Meet Jan Elie | English Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jan Elie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jan, how do you think about risk?
When thinking about risk, I always consider the extreme end of the risk. In other words, what’s the worst thing that could happen? In the case of starting my own YouTube channel, I was terrified. My extreme thoughts were, what if nobody watches my videos? What if my friends and family judge me for not getting “a real job”. “Oh, you’re too smart to be wasting your time with these silly videos”, I thought they my say. You get the point… To me taking a risk is accepting all these negative thoughts in your head and realizing that that’s all they really are. Just a bunch of thoughts.

Plus, my vocation of being a teacher is far greater than my fear was for starting my YouTube channel, so I just went for it. What’s the worst thing that could happen? I was already an underpaid teacher…lol

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
For the past 10 years, I have had the privilege of traveling the world, teaching English to non-native speakers. One part of my job that is not required but absolutely necessary in becoming a successful teacher is compassion. Putting yourself in the shoes of your students and letting them know without saying a word that you don’t mind that they need extra guidance or that they might feel embarassed for making the same grammatical mistakes.

What I love about my YouTube channel is that I really don’t care how silly I look. That is the point. I dress up as characters with vibrant colors and funny outfits because I want to remind my students that language learning doesn’t have to be so serious. In fact, it can be fun and funny at the same time. There are so many language learning platforms out there which I think is a great thing. What I’m happy about is that I am able to express my message and unique teaching style to my audience without any tears or stressful thoughts 🙂

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
ummm I have been living outside of the USA for the past 10 years and I just got back to the States in January 2024.. I will be moving to Atlanta at the end of June! (I’m originally from Florida).. Although I have visited Atlanta a few times, I don’t know much about this city, I’m sorry!! haha

This is precisely why I want to move to Atlanta. I’m impressed by the amount of successful young black youth and I want to see what it is about this city that is evolving the young community so rapidly. I too am an aspiring black entrepreneur who wants to build a sense of community and belonging in this melting pot of a country. Why not Atlanta? Sidenote: wish me luck!

Maybe instead I could answer the question from the perspective of the friend that is vising the area. I am a foodie so I want to explore all the hole in the wall restaurants that nobody knows about but are absolutely mindblowing in flavor. I love walking so some beautiful trails to get lost on. and a dash of night life fun with music that will get my hips moving, afro beat and salsa preferably. All in All, good vibes wherever we go!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
After telling my English student/Mentor my dream of becoming an interpreter and working an impressive job with the UN after finishing a master’s degree in Translation, he was not convinced. He said “are you sure that’s really what YOU want to do?” I was a little offended because I was not particularly asking him for advice. I decided to delve deeper however considering his question did trigger some aggravating emotion. I mean, why was I offended by such a simple question? I was convinced for 10 years that I would become an interpreter! So after some meditation and prayer, I realized that he was right. I wasn’t so sure if that’s what I really wanted to do.

What I had been doing for the past 10 years was teaching English as a second language and I loved it! So why change that now? For a paycheck? Well yeah, I wanted to make more money..lol.

However I underestimated my non-glamorous job as a teacher and put it in a tight-fitted box. Whose to say that teachers can’t make more money? Whose to say that I couldn’t think outside of the box to add a little more spice to my passion? And that’s when I got the idea of starting my own YouTube channel.

So thank you Juan Jose for pushing me to take a good look in the mirror 🙂

Instagram: @englishsminglishlearning

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs1vtK5F1TxuybBw5fPvdVQ

Other: I created a “buymeacoffee” page for viewers that would like to donate to support my channel and reaching my objective of becoming a full time content creator.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/englishsminglish