Angela is energetic, intelligent, and ambitious. She had worked hard and was passionate about her career in nursing. Even though she has a young family and all the demands of family life, she landed a great job at an international medical company. She seized the opportunity to boost her career and earnings to a new level.

But it wasn’t easy. Angela was faced with many obstacles that she hadn’t encountered before. She had to present strategies, feedback, finances, and research to senior management - all of this in English. She was feeling overwhelmed and emotionally stretched as she tried to meet the demands of her new role at work, in addition to her already busy life.

Angela approached me and explained that she needed to improve her English speaking. Like many people in Taiwan, she had excellent reading, writing, and listening skills. But as soon as she tried to speak, she fell to pieces. She feared that she would not do well at work.

We started lessons that included learning about phonics and helping her to correct some of her pronunciation mistakes. At the same time, she started to learn about public speaking skills and how to structure a talk. She learned about signposting and how to connect ideas. Every day she practiced reading aloud, sometimes by reading to her children at night. She persisted with weekly lessons for several months before she had to prepare her first important work presentation. Fortunately, we had already been working towards this day.

Over the next few sessions, Angela was able to improve her PowerPoint slides and find ways of connecting with her audience. She practiced telling her story of her contribution to the company and their clients. It was a huge success and earned her recognition and a promotion.

Angela didn’t stop there. She realized that she was starting her new career and it had momentum now. We continued to meet weekly and work on more speaking skills, pronunciation, and practice. And then Angela faced a new challenge!

Promotions can be wonderful, yet they bring challenges.

This time, Angela had to meet regularly with a new international team who all spoke English as their first language. At first, Angela felt nervous and excluded. This wouldn’t be good for her career, so we worked on her small talk skills. I gave some cultural insights into conversations and helped her practice asking questions and being an active listener.

Importantly, Angela had to work on her mindset and know that she must speak up and ask for clarity and inclusion. Working on these phrases and how to say them politely but assertively was key to her becoming a valued member of the new team.

Angela’s story is far from over. It’s a work in progress. It’s a story of seeing opportunities and potential problems - and not being afraid to ask for help. Angela’s passion will ensure she has a wonderful future in medical health care.

Angela’s review:

“Sandra has super clear English and gives me many recommendations. The lessons are personalized to help me improve in specific parts of English. Sandra uses different methods to help me improve my speaking and presentation skills.”