QQE-KURT - MC JHON LABORTE JULAYA

QQE's KING OF TALK 

His voice reverberates within the corners of the building as he delivers a fun and excellent class to his students online as early as 8 AM. And when the clock's hand strikes at 10, his offline students can't wait to see him for another challenging yet superb lesson. These extraordinary experiences of students on-and-off the camera did not just make him a teacher... these made him a "STAR TEACHER."

Aged 24, Kurt has been labeled as one of the most versatile teachers of QQ English has ever had exceptional teaching skills and unprecedented talent in writing, public speaking, hosting and many more.

"His five-year tenure in QQEnglish has been absolutely remarkable. If I can still remember, he first joined QQEnglish last 2013 and was ranked No. 1 in his batch. On the same year, he was awarded TOP 10 Best Offline teacher. He is unstoppable! " said Martin, Kurt's first trainer, and team leader.

On his second year in the company, he became the youngest team leader at the age of 19. His dedication to work efficiently and excellently have opened his horizons to a more challenging responsibility. Just after three months of being a team leader, he became the Student's Affairs Officer of QQEnglish where he served for almost two years.

Despite his hectic schedule as the student's voice to the management, Kurt did not deter himself from teaching. He was juggling between these two responsibilities and when asked why he just answered, " There is nothing more valuable than seeing your student progress from nothing to something. This is a passion I cannot deprive myself of. Teaching is not just a profession, it is a VOCATION to me."

Realizing the importance of helping both students and teachers, he was highly recommended to take a spot in the General Academic Team, one of the teams in Academic Improvement created to teach general curricula to QQEnglish teachers, and without hesitations, he heartily accepted the yet exhausting but noteworthy position.

"I cherish every moment inside my classroom and my training room, seeing my students happy, imparting knowledge to my trainees, the feeling it gives me, it's rewarding. It's unexplainable.," Kurt said. "It's something most people will never feel, but it's one of the best feelings anyone could ever imagine."

Teaching foreign might somehow sound an easy job but it is not and will be an easy one. But for this mighty teacher, teaching ESL students, may that be beginner or intermediate, is but an interesting job one could ever try. "When you teach them, nothing is really difficult if you know your student. Being a teacher you need to be an Expert, a Mediator, a Professional, an Organizer, a Worker for change, an Effective communicator, a Researcher, an Evaluator and a Decision-maker. You must be an E.X.P.E.R.T!," Kurt disclosed.

When asked about what strategy he uses in teaching beginners he said, "Beginner learners need bigger attention. Since they are the neophyte to the language, it is vital that the teacher always demonstrates, models and act out so that it will be easier for the student to understand especially when you are teaching vocabularies. If there is a need for you to dance, or sing just for the student to know the words "DANCE" and "SING" do it! Never ever be shy. Students appreciate it more if you do an extra mile for them to understand something. Also, never ever discouraged them if they give you a one-liner answer. Appreciating and praising their effort would make them feel valued and commended. Teaching them basic survival English expressions would also be a great help to them since this will prepare them in situations like how to order in a restaurant, how to greet people, etc."

Kurt's strategy in teaching Intermediate is a bit far different from beginners in a sense that he always challenges his student in the class. "I always set a challenge for my intermediate student. Everyday, I always let my student learn a vocab and synonyms of it. Sometimes, in my speaking class, I object to my student's opinion so that it will spark a debate in the class. But I always have a heart for my student. If I can feel that my activity is a bit mind-boggling, I always guide him in answering and made him reflect about it. When he is already sure of his answer, I let him practice it independently and let him repeat it again and again.  I always make sure that my student's cognitive, affective and psychomotor aspects are involved during the learning process.," Kurt stated when asked to share his teaching strategies for Intermediate students.

When I interviewed one of his students, she said, "Kurt's way of teaching is very unique compared to other teachers. He has his own strategy of correcting your mistakes. He restructures your answer and never settles down for the better answer but he's always for the best. His excellent communication skills just wow me and when I am confused about something, he simplifies it so that it will be more comprehensible."

Moreover, Osami Osaki, Kurt's online student enthused that his lessons are always interesting. Aside from the lively atmosphere, he shows in the class, Kurt always makes it routinary to introduce new vocabularies related to the lesson they are having and is always very kind given that Kurt answers her questions even if its off-camera.

Kurt's eloquence, wit, and enthusiasm have been the talk of the company for years now but despite all these appreciation, he remained humble and cordial. Possessing all these qualities, the title QQEnglish's King of Talk has been tagged with his name because of his unprecedented communication skill.

"I was nothing before until I decided to love and learn the art of teaching and talking," he said. "I just think about how much I love it, and it's my dream to become an expert in teaching, in the path I have chosen. For someone to be remarkable in English, he needs to just study, learn, practice and repeat," Kurt said giggling.

"A teacher teaches. A good teacher explains. A great teacher demonstrates. A superior teacher inspires.," Kurt continued when asked why he considered himself a superior teacher.

Currently enjoying his job as a teacher-trainer, Kurt is one of the teachers worth experiencing in QQEnglish. Who wouldn't try a complete package teacher like him? Everyone one would love to, that is absolutely for sure.

Kurt may just be a teacher for himself. But for us, he is not just a teacher but a STAR TEACHER.

GALLERY