Wonder Pei Shan H   

New tutor

Workplace English & Communication Coach | TESOL Certified | 10+ Years Teaching Adults

What is your favorite word in your language and why?

My favorite word is “rojak,” a Singaporean salad of ingredients you’d never expect to work together, until you taste it. :-) Learning English is a bit like that: grammar, accents, mistakes, and your own culture all mixed in. A new language can feel awkward and messy at first, but with practice, everything comes together beautifully.

What is your favorite dish from your hometown? If you no longer live there is there a good local restaurant that serves it?

Char kway teow with cockles, smoky, savory, and pure Singapore hawker magic. Hokkien mee and bak chor mee are close behind! I’m still hunting for a spot in LA that does it justice, so recommendations welcome!

Besides the languages you teach, do you speak or study any other languages?

I speak Mandarin, which I studied at school as part of my Chinese heritage, and Cantonese, which I learned from my childhood nanny. So I know both sides of language learning, the classroom and real life.

What are your interests outside of teaching at Strommen?

I love Muay Thai and running, because getting older has taught me to keep my body and mind strong. And eating keeps me happy! I enjoy exploring restaurants of all different cuisines.

What do you consider your hometown? Why do you love it?

Singapore, where I was born and raised. I love that it’s a country where cultures don’t just coexist, they blend. You’ll hear English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew and other dialects in a hawker centre, often in the same sentence! Growing up there taught me how to move between languages and cultures naturally, and that’s what I bring to every lesson. After years of traveling back and forth, I now call LA home too, but Singapore will always be where my heart is.