Webtawks Teacher Feature—Raya
Written by: Kristen M. Gagné, Founder/Owner—Webtawks
Raya W.—English language teacher, Webtawks
As the Founder/Owner of Webtawks, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know so many different ESL teachers who are located all over the world and are involved in English language teaching in many different ways.
The one characteristic that all of the teachers for Webtawks has is the overwhelming love for teaching—Raya is no exception.
This is Raya’s story…
I love teaching because learning a language is like a secret code that opens doors and I get very excited working with learners and seeing the exciting things they experience when they open those new doors. Each learner has their own particular goal and I am endlessly inspired by the challenge of leveraging all the amazing tools we now have to teach ESL learners online, in order to fashion a strategy that supports each student to make progress, and to help them stick to the consistent work needed to open their desired doors.
The spark for teaching English began when I was 16. I was asked by a social worker in a rough ghetto area of inner city Chicago to try to teach English to teenage Puerto Rican boys who were recently released from detention. The goal was to help build their self-esteem and options for avoiding prison. It was an experience that helped mold me.
After earning my degree, I taught for many years without TESOL certification, then realized a long-term dream and went to World Learning Institute, Brattleboro, Vermont, to get TESOL Certification in 2000.
A couple of my favorite teaching situations have been:
- Teaching Russian immigrant senior citizens in Buffalo, NY. They felt disenfranchised because they were well-educated and even in their 60’s they still felt young, and were full of life and interests. They wanted to learn English to be able to continue to contribute value to their community and families. They were very grateful to be taken seriously, and worked hard in class with me to overcome language barriers and culture shock.
- Working online now with a young woman in Japan who is engaged to be married to a US sailor she met in Japan while he was serving in the Navy. They are planning to marry in two years when he finishes university and she is very motivated to be ready to transition to US life. However, she feels she may find it even more difficult because he is now in Austin, Texas, and his large family is in Louisiana. The southern US accent is very challenging for her! My mother grew up in North Carolina and I became familiar with the southern US accent listening to her and her sisters. My student and I have lots of laughs as I teach her to say “Bye, Ya’ll” and other colloquialisms she will encounter once she moves.
Raya is a native English speaker and is currently living in Israel.
She excels in: accent reduction, presentation skills, medical English, business English, and conversation skills
You can learn from Raya on Webtawks—just create an account and get started!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We look forward to teaching you soon on Webtawks.
