Kristin Johannsen held an MA in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She had extensive experience teaching English in Japan the United Arab Emirates South Korea France and the United States. She has presented her ideas on global issues at multiple conferences around the world and was a published author. She spoke several languages including French German Spanish Norwegian and Korean. Becky Tarver Chase is an experienced English instructor who has taught all subject areas including reading writing grammar communication skills and test preparation. She has worked at universities and in private programs in the United States Mexico and Thailand. Her current focus is on creating effective language-learning materials and she is one of the authors of the World English Reading Explorer Close-Up and Pathways series from National Geographic Learning.