Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 15:13:28 -0700
To: "'marsha@sunburstmedia.com'" <marsha@sunburstmedia.com>
Subject: FW: Marsha Chan's visit
Marsha,
You cannot imagine how pleased I was to
see Janice's feedback on your visit.
Thanks for making the most of the time you spent in Salt Lake
City.
Regards,
David Minkus
Vice President, Sales Development
-----Original Message-----
From: Janice Larsen
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 2:56 PM
To: David Minkus; Alec Brecker
Subject: Marsha Chan's visit
Hi David and Alec,
I just wanted to let you know that Marsha's visit was tremendous. We learned a great deal over the two days that she was with us. She is very knowledgeable about Accent Neutralization and was very willing to share this knowledge with us. It was great to work with such a professional. Her presentation and training skills were excellent.
The information was very appropriate for both the Argentina and the India sites. The video tapes and the book very much promote the skills that we want each agent to master. Marsha also directed us in ways to break down our scripts and terminology using the same methods used in the tapes, to individualize the training for each specific project utilizing the concepts presented in the course. The books are a mandatory part of this training. It will be vital that each agent have their own copy so they can write in it and complete the assignments.
Thank you so much for bringing in Marsha. This demonstrates how much our company supports the Training Department. For all of us involved in the off-site projects, please know how much we appreciated this opportunity.
Janice W. Larsen
Training Manager
November 5, 2000
Capital Area CATESOL, the Sacramento chapter
of the state organization, hosted Marsha Chan on October 21, 2000
in a 1/2-day pronunciation workshop. The following is a short
summary of the content of the workshop and also a few comments
of recommendation to other organizations considering hosting a
similar event. All of the chapter's steering committee and the
membership in attendance at the conference found Marsha's presentation
and presence to be very rewarding and successful.
Those familiar with Marsha Chan's valuable
suggestions will recognize the important pronunciation techniques
she has developed such as the teaching of stress and intonation
through hand clapping, syllable-counting, the use of rubber bands
to emphasize syllable length, the widening of students' eyes to
indicate stressed syllables and other dramatic, active and fun
pronunciation techniques. She also introduced newer listening
and speaking games such as 'Listen and React", "Pronunciation
Bingo', "Card Pairs", "Look in the Lake" and
"Fluency Circles". Each activity was demonstrated to
show variations for beginning, intermediate and advanced levels.
This 1/2 workshop not only met the needs of new ESL teachers but
also the needs of seasoned pronunciation teachers who were reminded
of the effectiveness of these simple, easy, fun and useful activities.
Finally, Marsha introduced other materials from 'Sunburst Media',
an on-line and classroom ESL materials company. For those interested
in learning more of these language learning techniques, contact
Marsha Chan at marsha@sunburstmedia.com.
For those chapters considering hosting a pronunciation workshop,
Capital Area whole-heartedly recommends Marsh Chan. She was truly
entertaining, informative and a pleasure to meet and work with.
She is one of our profession's treasures.
Sandra Carter,
Conference Coordinator
April 22, 2000
Dear Marsha,
Thank you so much for the standout presentation, Teaching ESL Online, at this month's state conference. I think this was one of the most exciting (not to mention entertaining!) Community College Level Workshops we have had. I heard many positive comments and really enjoyed the session myself.
Julia Jolly
Community College Level
California Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages
Nancy Barclay
Spanish Instructor
Lake Tahoe Community College
One College Dr.
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Telephone 530-541-4660, ext. 204
Fax 530-541-7852
Email barclay@ltcc.cc.ca.us
November 15, 1999
To Whom It May Concern,
Marsha Chan presented an outstanding technology workshop for the language instructors at Lake Tahoe Community College on October 2, 1999. It was the college's pleasure to have such an accomplished professional come to our campus and share with our faculty.
This workshop was a six-hour training for
instructors of English, Basic Skills, ESL and Foreign Language.
During the morning session Ms. Chan gave an overview of many different
types of technologies that can be used effectively in the language
classroom. After lunch, the workshop moved to the computer lab
for a hands-on session. Each participant signed up for an email
account, participated in an online chat, and did an activity on
how to use the Internet. Many participants had never used the
Internet before this. Web sites that could be used for lessons
were shown to the participants.
The evaluation comments submitted by each participant at the end
of the workshop were extremely positive and enthusiastic. Overall,
each participant was able to walk away with some new information
or activity to be used in the classroom. For many, just being
exposed to what technologies are available was a good experience.
We also learned from Ms. Chan that technology doesn't only refer
to the use of computers, but that it includes voice mail, videos,
listening cassettes, etc. Many participants expressed the desire
to use the Internet for lessons after going through the workshop.
There is no doubt that all participants will feel comfortable
using some form of new technology in their classes, thus improving
the quality of instruction for their students.
It is with the highest praise that I write this letter of recommendation for Ms. Chan. Not only is she gifted in technology, but she has the ability to train and teach, thus combining the two very well. She is professional, enthusiastic, and reliable.
Feel free to contact me for questions.
Sincerely,
Nancy Barclay
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Marsha Chan was invited to be the star speaker this summer - August 2-13, 1999 - for the ESL Technical Skills Institute held at Cabrillo College. Her two hour presentation proved to be one of the high points of a very intensive two week learning session.
Our institute was organized to introduce our ESL staff of 14 to all the ways technology is currently being used to deliver or enhance instruction in college and we had come across Marsha's elegant online ESL course at Mission College. Putting a full course online seemed utterly daunting to most of us just learning for the first time how to publish a single web page. We were not ready for the full version of Marsha's "how to" seminar but she graciously undertook to adapt it for our specific needs and we were not disappointed.
Marsha is surely one of the most effortlessly competent, intelligent and professional people I personally have ever met. She arrived earlier than any of us, set up smoothly, emailed her agenda in advance, and provided other materials such as a video and sample handouts. She worked from a dynamic, graphically pleasing Powerpoint presentation in her explanations, giving us our first taste of how vivid and helpful this particular use of technology can be, and answered all our questions with warmth, clarity, and vivacity. Her own course was a marvel of complexity but she encouraged us with her constant advice to start slow and expand with our growing skills - then laughed at her own failure to follow such good advice.
She had made arrangements in advance to demonstrate the efficacy of chat rooms in online instruction by having some of her former students meet us there in cyberspace and exchange pleasantries with her right online. It was a riveting moment for the majority of us who had never even tried a chat room.
At lunch, Marsha generously continued her mentorship of institute participants on a more informal basis, answering their questions with great clarity and insight, sharing her vast experience of teaching ESL in a range of contexts and cultures.
I unreservedly recommend this excellent teacher and presenter to anyone contemplating a similar workshop or institute. Marsha Chan has polished a presentation dense with valuable information into a form easy on the eyes and fascinating in its arrangement of factual detail, useful anecdotes and visual demonstrations.
Sincerely,
Francesca Hampton
Cabrillo ESL Technical Skills Institute Coordinator
Cabrillo College/ English Division
831-479-6424 (wk) 831-464-6704 (hm)
Longman
* Prentice Hall Regents * Scott Foresman * Addison Wesley
September 21, 1999
Dear Marsha,
Thanks to you and Tiffany for coming to our Fall Event last Saturday, and for your outstanding presentation. I find myself moving my fingers to the syllables! Your energy is infectious. I'll look forward to seeing you again.
Best,
Denny Lee
Tel: 310-373-5519, 800-375-2375, mailbox
#10143
Fax: 310-791-3889
Email: Denise.Lee@pearsoned.com
January 21, 1999
Dear Marsha Chan,
I am writing to thank you for a job very well done. The faculty are still talking about your presentation at Laney College and at the College of Alameda.
There are many things they appreciated: your appreciation of them as professionals and colleagues and adults; the amount of information you conveyed and the friendly, funny, personal, interactive way you presented it; the way you responded to technical glitches and changes; the depth of your own knowledge and experience; how you answered their questions-and how you asked your own.
Your evaluations, as you know, were superb.
People are already asking for your return. Specifically, they
would like you to discuss the pluses and minuses of teaching courses
on-line as opposed to the regular classroom. I am going to pass
this request on to the Staff Development Committee at the College
of Alameda.
It was a pleasure working with you. I look forward to working
with you again. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Mark Greenside, Staff Development Officer
April 4, 1998
Dear Marsha,
We were very pleased to have had you as our main speaker for our Orange County Chapter CATESOL Spring Workshop on February 28, 1998. The technology requirements were especially challenging, particularly considering the significant differences between attendees' familiarity with computer technology. Some teachers had vast experience with computer technology, and you were able to present them with new and unexpected uses for computers in the classroom. Other teachers were technology dilettantes, and you ideas and suggestions stimulated them toward a greater comfort level with "high tech" tools in the classroom. Many teachers' workshop evaluation commented on being especially delighted with your humor and energy.
The attention you gave to all the details necessary to make sure the workshop went smoothly was appreciated by those board members and attendees who have some knowledge of all the "snafus" that can occur when dealing with computers. You wanted to make sure everything worked well; everyone was grateful for that.
We also appreciated you availability and openness to working with leader of the breakout session in the afternoon. Your suggestion helped make the afternoon sessions a success.
Even though this workshop was one of the most difficult to pull together for all of us on the board because of all the technical demands, we believe that the attendees' evaluations how that, overall, it was one of the most successful. Thank you for helping teachers in Orange County (and beyond) be more aware of the technology tools that will help them to become more capable and professional classroom communicators.
Cordially yours,
Jane Rinaldi
Coordinator-Elect
Orange County
Chapter, CATESOL
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