Student Success stories series is a collection of studies on students that have been wildly successful in our program. Success stories have been written by our own teachers and feature their real students so new potential students can see if the NSEO program is right for them. Please note that the names and some personal data has been changed to protect the privacy of the students.

This student success story features Teacher Jenna's student, Mary. 

The Story of Mary

Mary is at a level of speaking above her peers. She has a very good level of fluency! She still speaks with a bit of an accent, but a native English speaker would be able to understand everything she says. Mary came to me wanting to practice her conversational English. 

I could see right away that she was willing to chat and share about herself. I could see opportunities in the way she likes to express herself and her opinions. 

Mary has surpassed every goal I set for her and is extremely driven towards self improvement. 

Mary was fairly advanced when she came to me. She had done well in English class in school. I have loved getting to know her and seeing her potential! Just recently, I asked Mary to make a new slide for the word "clasp." I told her the word, but not how it was spelled. She typed it perfectly!

In addition, she learned her very first idiom this week and I was so proud of her!

How Jenna Responded 

From the very beginning, Mary and I  have had such great classes together. First, we reviewed grammar rules that were applicable to her school and speaking level. Once this was mastered,  we began to focus on situational vocabulary and crafting/ developing opinions.

Mary continues to reach her goals. She has a solid understanding of countable and uncountable nouns. Mary also did a great job working on subject-verb agreement. She demonstrated such a level-appropriate understanding of the simple present and present progressive tenses. Her grammar skills are amazing! She has a great memory and great attention to detail.

 Mary continues to reach her goals. 

We have begun to work on expressing opinions. Right now, she has done a good job analyzing stories in pictures and video and sharing opinions on foods. With her growing vocabulary, she is ready to move on to sharing her ideas about higher thinking, more advanced topics.

I love to celebrate her successes with her (like when she properly spelled a word or learned her first idiom). She loves the freedom of creativity she has in class!

The Results

Mary really touched my heart when she said she missed me over Christmas break. I was excited to get back to work with her and watch her shine!

I loved the  breakthrough moment when she understood the idiom “Hold your horses!” and I loved it even more when she made jokes about it with me because that illustrates her deep level of understanding.

Mary learns new words so quickly! She loves to build her own slides and add pictures and sentences to help her retain more information. She has an incredible ability to learn new vocabulary.

She has a good understanding of the mechanics of English and is easily able to recognize nouns, verbs, etc. In addition to her strong spelling, these skills mean that she is able to learn new words very quickly. She creates vocabulary slides for new words and is very good at writing example sentences to help solidify her understanding.

I am so excited to watch her use her creativity to learn even more! I can't wait to see her shine in her speaking and expression.

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.