Carolyn has many references from previous students of all ages. Here are some:
我是一位中国母亲，看了她的主页忍不住说几句，我来美国经常随女
“I am from Beijing, China, and now I am a postdoc fellow at University of Mississippi Medical Center. One of the first things I did after arriving in USA was join Carolyn’s English class. When I first came to the United States, I found that I had some problems with my English. For example, even if I was familiar with many professional nouns and some complicated TOEFL expressions, some of which were even unfamiliar to some Americans, I was poor at daily words and social expressions. At supermarkets, in front of the full range of goods, a lot of them I could not call on the names and had to take out the phone to check one by one. What bothered me the most was that at the restaurants, I often pointed at the menu and tell the waiter, I want “this” and I want “that”.
What is most memorable for me is that I once made a public presentation in front of all professors, fellows and students in Department of Physiology. This was undoubtedly a huge challenge for me as an international student. To be fluent in my slides, I had to write each sentence down. When Carolyn learned this, she gladly helped me, revising my speech over and over again and helping me with the practice. She constantly encouraged me and corrected my pronunciation inaccuracies, and she even recorded the words and sent them to me so that I could listen and read them again and again. With her help, I became more and more confident in myself. It turned out that the presentation was not an unexpected success. Many professors and students greeted me and praised me after the presentation, “did a good job” and “it was a good presentation”. After this speech, more people have known me and laid a good foundation for my future study and work. I know I can’t be there without Carolyn’s help, and I appreciate it. Carolyn was aware of our strait. She started from the basics, taking us to Fry Words, a collection of a thousand words that Americans use all the time, and let us try to make sentences with them. Her method is more similar to the way we learned Chinese when we were young, which is more in line with the rules of language learning. Before each class, she would arrange one or two students to do one-on-one conversation exercises with her, so that we could learn and get familiar with how Americans greet each other. She also told us a lot of local customs and practices in the United States, helping us understand the country, for example, the federal holidays and their origins, the most popular sports activities nationwide their rules and related slangs, American clothing habits, and so on and on. At last, I would like to say that Carolyn is an excellent English teacher. She knows China, she loves China, and she loves us Chinese students very much.” -Dr. Xuan Li, Cardiologist from Beijing; visiting scholar in America
“Teacher, friend, grandma of my little one, an intelligent and interesting person is Carolyn. I LOVE her. The English class is made up with Chinese scholars, inspired by her in all ways, maybe how American politics operate, or maybe house wine is a good choice at restaurant table – just enjoyable to talk with a knowledgeable and quick-minded person like her. Everyone is involved and encouraged in her class, and you certainly like and learn English much better!
She has an amazingly loving heart. From morning till mid-night, she gave me fuel in the labor room; from winter to summer, she accompanied me to the prenatal doctor visits – just like a mom. I know what time means to a busy person like her. When I first saw her, I would not expect this well-dressed and well-spoken lady would devote her time to our personal “troublesome” businesses, over and over again! I would not doubt love is intuitive among races and nationalities.
I LOVE her. Trust me, you will too!” -Heng Wu from Beijing, graduate of Peking University
