Afterwards I asked her how the interview went and she said that it was short and very easy! This was surprising to her because she imagined that it would be very difficult.
The man was actually quite nice, she reported. “What questions did he ask?” I wanted to know. She said, “He only asked me one real question. He just wanted to know who taught me English.”
Now I was really surprised. Did our English school have such a good reputation? Did the interviewer hear the name of our school and simply let our student pass the interview? “What did you tell him?” I asked her with excitement.
“Well, I asked him which state he was from,” she said plainly.
“And what did he say?” I asked her, confused.
“He told me that he was from West Virginia and I told him I had two teachers from West Virginia and he said that was enough for him!”
My husband and I laughed hard about that. West Virginia is not very populous, so it was very unlikely that our student would have an interview with a person from our rural state. It just goes to show that you have to keep everything in perspective.
At the right moment, the international corporation that we taught English for became a lot less important than our distant and little-known home state.”
We also asked Katie to give us some tips to help our students improve their English. Here are the Katies's learning tips:BE CURIOUS! seeing some of our students finish the English program and move on to jobs,
university studies, or international travel.
One of our students really wanted to get a visa for the United States. She talked about it often and she was always trying to imagine the questions that her interviewer would ask on her big day. She finished the English program and her big day finally came!
Afterwards I asked her how the interview went and she said that it was short and very easy! This was surprising to her because she imagined that it would be very difficult.
The man was actually quite nice, she reported. “What questions did he ask?” I wanted to know. She said, “He only asked me one real question. He just wanted to know who taught me English.”
Now I was really surprised. Did our English school have such a good reputation? Did the interviewer hear the name of our school and simply let our student pass the interview? “What did you tell him?” I asked her with excitement.
“Well, I asked him which state he was from,” she said plainly.
“And what did he say?” I asked her, confused.
“He told me that he was from West Virginia and I told him I had two teachers from West Virginia and he said that was enough for him!”
My husband and I laughed hard about that. West Virginia is not very populous, so it was very unlikely that our student would have an interview with a person from our rural state. It just goes to show that you have to keep everything in perspective.
At the right moment, the international corporation that we taught English for became a lot less important than our distant and little-known home state.”
Don’t ignore all words or structures that confuse you. Investigate them.
Ask questions about them. Master them and then understand them the next time you see them. Use moderation, however. If you look up everything, you may not remember anything.
PURSUE YOUR PASSION!
What do you love? Read about it in English! Watch a movie
about it in English! Do it in English! If you are interested in a particular subject, you will be motivated to learn language about it. Do you dream of cooking perfect Italian pasta? Buy an English cookbook and figure it out! Do you like the outdoors? Research state parks or national parks near you and talk to the forest ranger at the visitor center! Do the things you love, but in English! Consider keeping a dictionary by your side, or write down questions for your teacher.
REVIEW!
Don’t neglect old notes and old textbooks. As learners we sometimes
understand something for a short period of time, but when we stop thinking about it, we forget it completely. What happens then? We have to learn it again the next time we need it! Reread your materials. You will save time in the long run.