Hello! I'm
Yumi, and I teach
English and
ASL (American Sign Language) - my lessons focus mainly on English conversation, ASL, and baby signs.
I've lived in the US for more than half of my life, so I consider myself to be "almost native" in pronunciation, grammar, and cultural understanding.
I came to America as an exchange student in my senior year in high school.
Although the exchange program lasted only for a year, I decided to stay a while longer to study English further and ended up going to college, starting a carrier, getting married, and having a child here in the states. It's been 25 years.
In college, I majored in Signed Language Interpreting, and minored in Japanese pedagogy. While in school, I tutored Japanese at a tutoring organization on campus and taught Japanese classes as a student assistant. After finishing my degree, I worked at the same college as an ASL instructor and as a sign language interpreter. I have also taught private lessons on all 3 languages, and have taught at Kumon school in Japan (Japanese, math, and English) while I visited home.
Please visit my colum "
Hajimemashite!" for further profile and a bit more about me.
I am currently a stay-at-home mom, trying to raise my daughter to be a
trilingual.
I truly love teaching.
Hope to see you soon!
□■□■□■□My English Lessons □■□■□■□ My English lessons only target Japanese students since my curriculum follows the guidelines suggested by the Ministry of Education in Japan.
□■□■□■□My ASL Lessons □■□■□■□ My ASL classse are offered to ALL students - anyone interested! Lessons can be provided in Japanese and/or English, however you prefer it (if you want them mixed, I can!). Please let me know your language preference on the first day of the lesson.
□■□■□■□I support moms □■□■□■□ This is a new trend on Cafetalk.
I am a mom of a 8 year-old, and fully understand how hard it can be to simply talk on the phone or to go out when you have children.
If you are putting yourself off from taking lessons, please know I am a "Mom Supporter".
If you have to leave in the middle of the lesson, or if your princes and princesses pop up in front of the camera, I DON'T MIND IT!
I will provide a discount coupon for the next lesson if you have to terminate the lesson early.
□■□■□■□My Facebook □■□■□■□ I opened a Facebook account specific to my Cafetalk status.
On my Tutor Colums, I usually talk about English and my life in MI, but this FB page will be more about my day to day life.
My posts are both in English and Japanese, so if you have a Facebook account, come visit me and hit "like"!
https://www.facebook.com/Yumi-W_Cafetalk
***er_toshitoshi