My advice on HOW TO FOCUS STUDY ENGLISH QA with Teacher Tiff Episode 2
hey hey guys it’s me teacher Tiffany and
this is episode two of Q&A with teacher
tip you guys really seemed to enjoy last
week’s episode and I was so happy to see
all of your comments and I also was
looking forward to this week’s episode
now remember if you want to submit a
question for me to answer all you have
to do is join the Academy by going to
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question and remember in the description
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the description let’s jump right in calm
and use the coupon code alright so for
today we have a lot of questions and I
am really looking forward to answering
these questions so let’s jump right in
our first question comes from again a
student in my Academy from shell hey Sal
good to see you all right she says
Tiffany we know that you studied and
lived in Korea for quite a while can you
please share some things about your
journey with us how were you able to
study while you were working how were
you able to stay in the right mindset in
the midst of preparing for an exam and I
want to know more about how we can also
study and work and not get burned out so
she’ll this is a very very good question
so let me break things down a little bit
for you all because I’m sure that some
of you have had the same question that
she’ll had so again I live in Korea for
10 years Tom when I first moved to Korea
I was just a missionary English teacher
but the second year of my time in South
Korea I actually started to study Korean
now I was working full time and also
studying so my second year this is about
2010 when I was in South Korea I would
go to the
université they had a language program
and I would study from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
in class now prior to going to class I
got up around 4 a.m. and I’d study from
4 a.m. to about 8 a.m. then I’d go to
class from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
I’d ride my bike back to my apartment
I’d eat lunch take a quick nap and then
I’d work in the afternoon from about 3
p.m. to 10 p.m.
yeah I know it’s it was pretty hectic
for about 10 months I did that that’s
right every morning I wake up at 4 a.m.
during the week and I’d go to bed around
10 p.m. so it was kind of a hectic
schedule but again I wanted to learn
Korean because I wanted to get closer to
my students but when I got to the level
4 when I got to level 4 I realized that
I was not going to be able to work and
study at the same time so fast forward a
little bit god blessed and I was able to
get a scholarship from the Korean
government and this scholarship enabled
me to study full-time so that’s why I
got my master’s degree in South Korea so
I guess this part of the story some of
you may have never heard before um so I
want to fast-forward to 2011 so in 2010
I was studying after the 10-month period
I realized man this is a little bit
rough to work full-time and also study
at the level that I was at so I stopped
I went actually I came back to America
to apply for this scholarship it was a
Korean government scholarship but man
this scholarship oh they still have it
but it’s so difficult to get the
scholarship I had to get a lot of
recommendation letters I had to write
essays I had to prove you know why I
wanted to study and prove that I would
do well and prove what I would do after
getting my degree so anyways God blessed
and I was accepted and I received the
scholarship and with the scholarship it
was a three-year program the first year
they would literally pay all of my bills
to attend a language program
College in Korea so I could study
full-time study just the Korean language
and not have to worry about working and
they also gave us a stipend every month
so there was a period of time where I
was only studying now those two years so
the first year was just Korean language
and the last two years were for my
graduate program again the scholarship
was awesome so I chose to study art I
still chose a study actually oriental
painting so some of you know that I’m an
artist but I was very curious to learn
more about oriental painting so for the
last two of that three year period I was
studying I went to Seoul Day which is um
Seoul National University and I studied
oriental painting now I want you to
follow along with me guys because when I
say I totally understand how you feel
when you get frustrated when you’re
studying English I understand so I
studied Korean and I could speak and
then I went directly into a graduate
program now graduate school in and of
itself is difficult but now I was in a
graduate program in South Korea studying
in Korean now let me tell you about the
program I was in so it was a painting
program so we learning about art was
very interesting had amazing professors
and amazing classmates if you’re
watching hey guys and yes al but I had
learned about Chinese art history
Japanese art history and Korean art
history all in Korean and there was some
honza like some Chinese characters so it
was not the easiest journey but again I
loved it I loved to paint I loved
learning new things um I think maybe
also referring to shel when I had my
exam and I think I told you a little bit
about my exam during a story time it
took me three times to pass three times
so I went through that two-year period
and in order to graduate you had to take
an exam alright now you may hear
something in the background but we’re
going to keep going it’s the car outside
so I had to take an extremely difficult
and
and the exam included some honja it
included questions about art history and
again all of this was in Korean I
studied for 6 months so the test was
only offered once every six months so if
you failed you had to wait six months to
take it again remember I told you I took
it three times so it took me a year and
a half to pass this exam now once I got
to this point I had basically finished
my scholarship the money wasn’t coming
in any more because that scholarship
only lasted for three years so in the
midst of me preparing for this exam I
had to start working again so I started
working and I was preparing for an exam
in a language that was not my own about
a topic that was super difficult even in
English so the frustrations were real
now shells question was basically how
was I able to manage so if I was to give
you if I were to give you some points
guys um first I am a Christian I prayed
I prayed and I prayed but second I also
organized my time because I had to work
and study and prepare for my thesis
which was also in Korean I realized that
there are only 24 hours in the day sleep
is very important so I set aside
specific periods of time that I only
studied for example I’m an early bird so
I would study for example again 4 a.m.
to 9 a.m. I’d studied that was that time
was only for studying I cut my phone off
I cut my computer off and I’d only focus
on studying then I would go to work and
I’d only focus on my students once the
work was done I’d come back home and I’d
study some more so when you have a busy
life and even for you as you’re studying
English maybe you have families maybe
you have children or maybe you’re
married and your husband or your wife
you have a lot to balance but you still
need English my biggest tip is for you
to set aside a specific time for certain
tasks if you try to mix everything
together
that’s when frustration sets in so the
end of the story is after three tries I
was finally able to pass the
them god is good I thanked him I mean
again I learned the importance of
staying organized and not getting
overwhelmed it was overwhelming I’m not
gonna lie but being able to not go crazy
by having set periods of time or set
chunks that were for specific tasks that
helped me a lot so great questions shell
great question all right now let’s go to
our next question again and this one is
from Roberto however it’s so good to
talk to you what do I need to do in
order to stop thinking in Spanish when
I’m speaking in English Roberto you know
actually I think last week’s video will
help you with that remember last week’s
video I talked about how to think in
English and actually practice and I
mentioned the importance of the five W’s
you see your brain needs an opportunity
to practice because for the last 30 40
or 50 years you’ve been thinking only in
Spanish so your mind has had
opportunities to collect chunks of
information in Spanish so when you speak
you’re able to grab those chunks and put
them together to form sentences and your
ability to make these sentences is easy
because you have so many chunks now in
last week’s video I explained when it
comes to English what you now have to do
is retrain your brain to organize chunks
of information in English so you can do
that again you remember of the Academy
so I have part two and I give you the
book and I give you other images to
practice with get images and start
practicing okay who is in this image
what’s going on where are you I don’t
know if you guys can hear the plane
behind me but there’s a plane flying
overhead so if you can hear it someone’s
flying somewhere alright so again sorry
Roberto so you need to gather these
chunks of information and need to
practice now you can do this alone find
pictures look at them who’s in this
picture what are they doing where are
they
when was this happening and why was this
happening start storing these little
pieces of information these chunks and I
guarantee you’ll start to think in
English more while you’re speaking
instead of thinking in Spanish
when you’re trying to speak in English
great question Roberto all right number
three we have from Barney Christ
hey Barney and good to see you here our
Barney says I would like to know what’s
the best country to learn and practice
English in Barney I’m gonna be honest
with you it’s not about the country now
again I’m American and I’m proud to be
an American so as you all know English
is spoken in America but English is also
spoken in England and many other
countries but your question seems to
revolve around which country can I go to
and guarantee that my English will be
perfect and I want to say this Barney
it’s not about the country it’s about
your goal it’s about your desire and
your diligence are you gonna be diligent
enough to study English now what I will
say you can do is if you want to get the
in American accent right then watch
videos with Americans like me speaking
in English and copy them mimic them you
can learn just like a baby a baby just
takes in information that it sees do the
same thing even if you can’t go to a
specific country especially with the
situation we’re in right now around the
world with this pandemic you can still
watch videos you can still watch movies
and dramas and soak up the culture take
everything in and then practice what
you’ve learned great question though
Barney great question all right so let’s
go to question number four ramallah
hello when did you start speaking Korean
and is it possible to speak without
being in the country where the language
is being used PS you are my inspiration
oh thank you remilia I appreciate that
your question ramela seems very similar
to the question that Roberto had about
the country connected to the language so
I’ll answer the same way it’s not about
the country it’s about what you want
what your goals are you did ask when did
I start speaking Korean so again I
answered it in the first question but I
started studying in 2010 and I’d say I
got fluent and very comfortable maybe
around 2000
13 12 or 13 and I say comfortable as in
I can travel anywhere around Korea by
myself and not be nervous
again if I get dropped in a country town
where there’s no there are no other
foreigners and I have to find my way
around I’m comfortable enough so I’d say
around 2013 inch around that time all
right
great question okay next we have Heba
or Heba hey you said um you would like I
would like you to describe an
educational remedy in order to overcome
your difficult problem which is ah you
forget a lot when you’re talking to
someone and you forget how to follow
grammar rules okay so it seems like the
main issue is you’re having a problem
with forgetting like you get in the
moment and suddenly the words don’t come
out so I remember when it comes to
grammar I don’t teach grammar but I
always refer students to this grammar
book man and just like that I forgot the
name of the book oh here we go grammar
in use grammar in use all right so uh in
that situation guys there’s an
expression we use in English where I
just forgot it slipped my mind
like I uh I suddenly forgot it slipped
my mind
okay or I forgot to do something all
right so um but your question is about
forgetting now again I experienced this
when I was studying Korean and I found
that when I was around individuals I was
extremely comfortable with I didn’t
forget but when I got around someone who
I was a little bit nervous to be around
or I thought they may have been judging
my ability to speak in Korean I would
forget then suddenly words would not
come to my mind so when it comes to
forgetting many times it’s dealing with
confidence
it really is dealing with confidence
because you are intelligent people you
are very smart you’re learning a second
language so when you forget something
it’s two things either you’re feeling a
little less confident around the person
you’re speaking to or you need to
practice more with the things that
you’re learning so again
as students watch my lessons as you
watch my YouTube lessons and again
seeing that you’re in my Academy you
also watch a lot of my resources and my
lessons in the Academy okay but you have
to practice the more you practice the
more it will be the easier it will be
for you to use what you’ve learned
practice does make perfect and it’s kind
of like you form these triggers in your
brain and it becomes a pattern and a
habit for your brain to actually produce
the words or the expressions or use the
patterns that you’ve learned so again
practicing and seeing what’s actually
happening in the situation when you
forget are you nervous are you feeling
less confident or is it just a matter of
you needing to practice more what you
learned okay great question all right
here we go next we have let’s see next
we have Peterson close good I saw you
lastly good to see you Edison hello my
favorite teacher hello one of my
favorite students if I follow you every
day and apply your method at 80% how
many years will it take me to speak
English very well now I’m laughing
Peterson because I received this kind of
question before from a student teacher
if I do this can I be fluent in a year
now I totally understand where the
question is coming from but this is how
I will answer the question Peterson
don’t put a time on your fluency and let
me explain you see again I am American
and my native language is English but I
am learning new things each and every
day language is constantly evolving
languages no matter where you go are
constantly evolving so I want you to see
your English learning as a journey as
opposed to a destination
you’re gonna constantly be learning what
I will say is if you have a specific
goal for example by the end of the year
you want to be able to speak for a 10
minute period with a native English
speaker and not feel hmm not feel
nervous that
a more specific and a better goal to
have so if you follow now if you follow
everything that you’re learning with me
everything in my Academy my daily
English email lessons and my youtube
lessons and Instagram lessons even just
at 80 percent I can guarantee you’ll
reach your goals here’s the thing though
following does not just mean watching it
means watching writing notes practicing
watching again and practicing again so
remember it’s not just about one time
like oh that lesson was good ah watch it
enjoy it practice it and then do it
again until it becomes natural for you
and more comfortable for you to use what
I have taught you okay great question
they’ll be there’s a great question
alright so here we go it’s go to the
next one valaria hey are you alright
malaria hi teacher Tiffany who was a
person who gave me the Bible for the
first time okay so I think Valerius
asking me when did I get my first Bible
now I’ve been a Christian my entire life
so my parents gave me a Bible when I was
probably 2 years old but I will tell you
about two Bibles I received and I will
never forget the individuals who gave me
these Bibles first my parents are very
close to a couple and they’re kind of
like there I called him aunt and uncle
even though we’re not blood relatives
we’re super close to their family and
before I went to university I mentioned
to them that I I wanted a small pocket
Bible I loved leather pocket Bibles and
they gave me a small pocket Bible and I
took it with me to university love that
Bible and the only reason I don’t have
the Bible anymore is because it fell
apart after like 15 years or so it
lasted for a long time that Bible is
very special because it was small it was
pocket-sized
and I was able to study a lot with that
Bible and as I grew closer to God when I
was in school that Bible was there an
integral very important to my journey to
getting to know God more
now the second Bible was given to me by
a lady at my church and this is when I
was think I think I was in my last year
of university Kennedy
the exact year but I was trying to get
deeper into the Word of God I wanted to
understand God more and understand what
his will was for my life and there was a
Bible there’s a woman named Ellen G
white and L&G white it was a commentary
Bible so it was the King James Version
plus Ellen White’s commentaries now if
you’ve never heard of Ellen White
there’s a book that she wrote called the
desire of Ages oh if you want to
understand Jesus more oh my goodness
that book right there it’s called the
desire of Ages and so she wrote that
book and that book was a blessing to me
so I really value her as a writer and
inspiration so the woman bought me a
Bible that included Ellen White’s
commentary in it man I love that Bible
and I still have it so that those two
Bibles remain in my mind so great
question great question all right let’s
see the next question we have it glass
it was good to see you it glasses a lot
of my VIP students she says do I teach
kids you know what it costs when I was
in South Korea I did teach kids I had
kids in the afternoon and I had adults
in the morning and the evening um I love
children I think you all can tell that
I’m very passionate about teaching but I
also have a very I mean I like to have
fun so I love kids however at this
current time it’s present time I’m only
teaching adults and I have a few
students in my Academy that are younger
like you know 18 or 17 I think one 15
year old but I don’t teach children and
I think it’s because it’s a different
way of teaching and right now I’m
focusing on intermediate and advanced
English learners because I feel like
there are things that you all need that
you’re not able to find online right now
you need to help with getting a better
job or improving your English even
though you’re at a certain level with
children children need more of the
basics which again I love kids I love
interacting with children as well I’m
because kids they’re so lovable I
remember when I was in South Korea quick
story all right when I was in South
Korea I had many different classes but I
remember this one class I mean there
were literally my favorite class and
this is when I was teaching in young’n
so anybody from South
I used to work in youngin and the kid I
think it was a group of about maybe two
was it twenty kids there were 20 kids in
the class and they were kids they were
about six I think the oldest may have
been seven six or six and seven so again
children are children no matter where
you go but again at this point in time I
could speak Korean so I was able to
really get close to the kids very
quickly because if there was a point in
time during the class where I needed to
explain something to them and they
weren’t understanding I could very
quickly switch to Korean and suddenly
they started to connect to me now
just to explain a little bit about
Korean culture and American culture so
in America again I’ll say African
Americans we are very contextual we’re
very loving we like to hug I like to be
together
Koreans are also loving they like to be
around each other they don’t necessarily
hug as much as we do or they’re not
asking tactual but they do they’re
loving they want to help you they want
to give you food food is amazing so
anyone in this class again because of my
personality and I love children I have
this kind of maternal instinct I always
wanted to hug the kids or they were
hurting I kind of want to let them know
like hey I’m not your mom but I could be
your mom in class so after about mmm I
think maybe a month’s time I could see
the kids opening up even more so if I
walked in the class and they say hey
teacher Tiffany and they’d run and they
hug me and then again they’re our
children and since they knew I could
speak Korean before a class started I
mean they would go a mile a minute
telling me what happened at school that
day all in Korean teacher this happened
and then this happened again I’m saying
it in English to you but it was all in
Korean and it really made my day because
children just need to be loved children
want to feel that you care about them so
the class I loved in class they love me
they learned well there was no problems
so yeah
so I really enjoyed that time so I don’t
teach kids now um who knows later on
whenever I get married and I have
children I may add that aspect to my
business because of my kids later on in
the future but right now honest adults
great question a great question all
right our next question is we have
Roberto Fantasia
shows a different Roberto he says I
don’t have a real question but I just
desire to tell you that your smile opens
up my lungs I’m so grateful for your
Academy and lots of love for you Roberto
thank you so much you know I don’t think
you all realize how much I truly truly
appreciate and love you all I think
about you in the morning throughout the
day and in the evening and these little
messages they really warm my heart so
Roberto Fantasia thank you so much and I
love you all - all right next we have
Victor what’s going on Victor Victor
says hey Tim
he says he’s Brazilian it’s very hard on
a Brazilian guy to get a job in the US
thank you so much for helping us with
your videos okay so he’s bringing up the
fact I think he’s asking me is it hard
for a Brazilian guy to get a job in the
USA now keeping in mind of course the
current situation we’re in and how no
one can really fly or outer in let’s say
all of this was all better now
so getting a job in America now again
Victor you’re in the Academy so I want
you to check out the e-book I have on
how to pass an English interview it’s
gonna help you when you do decide to
come to America you need to read the
e-book because I’m telling you there are
certain interview questions that are
different in America when compared to
other countries I’m getting a job
so my advice whenever when someone wants
to get a job in America first be
comfortable you need to be confident
when you’re speaking in English so even
if you’re an intermediate or advanced
English speaker and um
I if you start speaking like this no you
need to get confident in your abilities
and if you make a mistake
it’s okay own your mistakes and keep on
moving like I’m sorry let me start again
and then continue to talk you see
confidence is very important whenever
you’re going to an interview and working
in America my advice is you need to
study American culture again you can tap
the resource go to the resource in the
Academy where I talk a lot about
different aspects of American culture
again study the book how to pass an
English interview which is also in the
Academy
I’d say whatever your field is start
reading books in English about your
field because they’re gonna be certain
terms and expressions related to your
field and if you are aware of those
terms it will it will help you get a job
in America so great question great
question and I think our last question
is from bonell you stash or Bonnell you
stash I like your name uh what do you
love the most about God man great
question you know what I’ll say this I
love how much God cares about me and how
much God protects me
I think his protection and his love and
I say that because it’s because of his
love that I want to help other people
and I want to love other people so I
think if I were to sum it up in a simple
sentence how much he loves and cares for
me you know there are people that
believe that God just created the world
it was like booop all right you just do
what you do over there I’ll do what you
do that’s slang do whatever you want I’m
not gonna mess with you do what you do
all right again if you guys aren’t
follow me on Instagram follow me on
Instagram if you want to learn some
English slang so some people believe
that God created the world and just to
do what you do I don’t care my hands are
off my understanding of God according to
the Bible is that yes he created the
earth but just as much as a parent like
a mother or father loves their child God
loves us the same way and understanding
that every morning when I wake up every
day when I eat every day I’m going
through my dad working and realizing man
God woke me up this morning man God
cares about me and man the same way I
love you all God loves me oh you can’t
tell me that God’s not real so again
thank you for that question by now I
want to know how about you why do you
love God so much and what is it about
him that makes you happy all right
well guys I really hope you enjoyed this
episode I love answering your questions
remember if you want to ask me a
question you need to join my Academy
and all you have to do is go to let’s
jump right in comm don’t forget to use
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you can just try it out for one month
again I know you’re gonna want to stay
but I want to give you a gift the first
month for one dollar but you must use
the coupon in the description area thank
you so much for the questions that were
asked I really love and appreciate you
all and I can’t wait to talk to you next
week
have an amazing day