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What’s your name?

I am Dr Siva Mahendran.

What’s your teaching experience?

I have taught for over 20 years in primary and secondary schools and a further 15 years in private institutions of learning like MDIS, TMC, Kaplan, NTUC Learning Hub Pte Ltd, Training Vision Institute among others on a contractual and freelance basis.

I have taught various levels of learners young and old (aged 18 to 80) and am still teaching and training adult learners in language and literacy courses including speaking, writing, listening, reading, vocabulary and grammar skills under the Skills Futures Singapore (SSG) funding scheme and the British Council, Singapore. I have taught language classes for between 3 and 6 hours at a stretch and even shorter courses at a tuition centre among others in 1.5 to 2 hour sessions almost daily since late 2020 after the covid 19 pandemic hit us as in-person and online learning stints. I have done online teaching using Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams.

How do you teach that helps students learn efficiently?

A variety of approaches are used to teach students English in a fun and easy to understand manner: one to one coaching, paired work, group work and discussions, using games (like Kahoot and Online Scrabble) to teach vocabulary and grammar, collaborative, and interactive activities to teach essay writing, and other language skills; among others.

Why do you enjoy teaching?

I enjoy teaching because it gives me a sense of fulfillment to see students being enlightened and able to speak, write, listen and read better English after only a few sessions and to do better in their grammar and know more words in building their store of vocabulary to be more adept in their language development over time. I use an approach called LEAP (short for Learning English Actively Program) which was created by me and published in an international journal and I also use other collaborative and fun approaches to make learning English a pleasant experience for my learners.

What’s one fun fact about you?

I am a fun -loving person and at times make jokes and tell short stories to make learning more enjoyable and not boring. I also use a lot of variety in teaching to enable the learner to be involved in learning and studies in general. Being a professional counsellor has made me listen to my learners better and more to help them in their studies too.

I am sure students will enjoy learning from me and be more motivated to be better in their English language within a short period as I endeavour to give my best in teaching and guiding my students to excel in their language development by continuously monitoring their performance and giving feedback from time to time on the progress made in their learning.