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From Struggling Student to Confident English Speaker: How Kunwoo's Journey Changed My Teaching Style

 

 

Topic-How-to-Be-a-Successful

This student success story features Teacher Erin's student, Kunwoo. 

Hear Kunwoo's inspiring success story - a real-life student who was transformed by Teacher Erin NSEO program. Discover how this program could be right for you, with first-hand accounts of student success.

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Introduction 

Kunwoo Park is a fourth grader student whom I have taught for nine months.  

At first, Kunwoo could not make any sentences but now has completed over 80 English lessons complete with vocabulary.

In this, he has strengthened his sentence structure and has begun to develop his opinions and discussion ideas. He has a much clearer understanding of the language as a result, and has advanced to learning academic vocabulary at his grade level as a consequence of our work together.  

He even aced his Hagwon vocabulary test!  

Learning a new language can be difficult, but Kunwoo persevered through the lessons and has come out on the other side as a transformed student, strong in academics and speaking.

 

The Story of Kunwoo

Kunwoo came to me with a desire to develop his vocabulary, which was very little.  

He was not confident at all.  

In fact, I asked him how he was feeling at the beginning of a lesson.  He was supposed to have a test that day.  He answered, ”Sad.  Test.”  That broke my heart!  

To boost his confidence and to better prepare for the bi-weekly test, we reviewed the test material in each class.  That helped him retain the information and his bi-weekly test scores went up!

In addition to vocabulary lessons, I had Kunwoo play speaking games in each lesson.  

Character designing games helped him understand how to make sentences with singular and plural nouns, such as “I would like blue eyes,” and “I would like this hairstyle.”  The constant repetition helped him tremendously.  He also had a hard time identifying the characters and settings of stories.  

We tackled that issue with grammar focus to establish his understanding of story elements.

Screenshot 2023-01-25 at 6.58.18 AMThe advancement in his understanding is truly remarkable. Through consistent effort and participation in our classes, his comprehension of the English language has noticeably grown.

 

He is now able to grasp new concepts and ideas with greater ease and confidence, and this improvement has had a positive impact on his overall proficiency in the language.

I am impressed by his dedication and proud of his progress.

 

Why Kunwoo Chose You 

Kunwoo was hesitant to start learning English at first, but after taking a trial class with me and hearing positive feedback from a friend who had also been my student, he decided to enroll in my classes.

This trust that was built through his friend's experience with me helped Kunwoo's parents feel confident in my abilities as a teacher and trust me with their child's education.

Kunwoo was very shy at first and he often looked up at the ceiling and said “Ummmmm” to communicate that he was thinking but that he didn’t have the words to express himself.  

I provided him with very simple answers that he could choose from to answer my questions.  Kunwoo came to understand that he can trust me to not leave him confused.  

Celebrating Kunwoo's victories has been a crucial part of our journey together.

I've found that using stickers as a reward when he excels in a particular task has been a powerful motivator and has helped to significantly boost his confidence. The recognition of his efforts and achievements helps Kunwoo to see his own progress and feel proud of himself.

These small celebrations have made a big impact on his learning experience and have helped to keep him motivated and engaged.

 

The Results

Kunwoo's confidence and comfort level speaking English has significantly increased.

In the beginning, he was shy and reserved, and I could only see a glimpse of his face beneath his eyes. However, as time passed, he opened up and started to trust me, allowing me to see his full face.

This was a remarkable moment for me, as I could see how much he had warmed up to me and the classes. I was also astounded by the progress he made in his language skills.

Screenshot 2023-01-25 at 6.58.18 AM

He went from having limited vocabulary and struggling with simple words, to expanding his knowledge and understanding more complex words, like "adaptation" and "automatically".

 

This demonstrates the effectiveness of our classes in enhancing Kunwoo's English language abilities.

 

When students receive individualized attention, they are more likely to engage with the material, ask questions, and receive feedback. They can also move at their own pace, which can be especially beneficial for students who are struggling or who have unique learning needs.

One-on-one tutoring can provide students with the support and guidance they need to reach their full potential.

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