Much like a United Nations Security Council meeting, different languages and cultures fill Room E1204 as students enjoy the warm and caring company of English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher Adrian Singh. As a new teacher, Ms. Singh connects with the students, her jokes brightening the mood.

Ms. Singh brings an array of experiences, adding her own personal touch as she has taught English for over 10 years. With the goal of ensuring academic success for everyone, Ms. Singh is focused on providing support and encouragement.

“I love teaching English, and [in the ESL classes], we have waves of people and kids who are coming in who don’t speak English primarily,” Ms. Singh said. “I think it’s a strong skill to have to be able to communicate and get on the front end of things.”

Since her childhood, Ms. Singh had a deep personal connection with the value of learning English. In 1984, her father moved to the United States from America. Growing up with an immigrant parent, Ms. Singh witnessed how crucial learning English was for non-native speakers.

“He was fully fluent, but it was always obviously an adjustment for him, picking up on Americanisms,” Ms. Singh said. “[But] he ended up being a professor at UT [the University of Texas at Austin] for 40 years.”

The profession of education runs deep into the Singh family, with Ms. Singh’s father being a professor at the University of Texas (UT Austin), and Ms. Singh’s mother accumulating international teaching experiences alongside paving the way for the ESL program at UT Austin. A native Texan, Ms. Singh’s mother, taught Spanish in Spain and Mexico despite it not being her native language. Building off her teaching experiences, Ms. Singh’s mother started the ESL program at UT Austin, showing Ms. Singh the power of advocacy and language-learning. From a young age, Ms. Singh had been immersed in the world of English and ESL. When it came to what profession she wanted to pursue, such an environment served as a catalyst.

“[English and ESL has] been near and dear to my heart,” Ms. Singh said. “I really love working with students, and it’s a good opportunity to work closely with kids.”

The shift from teaching English to ESL was more than a choice — it was a call to action. Content teachers are slumped with students, grading, and meetings. On- and off-campus, educators put in hundreds of hours of work. Therefore, Ms. Singh saw teaching ESL as a way to aid teachers by directing their international students to her, building a community and finding a way to positively affect the school’s student body.

“I saw an opportunity to try to help other teachers and also expand my own skill set,” Ms. Singh said. “The community is very strong, and the students and the teachers are ridiculously supportive.”

Aside from embracing the change of teaching a new subject, Ms. Singh welcomes open-mindedness and unique teaching strategies. Through her core beliefs, Ms. Singh fosters a productive and enjoyable learning environment for students.

“[The] ESL department is incredibly strong, and I think any good teacher knows that they need to be a lifelong learner,” Ms. Singh said. “I just ask my ESL colleagues, ‘what do you do when?’ [and I tell them the problem.]”

Ms. Singh’s teaching style streamlines a system of love and support while still preparing students for academic readiness through Advanced Placement (AP) tests and college entrance exams such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT). Through connecting students with their native language, Ms. Singh strives to connect with students through their native language. 

“There’s a lot more of what we call scaffolding, which you can probably figure out means creating more support,” Ms. Singh said. “I’m also trying to speak their native languages so they can hear [and] they can have someone to laugh at.”

Many students who enter the ESL classroom find themselves feeling like outsiders due to not speaking English natively. However, Ms. Singh never fails to remind the kids how they’ve already set themselves up for success. 

“I always let them know that they are already ahead of the curve. They are speaking more than one language,” Ms. Singh said. “Just reinforcing the fact that they are incredibly intelligent [and] that the English language is really nuts and doesn’t make a lot of sense to even English speaking people who were born and raised here, [helps].”