My Cat Maksik

It is with great pleasure that we unlock each student's potential.  Some come to us with a pocket full of advanced vocabulary, ready to use it to express themselves even on complex matters. Others come with a great command of grammar but a shyness when expressing themselves orally. Some students haven’t had as much practice, and it is particularly rewarding to see such students make the English language their own. 

The author of the following blog post is one such student. She came in with a lovely demeanor, excited to learn and make friends with the other children.  However, using English was intimidating to her. She would freeze at the thought of holding a pen and crowned Google Translate as her refuge, where she could hide behind the Russian alphabet and still communicate with the teaching team. As  the week progressed, the magic of our language immersion started taking form, gifting her more confidence. By Friday, she had made significant progress and wrote this wonderful description of a cat. The word ‘proud’ doesn’t come close to describing how we feel about her evolution. I hope you enjoy this piece (and the picture of her original work)!

  

My cat’s name is Maksik. He is 8 years old and lives in Russia. Maksik is yellow with orange stripes and a white tummy. He always wears a green collar with a gold bell. He’s fluffy, soft and cuddly. He is also very cute and friendly. He loves to purr and play with me. He drinks milk and eats tuna.

Edited for clarity.