Queenie

Queenie Tutor Interview

Q. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

A. Hi everyone! I am Queenie Kawabe. I come from Australia but I am living in Fukuoka with my partner. Since I was brought up in a multilingual family, I can speak five languages. I am a qualified Chinese and Cantonese Teacher, and I also teach English as a Second Langauge (ESL). I have been teaching my students and working with people from all walks of life since 2006. I have taught Chinese, Cantonese and English at different schools and universities in Australia, Malaysia and Japan, so I have some solid experience working in traditional teaching environment. Now, I am teaching online to students who want to have lessons with me, and I am developing an online language teaching-learning platform to help more students who want to learn Chinese, Cantonese and English.

Q.Want to know about your hometown in Australia! What is your town famous for?

A. I lived in Malaysia and Australia for many years. To be honest, Australia is the place that I called home because I spent most of the time there. I come from Brisbane, Queensland. It is the third city of Australia, which is a laid-back city, but Brisbane river night view is spectacular. Honestly, there is not much to do in Brisbane apart from going to the coast, which takes an hour drive. Have you heard of Jacaranda trees? It is known as “purple flower tree” in Brisbane. Spring is the time to paint the town purple in Brisbane. You can see them everywhere in Brisbane when they bloom during the mid-Spring period (October – November), you will be amused by the impressive display of these beauty flowers.

Q. According to your profile, you’re able to speak 5 languages!! Could you tell me how to learn multiple languages?

A. As I mentioned earlier, I was born and raised in a multilingual family, I was able to speak four languages (English, Chinese, Cantonese and Malay) at the aged of 10 and I studied the fifth language (Japanese) when I was in high school and university. I was often asked by many people what languages do I speak with my family and friend. When I was a toddler, my grandmother could not speak any other languages but Cantonese to me. That’s how I learnt Cantonese. Apart from that, my father spoke English to me and my mother spoke Chinese to me at home. Then, I studied three compulsory languages (English, Mandarin and Malay) at school. To be honest, it was very difficult at that time because I needed to attempt to different languages. After several years of studying in Malaysia, I moved to Australia and lived there since then. When I was studying Japanese, I truly felt that the learning setting in Australia is very different from Malaysia. However, I still enjoy learning languages. Well, I guess it is a gift from my parents that I could speak so many languages now. This is why I enjoy teaching because it is something I have always had a talent for.

Q. What do you do in your free time?

A. In my spare time, I like to go to beach or a cafe. Since I live near to the coast, I often drive to the coast to meet my friends and have a sunbath with them at the beach. Also, I love “Big Breakfast”. There is a cafe called “ The Gunshop Cafe” in Brisbane. They serve the best Big Breakfast in town, and I love the atmosphere of the restaurant, which gives me the cosy feeling whenever I am there. http://thegunshopcafe.com – click on the link to find out more about this restaurant! Besides, I enjoy travelling and watching movies with my partner. I have been to many countries mainly in Asia because I love to eat. I often travel for foods because there are various of foods that represents different countries. You will never know what it is like until you travel to the destination.

Q. What is the main feature of your lessons?

A. Since I speak Chinese, Cantonese and English fluently, I able to teach Chinese, Cantonese and English to students who need help in one of the languages. Lessons will be taught with a digital whiteboard like the way you want it to be in class. We will talk about the real-life topics, do role-plays in your selected language and share. Each grammar lesson will be explained in a clear and simple context. In addition to that, lesson are tailored to each students. So your lesson will be unique to you and you will receive a lot of attention and motivation from me. It is not all about language but the culture too. You will learn a lot of the selected language culture while you are learning the words. Learn, Think and Speak is what I tell my students when they sign up for a lesson with me. Learn the language, not translate them! I will help you achieve your goals fasters by teaching you how to use the selected language correctly. Last but not least, learning Chinese, Cantonese and English are fun and easy. You just need a right teacher to guide you step-by-step.

Q. Finally, is there anything you would like to share with our students?

A. I often tell my students there are three things that they should not do;

• Don’t be afraid of to make mistakes
• Don’t translate
• Don’t give up

  It is very important to keep learning even if you are not confident to speak the language. I am here to help you and I encourage my students to have had a conversation with me in the lesson even though they make mistakes. You will learn better this way because you are thinking constantly, and you know where the mistakes were when you made them. Learning Chinese, Cantonese or English with me will help you achieve your goals faster. Start improving Chinese, Cantonese or English now and I do my best to help you.

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Queenie

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