Franca Cataldo

Can Learning English Be 'a Snap'?
Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly
Spring 2001

Many Japanese people who move to America have years of English instruction under their belt and assume they'll have no problem with the language. "But they get here and can't understand much," notes Franca Cataldo FP'94, who teaches English as a second language (ESL) to Japanese corporate execs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. "They often write and read English well, but don't know the idioms (such as 'having a blast' or 'in the long run') that make up over one-third of a typical American English conversation." Franca's instruction takes them from schoolbook grammar to everyday American English.

English as a second language instructor Franca Cataldo helps students learn American customs as well as the language.  Here, Franca celebrates the third birthday of her young ESL student , Keita Abe (center), with his family.

Her Web site takes the business worldwide by offering interactive English instruction. She emphasizes learning language in cultural context by sending her clients "Letters from Franca in Dallas" that share her latest thoughts and experiences. A recent one included her dinner at a Mexican restaurant in St. Louis. "Getting personal letters about real-life situations, with the vocabulary words and idioms highlighted, is a fun way to learn," she says. Franca hopes to find funding to translate the Website into many languages.

Franca grew up in an American expatriate family, speaking English at home while attending Frankfurt schools and helping her German friends with their English homework. "All my life I've been teaching, helping people wherever we lived learn English," Franca says. Her formal ESL career began when the family moved to Tokyo in 1982. Franca taught at the prestigious English Educational Foundation of Japan and wrote test materials for English proficiency exams.

At MHC, Franca followed her passion for a different kind of intercultural interaction: primate ecology and conservation. After working with endangered species in Zanzibar and Borneo, she returned her focus to humans and pursued the ESL career.

Instead of navigating the wilds of Borneo, she now helps expatriates negotiate the 11 wilds" of Dallas supermarkets, business meetings and American English slang. "We go shopping, to museums, movies, watch videos, celebrate holidays ... whatever students need (all in English, of course)," she explains. " I like them to learn everything in context." Her total immersion approach keeps things lively as students acclimate to this idiom-filled language. Although few find learning English "a piece of cake," if they "strike while the iron is hot" and don't "play hooky" or "cut corners," after a while their language skills are "A-OK."