English as a Second Language/Expert Profile

Expertise

I can manage almost anything: vocabulary, grammar correction and practice, spelling (though I'll have to have my dictionary open), listening and pronunciation, writing practice and correction, practicing and familiarity with idioms and two-word verbs,assistance with the TOEFL. What I believe I'd have trouble with are: 1) remembering the exact term(s)(the entire vocabulary for English grammatical form) for various grammatical rules, and parts of speech. I'd either have to get out a few old workbooks from my ESL teaching days, or find a site that had most of the grammatical rules mapped out and marked for remembering what context they work in. 2) helping someone writing a paper or reading a textbook in math or natural sciences. I was never able to help students much who were writing math or science papers; when I had to deal with math and science English vocabulary I'm totally unfamiliar with, I just had no way to help the students move forward. (My subject background is in the arts and humanities, and the social sciences.)

Experience in the area

I was a volunteer ESL instructor for six weeks one summer at The Southeast Asia Center here in Chicago, and during that time, worked with mostly seniora. From there, I found my first paying job as an ESL instructor at Truman College here, one of our City Colleges of Chicago. I taught ESL for 16 hrs a week, and English Composition four hrs a week for approx. 13 yrs at the Lakeview Learning Center branch of Truman College. I also taught a 4-hour pronunciation class on Saturdays. Very strong experience.

Organizations

No longer a member in any professional or writers' organizations.

Publications

Have published short fiction and poetry in many literary magazines over the years, never in a monograph.

Education/Credentials

BA in Creative Writing and American Lit - Univ. Washington, Seattle MLS in Library Science - Syracuse University - Syracust, NY MS in Human Development - Univ of Chicago School of Social Sciences - Chicago, IL MFA in Writing - Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts - Bard College - Avon on Hudson, NY Post-Grad work in Human Development - no degree received

Awards and Honors

All my awards and honors had to do with academics.

Past/Present Clients

Became ill/ disabled in 1995: continued to do tutoring with ESL students, mostly graduate school students working on term papers or thesis papers, for approximately six more years. Also helped students study for the TOERL exam in order to be accepted into the city college I used to teach at.