As the new school year kicks off at Apex, we’re excited to welcome new faces. One of these new faces is our new ESL teacher, Mr.Hannat. He has extensive teaching experience and has tackled numerous language barriers.

Q: Good evening, Mr.Hannat. It is a pleasure to interview you. May I ask where you’re from?

A: I am from Algeria, North Africa.

Q:What are some of your hobbies?

A: I like to play video games. I built my computer. I like to work on cars, so I do a lot of my own work: oil changes, filters, spark plugs  and other repairs, like small mechanical stuff. I like to do that kind of thing. I enjoy fishing and various outdoor activities, such as hiking.

Q: What university did you graduate from?

A: I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Q:What did you major in and what inspired you to become a teacher?

A: So I majored in Japanese and Health Administration.  At the time, I wanted to move to Japan. So that’s what the Japanese major was for and the best way to move to Japan quickly would be to become an English teacher. Yeah. So I kind of went into the field of teaching as this is an easy visa printer.

Q: What language do you specialize in and teach?

A: It’s English ESL, English as a Second Language.

Q:Tell me in more detail what you do in your class.

A: In my class, the first thing I do is gauge the student’s English level and then we prepare them for something called the Access Test which is an ESL test that if students pass, they will be able to exit ESL.

Q: Do you speak any other languages ?

A: I speak Algerian Arabic, French, Korean, and Japanese.

Q: How has your experience been so far at Apex High?

A: So far it’s been really good. I have great students, everybody’s eager to learn. Everybody makes it fun So, so far it’s been a 10 out of 10 so far.

Q: How do you find it working with students who don’t speak English?

A: At first, it was difficult, but now I’m going into year 4 of doing it. It sounds strange, but you’re just kind of walking in and teaching. And then as you see that students don’t speak English or don’t understand something, you kind of… just figure out where to fill in the gaps, so if it’s listening or if it’s reading or like which part they need. Here, luckily you can kind of use the student’s native language a little bit more freely in the private sector.

Q: Where are the students you often work with from?

A: By language, it’s Spanish by a long shot for sure, but by country or nationality, it’s very diverse. We have people from Mexico, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Serbia, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador…but by language the top two are Spanish and Arabic.

Q: What are some fun facts about you?

A: Taught kindergarten in Korea for 3 years as an English teacher and also taught in Japan for a year as an English teacher as well. I couldn’t speak Korean to the students because parents were paying to have them learn English.

Apex High School is always glad to welcome new staff. I enjoyed interviewing Mr. Hannat. It was a fascinating experience to learn more about his background in English as a Second Language (ESL) and his experience working abroad as a teacher. We are lucky to have an amazing teacher like Mr.Hannat who loves what he does.