Meet: Abdulsalam Mohamed Al-Mukradi

Please tell us about yourself. Where did you study and where do you work?

I am from Yemen. I graduated in 1990 from Sana’a University, and I’ve been teaching English for 23 years. I taught in a high school for 6 years, and then I became an English inspector for the Yemeni schools where I observed teachers. I participated in several workshops and conducted workshops for English teachers and also supervisors. I now have a part-time job where I teach all levels of English. I attended several training courses in England, Holland, and Malaysia, and I conducted a workshop in TESOL Qatar in 2009. I also was a presenter at TESOL Canada in 2015.

How did you become interested in teaching English?

Teaching is an art, and I believe strongly that teaching is the beauty of the soul. I became interested in teaching when I was at the university; I admired my teacher and I appreciated the way he taught and the way he spent his time helping us. He has been my idol since then. If I stop teaching for a week, I feel that I am missing something. What makes teaching interesting for me is creativity and learning new ideas and teaching my students these ideas. I feel great when I see my students learn new things and improve quickly.

What are your current interests in the field? (e.g., research, projects, or teaching)

My current interest is teaching and taking online classes. I’m also attending training courses in and out of the country, helping teachers with the latest techniques in teaching, and trying to help them use technology in the classroom. For instance, I’ve done a roundtable discussion where I raised several questions, answered questions from the teachers, and facilitated discussion.

Could you tell us about something interesting that you’ve learned recently or a lesson or approach that has worked well in the classroom?

I recently learned about a technique called Nicenet. Nicenet helps students a lot in improving their writing, reading, and speaking. This website allows the students and the teacher to build a strong community during and even after the course. It also gives the students the freedom to express themselves using different skills in English. Once they join this website, they start writing and then read each other’s writing everyday. When they come to class, they can discuss their writing.

Would you like to mention anything else?

I would like to keep helping my students and the society to learn and improve themselves. Thank you very much indeed for giving me this golden opportunity to talk to you!

Ilka Kostka is an assistant teaching professor in the American Classroom and Global Pathways programs at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is currently the managing editor of SLW News.