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Alysia Bartley
-Academic Cordinator
-Working with TTC since 2006
Tell me a bit about yourself?
I have bachelor’s degrees in arts and education with first class standing from Lakehead University. I love languages. I majored in French and minored in English, Spanish and history. I had planned to be a French teacher, but fell into teaching ESL instead and I love it.
I love reading, traveling, surfing the internet . . . and I spend way too much time on Facebook. . .
As academic coordinator, what are your responsibilities?
I provide support for the teaching staff and monitor student progress. I visit classes and provide assistance and advice to teachers who have students with unique academic needs. I meet with corporate clients to understand their staff training needs and implement targeted programs and evaluations for their English goals. Because of the unique online nature of learning English with TalktoCanada, most of our educational material has to be created from scratch. That keeps me busy much of the time.
What is the best part of your job?
Talking with students. It is fascinating to talk to people from so many different cultures and different walks of life. Students come to class ready to share and talk about their life philosophies, their opinions, their work, their education, their families etc. I never know what kind of conversation might pop up in class. I enjoy connecting with students on a personal level and often end up learning new ideas and information from the students I talk with. It is so satisfying for me to watch our students improve and know that I played an integral part in their success. I’m so proud of our students and I love to boast about their accomplishments. They work so hard and I see great results all the time!
What is the most important quality for an academic coordinator?
Flexibility. Being the Academic Coordinator at TalktoCanada requires a huge amount of flexibility. Schedules can change last minute, programs can change last minute, meetings pop up by surprise – it keeps me on my toes. Working with so many time zones means that sometimes I work nights and sometimes I work days. It’s not unusual to have an unexpected meeting with a client pop up by surprise at 2:00am.
What advice would you give to students studying English?
Practice English every day. If you have a really busy day with little time to study, even just 10 minutes of studying will keep the language fresh in your mind. Take advantage of opportunities to use English whenever you can. Talk to English speakers, read books in English, watch English TV, listen to English music, etc. The key to becoming proficient is to take in as much English as you can and practice speaking at every opportunity presented.
A lot of our students come to us saying they think they are not as good as they should be and need to improve such things as speaking, pronunciation, expressions and idioms. Then, after working with them for a few weeks, the students notice a huge improvement. This huge improvement definitely comes with the help of a TalktoCanada teacher – but it has more to do with the student increasing their confidence. Students start building their confidence levels when they can relax while speaking English. Relaxation and comfort in speaking a language doesn’t always come from learning it naturally in ‘real life’ situations, but rather in an academic setting without the pressure normally associated with speaking English. Being in a relaxed environment where you are free to make mistakes will help you to improve much faster than any other method. 
