Angela’s secrets of teaching

By: Daniel Yeap

Sporting a jovial face and bounce in her step, Angela Teo from the Language Center at SEGi University is a bomb with her students.

Teaching English to foundation and diploma students, this young instructor exudes energy in and out of class.

“I tell jokes in every class, and yes I am this bubbly during lessons as well!” she says as she tries to get past her colleague to her cubicle.

“Come on, move aside. You know I’m that fat!” she exclaimed to the amusement of all in the room.

Her playfulness with her colleagues does not fade when dealing with students.

Angela says she laughs a lot and makes others laugh too.

“I like to see myself as a stand-up comedian in class.

“Actually sitting down is also okay,” she says before breaking into laughter again.

Jokes abound in her classes, especially at the start of each session.

“I either tell jokes that I know or share funny stories from my own life to get my students to get my students’ attention and start them off in a good mood.

“You have to be cheerful and upbeat if you want to teach effectively.”

Teaching is my dream - Angela Teo.

Teaching had always been her dream, which her parents supported.

Her mother was a teacher too, and her father wanted all his three daughters to become teachers, although the other two eventually pursued their own career interests.

Her passion for teaching and her love for the English language led Angela to take up the instruction of English.

“Teaching is a very rewarding job.

“You are not dealing with objects or processes. 

“You are dealing with human beings, which makes every day interesting.

“You have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives.”

Recalling her first teaching experience, Angela tells of two Saudi Arabian boys who were entrusted to her.

“They came from a well-to-do family and as such had no need to learn anything.

“But their father wanted them to learn English, so he sent them to the language center that I was attached to at that time.

“We only had them for about a year, and my, that was a very challenging year for me.

“You see, I took the TESOL course, which equipped me to teach people whose second language was English; meaning they had some knowledge of English but did not it as their primary language, like most Malaysians.

“For these boys, English was not their second language; it wasn’t even on the list of languages they knew!

“We had to start from scratch.

“We were using sign language to communicate most of the time!”

Angela continues, “The boys only knew a handful of words.

“Whenever they needed to use the washroom, they would say “Teacher, toilet.”

“And I would tell them, “No, it’s Teacher Angela, not Teacher Toilet!”

“Every day when I went back I would question my decision to venture into the teaching profession.

“At times I was so distraught that I was reduced to tears!”

After 3 months, the only English words the boys could say were the numbers from one two ten, the five primary colors, and three fruits: apple, banana and orange.

“I would take them down to the supermarket to put an apple in the boys’ hands and name it for them.

“Later when I asked them what the fruit was, they’d say ‘orange’.”

By the time it was time for them to leave the country a year later, one of the boys could speak in 3 three complete sentences: “My name is Abdul. I am 12 years old. I am from Saudi Arabia.”

“That was my greatest achievement up till today, and also my greatest challenge,” Angela says with pride.

She cautions that not all interactions with students will become a success story, but when it did “you will never regret investing into their lives.”

“Seeing students become better people as a result of your input makes you remember why you chose this profession and keeps you going.

Teaching is investing in one's life.

Angela draws inspiration and guidance from her own experiences as a student and from her parents.

“I remember when I was in primary school.

“I was in a Chinese type school where we were given more work than appropriate for a seven-year-old.

“Teachers there were fiercer than tigers; it was a very authoritarian type of treatment that we received.

“The teachers used harsh punishment to get students’ compliance.

“I remember I used to be caned every day.

“We go to school not because of our desire to learn but rather out of fear.

“Skip one day of school, and there will be a harsh penalty awaiting you the next time you step into school.

“I hated it, and it caused me to hate the language (Mandarin) too.”

Determined not to put her students through the same thing, Angela strives to be, as she puts it, ‘fun, loud and noisy’ with her students and encourages the same from them.

“Often they are so reluctant to speak English in front of the class.

“I need to encourage them to speak more so they become more fluent, and the only way to do so is to make it enjoyable for them.

“I make them go up to strangers in the college cafeteria and introduce themselves, which they all have come to like.

“When you see things as fun, you remember it better,” she says.

Angela hasn’t always been loud and bubbly, however.

“I used to be very shy and withdrawn.

“I was lucky to have good parents who gave me the exposure I needed.

“My father worked as a postman, so I spent large amounts of my time at the post office.

“Because I was so withdrawn, I spent that time watching people.

“I watched how they walked, talked and reacted to each other.

“On other occasions, I followed my mother to the secondary school where she worked.

“There I interacted frequently with my mother’s students.

“When I was older, I had to come down to Kuala Lumpur from Sarawak to attend college.

“I traveled here by myself so I had to take care of myself.

“I realized that in order to survive, I needed to be more outspoken.

“It was through these that I picked up social skills and learnt how to get along with people.”

Today she is the gregarious instructor who helps students as withdrawn as she was to become more confident and socially competent individuals, albeit an improved command of English.

“I’ve found that I can do anything that I want so long as I put my heart to it,” she declares.

And what does she want to do next?

“I want to relearn Mandarin,” she promptly says.

“Its complexity makes it difficult to learn, and I hated it because of what I went through in primary school.

“But it’s becoming increasingly important to know the language so I want to give it another try in the near future.”

Photograph by: Farah Nabilah