It's been more than 7 years since stepping off a plane and landing in Taiwan . Initially, like many other foreigners, I thought I was just passing through, but Taiwan has become my home. I started my teaching career as a newbie in Yilan County , working at numerous schools and gaining valuable experience along the way. I always knew that I'd like to work closely with children and Taiwan presented the opportunity for me to do this. The enthusiasm and welcoming smiles on the faces of the children made me realize that teaching was what I wanted to do. Also, watching them progress from not being able to communicate in English at all to making a full sentence in a language that they'd never before spoken, was-and-still is a highlight of teaching in Taiwan .
After moving to Taipei , I started working at Happy Marian Neihu. I was looking for a place where I could settle long-term and they offered me that here. At Happy Marian, all areas of a child's development and learning are exercised and children are able to receive a well-balanced education. Children are encouraged to speak English all the time to become familiar using the language as a native speaker would. Learning English isn't only about classroom or textbook situations but also about how the individual reacts in a real-life situation.
Different factors may influence a child's behavior and response to learning English. Kids need to be exposed to positive encouragement, guidance and consistency. This was a lesson I learnt quite early in my teaching career. Any child just lights up when they are rewarded for doing something well and this motivates them to continue on this path. Slacking on the teacher's part in any one of these areas means chaos in the classroom. Effective classroom management is key to a healthy environment that is conducive to learning. With my students, setting up a roster of classroom duties helps keep order. Each student has a duty to perform, and this helps teach him or her responsibility from a young age.
As I was editing a 5 th grade student's speech recently, I noticed that she had added “let me think outside of the box'. I got a good chuckle from that as it was something I'd told them many times over after having some experiences where I'd had to do just that! Living and working in Taiwan has taught me that as a teacher, you need to be prepared for anything, and to ‘think outside of the box'!

Nei-Hu
AP2 & P5
Chantal Pedro Sarleh Dollie Nursing College . South Africa