Asian American Community Services

Instructor: Erin Smith’s Biography

Miss Smith, a Greenfield, Ohio native, has spent the past three years teaching English to university students in China. In 2005, she taught conversational English at the Nanchang Institute of Technology in Jiangxi province. From 2006 to 2008, she taught conversational English, as well as English writing at Hunan Normal University in Changsha, Hunan. Miss Smith graduated from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky in 2005 with a Bachelor’s degree in Intercultural Studies, where she also minored in teaching ESL. She recently graduated from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California, with a Master of Arts in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). She looks forward to the time she will spend teaching English at Asian American Community Services.

Beginner Course

This course is designed for those who have a little background in the English language. The focus will be on working from the alphabet up. There will be an emphasis on grammar instruction, where students will recognize how basic sentences are formed, and will have the opportunity to apply knowledge learned through completing various reading and writing activities. Students will also have the opportunity to practice their English listening and speaking skills through various in-class discussions.

Basics Course

This course is designed for those who have a basic grasp of the English language, and want to discover how to expand on the knowledge they have already gained. Students will be able to apply general conversational techniques to everyday conversational opportunities. Students will be able to associate phrases learned in class to everyday-life situations. Students will be able to explain new vocabulary terms and associate them with different contexts. There will also be some emphasis on basic grammatical skills.

Conversation Course

This course consists of an introduction to conversational English with an emphasis primarily on discussion. The primary goal of this course is that students will attain a greater fluency in their English skills, and will feel more confident when speaking English. Students will be introduced to various conversational techniques and will have the opportunity to practice those techniques through classroom discussions. Students will also be encouraged to apply conversational skills learned through this course to situations experienced outside of the classroom.

Intermediate Course

The Intermediate course is designed for students with intermediate-advanced English skills. This course will challenge students to become more fluent in their English-speaking abilities. This course is an integrated course, which consists of a combination of English grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking, and listening instruction.