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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 5pm

GEM Training, Arlington, VA (2026)

07/16/2025

🥰 This was one of the nicest reviews I have ever received to date. Thank you so much! I really do try to make the classroom, virtual or otherwise, a comfortable space because I know first-hand the amount of courage it takes to speak a new language in the constant attempt to make yourself not only understood but respected, even seen, by others.

✅ My lessons are conversation based. I aim to use the power of dialogue and specific questions to draw out stories that reveal, in a new language, who you are and what you're about. We don't just workbook exercises and call it a day. I also coach you to learn the lexical patterns necessary to share your opinion, express your emotions, and tell your story.

🎓 This student in particular is part of Generation X and already has wonderful English (as you can see) so our sessions are often focused on learning phrasal verbs to move away from Latinate expressions. In other words, to make his already academic and Latinate English ("consume") to something more colloquial and Anglo-Saxon ("eat up").

💎 His review, having come from someone who practices law and has had decades of experiences in counseling troubled individuals, means the world to me. Danke danke danke!

07/14/2025

📣 Something I tell my students, even if they speak B2+ level English and hold PhDs, is that they don’t have to say “I eat/ate” or “I drink/drank” all the time! You really don't have to!

Instead, try using “have/has/had” like native speakers do:
⛔ I ate eggs for breakfast.
✅ I had eggs for breakfast.

⛔ She drank coffee this morning.
✅ She had coffee this morning.

⛔ We're eating tacos later.
✅ We’re having tacos later.

😁 It's not technically wrong to use "eat" and "drink", p***e, but it just doesn't sound so ✨colloquial✨. “Eat” and “drink” are still fine to use — but they’re often more specific, more formal, or more focused on the act itself (e.g. “I drank the whole bottle” vs. “I had a glass of wine”).

💡 Why though?
“Have” is a DELEXICAL VERB— which is a verb that doesn’t carry much meaning on its own BUT works together with a noun to express a common action or experience. Knowing how to use delexical verbs in English keeps your English smooth and natural when talking about common actions.

Some other popular examples include:
take → take a shower, take a break
make → make a decision, make a call

Delexical verbs are not unique to the English language. Spanish is replete with them too (tener hambre = lit. have hunger) and so is Mandarin Chinese (打电话 dǎ diànhuà = lit. hit telephone = to make a call).

🗣️ PRO TIP: Anyhoo, instead of “eat breakfast,” just say “have breakfast.” You’ll sound more natural — and less like a textbook. It will help you confidence in the long run because, in my humble opinion, confidence is built in the small details 😁✨

06/18/2025

🤔 Want to sound more natural when asking "Why?"
Instead of always using "Why..." try "How come..." for a more casual, native-like feel!

✨ The difference:
"Why are you late?" (direct, formal)
"How come you're late?" (casual, friendly)

📝 Grammar note:
"How come" is followed by normal word order (subject + verb), not question order like "why."

❌ How come are you tired?
✅ How come you are tired?

Perfect for conversations with friends, family, or informal situations. Your English will sound instantly more natural! 💪

06/02/2025

This throwback takes me right back to my university days in Melbourne where I completed my BA at RMIT University and my MA at the University of Melbourne both of which were in the field of media and communications.

You know those days when everything felt overwhelming? When you were navigating your twenties, juggling coursework, and figuring out who you were becoming? Melbourne had the perfect remedy for that. I'd find myself wandering down to St Kilda beach to watch the sunset, or spending hours getting lost in the National Gallery of Victoria with a latte in hand (like in this photo).

There's something about surrounding yourself with beauty - whether it's art, ocean views, or just a change of scenery - that puts everything back into perspective. These little escapes taught me that sometimes the best learning happens outside the classroom, in those quiet moments when you give yourself space to breathe and reflect. For me, these moments often take place in art galleries or by some kind of body of water.

Funny how those same principles apply to language learning, isn't it? Sometimes we need to step away from the grammar books and just have a real conversation about life. That's exactly why I believe in creating that safe space where we can talk about work stress, relationship worries, or whatever's on your mind - all while naturally improving your English.

What's your go-to spot when you need a little pick-me-up?

05/31/2025

Finally sharing the workbooks I've been sitting on! 🙈

Tired of boring vocabulary lists? This Siwa Travel Guide teaches advanced vocabulary and phrasal verbs through a real Egyptian adventure. I created it the old-fashioned way - listening to the travel video and writing down exactly what I knew my students would struggle with after 7 years of teaching experience. Video content by Gareth Leonard- thank you for the amazing Siwa adventure!

✨ What's included:
• 13 pages of vocabulary + phrasal verb practice
• Real travel context (way more fun than textbooks!)
• Exercises designed for what students actually need
• 100% human-created, no AI involved

Perfect for B1-B2 learners ready for authentic English content.

📍 To purchase and download, visit: www.gemlanguagelab.gumroad.com

📺 Check out Gareth Leonard's travel adventures: https://www.youtube.com/c/garethleonard

04/27/2024

Yayyyy 😃

09/06/2023

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝑺𝑳 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚

Something I consider to be a serious problem in the world of teaching English as a second (or third, fourth or fifth…) language is that many companies believe it's a panacea for communication issues when in reality it's the native speakers who could use some communication training (in tandem with company English classes for the ESL speakers, of course). In my opinion, there should be far less focus on English teaching and way more focus on intercultural training. The truth is that native speakers, particularly native speakers of English, have a great responsibility to become global communicators, too. No, simply being able to speak English is not enough. Native speakers have the responsibility to want to learn how to interact with learners of their language, especially in the workplace. If the desire isn’t there, then I’m afraid that they are not cut out to work in the global office. It's a privilege to be able to interact with folks from around the world and communication is a two-way street, after all.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖
This is especially hard to advocate when a company in the US, UK, or Australia simply wants their engineers in Brazil, China, and India to “speak better” so the product can be delivered to the customer. Who cares what Mishell’s observations are about human relationships when there are deadlines to meet and products to deliver? But guess what? A miscommunication can delay quite a lot of work. In my opinion, it’s better to invest in good intercultural communication from the get-go than not. It’s not all up to the ESL speaker. Whenever I get a chance to speak with a native speaker who works with ESL speakers, I try to get them to slow down and see that their colleagues are more than just ESL speakers. I remember doing that when I was working in Shanghai with an American fellow, let’s call him Bobby, who meant well but simply didn’t understand how to work with the Chinese communications director, let’s call her June.

What made things more difficult was that Bobby lived in the US and June lived in China. June was already pulling her weight by learning English to work in an American company and Bobby, well, Bobby wasn’t gonna learn Chinese. It wasn’t about that. It wasn’t even about learning or improving one’s English. It was about bridging the gap where culture and language intersect.

𝙰 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
I ran between Bobby and June both for a while telling each of them stories that would help them understand each other more. More importantly, I was giving Bobby tips on how to tone it down on the obscure American jargon and speak a “global” kind of English. I taught him the few cute phrases in Chinese that I heard my Chinese colleagues say all the time and told him to throw it around to help relieve tension during meetings. He was a funny fellow so he didn’t mind and the Chinese members would have a nice laugh about his accent. Over time, June and Bobby began to “other” themselves less and June being more relaxed around Bobby allowed for other Chinese colleagues to also relax around him. By the time I left the company, they were joking around with each other in the group chats and meetings were less tense. No, they didn’t get married. This isn’t one of those stories.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚂𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙴𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚏𝚠𝚊𝚢
My point is that sometimes it's the native speakers who need a little help with their English, albeit their global English… and people like me are here to help you figure out how to do that. At the end of the day, it wasn’t Bobby’s fault. He didn’t know what he didn’t know. When I gave him the information he needed, he was able to handle the rest swimmingly. June also had to let her guard down with Bobby in the office, so there was healthy curiosity and courage from her side, too.

If you’re a native speaker of English and want to find out more about this, please shoot me an email at [email protected] for a free chat or send me a PM.

09/05/2023

Passing through the Financial District of Shanghai on my way back from work, March 2019.

09/05/2023

𝑻𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 (𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆?)

Online teaching may seem like a job that only requires a laptop and good earphones, but I realized that my office essentials amount to a few more things. They are:

‣ 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕. I don’t really use anything else unless my students are in China. I find the screen-sharing tool more comprehensive and user-friendly than Zoom. Google Meets also has better virtual backgrounds.

‣ 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅. Google Meet integrates with Google Jamboard and allows me to take specific notes on my students’ speech patterns all while the screen is shared. By all means, I am my student’s secretary so they can focus all their energy on speaking.

‣ 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓𝑷𝒓𝒐. This is a holy grail app for me because I use it to scan receipts, certificates, and other important documents for home but also for work. Whether in the library or at my friend’s house, I scan the page to share with my students or make a lesson out of the magazine clipping or whatever it is.

‣ For scheduling, I use both 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓 and 𝑨𝒄𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 to keep track of all my appointments. As you can tell, I’m really a Google girl. Acuity Scheduling has beat out Calendly for me because of its easy-to-use but also comprehensive features. I pay a little extra but it's worth it.

‣ Since my students are all over the world, I also use Time Zone Converter to make sure that we are scheduling (or rescheduling) for the right date and have zero misunderstandings. The website I like using the most is timeanddate[dot]com.

‣ And finally, a notebook and pen: Believe it or not, I still take handwritten notes. I just jot down keywords that we need to go back to so I don’t interrupt the student. I also make sure I write down the things they have said or done very well.

09/04/2023

𝑴𝒚𝒕𝒉: 𝑼𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝑽𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆

Many of my students believe that speaking great English means using big, fancy words. You know, those complex vocabulary words that sound really impressive? But here's the thing: effective communication with native speakers isn't about using fancy words. It’s simply about using the right words in the right order. One of the first things I ask prospective students is “How do you study English?” Then I ask them what they want to use English for work, personal life, etc. Depending on their answers, I create a study plan for them that they can keep up with alongside their actual day-to-day life. In most cases, I have to tell my overachieving students to dial it down and forget about their books for a bit.

During our first classes, I let them speak freely about any number of topics and I hardly ever correct them if at all. I’m listening carefully to the pattern of mistakes rather than just the mistakes. After 2-3 lessons, I prioritize the errors that need to be worked on first and then begin isolating each error during each conversation— how quickly or firmly I do that will depend largely on the temperament of the student and the teacher-student relationship we begin to form. This way, I help expand the vocabulary that the student actually needs in their life to express themselves, fix those little fossilized errors, and begin to build on lexical phrasing. These are just the first steps toward improving one's confidence in English.

09/02/2023

𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓

Hey, I'm Mishell—a teacher, podcaster, and writer who is really passionate about language, culture, and effective communication. As a person and educator, I believe in keeping things simple, being transparent, and fostering a sense of community across cultures. These values were more than likely influenced by the "cultural fragmentation" I experienced growing up as a third-culture kid ping-ponged between Russia, Mongolia, Mexico, and the US before the age of 12. The silver lining was that I grew up speaking three to four languages, but not without the sociopolitical baggage that comes with every single one of those languages. It was cool, but it was also madness.

You see, I wasn't just born into this language and culture stuff- it was thrust upon me. My life trained me how to look at a person and decide how to communicate with them before I knew how to read, write, and do math. It wasn't long until I left the country again but this time of my own accord, and headed to Australia to pursue my Bachelor's and Master's degrees (because why not?) Then, I took a leap and worked as an ex-pat in China where I used all my skills to become not only a teacher but an intercultural trainer. It was in Shanghai where the penny dropped: all the "cultural fragmentation" I had experienced wasn't in vain. I was meant to use my experience to help others become culturally and linguistically agile.

Who better to guide them than me?

Currently, I'm fluent in Spanish, English, and Mongolian, and I make it a personal mission to keep my skills sharp. I really and truly understand what it takes to learn a language, to fail at it catastrophically (like I did with Mandarin), to be petrified of speaking, or conversely to speak so confidently until someone tells you you've just embarrassed yourself because you'd missed all the cultural nuances. I get it. I get it because I know how scary it can get. This is why I teach English with empathy and know that the art of teaching is more than just correcting mistakes. (Ah, don't get me wrong, teaching with empathy doesn't mean I don't push my students. I'm firm where I need to be.)

Besides teaching, I write a monthly newsletter and host the "Mishellaneous" podcast where I delve into lifestyle topics like art, culture, gastronomy, and social events of Queretaro, Mexico.

GEM Training

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Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm