Teacher's Profile

My name is Tom Cole and I am a foreign English teacher at LYGSH. Though I am new to this school, I have been in the field of education for many years. Since both of my parents were teachers (father: science, mother: art), one could say that my experience in the field of education began before my actual teaching career did.

I was born in Long Beach, California but moved to New York when I was 3 years old. Yes, they had airplanes back then! When I was in my second year of junior high school, my father accepted a job in Japan so we moved from the countryside of New York to the big city of Tokyo.

One of the greatest challenges that I faced when we first moved to Japan was the language. I found it very difficult to be in a country where I did not understand the language so I decided that I was going to learn Japanese no matter how hard or how long it took me. I believe that my love of languages started at this time. Since then I have studied Chinese, Spanish, Korean, and Vietnamese. My love of language continues to this day.

After graduating from the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo with a B.A. in Languages, I started teaching English as an Additional Language (EAL) at a private boys’ high school and also at a coed public school. I enjoyed the experience so much that I decided that I wanted to continue serving as a teacher. Later I would return to the high school that I graduated from, The American School in Japan, to teach Japanese to junior high school students. Since then, I have worked as a teacher and/or counselor at many different schools with students ranging in age from 3 to 92. I am very fortunate to have been able to teach in schools in the US, China, Vietnam, and now Taiwan. I am also a credentialed school psychologist and have conducted psycho-educational assessments in China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

When I was a student in university at ICU, I took two years of Chinese but never really became proficient in the language. So, in 1991 I decided that if I were to really learn Chinese, then I would need to go to an environment where it is the native language so I came to Taiwan to study at NTNU. While in Taiwan at that time, I met a lovely lady, Ivy, who later became my wife. She is also a graduate of LYGSH.

We have a son named Andy who is currently at student at Arizona State University. Our daughter Emily is with us here in Yilan where she does freelance art work. And of course, there is our faithful dog, Coco.

I have been very impressed with the students at LYGSH, with their work ethic and friendliness. It is truly a pleasure to be here at LYGSH and I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with the students at this school.

Tom Cole