Happy February to you all! In the northern hemisphere, February is the month when you start to notice the sun coming back to the land. It's no longer dark at 3–4pm. I'm guessing that in the southern hemisphere, you're beginning to feel fall in the air. A month of transition no matter where you live, including here at The English Farm.
TEFtalk
We continue to transition to our own video messaging platform, TEFtalk. The launch went well and it's quickly becoming the go-to platform for lessons. It's popular with teachers and students because it is easy to use, when it works. However, there are still some bugs and issues. We are working through them and have a plan to rewrite it from the ground up over the next 2–3 months.
New teachers
Another crop of fabulous new teachers have joined our ranks! Welcome to Louis, Ron, Henri, and Jus!
- Louis is from Puerto Rico and grew up bilingual in English and Spanish. He also speaks Portuguese, French, as well as some Japanese and Italian! Currently Louis calls Victoria, Canada, his home.
- Ron comes to us from New Zealand, his lifelong home. His career is in business and science, especially the healthcare industry, so he brings that experience, along with his excellent teaching skills, to the team.
- Henri was born in Indonesia but now lives in New Zealand, with 10 years in Singapore in between. He is a self-confessed "geek" when it comes to his passion: Information Technology.
- Jus has lived in Malaysia, Australia, France and Japan, and is currently based in Tokyo. He has a business degree from an Australian University and a Master (MFA) in photography from Paris, France, to add to his 15+ years of teaching experience.
Employee of the Month: Lloyd
Since coming on board in December (2020), Lloyd has become a hugely active part of our team—he's gone from zero lessons to our busiest teacher in just over 2 months! Clearly, our students love him. And so do we, for so many reasons. He always participates in staff meetings and trainings, and hangs out at the Watercooler when he's not teaching. With a Master's in TESOL, Lloyd is full of knowledge about everything English and helps answer teachers' questions as well as students. Lloyd has chosen to donate his prize money to ----- because, in his words,
[what Lloyd says]
Thanks for giving all that you do, Lloyd—you're a great asset to our team.
That's it until March. Stay safe!
Di