I live in a state where there are no mountains, no oceans, no deserts.  In the summer it is often 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the winter it can be as cold as -40 degrees.  I was born here, and I live in the same town where my parents, and grandparents, and great- grandparents and GREAT-great-grandparents lived.  My ancestors came to America from Sweden, England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, and Belgium.  They loved the rolling hills and the forests and the rich farmland of Iowa.  I love Iowa too.

I have always wanted to be a teacher.  It seems as though I have been teaching someone something almost all my life.  I have taught songs, games, outdoor skills, needlework, cooking--all sorts of things to all ages of people--but my love was the English language.  I quit college (university) to raise a family, but I returned many years later and got my Bachelor's degree in English & journalism.  I then got a Master's degree in English Education.  I worked very hard to get through the university.  I was a bartender, and cleaned houses, and typed papers for people, and even sewed!  I didn't mind those jobs, because for me, the most important thing was to get an education.  For a while I was able to teach writing at the university and tutor some Vietnamese students in English, but then I moved to another state.  There were no teaching jobs open where I had moved, so I went into advertising.  I wrote radio, television, and newspaper ads, as well as catalogues.  Later I worked at a newspaper for a time.  I never seemed able to do the thing I had hoped to do with my life however--teach others to read and speak and write English.

I found English Mistakes Welcome by accident one night.  The people there were the nicest people I have met, and they made me feel as though I had found good friends almost from the first night.  The room means very much to me, because all of us there share a common love of learning.

Language is a very personal thing.  We think with it, we dream with it, we express our deepest feelings with it.  There is nothing so frightening and so challenging as learning a new language.  How proud I am that you allow me to help you in your learning!

annie