Varya Piper

I am a first-generation Ukrainian-American who grew up in a bilingual household. My earliest years were spent in a multi-lingual neighborhood populated by recent immigrants, and as I became literate I helped them with some of their language difficulties. This ranged from helping with letter-writing to shopping and problems with government. I am familiar with the problems of English pronunciation for those who have been used to producing other sounds in their speech, and very aware of the English words which sound alike and even look alike, and have very different meanings.

As far as the lessons themselves, I try as far as possible to tailor the content to the needs and problems of my students. Before now, I have worked with some students whose native languages I was familiar with to some extent, i.e. Italian and French, and some whose native languages I was totally ignorant of, i.e. Korean and Mandarin Chinese (one of the latter was able, after our work, to successfully apply for citizenship). I usually begin by ascertaining how much the student understands of English and working on increasing comprehension. With beginning students, I make use of pictures and word lists, and strive for correct sounds, so that a student who may comprehend very well does not sound uneducated. I am particularly conscious of this myself, as I entered school with a strong Eastern European accent, which the other students made fun of. I corrected it myself by listening to the announcers on the radio and copying the sounds they made, with some success. I look forward to training others to be equally comfortable with the English language, both spoken and written.