Udell to teach ESL in China

Dr. J.R. Moorman, communication department head, stands with University President Julio Leon and Vivian Leon with Yinghao College representative in front of the campus.

Special toThe Chart

Dr. J.R. Moorman, communication department head, stands with University President Julio Leon and Vivian Leon with Yinghao College representative in front of the campus.

Adjunct professor of international studies, Trish Udell will be going to China to teach English as a second language this January.

At Yinghao College near Guangzhou Udell will be teaching 9 to 16-year-olds. For the first week of her stay, Udell will be working with other instructors in preparation for the winter camp. During the remaining week and a half, she will be working with about 100 students in practical uses of the English language as well as traveling around the area.

“Learning English is very important there,” she said. “They have their traditional way of teaching English. I want to come in with a different approach.”

Her objective is to teach the students beyond average means. She will have students pretend to book airline tickets to America, tour cities and meet famous people in the United States as well as write in a daily travel journal.

“It’s a good way of connecting with the students,” she said.

The school’s goal is to have students score high SAT scores, and Missouri Southern hopes students will attend college here.

Yinghao is a private, boarding school, which houses more than 2,200 students grades K-12.

Udell will be bringing her 10-year-old daughter, Lydia as well.

“She’ll be mingling with peers,” she said. “They will have somebody their age to talk to in English.”

Southern is also interested in Yinghao sending students to Missouri for a seven week SAT preparation summer program.