Hi, my name is Shaun
Most “about” pages just talk about someone’s profile and accomplishments. I would like to share with you my story of how I got to where I am now, my motivation for helping others and share a little bit about who I really am.
Early Childhood...
From a very young age I have had a stutter. It was difficult growing up even until the end of High School. Sometimes I felt very self-conscious, even scared about speaking in front of others. It’s funny because even though English was my native language I felt like an outsider when communicating and didn’t feel understood. Much the same feeling that many people from around the world feel when trying to communicate in English. So I do have some understanding about how this feels. At that time, I couldn’t even image becoming a teacher. Actually I thought that being a teacher would be the worst job in the world because you would be speaking in front of people all day.
The journey begins...
My stutter started to improve more in University. I met many great people, lived on my own, and started to gain more confidence. But it wasn’t until I started travelling that things improved a lot. After University I didn’t want to start a career right away so I decided to travel. My first stop was Thailand. I had a 1 year open ticket and after a few months of travelling, my money was starting to drain away and I knew I had to find a job. I visited a friend of mine in the north of the country and asked him what kind of work was available. He was teaching at the time and said that teaching was the best job. I think I panicked. Teaching! Teaching was what I thought was the worst job in the world, how could I do that? I decided it was my only option, built up my courage and gave it try. My first class was a group of happy, smiling kids about 7 years old. These kids didn’t care about how I spoke, they hung on every word I said. This was something that I hadn’t experienced much before. It made me feel happy and my confidence to speak more and teach more grew everyday. I was lucky to get a good job at a college next. The classes were bigger and the students were older so I felt a little nervous(…very nervous) again. But once again, the happy personalities and smiling faces of these students made me feel comfortable again and my confidence grew. I began to love teaching and my stutter improved beyond my expectations. I couldn’t believe I was teaching and loving what I always thought I would hate.
The land of the rising sun...
After Thailand I knew I wanted to travel more and teach more. Next I decided to go to Japan. It was a country that always interested me with it’s fascinating culture, modern cities and of course Super Mario Brothers. What was supposed to be 6 months to a year turned into 4 years. In that time my skills as an English teacher grew and I worked for many companies. I taught students anywhere from babies with their parents (in the same class) to Presidents of large companies in boardrooms. There was a point where I thought about how I could do more and make more of a difference. The idea of starting my own school and coming back to Canada came to mind. So I decided to leave my life in Japan and return to Canada to try and make even more of a difference.
Opening an English school...
As anyone who has started a business knows, it is not easy and it took some time to get it right. After some time I found some partners and started a school. I helped run the school for about 10 years. Running an English school gave me a chance to create more and help even more students. Thousands of students in fact. From students who just wanted to be able to order a coffee at Starbucks confidently to others wanted to enter medical school. It was a great experience for me to improve my skills as an English teacher as well as in business.
This brings me to now...
Over the past 20 years of teaching I have seen every problem people have with learning and speaking English. One of the biggest problems I have noticed over this time is what I like to call “Lingoisms.” Lingoisms are words that are similar in meaning but used in very different ways and situations. And in English there are thousands of them. This is what I want to focus on with this website. Even words that seem simple like “fast” and “quick” or “movie” and “film” are used in very different ways. It is a problem students have from any country in the world and any level of English. English is the biggest language in the world and maybe the hardest. There are so many Lingoisms and my goal is to help people learn how to use them correctly. This is how Lingoisms was born.
The amazing students I have taught over the years have truly helped me overcome my struggles in confidence and communication. My mission to help other people overcome their own struggles in speaking and to have the confidence to speak English the way they want. I hope I can help people achieve their goals in English and improve their success in life.
Thank you very much for reading my story. I had an amazing time writing it and giving you an idea about my story and motivation for starting Lingoisms. I wish you happiness in your story and on your path to success. Hope to see you on the inside.
Shaun
