Irene Freeman has worked at Adult Ed since 1989, where she has taught every level of ESL, including TOEFL preparation. She graduated from Thousand Oaks High School (and was a classmate of Mike Waters, Adult School Principal!), then attended UCLA where she earned a B.A. in English. She subsequently received her Master’s in English at Cal State University, Northridge.
Irene’s career started with a two-year Peace Corps-sponsored English teaching commitment in Morocco. She then taught ESL at a private school in Santa Monica for one year, after which she taught ESL to French businessmen at a community college in Liverpool, England. While there, she received the Royal Society of Arts certificate.
After returning to the U.S., she settled in Thousand Oaks with her British husband, Ray, who had given up his practice as a lawyer to be a banker in the States. They had three children—two sons, currently in college, and one daughter, now post-collegiate.
At Adult Ed, Irene trains the tutors who work with students by imparting methodology of teaching, giving them advice, and showing them what materials to use with their tutees. She also assists students in their endeavor to learn to read English, testing them on their progress.
Irene greatly enjoys working with foreign students and loves the camaraderie of her colleagues. As one might guess, she loves every aspect of the English language, and belongs to a book club. She likes to read and write fiction, and even had a short story published in a university magazine years ago. Additionally, she is quite fond of going out for high tea.
Interview by B. Kane
Article by E. Kane
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