Testimonials

Cathi’s classes are well organized with the elaborate designing of materials and activities.  In the teaching materials, the part of sound patterns gives a systematic presentation of American pronunciation accompanied by funny tongue twisters and nursing rhymes.  Not so profound in the academic sense, the lessons are more lively and effective for learners to have relaxed learning.  The reading passages Cathi has carefully selected show a real picture of American culture for the international learners.  In her class, interaction penetrates the whole teaching process.  Classroom activities range from question-answer exercises, dictation, to pair work and group discussion.  Every learner is totally involved in each step of the lesson. Hence, the learning potential is highly exerted. To sum up, Cathi’s teaching is enlightening, effective, and impressive.
Chaoqin Jia

Associate Professor, Head of the English Teaching Program for Internationally Joint Training Students, College English Department, Henan University, China

I think Cathi’s tutoring was very helpful because she knows our (Japanese) weakness - pronunciation.  Usually English pronunciation is difficult for Japanese because Japanese pronunciation is more simple than English.  So learning pronunciation helps me to understand what I would like to say.  And it also helps to improve my hearing ability.  Cathi’s tutoring gave me many clues to improve my English skill effectively.  My wife and I could enjoy our life in Akron because we could communicate with others more easily.

Daisuke Kurashina

Engineer

When I was in America three years ago, I was so lucky that I met Cathi and attended her English classes at The Chapel.  In my eyes, Cathi has all the qualities of a good teacher– experienced, patient, kind, responsible, and enthusiastic. Her teaching was lively and impressive, each time the students (overseas adults) were given many opportunities to practice spoken English based on the handouts beautifully designed by Cathi herself.  The well-chosen teaching materials were always updated and close to life, covering a variety of topics: American holidays, historical figures, local culture, etc.

As an English teacher in China myself, I was earger to learn more. I did learn a lot from Cathi:  not only did I improve my spoken English and my method of teaching, but also my knowledge about American culture was enriched.  Cathi and her teaching made my six-month stay in Akron, Ohio colorful, fruitful, and unforgettable. Even after my returning to China in August 2012, Cathi continues to care about me and my English teaching, sharing her recent teaching materials through email.

So grateful I am to Cathi for what she has done for me!

So honored now I am that I can write a testimonial for her to-be-published book!

Ruiyong Cheng

University of Ji'nan, Shandong province, China

I taught English to college students for about 4 years in Korea and I am doing my research on non-native speakers’ English acquisition for doctoral program. As an instructor who had taught English for many years in Korea and as a doctoral student of English education in the US, I would like to recommend this book to people who are learning and teaching English as a second language.When international students learn English, they usually experience difficulties in understanding native speakers’ pronunciation, because they do not perceive English sounds correctly. In many cases of English learning and teaching, I often felt that the pronunciation part has been less focused and there has been no proper teaching materials for accurate English pronunciations.Based on my experience of teaching English in Korea, I am glad to find that this material contains most of English pronunciations. This material is very well-organized with word usage, tongue twister practice, and minimal pairs of confusing English sounds. I really like the ‘minimal pair words’ examples, because the word pairs are difficult to distinguish correctly for non-native speakers like us. The ‘minimal-pair words’ practice can give useful information of understanding English sounds and it helps us figure out how to pronounce English sounds as native English speakers do. I also like the reading part of this material. It gives a chance to practice and check our pronunciation while we are reading given articles. The topics of the ‘reading’ contain a wide variety of American culture as well. Lastly, I like the discussion part of this material.  Discussion questions are useful for reviewing the reading articles and the vocabularies used.Thus, I believe this material would be greatly helpful for instructors teaching English in Korea and be a useful guide to students learning English pronunciation.English instructor in Korea:
Suwon Women’s College
Daelim University College
Bella Jung

Ph.D. Student, The State University of New York, USA

I am very happy to have the opportunity to say something about Cathi’s English class and her ongoing e-books.

Cathi’s class is always well prepared with useful information to help students improve their English. I remember when I worked as a visiting scholar at the University of Akron; it was always a challenge to communicate directly with my co-workers. Feelings of frustration always overwhelmed me when my American colleagues could not understand my ideas. Once I attended Cathi’s English class, I knew the answer to my problem was just around the corner.

After several pronunciation lessons and much practice in Cathi’s class, I could clearly say the difference between ‘cop’ and ‘cup’. I felt very confident to communicate with my friend. This confidence helped me to make friends and to improve in my research communication.

Furthermore, Cathi prepares reading comprehension lessons about American culture and historical figures.  These lessons helped me to understand the cultural difference between America and China. For example, I totally understand that family is very important to Americans and they are always hard working. With the knowledge from the class, I could understand the ideas of my colleagues better.  Additionally, Cathi would teach useful words related to daily life. I remember one of the classes was about the holidays in America, which made me feel free when I heard a lot of familiar words when I talked with my friend about the different holidays in America and China.

It is so exciting to know that the lessons I learned in Cathi’s class are being published in e-books. I still have the individual lessons that Cathi gave us in each class. Every time I pick up the pages, the memory brings me back to the life and class in America. Now with the upcoming e-book, I believe both students and teachers throughout the world can use these e-books to assist in teaching and studying English. The books can also provide a new method for learning English, which is from Cathi’s years of experience.

Professor Z. Yong. Li

North University of China