Learning Polish….Again!
I’m back on the Polish learning trail with intensity and purpose. I’ve been avoiding the task with glee but this, over time, has become a heavy load on my mind. How long can I go living in this country without…
Category Learning
I need a break!
Episode 85 is a lesson idea for teachers who want to get their class and students speaking on a common topic but with great variety of vocabulary to encourage the sharing of different preferences and opinions. Vacation, accommodation and the…
Speaking: Rules of Engagement
It’s frustrating when we we feel like people aren’t listening to us, at work, at home or when socializing. This can happen regardless of what language your speaking, your native or second or third. It’s not grammar that is holding…
Are you making errors when speaking? GOOD
Are you forgetting words that force you to pause? GOOD Are you mispronouncing? GOOD Using the wrong tenses? GOOD Not understanding everything that is said? GOOD Unable to to write clear emails, in an efficient way? GOOD Asked by your…
Make it attractive
If you want to become fluent, there's a way to do it all on your own, it just requires this...
What you write matters
I came to this realization fairly recently, with COVID frenzy still surrounding me I was reading a book and the authors made a passing mention of the importance of writing. I focused and read slower. If you’re ever hiring someone…
Pandemic contingency plans for teachers and students
There is no denying that there’s been a huge disruption for many of us because of the lockdown With language learning students will feel that the face to face interaction just simply cannot be replaced with online learning and live…
When the going gets tough, the tough get going
It’s the perfect time isn’t? Quarantine has got us locked down and isolated. Can’t go to class, can’t have lessons. When we sign up for a language course we are sending a signal that says we are serious about learning,…
No pain, no gain – language fluency practice
Fluency practice is a NO pain, NO gain proposition. Here's how to get started.
The good is the enemy of the best
Good is comfortable, easy and most importantly safe. You’re in the middle of the crowd, right where you want to be, unnoticed and average. This proverb hits the mark in every way, from every angle. We settle for mediocre and…
Experience is the best teacher
The youth think they know everything. They give us that look as though they are all-knowing and wise, they got google at their fingertips and there is no doubt they know much more than we did when we were their…
If anything can go wrong, it will
This proverb is credited as being Murphy’s law. But who cares about that. Our students certainly won’t. I think we like making excuses….for everything. It’s a way to avoid responsibility, risk and shame. Be ready to accept failure, and to…
The block- Speaking a second language
It’s a terrifying thing and it’s incredibly powerful. Many language learners experience it and it stays with them for quite some time. Many times, Polish people I’ve met have confessed that this is what is preventing them from real progress…
It’s all in the name!
I wish the naming of the web tool was something that took a couple of hours of work. That I could sit down, make some calculations or do some kind of tasks and after some effort and completion of some…
Making small talk
My Polish students really have very little to say regarding the topic and even less to say when attempting to make small talk. There’s apparently a reason for this. They find it ‘fake’ and a waste of time, that it…