Let’s meet the teachers – Kerstin

My name is Kerstin, and I was born, raised, and educated in California San Francisco Bay Area. I first started working at EF as a summer teaching job in 2001 when its center was located on the Mills College campus in Oakland, California. EF and I liked each other so much that we wanted to work a bit longer. The experience inspired me to pursue an MA TESOL, which I earned in 2005.

I have been teaching online since 2007 after learning about EF’s online school, Englishtown, while I was wrapping up my first two years of in-person teaching. Between 2007 and 2012, I worked with EF’s online students for about three years. In 2014, I decided to make a longer commitment to EF and have been here ever since.

What I like most about being an online teacher, specifically at EF, is working in a learning environment where everyone can learn English, which is so important to me that I rarely miss the chance to say this in my introduction to group lessons students. EF’s online classrooms have been the only place in which I have been able to work with any given group of students comprised of a range of differences, including age, educational level, professional background, geographical location (even students from the same country living in different cities), native language(s), and English language learning goals. 

Teaching online is a tie between staying reflective as a teacher and making time to study a foreign language. 

As educators, we have areas for improvement just like our students, so their constructive criticism about us can be just as useful for our growth as we want our feedback to be for them.

And we all know the benefits of foreign language learning – and that consistent practice trumps often unrealistic blocks of study time – so why not improve ourselves through foreign language study and create an authentic way to further relate to our students?

I study Spanish and French I started taking seriously in the mid-1990s. I also exercise, knit accessories, cook, and bake. Lately, I have been practicing macrame, and last year I started an indoor vegetable garden.

Learn more about EF Teach Online here.