Local Expert Publishes Book for English Learners

Learning a new language can be tough. That's why Hoboken resident John Muciaccia has written the newly published Thinking in English: A New Perspective on Teaching ESL. According to Muciaccia, the book takes a new approach towards teaching non-native speakers the English language.

“The book is about cultural immersion using the intuitive instincts of the students,” Muciaccia said. “The point is to get you thinking in English.”

In 2000 Muciaccia, who has a doctorate in education from New York University, retired after a 33 year career teaching and serving as vice-principal of Palisades Park High School. Most of his students there were from immigrant households, and over time Muciaccia developed an expertise in teaching them English.

After retiring from teaching, Muciaccia worked as a private tutor. In 2004 he was hired by the South Pole clothing company to tutor its mostly Korean workforce. He stayed with the company until 2011 and taught English to over 400 students.

It was while working for South Pole that Muciaccia got the idea to put his techniques into book form.

“I said, what I'm doing works, but it's not in text books,” he said. “A friend encouraged me, and that was the beginning of the book.”

He started the project in 2005 and continued working on it for the next six years.

Though Thinking in English has exercises, the book is less of a textbook and more of a collection of essays that include encouraging anecdotes. One chapter discusses how the actor Antonio Banderas made his film debut in the United States without previously knowing English. Another tells the story of an Indian couple who immersed themselves in English to better run their convenience store on Washington Street in Hoboken.

Muciaccia's fascination with learning English extends to his own family history. One set of his grandparents immigrated from Sicily. His grandfather learned English because of his work. His grandmother however seldom left the house, and though she lived in America for over 70 years never learned the language.

Now that he has finished Thinking in English Muciaccia said he will continue to tutor students.

He is also writing a second book tentatively titled I Go to My Father Every Night. That book will be a metaphysical musing on remembering and feeling connected to lost love ones. Muciaccia got the idea during his own daily mediation sessions.

“It shows how we can still have a connection to our loved ones,” he said. “It gives hope that when we lose someone that person isn't really gone.”

Though the two books have different topics, Muciaccia said he gets a similar sense of satisfaction from writing both.

“The purpose is to give hope, whether it's to people trying to learn a language, or to people who have lost somebody,” he said.