Suzy Nachtsheim, VIU English Language Centre
Profession:
ESL Instructor
Favorite View from Campus:
The view of the campus, downtown, the ocean, and mountains from the Writing Centre in the library
Favorite music:
Folk (Yeah Peter, Paul, and Mary!)
Surprising fact about you:
I lived in Japan for 20 years, but my Japanese still sucks.
Things you collect:
Cartoons and funny photos to display on my office door
Hobbies:
Nothing unique, but I like to read and cook. I like to play board games (Monopoly, Bananagrams, Clue, Risk, etc.) but it's hard to find partners. Anyone interested?
Unusual item in your office:
A flag that is half Canadian and half American (because I'm a dual citizen)
Favorite teaching memory:
Too many to choose just one!
Favorite quote:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau, Walden
What inspires your teaching?
The students who ask me questions that are hard to answer
Favorite food:
Pizza!
Fashion style:
Oh please. All my taste is in my mouth.
Favorite travel memory:
A week on Maui, in Hawaii. Mai tai cocktails never tasted so good.
Words of wisdom from teacher to ESL student:
This is something one of my high school teachers told me when I asked him for advice on how to study. He said that if you want to really learn something, imagine that you have to teach it. I think that's good advice for students of all ages.
I hope my students will be enthusiastic about learning English, open minded about other cultures and different ways of thinking, and kind to one another.