![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/97d2860871f3d35e35f6eb0477d3015a.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached <\/span>in<\/strong> life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n – Booker T. Washington<\/a>, born in Virginia<\/a> as a slave and later the first black person to be a guest in the White House.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Each 9 weeks, the DreyerCoaching.com teacher team nominates one student to win the “Most Improved” Award. Like the name says, this award is not for the student with the best English overall. It is for the student who shows the most improvement over the 9 week period.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u6bcf\u96949\u5468\uff0cDreyerCoaching.com\u8001\u5e08\u56e2\u961f\u4f1a\u63d0\u540d\u4e00\u540d\u5b66\u751f\u83b7\u5f97\u201c\u8fdb\u6b65\u6700\u5feb\u201d\u5956\u3002\u987e\u540d\u601d\u4e49\uff0c\u8be5\u5956\u9879\u5e76\u975e\u9488\u5bf9\u603b\u4f53\u82f1\u8bed\u6c34\u5e73\u6700\u597d\u7684\u5b66\u751f\u3002\u8fd9\u662f\u9488\u5bf9\u57289\u5468\u5185\u8868\u73b0\u51fa\u6700\u5927\u8fdb\u6b65\u7684\u5b66\u751f\u3002<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To celebrate success and improvement, we created the DreyerCoaching.com Most Improved Award (\u6700\u4f73\u8fdb\u6b65\u5956)<\/strong><\/span> for the first quarter of the 2018-2019 school year, to help also celebrate our 10th anniversary online<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n 2018-2019 1st 9 weeks <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The FIRST winner of this new award, in November 2018, is Bob Liu<\/strong>, from beautiful Hangzhou<\/a>, China. <\/span><\/p>\n Why did Bob win this award?<\/span><\/p>\n His DreyerCoaching.com teacher Mrs. McKinney<\/a> reports that Bob has made GREAT progress since she began working with him, and Bob attends almost EVERY Friendly Free Friday<\/a> class he can. Bob knows that learning a foreign language is a long-term process. On top of that, when my wife and I were in Nanjing in June 2018, Bob and his mother traveled two hours by train from their home to Nanjing, just to meet us in person. Wow! What commitment<\/a>! Lastly, Bob is curious and likes to ask questions, and always has a GREAT attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n So, for all these reasons and more, Bob is our FIRST winner of the Most Improved Award. Congratulations, Bob!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2018-2019 2nd 9 weeks<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The winner of the “Most Improved” Award for the second 9 weeks is Cici Liu<\/strong>, of Wuhan, China.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Over the past year or so, two things about Cici have made her stand out in my mind. First, she takes initiative to learn. At DreyerCoaching.com, we seldom ask our students to memorize passages, but several times her teacher, Mr. Woodson<\/a>, told me that Cici had volunteered to memorize and then recite passages from her Reading 1 book about the US states like Vermont. He was so impressed, he would record her recitations and email them to me to watch. Second, once she learned the word “mayor” in English and when she realized the Chinese meaning, she told her teacher, “I want to be the mayor of Wuhan some day.” When I met with her for her bonus class the other day to celebrate her winning this award, I asked her why she wanted to be mayor of Wuhan. She told me in English, “So Wuhan can be number one.” (Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, sits alongside the mighty Yangtze River and is home to more than 10.6 million people. That means, Cici’s CITY has more people than the entire US states of VIRGINIA and WEST VIRGINIA combined!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n When I told our teacher team that we have a new “Most Improved” Award, Mr. Woodson told me he wanted Cici to get it for the next 9 weeks. Below is his glowing assessment.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/div>\n <\/p>\n This is Perry’s story, which you can also read on our Testimonials Page<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n At first, I was scared of English. I didn\u2019t want to study it. I didn\u2019t want to face it, let alone study abroad. I was not interested in that language at that time, and even found it repulsive. But after spending more time with English, I have found it is no longer something I disliked. Instead, I have become interested in it. English has become a joy to me. Just three years ago, when I went into seventh grade, my English grades in school were not very satisfactory. I then had a chance to go to Canada for a month with my older sister. When we first arrived, I was afraid to talk to any of the foreigners. I admired my sister for not being afraid and being able to talk with those foreign people. She was able to interact, talk, and laugh with the people we met, just like a person would do while shopping in Taiwan and making small talk. After a few days in Canada, I started to try to talk with the foreigners and found that talking with them was not as terrible as I had thought. They respected my English skills. After all, English is not my mother tongue. After returning to Taiwan, I wanted to start improving my English ability. I was fortunate to meet Mr. Dreyer’s English teaching team, which greatly improved my English ability. The most remarkable thing is that when I began their classes, I was afraid to open my mouth to speak English, but now I can chat face-to-face with foreigners without fear. I have taken their conversation class, reading class, and a 1 on 1 class, and I recently got an A on my 9th grade final exams in school. I believe that my English is still not yet great, but for those people who are interested and want to improve their English skills, as long as they are assisted by Mr. Dreyer’s English team, they will definitely be able to achieve their dreams.<\/p>\n These are my thoughts, thank you!<\/p>\n Wishing you all the best,<\/p>\n Perry, Grade 9 student, Taoyuan, Taiwan<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2019-2020 3rd 9 weeks<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The most improved award this 9 weeks goes to Tammy Gao in Changde City, Hunan Province<\/a>, China. Tammy attends a 1 on 1 class with DreyerCoaching<\/a> Team-Teacher Mrs. Rosenbaum<\/a> on Saturday nights. This is what Mrs. Rosenbaum said about why Tammy wins this award:<\/p>\n Tammy has shown much improvement this year. Her reading and pronunciation have steadily improved thanks to her work and she is doing very well. She shows substantial improvement in her speaking and understanding working with English and her outlook is always positive. She has put in much effort and it is noticeably paying off.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2019-2020 4th 9 weeks<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Most Improved Award for the last 9 weeks of the historic, challenging 2019-2020 school year goes to Peter Yuan in Beijing, China. Peter attends a 1 on 1 class<\/a> on Friday nights with his teacher DreyerCoaching Team Teacher Mr. Woodson<\/a>. Please note, Peter is only 7 years old! <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is what his mother says about Peter and another year with DreyerCoaching:<\/p>\n \u8fd9\u662f\u4f0d\u5fb7\u68ee\u8001\u5e08\u5bf9\u4ed6\u4e3a\u4ec0\u4e48\u9009\u62e9\u5f7c\u5f97\u8d62\u5f97\u8be5\u5956\u9879\u7684\u89e3\u91ca\uff1a<\/p>\n \u5f7c\u5f97\u603b\u662f\u51c6\u65f6\u4e0a\u8bfe\uff0c\u4e3a\u6bcf\u5468\u7684\u8bfe\u505a\u51c6\u5907\uff0c Thanksgiving, a holiday about gratitude and rejoicing, has long been celebrated by most Americans on the fourth Thursday of November for more than a century and a half. However, Thanksgiving was in fact not celebrated on the same day throughout the whole nation before Lincoln delivered this proclamation. Lincoln, through using a plethora of rhetorical techniques, builds his authority on his argument that the celebration of Thanksgiving should occur on the same day on every inch of American soil to unite the fragmented nation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Throughout the whole proclamation, Lincoln expressively alludes to God to bring all the audience, no matter from North or South, under the same cause: religion. In a culture heavily influenced by Christianity, most, if not all, believed in God, and this makes Lincoln\u2019s biblical allusions exceptionally efficacious. Not only does the constant mention of God strengthen the connection between the audience and Lincoln, but it also further establishes a more positive bond between the opponents during such chaotic wartime. These enemies, for once, shared the same belief and work toward God\u2019s way of life. The effects of Lincoln\u2019s clever allusion to the \u201cbeneficent Father\u201d do not stop there, however. After uniting the readers, Lincoln continues to describe the fatherly love God has for all people. Just as he stated, despite the war raging over the frontiers, the nation has continued to enlarge its land through conquest, to become wealthier through the abundance of precious metal, and to increase in prosperity, but \u201cno human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.\u201d This brings a sense of guilt onto the audience as they participate in the destruction of the nation, ignoring God\u2019s unconditional love and efforts in bringing peace to the nation. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n To further his argument advocating for the celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday on one day nationwide, Lincoln carefully utilizes specific diction to reinforce his point. First of all, he starts his speech by illustrating the ending days of the year with \u201cfruitful fields\u201d and \u201chealthful sky.\u201d By starting this way, he directs his audience toward a positive and cheerful mood. As people are more willing to comply with demands when in a delightful mood, Lincoln ingeniously asserts his argument through uplifting tone and diction. Moreover, this pleasant description of the ending days of the year creates a strong juxtaposition with a time of disorder, of war. As the nation stands amidst an atmosphere of fear and division, a moment of harmony or tranquility becomes increasingly desired by all. He then states that the nation\u2019s prosperity should be \u201csolemnly, reverently, and gratefully\u201d acknowledge as a single, unified voice of all American people. The three words \u201csolemnly,\u201d \u201creverently,\u201d and \u201c gratefully\u201d create a strong sense of gratitude and respect, which are the essence of the Thanksgiving holiday. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last of all, Lincoln directly calls for a change. He invites all American people in every state, in foreign lands, and at sea to adopt the fourth Thursday of November as the day of Thanksgiving, for it is \u201ca day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.\u201d Going beyond just \u201cinviting\u201d every single American citizen to embrace that date as the official Thanksgiving, Lincoln not only expresses the country\u2019s penitence for its \u201cperverseness and disobedience\u201d to God but also an appreciation for His \u201ctender care\u201d for all of those whom the war impacted: the widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers. By relating these victims of society, Lincoln tugs at his audiences\u2019 heartstrings and exhorts them to put effort into healing these people along with the nation. In his concluding sentence, he earnestly begs for divine interposition to restore the nation and heal the wounds the war had caused. Finally, he connects back to the idea of unity and harmony in which he states that the nation should soon be consistent with the \u201cDivine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and Union.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a time when the United States is fractured and turbulent, Lincoln seeks a way to reunify all the Americans: standardizing the date of Thanksgiving. Through the use of biblical allusions, eloquent diction, and direct call to action, he effectively delivers his argument about the importance of sharing gratitude in the same moment and fostering harmony among all. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Keep in mind, not only is Ian’s thinking and writing in this piecew at a highly developed level, this is a young man who has spent his entire life living in Chinese-language environments: Mainland China or Taiwan. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Granted, Ian has attended bilingual or English-language schools all along. Still, the fact that he has lived his whole life till now in East Asia yet can write English on such a high level I find remarkable. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can read the blog containing Lincoln’s Proclamation and the “literary analysis” essays by Ian and two of his outstanding classmates here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sarah has been a faithful student in her DreyerCoaching classes for the past 2 academic years. She began with the grade 1 Spelling & Reading books, and is now in the challenging stories and articles of Reading book 2 and quite close to completing Spelling book 2. She is always punctual, participates well, and consistently sends back her reading practice on WeChat. Sarah also tells me about what she\u2019s doing in school and talks about family activities and outings. In our class today, she taught me the Chinese word for \u201cwasp or hornet\u201d, which is different from the word for \u201choneybee\u201d. I\u2019m encouraged by how much Sarah has improved in her pronunciation and in her retention of the meanings of vocabulary words we\u2019ve studied and practiced. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n“I’ve been having 1 on 1 English lessons once a week with Cici Liu since July of 2016, and have seen remarkable improvement in her English reading, listening, and speaking skills over this two and a half year period. She is a highly motivated student who often scores at the top of her Wu Han school class in Chinese and math. This motivation clearly carries over into her online English class. Several times last year, Cici would recite from memory the text from her previous reading lesson, and she did so from her own motivation; this wasn’t something I asked her to do at all. Her responsibility for her own learning is also shown when she regularly asks questions about vocabulary or concepts in a lesson that she doesn’t understand. She frequently tells me, in English, about her school successes and interesting things she’s done with her family. <\/span><\/div>\nCici has steadily progressed from beginning vocabulary such as clock time, ordinal numbers, simple present tense verbs, classroom objects, etc. to the level 2 reading book, and she’s almost finished with the level 2 spelling book. Frequent entries in my lesson log for her go like, “Great lesson; good lesson; lots of improvement”. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/span><\/div>\n![\"Cici](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/51979943_453119115223817_6602948275509133312_n.jpg\")
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n2018-2019 3rd 9 Weeks<\/span><\/p>\nFor the spring of 2019, this award goes to Thomas Lee<\/strong> in Hsinchu, Taiwan! Thomas’ teachers, Mrs. McKinney and Mr. Woodson, are impressed with Thomas’ consistency and growth. Thomas attended Chinese-language schools for most of his life, then in middle school switched to a new, international school that uses English as the language of instruction. At first, Thomas took ESL classes at his new school, but his English has progressed so quickly, he has finished those ESL classes and is now “mainstreamed” with all his classmates in normal-track classes. Thomas has both excellent attendance and punctuality, and always shows a great attitude. He has taken writing, SAT\/vocabulary, and 1 on 1 classes with DreyerCoaching<\/a> to improve his overall skills, and it is showing. Thomas is not only improving language-wise, but he is also improving physically, with a height of some 190 cm, and he has yet to enter grade 10! No wonder he loves to play basketball! Congratulations, Thomas! <\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n![\"67161800](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/67161800_10219574332326847_1256418121812541440_n.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n2019-2020 1st 9 weeks<\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/div>\nThe “most improved student” award this first 9 weeks goes to Matt Chen<\/strong>, from Beijing. Around January 2019, his parents spoke to me and explained that they wanted their son to attend high school in the USA. They also understood that he needed to work hard to improve his English. Matt’s mother is an English teacher in Beijing, so she understands how much time and effort it takes to learn a new language. In January 2019, Matt began taking seven 1 on 1 classes<\/a> per week<\/strong> with DreyerCoaching.com<\/a>, with Mrs. McKinney<\/a>. He continued these classes from January until early June, and then in early June he increased his classes to FIFTEEN (!) classes per week<\/strong>, Monday through Friday, at 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 pm, and took those until early August 2019, when he came to the US to attend high school. Till now, taking 15 classes a week is a DreyerCoaching.com<\/a> record!<\/strong> That took much dedication on his, his parents’, and his teacher’s part. However, it all paid off. During the summer of 2019 Matt passed his English oral interview with the principal of the high school he had applied to and later passed the interview with the diplomat at the US Embassy in Beijing<\/a> so he was able to get his US student visa.<\/strong> These are HUGE accomplishments! Matt joined a US high school in August 2019 and has gotten almost all A’s so far. His strong English skills let him understand what he is hearing in class, be able to do his homework independently, and also converse with Americans on a wide variety of topics. When I asked Matt if his intensive online classes during the seven months before coming to America helped him adapt to life and school here, he said “absolutely.” Matt is off to a GREAT start in the USA. Congratulations, Matt! <\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n![\"84495252](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/84495252_1948553295288073_1934771097698304000_n.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n2019-2020 2nd 9 weeks<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/div>\nThe Most Improved Award this 2nd 9 weeks goes to Perry Feng<\/strong>, from Taoyuan, Taiwan. Perry’s parents approached me in the summer of 2019, so he could improve his English. They said they were thinking about letting Perry attend high school in the USA some day, and they knew he needed to learn more English. He joined his first DreyerCoaching.com class with Mrs. Rosenbaum<\/a> in August 2019, so he could improve his skills in a 1 on 1 class<\/a>. Perry was so nervous that first day, his older sister had to sit with him to help explain and translate. However, he quickly caught on and was able to attend class by himself. A few weeks later, in September, he also joined a twice a week reading\/vocabulary class<\/a> with Mrs. McKinney<\/a> and a twice a week conversation class<\/a> with Mr. Woodson<\/a> and Ms. Holmes<\/a>. His English has improved so much, that when his family came to visit us in Roanoke Virginia in January 2020, he was able to speak freely with people in English. He even spent the day visiting a high school here that he wants to attend and was able to easily pass the oral English interview with the principal on his first try!<\/strong><\/span> When I asked his father what he thought about how DreyerCoaching.com<\/a> had helped his son, he said (in Chinese), “At first [in August] he was afraid to speak, but now he’s not afraid to speak. That is really good.” Congratulations, Perry, and we hope to see you living and studying here in Virginia soon! <\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"84181113](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/84181113_1948553071954762_1149532947208994816_n.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\nThis is Perry (right) in front of the fireplace in the historic Hotel Roanoke, built 1882, when his family visited her for Chinese New Year 2020.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u525b\u958b\u59cb, \u82f1\u6587,\u5c0d\u6211\u800c\u8a00, \u662f\u7a2e\u6050\u61fc,\u6211\u4e0d\u60f3\u53bb\u5b78\u7fd2, \u6211\u4e0d\u60f3\u53bb\u9762\u5c0d,\u4e0d\u592a\u60f3\u9762\u5c0d,\u66f4\u4e0d\u7528\u63d0\u53bb\u570b\u5916\u8b80\u66f8\u4e86, <\/div>\n\u4ee5\u4e0a\u662f\u6211\u7684\u611f\u60f3,\u8b1d\u8b1d!<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\u795d \u9806\u5fc3\u5982\u610f<\/div>\n-Perry, Grade 9 student, Taoyuan, Taiwan<\/div>\n <\/h3>\n
![\"92134180](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/92134180_10222107100844477_6274137484976717824_n.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMr. Woodson \uff1a<\/em><\/div>\n I am glad that you can continue to help Peter in his English study. This year, I have found Peter likes using English words or simple sentences as he chats with others. I am very happy to see that, and I suppose it can be because of the help he receives by getting the very best in English language instruction. <\/em><\/div>\n Thank you for your and Mr. Dreyer’s help ! <\/em><\/div>\n <\/div>\n\u4ed6\u7684\u6bcd\u4eb2\u5728\u4e0a\u8bfe\u65f6\u548c\u5f7c\u5f97\u5750\u5728\u4e00\u8d77\uff0c\u5e76\u5e2e\u52a9\u4e86\u4ed6\u3002
\u4f0d\u5fb7\u68ee\u8001\u5e08\uff1a
\u6211\u5f88\u9ad8\u5174\u60a8\u53ef\u4ee5\u7ee7\u7eed\u5e2e\u52a9\u5f7c\u5f97\u8fdb\u884c\u82f1\u8bed\u5b66\u4e60\u3002\u4eca\u5e74\uff0c
\u8c22\u8c22\u60a8\u548c\u5fb7\u96f7\u5c14\u8001\u5e08\u7684\u5e2e\u52a9\uff01<\/div>\n <\/div>\n![\"thumbnail](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/thumbnail_IMG_6878.jpg\")
<\/em><\/div>\n <\/div>\nThis is Mr. Woodson’s explanation of why he nominated Peter for this award. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\nPeter is always on time & prepared for his weekly lesson, and participates eagerly during the entire 50 minutes. He’s made continual progress in vocabulary and spelling, and is now on page 29 of the second grade Spelling book, even though he’s only 7 years old. Peter regularly listens to recordings of his spelling lessons and models the speech in his own recordings, which are fluent and accurate in pronunciation. He can use English to name fractions and knows the terms numerator and denominator. He can also state inequalities using “greater than, less than” terminology, and knows how to use the terms, “is equal to & equals”. He’s able to talk with me about what he did during the day prior to our evening lesson, and sometimes shows me one of his toys or something he’s made. <\/div>\nIt’s a joy to teach such a capable and motivated student. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\u6559\u5bfc\u8fd9\u6837\u4e00\u4e2a\u806a\u660e\u800c\u79ef\u6781\u8fdb\u53d6\u7684\u5b66\u751f\u662f\u4e00\u4ef6\u5f88\u9ad8\u5174\u7684\u4e8b\u60c5\u3002<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n2020-2021 1st 9 weeks<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\nAs we all know now, the year 2020 has been a challenge for everyone, around the world. Still, despite the challenges, growth and improvement continue, and at DreyerCoaching.com we celebrate ALL our students who have endured and given their best to improve their minds and themselves. For this 9 week’s “most improved” award, the winner is Eleanor Chen of Taipei, Taiwan. Her DreyerCoaching.com Team Teacher, Mrs. Armistead, has this to say:<\/div>\n <\/div>\n“Eleanor has shown incredible growth over the longer period of time. She has gone from zero to now initiating conversation.”<\/div>\n <\/div>\nHaving lived in Taiwan ten years, so many times I have heard parents complain that their children had studied English for many years, but could never have even a simple conversation with a foreigner. Knowing that Eleanor can initiate conversations is a huge success that many would wish for themselves. Eleanor is always pleasant, prompt, and willing to learn. Congratulations, Eleanor! <\/div>\n <\/div>\n![\"131891522](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/131891522_10224496343494050_8346533728708904956_n.jpg\")
<\/div>\nEleanor Chen, with Taipei 101 in the background; photo taken New Year’s Eve 12-31-2019. <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n2020-2021 3rd 9 weeks<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n![\"Ian\"](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ian.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIan Lin<\/strong>, an eleventh grader at the International Bilingual School in the Hsinchu Science Park (IBSH), is the winner of this 9 weeks’ “most improved” award. <\/div>\nIan joined his first writing class with DreyerCoaching when he was in fifth grade and stayed with the program for six and a half years, till eleventh grade. He has shown consistent improvement. He always demonstrates a great attitude and curiosity. With writing, he has made considerable improvement regarding brevity, metaphors, and making connections. <\/div>\n <\/div>\nDuring his 11th grade year in high school, he and his classmates were taking an Advanced Placement (AP) Language course. For that class, the students often had to write what is called a “Literary Analysis.” That is, they read a piece of writing and evaluate and analyze the devices and approaches the author used to communicate his or her points. As you can probably imagine, this is a very sophisticated and difficult task. Below is Ian’s “Literary Analysis” he wrote for our online class responding to Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 “Thanksgiving Proclamation.”<\/div>\n <\/div>\n*****<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\nCongratulations, Ian!<\/em><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n2020-2021 4th 9 weeks<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n![\"SarahZhu\"](\"https:\/\/dreyercoaching.com\/beardeddragonmedia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SarahZhu.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/div>\nSarah Zhu<\/strong> is the winner of the “most improved” award for the last quarter of this highly unusual and challenging school year. <\/div>\n <\/div>\nThis is what her teacher Mr. Woodson says about why she won the award:<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\nSarah always shows a great attitude in class. When she first joined DreyerCoaching, she attended a class for two, along with a friend of hers. After a while, however, her friend had to stop the classes. Despite that, Sarah and her mother persisted and now Sarah attends 1 on 1 classes twice a week. That goes to show, learning a new language is a long-term commitment that requires focus and time. Learning a new language also requires the environment to learn, and having class twice a week gives her that necessary time and exposure.<\/div>\n <\/div>\nSarah is very responsible to listen to the weekly recordings that Mr. Woodson<\/a> makes for her. and then she reads them back to us for practice. After we hear her recordings, we give her feedback on what words need more work, and Sarah always repeats those parts until she gets them just right. All that work helps her with her reading comprehension, listening, and pronunciation.<\/div>\n <\/div>\nWhen we listen to Sarah read the passages from her reading book, we can understand about 100% of what she is saying. That is a great accomplishment, especially for a student so young! We are excited<\/em> to think how great her English will be as she stays with DreyerCoaching all through middle school and high school! <\/div>\n <\/div>\nCongratulations, Sarah! <\/em><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\nAt DreyerCoaching.com, we help students from age 7 to adult! Contact Scott today<\/a> to see how we can help you or your family! <\/div>\n