Intro to English Online for Pros

The speaker, Sarah Salazar, introduces herself as a native English speaker from the United States who is also bilingual in Spanish and learning Italian. She has studied Arabic and Hebrew, and loves learning languages because they allow for expressions that English cannot convey. Sarah has a BA in English and has been an English tutor since 2012. She has lived in Guatemala, Israel, and Mexico, and now resides in the US. Sarah runs an Instagram account called English Online for Pros, which started as a vocabulary resource for native English speakers but expanded to include language learners. The purpose of her podcast is to provide a longer format for people to practice listening skills, learn new vocabulary, and immerse themselves in American English. Sarah explains that she started the platform because she couldn't find the type of vocabulary resources she was looking for, and wanted to share what she had learned with others. She plans to teach through story times, discussing various t Welcome to English Online for Pros. My name is Sarah Salazar. A little background on me is that I am a native English speaker from the United States. However, I am also bilingual in Spanish. I would say I'm pretty fluent. I've lost the horrible accent I used to have, although it is not nearly perfect. I still struggle sometimes with the conjugation. I am also a student of the Italian language, and I have been to Italy. I feel pretty comfortable, although I do struggle sometimes, but I feel confident in making myself understood while abroad in Italy. I've also studied Arabic and Hebrew. Arabic is such a beautiful language. I love the sound of it. Also, due to all the dialects, I found I was learning Hebrew at a much more accelerated rate. I love learning languages because, as a logophile, I realize that there are things that can be said in other languages that you simply cannot express in English in the same way, and the more languages you learn, the easier it is to learn new languages leaning on your knowledge of others that you already know. What else can I tell you about myself? Professionally speaking, I have a BA in English. I have been an English tutor for university students of all ages since the year 2012. I've helped, especially with writing skills of all different topics and preparation for communication presentations, and I became an English language instructor since 2020. Now, I've lived in the USA most of my life. However, I have lived abroad in Guatemala for two years. While I was studying there, I've also lived in Israel for a year, and then I've also lived, lastly, from 2019 to 2023 in Mexico, and now I'm back in the U.S., and it's great to be back, although I do miss a lot of things from Mexico. Not the weather, but the amazing food, for sure. So, I also have an Instagram account by the same name, English Online for Pros, originally meant for native English speakers who wanted to increase their vocabulary. However, as I later began to teach English as a language, I began to also incorporate a little for other students that are learning English as another language, teaching a little bit about idioms, local slang, tips on increasing one's vocabulary, etc. Now, the purpose of this podcast is to create another avenue where people can do that, but for a longer time period. So, I hope this is something that you can use while you are driving or on the road, on a flight. You can listen to these short podcasts, whether you are a native English speaker who wants to sound eloquent like me, or you are learning English as another language, this podcast will give you the opportunity to practice your listening skills, learn new vocabulary, and become immersed in American English. Now, a little history on how this all started, how English Online for Pros began, is that as a logophile, I have always loved the English language, learning new words, incorporating them into my daily conversations. Even from a very young age, I sounded quite ridiculous as a little kid, spouting off large words simply because I thought they were really large words and I wanted to sound, I don't know, I don't know what I was thinking, but it was ridiculous now that I look back because I didn't even use the words always in the proper context. However, I thought I sounded very sophisticated. And then, as an adult, I remember subscribing to different online dictionaries, hoping to get a new word every day, and then I was largely disappointed because the words that I was receiving on the daily were words I already knew and I thought were pretty basic. Now, this is not to put down these online dictionaries, simply it's that they didn't offer what I was looking for, no matter how many online dictionaries I tried. So, finally, I came to the conclusion, you know what, I can't find what I'm looking for, why don't I start a platform where I can help other people like me that want to learn actual new words and I can share what I have learned with other people. So, that's how the Instagram started and it was focusing primarily on high-level vocabulary at first for native English speakers. However, during this time that I was living in Mexico, right about 2020 when COVID started over there, I began teaching English online and since then I started incorporating other things for these students. So, I have a little bit for beginners, a little bit for people who already know English but want to improve. So, on this platform, I will be teaching you this through story times, discussing some of my favorite topics such as culture, adapting, travel, culture shock, language learning, accents, literature, immigration, and opinion pieces on a lot more. All the time, sprinkling through my conversations iconic local slang terms, widely used American idioms, and some high-level vocabulary. So, I hope to host a few interviews as well whenever possible. So, I just want to say thank you for joining me on this new venture. I hope you enjoy the ride. Welcome to English Online for Pros podcast.