GEM Training

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Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from GEM Training, Tutor/Teacher, Washington D.C., DC.

Operating as usual

04/27/2024

Yayyyy ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

Photos from GEM Training's post 09/06/2023

๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐‘น๐’†๐’‚๐’ ๐‘ท๐’“๐’๐’ƒ๐’๐’†๐’Ž ๐’˜๐’Š๐’•๐’‰ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ฌ๐‘บ๐‘ณ ๐‘ฐ๐’๐’…๐’–๐’”๐’•๐’“๐’š

Something I consider to be a serious problem in the world of teaching English as a second (or third, fourth or fifthโ€ฆ) 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 isnโ€™t there, then Iโ€™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.

๐šƒ๐š‘๐šŽ ๐™ฑ๐š’๐š๐š๐šŽ๐š› ๐™ฟ๐š›๐š˜๐š‹๐š•๐šŽ๐š–
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 โ€œspeak betterโ€ so the product can be delivered to the customer. Who cares what Mishellโ€™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, itโ€™s better to invest in good intercultural communication from the get-go than not. Itโ€™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, letโ€™s call him Bobby, who meant well but simply didnโ€™t understand how to work with the Chinese communications director, letโ€™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 wasnโ€™t gonna learn Chinese. It wasnโ€™t about that. It wasnโ€™t even about learning or improving oneโ€™s English. It was about bridging the gap where culture and language intersect.

๐™ฐ ๐™บ๐š’๐š—๐š ๐š˜๐š ๐š‚๐š˜๐š•๐šž๐š๐š’๐š˜๐š—
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 โ€œglobalโ€ 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 didnโ€™t mind and the Chinese members would have a nice laugh about his accent. Over time, June and Bobby began to โ€œotherโ€ 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 didnโ€™t get married. This isnโ€™t one of those stories.

๐šƒ๐š‘๐šŽ ๐š๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š• ๐š‚๐š˜๐š•๐šž๐š๐š’๐š˜๐š—: ๐™ผ๐šŽ๐šŽ๐š๐š’๐š—๐š ๐™ด๐šŠ๐šŒ๐š‘ ๐™พ๐š๐š‘๐šŽ๐š› ๐™ท๐šŠ๐š•๐š๐š ๐šŠ๐šข
My point is that sometimes it's the native speakers who need a little help with their English, albeit their global Englishโ€ฆ and people like me are here to help you figure out how to do that. At the end of the day, it wasnโ€™t Bobbyโ€™s fault. He didnโ€™t know what he didnโ€™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 youโ€™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.

Photos from GEM Training's post 09/05/2023

๐‘ป๐’๐’๐’๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’‚๐’…๐’† (๐’๐’“ ๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’“, ๐’‚๐’‘๐’‘๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’‚๐’…๐’†?)

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:

โ€ฃ ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’๐’ˆ๐’๐’† ๐‘ด๐’†๐’†๐’•. I donโ€™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.

โ€ฃ ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’๐’ˆ๐’๐’† ๐‘ฑ๐’‚๐’Ž๐’ƒ๐’๐’‚๐’“๐’…. Google Meet integrates with Google Jamboard and allows me to take specific notes on my studentsโ€™ speech patterns all while the screen is shared. By all means, I am my studentโ€™s secretary so they can focus all their energy on speaking.

โ€ฃ ๐‘บ๐’„๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’“๐‘ท๐’“๐’. 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 friendโ€™s house, I scan the page to share with my students or make a lesson out of the magazine clipping or whatever it is.

โ€ฃ For scheduling, I use both ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’๐’ˆ๐’๐’† ๐‘ช๐’‚๐’๐’†๐’๐’…๐’‚๐’“ and ๐‘จ๐’„๐’–๐’Š๐’•๐’š ๐‘บ๐’„๐’‰๐’†๐’…๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ to keep track of all my appointments. As you can tell, Iโ€™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.

โ€ฃ 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.

โ€ฃ 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 donโ€™t interrupt the student. I also make sure I write down the things they have said or done very well.

Photos from GEM Training's post 09/04/2023

๐‘ด๐’š๐’•๐’‰: ๐‘ผ๐’”๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐‘ช๐’๐’Ž๐’‘๐’๐’†๐’™ ๐‘ฝ๐’๐’„๐’‚๐’ƒ๐’–๐’๐’‚๐’“๐’š ๐’Š๐’” ๐‘ฐ๐’Ž๐’‘๐’“๐’†๐’”๐’”๐’Š๐’—๐’†

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. Itโ€™s simply about using the right words in the right order. One of the first things I ask prospective students is โ€œHow do you study English?โ€ 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. Iโ€™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 conversationโ€” 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

๐‘ด๐’†๐’†๐’• ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ป๐’†๐’‚๐’„๐’‰๐’†๐’“

Hey, I'm Mishellโ€”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.

Photos from GEM Training's post 09/01/2023

๐‘ฏ๐’๐’˜ ๐’…๐’Š๐’… ๐‘ฐ ๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’“๐’• ๐’•๐’†๐’‚๐’„๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’˜๐’‰๐’‚๐’•'๐’” ๐‘ฎ๐‘ฌ๐‘ด?

Six years ago, a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Mishell went to Shanghai after finishing her Master's degree in Australia. I didn't know what I wanted to do for work, but I knew that I was good at explaining things and helping people orient themselves to a new language and place, so I found a temporary as an English teacher thinking I'd find something better later. As it turned out, I ended up really enjoying the job because it let me use my interests in art, history, poetry, languages, and culture to help students not only reach their goals but also to feel better about themselves.

Not only that, but I became addicted to that moment when the lightbulb goes off in their head and they finally get it.

Teaching in China and sticking to teaching during the pandemic showed me that I'm motivated by two main things: understanding the importance of English language mastery for a better life and better self-esteem. After working with students from countries like Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mexico, Argentina, Turkey, Germany, and so on, I've also understood the absolute essentials of the English language that ESL speakers must master first before they get on to the fancy stuff. I teach my students to pace themselves and really savor the language. That's what Global English with Mishell is about.

Photos from GEM Training's post 08/31/2023

Getting the lesson started is always a struggle especially when my students are out of practice.

Sometimes a question as easy as โ€œHow have you been?โ€ will cause a brain fart. And donโ€™t get me wrong, theyโ€™re proficient speakers who have passed all the exams but nothing in the world will change the fact they live in their native countries and speak their native language every single day. English at work may be just an hour of their day but they need to speak it well during that one hour.

Regardless of the proficiency level of my students, I find that these guides help them get in the right mindset to speak English as well as to get a smooth start to our session. Itโ€™s deceiving simple but youโ€™d be surprised at how many of them fall back on these little guides when their brain goes blank after a long day of work. Itโ€™s my belief that weโ€™re never too advanced or too good to review basics.

03/16/2023

Messages like this make me very happy. It sounds cheesy, but I like knowing I took part in making a meaningful difference in someoneโ€™s life.

11/16/2022

๐Ÿ“Š Despite my lesson plans, sometimes my students come to me with their own questions. One such inquisitive student is this guy who, while speaking pretty good English, confesses that sometimes he's shooting in the dark hoping he used the phrase right. This time he'd been having some trouble with "in the first place", so we looked at the definition together and went through some different scenarios in which it may be used.

๐Ÿ›ต Many of my lessons are balanced between worksheets, conversations, and tangents. As I much as I enjoy those, I must admit that the ones where my students come to me with their questions to then embark on a quest to observe, understand, then use the phrases are the ones that remind me why I teach. The 45 minutes are over in a blink of an eye and my student, or so he tells me, leaves class with a newfound understanding of the phrase, word, or lexical phrase.

11/15/2022

๐Ÿง  ๐‘ด๐’‚๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Š๐’• ๐’“๐’†๐’๐’†๐’—๐’‚๐’๐’•, ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Š๐’• ๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’„๐’Œ

Finding different ways to express the same message is one of my favourite activities with my students. because I believe that โœจvarietyโœจ is really what makes an intermediate student develop into an advanced student. Of course, just because we can a sentence correctly once doesn't mean that we can use it in real life right away, which is why I aim to create many real life scenarios that my students can respond to using the target language. Our private lessons, even if online, can be filled with imaginative scenarios relevant to your daily life that require you to use the new 'chunks' of language right away.

๐Ÿ† ๐‘พ๐’‰๐’ ๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’”๐’•๐’–๐’…๐’†๐’๐’•๐’”?

My students tend to be the type of inquisitive, independent learners who show up to our sessions with questions. They participate at every turn and don't simply wait for me to move on to the next question. "So could I say....?" "Wait, this means that I can say this, right?" Depending on the student, we may even spend half a class on training the use of one single phrase rather than rush to finish. Together we observe the language at work, hypothesise the kinds of meaning that each type of phrase or chunk of words convey, and then experiment with the language so the student can find their footing out, as themselves, in the real world.

It's makes for a rewarding day of work!

10/18/2022

๐Ÿ’ก Do you have a positive mindset about improving your English?

When I first meet somebody who wants to improve their English with me, the first thing we do is talk about them and their experience learning the language.

โญ๏ธ During these conversations, I hear many different things that positively impact their learning (such as fascination with the language) but I also hear negative things that hold them back.

๐Ÿ’” One of those negative things is the crippling perfection they have regarding their English and the deep personal shame they feel when they make a simple mistake.

To be fair to my students, this transition from fascination to fear comes from the pressure to excel at their jobs. It's certainly understandable.

๐Ÿ˜• Nobody wants to make an elementary mistake when they are trying to motivate their team or to encourage a team member to do better. It can be mortifying!

But you cannot improve with crippling shame. This negative attitude will PREVENT you from learning with joy, keep you from seeing new possibilities, and from becoming better.

Remember!

๐Ÿ… You may have broken English, but you are also part of a special group of multilinguals... which means you are already a success.

With this positive mindset, you will always become better and better.

10/13/2022

In an ideal world, all the multinational companies would adhere to plain language standardsโ€ฆ I am โœจsureโœจ that communication issues would be cut in half.

Native speakers learning plain language and ESL speakers continuing their English classes is how they can meet halfway.

On International Plain Language Day and every day, we champion the use of clear and simple words.

Explore our resources at https://bit.ly/3CUXHIh

10/07/2022

Today we learned how to write a job advertisement using modal verbs and new vocabulary.

05/22/2022

๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ˜ข This week, my student had a horrible experience at a local restaurant and wanted to tell me all about it.

โœจ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ My student is the mother of a teenager in high school and perhaps one of the most driven students I have seen in a long time. She always comes prepared to our lessons with questions about pronunciation, grammar, and certain expressions. Let's call her Katherine.

โœจ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Katherine was so appalled by the service given to her this week that she decided to alert other customers by writing a review. She first told me her story as best as she could, then we stopped every few minutes to discuss a word she misused or to fix the syntax of a sentence.

We learned words and terms like but not limited to:
(1) Scathing review vs raving review๏ฟฝ
(2) The difference between tip and fee ๏ฟฝ
(3) A rip off vs a good deal
(4) Discriminatory and the different ways the word is used in our daily lexicon
(5) To do on purpose, to do something on purpose

That's how my regular conversation classes work:
โ˜•๏ธ My students and I develop a rapport, a kind of professional friendship, that allows them to entrust me with their daily experiences at work or at home.
โญ๏ธ We chat as we would if we were meeting in a coffee shop in the same city albeit with the focus on the student rather than myself. Iโ€™m there to help you find the words you need to express your exact feeling and idea.
๐Ÿฆ‹ The conversation is meant to flow naturally. The student mainly leads with what they want to share with me that day, but I also swoop in with new topic ideas if they are feeling uninspired.
โ˜€๏ธ The reason my students come back to me is that they are first communicating with me and improving their English as a result of our commitment to genuine communication.

๐Ÿ—ฃ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ Being able to speak a language means being able to stand your ground and communicate your experience to others.

With that said, what does homework look like with me? Katherine's homework is to publish her first review on Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor.

PS: If anyone is curious, I read the restaurant reviews myself and Katherine had a really good case! I don't know how places like that stay open ๐Ÿ˜…

Photos from GEM Training's post 05/21/2022

โ˜€๏ธโ˜•๏ธ This is an example of what my student and I came up with during a 45-minute session. Let's call him John. During our first call, we figured out his specific pain points so that I could, on my own time, design a personalized English class for John.

๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿง‘๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป John is a thirty-something professional from Berlin who works for a global company. He's recently been promoted to a position that requires him to speak to colleagues and stakeholders from all over the world. In English.

๐Ÿ‘ฅ๐Ÿ“ While his English is proficient, somewhere around B2 and C1, facilitating calls in English makes him a little nervous. He wonders: Is he saying too much? Too little? Did he use that word correctly? Why is he the only one talking?

๐Ÿ‘€๐Ÿง  I decided that we'd focus on the first five minutes of a meeting so that he could confidently set the stage for the rest of the call. The file I am sharing with you is a combination of John's expectations of himself and my instruction.

This is why my classes are unique:
โญ๏ธ I don't lecture or "talk at" my students. I listen to my students with respect because they have undoubtedly diligently studied English for many years. They have also worked hard to hold their current position in their industry. My knowledge and experience thus couple with theirs so that my students get to where they want to be.
โญ๏ธ I keep it very simple. I break down a goal into digestible parts and then only focus on key factors. For example, John wants to have better phone calls so I first asked him key questions about what he thinks is a good call, to then work it into just that intro.
โญ๏ธ I keep it fun and relateable. I pride myself on seeing my students as real people- not just suits. get them comfortable enough to step out of the box by using theatre arts as a tool to build confidence through acting. John rehearsed his intro a few times during this class.
โญ๏ธ The content is personalized. What works for John might not be what works for you. This is why I listen and watch closely when my students and I have genuine conversations about work, life, and their own expectations of themselves.

๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿผ Can you relate to John? Let me know in the comments below.

๐Ÿ‘€ PS: Feel free to download the images if you find them helpful!

Photos from GEM Training's post 05/06/2022

Testimonials from Asia/Pacific ๐ŸŒ

Photos from GEM Training's post 05/05/2022

My professional experience in Shanghai was invaluable to me. During my three years there, I first worked with children at an after-school center and later was employed by an American company with an office in China.

While the work I did with engineers most closely resembles the work I do today as a freelancer, working with children allowed me to exercise patience while innovating simple and creative ways to explain abstract concepts (i.e. intercultural thinking).

Therefore, I have grouped the two experiences together in this album to share with you my genuine passion for teaching which was first born in Shanghai and continues on until today via online English classes and training sessions.

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Washington D.C., DC

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