Lynn Petro
Co-Owner of English Portal
Hello! I’m an ESL teacher, and I have been for more than 25 years. I’ve been teaching all these years because I really love teaching ESL, and everything that goes with it: meeting new people, finding out about different cultures, and helping people like you learn.
When I’m not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my husband, my three cats, and my friends. Music is also something I really like. I play violin in an orchestra, I listen to music, and I sing and dance with all kinds of songs whenever I can. Working in my garden also makes me happy. To stay in shape I run, ride my bike, and lift weights. And when I’m not doing any of those things, I read fiction stories, watch TV or movies, or draw in my sketchbook.
Bios like this usually have information about school and degrees, so I’ll tell you about that now: I have two BA’s, in Linguistics and French, and I have two MA’s, in Linguistics and Teaching ESL. It took some time to find ESL, but I’m thankful every day that I did.
I started studying French in middle school, so I’m a language learner just like you. It can be hard work, but it’s very rewarding, and I also think it’s a lot of fun. Are you ready to work and have fun? I’m ready to be your teacher. Let’s create your class together.
Roger Graham
Co-Owner of English Portal
I’m Roger. I like to do things with languages, like learn, teach, read and write. I started teaching English exactly 20 years ago. I wanted to become a language teacher because I had an amazing teacher. She taught me how to speak Italian. It was the first time I had spoken a foreign language, and her enthusiasm is what helped me connect with the language and culture. After I studied for a while, the university gave me a piece of paper called a Bachelor’s, which is a funny name for a piece of paper.
Later, I read a lot of English books. Many of them were about a guy named William Shakespeare. He wrote stories for theatre, and he became famous because he used language in a really fascinating way. Finally, I received another special piece of paper because I studied a lot. It is called a Master’s, which is a really cool sounding name for a piece of paper.
I feel good when I achieve my goals, and I feel good when I can help other people achieve their goals. My favorite parts of teaching are meeting new people from other cultures and enabling them to gain knowledge and confidence. When I’m not working with languages, I like to cook and eat, especially Italian food.