人物專訪

The vision and course of this company were in line with my goals of what I wanted to be as a teacher

Interview with Fu-Xing Branch Teacher Alton Carlson

I chose this company because they seemed to have a real direction with what they were doing. After reading about the company and the owner on the website, I concluded that the vision and course of this company were in line with my goals of what I wanted to be as a teacher.

The Hua philosophy is directed at the way English is actually applied as opposed to other traditional approaches of English widely and ineffectively employed in Taiwan. At Hua, we “Hit the nail on the head.”

I think balanced approach is a solidly constructed pillar of learning English. It lets students practice English sounds in an environment otherwise devoid of English. In addition to that, it facilitates natural conversation not only about the structure of English, but about any topic discussed.

I'm now coming up on two years of teaching at Hua. Being with children is like second nature to me. Although teaching English took some time, some experience and some hard knocks, I have grown to love my job and my career. It's rewarding because I'm assisting other people to be better.

The most unforgettable thing for me was the amount of training I had to participate in. Usually in Taiwan, a foreigner like me is expected to dive into a classroom and know how to teach. When failure occurs, there is no forgiveness or second chances. At Hua, I was taken care of. I was carefully and meticulously instructed on how to teach from the very beginning and was never thrown into the deep end of a pool without life preserver. I will carry all that training with me for the rest of my life, and I appreciate the passing of golden wisdom from wise elder to apprentice.

The most interesting that happened to me would be the growth I've seen in myself. All the adjusting I've made to myself to accommodate my students has positively spilled over into every other aspect of my life, like a great flood engulfing a dry, parched plain of cracked mud. Working here has helped me mature into a man.

Of course, every teacher experiences difficulty. One difficulty was all the new material I had to deal with as a new teacher here. That was overcome with experience. Another problem I had was spacing out during class time. I resolved that by changing the way I think about the kids so that I'm always focused on them. I have to say that my adaptability has, in part, lent to my success here.

I expect to improve myself all the time so as to accommodate my students' needs. I don't expect nor want to be perfect, but I do want to feel like I'm doing a quality job.