Katrina: Australia: Apr 15, 2021

My name is Katrina Zai, a Native English speaker from Australia. My father is Australian, and my mother is from Hong Kong. I am mixed blood and grew up in a bilingual household. My father does not speak any Chinese, so I learned to be a verbal translator from English to Chinese, Chinese to English at a very young age.
Although I am Australian, I spent 17 years in the USA studying and working so my English is now more American than Australian, but I am aware of the differences in both written and spoken English. I love languages and have studied Korean previously in Seoul, although I am still a beginner, I know enough Korean for greetings and basic conversations. I am also fluent in Cantonese and conversational in Mandarin. I studied French throughout high school and university and I also took Dutch for over 1 year. I have a passion for languages as I see them as a doorway to experiencing new cultures and their traditions.
With my experience in living and working in different countries, I adapt easily and well. I had previously lived in Seoul briefly while attending at a Hagwon in Gangnam for Korean. I am quite familiar with the city and its surrounding areas. I am also familiar with Korean culture and traditions.
While attending Boston College, a 4 years University, for a bachelor’s degree of double majors in Marketing and Human Resource Management, I volunteered for 1 year as part of our school’s program to teach English reading to illiterate adults. The most difficult part of this was that most adults already knew some words, hence when they read, they tend to guess what the word is without reading it. I was patient and gentle as I guide them to sound out the word and subtly correcting them without discouraging them. I worked mainly one on one so that I can focus on each person’s needs and their level of comprehension.
I know that my career has been extensive in the F&B industry, but I have spent many years in leadership roles in different countries and lead multiple teams of staff, many whose English is also their 2nd language. Although unofficially I was not teaching them, but I mentored their language skills on a personal level.
Due to the pandemic, I decided to change careers and got my 120 hours TEFL Certification along with other relevant teaching English certificates to begin my new journey and goal as an English teacher. I obtained Teaching Kids English, Teaching English Online, Teaching English level 3, Speech Therapy & SEN Teaching and Intro to Child Psychology. I also obtained certifications for courses on First Aid & CPR and Microsoft PowerPoint.