How Mary Gates Brings 20 Years of Business Savvy to Empower Your English Learning
Time is precious for anybody but business people in particular can be working long hours and have many different commitments, so their English learning has to be concise.?
As a native English speaker with a degree in English Language and Literature/Letters, a postgrad in software development and extensive business experience, ELT School of English's instructor, Mary Gates brings a unique set of qualifications to her role as an English teacher for business professionals. With over 20 years of experience working as a sales executive, business development manager and training and development manager, she understands the specific language needs and cultural nuances that her students face in the corporate world.
Love and Qualifications for the Language
"I have an honours degree in English language, and I have two TEFL certifications and an advanced grammar course. I not only have a love for the language but I also have the knowledge to teach. I also understand what business professionals want and need to learn," Mary explains. "I understand the kind of constraints they have, such as time, culture, and different issues. I understand their needs and create classes oriented to their goals and what they want to achieve."
Teaching Philosophy - Students' Needs Come First
Mary's teaching philosophy is centred on truly understanding each student's goals and designing a bespoke learning plan to help them achieve their objectives. "I want to understand what the actual students want to learn," she says. "When I first meet a student, I get to the heart of what they want, what they do, what skills they need - whether they have to do a presentation, chair a meeting, talk to junior or senior staff, write a report or emails. We look at the whole range, and then I take all that information and design a course that is completely bespoke for them."
"So if they have to do a presentation, I will obviously discuss with them what the presentation is, what they need to present, who the audience is - that's very important, whether it will be more formal or just with work colleagues, or a very formal presentation at a conference. We look at the content and the scale of the presentation, and then we go through all the different languages of how to begin a presentation, how to then move on to talking about what the presentation will contain, the content of the presentation through to the final question and answer section at the end."
Working with Asian, Non-native Speaking Students
Mary has encountered some unique challenges when teaching predominantly to students from Asia when working with non-native English speakers. "When you work with a beginner, you are completely aware that they can't hold a conversation, so you are adjusting them to the very basics of the language. I find a good beginner textbook is an excellent way to get them started.”
“We use a lot of visuals and photographs, and I also use my hands a lot for example to demonstrate things like 'my name is', 'hello', 'goodbye'... basic things that are necessary to help them learn. As for advanced students who are almost fluent, I work with them on their business language and perhaps different skills they need, like presentation skills or chairing a meeting, that they have to know in their industry."
How We Solve Your Time Constraints with Online Lessons
According to Mary, the biggest constraint is often time - business professionals have incredibly busy schedules and need lessons that are concise and directly relevant to their needs. "Time is precious for anybody but business people in particular can be working long hours and have many different commitments, so their English learning has to be concise," she comments.
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Mary also thinks live online English lessons provide a good solution for busy professionals. "The lockdown was not a great situation, but one of the brilliant things to come out of it is that we all now use Zoom or Teams or Google Meet, and everyone is happy and confident to do so. This allows me to teach English. So the students at ELT have the opportunity to learn from native English speakers. I have a student who studies at 12 o'clock at night because they are so pressured for time, and others who study early in the morning or throughout the day - they can come to class at a time that suits them, and that's great."
Avoiding Unnecessary Cultural Misunderstandings: Navigating the Subtle Differences
"The second issue I think students have is more to do with cultural issues." Mary reflects that most business people know they have to communicate with people from other countries since they are working in multicultural countries or they have multinational customers and suppliers. "So a lot of my classes are based on looking at different cultures, understanding the different cultural ideas of time, and politeness - whether to use a first name or surname - we look at all those areas so that the student can be comfortable and confident when speaking to people from other countries." At ELT, students can specify which kinds of clients they face in their work, and the instructors will provide targeted instructions to for example, UK, Japan or Singapore cultural nuances.?
Achieving Examination Goals
Mary's extensive corporate experience has equipped her to guide more than 20 students towards achieving their language learning goals, such as passing the Linguaskill Business Exam. "I look at what they need and want to achieve and then I relate that to the Linguaskill Exam and the types of questions they will be asked. We then work together so that they have all the knowledge, language, grammar and structural skills they will need to answer the Linguaskill questions and tasks," she says. "And I am happy to say that every student I have helped was able to achieve their goals, from complete beginners to advanced students."
Mary's Advice
Mary's advice for professionals seeking an online English teacher is to do their research. "There is a saying in English, 'if you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys'," she cautions. "I would recommend looking for a school that employs fully qualified, TEFL-certified instructors with relevant business experience. That way, you can be sure you're getting the best possible learning experience."
As for her own journey, Mary stumbled upon the opportunity at ELT School of English almost by chance. She had been teaching English on both a paid and? voluntary basis for years, but after the pandemic hit, she decided it was time to make it her career. "Around the time of the lockdown, I decided that's what I'm going to do and I refreshed my TEFL course again. I decided not to rush the process and I started looking, and I came across ELT. It's working with business professionals and all I have to deal with is how to be excellent. I find teaching Japanese students a pleasure, they are polite, they are motivated, they want to learn, and it's just been a great experience."
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, Mary is committed to ensuring her lessons stay relevant and up-to-date with the latest trends in business communication. "I go online and read journals about business, computing, and marketing. I watch TED Talks, and I just find all the information there. I get the New York Times and the Financial Times delivered to my inbox every morning," she says. "I can then bring it into our classes with them, we can talk about the latest ideas and it's a win-win situation."
Ready to see how Mary’s business expertise can elevate your English? Book a trial lesson today at our official website www.elteng.com and take the first step toward mastering English for your career.?