Essay 4 (optional): Describe your involvement in activities outside of work. How have they contributed to your personal achievements and enhanced your self-development? (please limit your answer to 500 words)

A good teacher is like a candle

“I had never been interested in English until today. Mr. Shi, Thank you!” This was the text message I received from one of my students after one of my classes when I was an English teacher in a private foreign language training school. This kind of message encourages me to teach, even if only part-time. To me, a teacher's greatest joy is seeing his/her students have success.

Only two weeks before, it was almost impossible to get the student say even a single English word. I have a special way to ignite the students’ interest to learn. My secret is to teach live English, because only when you apply the language into everyday life, can you find the joy of learning the language. I play American film clips in class, usually animations, because the language is easier to follow and learn. The assignment I give to the students is to use the sentences learned in the film in daily communication. Thus the students not only know when to use the expressions, but also get involved in applications, which is the essence of education.

Teaching has always been a big part of my life. My teaching experience began about ten years ago. During the first winter vacation of my university, I volunteered to teach English to my neighbors’ children. Speaking in front of a group of inquiring faces, I wish I could tell them everything I knew the first day we met. In the following years, whenever I came home, they would be happy to come together and listen to my lectures.

Through teaching, I have also greatly improved my communication and presentation skills. When I was studying in graduate school, I taught statistics in a private tourism