Tag: teaching

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Privileged? Language learning could be different

Mahatma Gandhi
Photo Credit: Vinoth Chandar via Compfight

There is no easy way to write this post without sounding pompous. Let me start with a story.

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Why No Language Teaching Method Will Ever Fit You Perfectly

I took a while during my holiday to clean out my bookshelf. I found these four lovely old English readers / reference books. I’m sure that one day, I’ll write more about a couple of them, but today, I’m going to tell you one thing I learned from reviewing them quickly:
When it comes to language teaching methods, trust no one.
Follow me and I’ll explain. There’s good news at the end, I promise!

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Three “Justs” of Mobile Language Learning

This post is inspired by Pete Sharma’s talk on English UK’s Management Conference in Oxford earlier this month. I really enjoyed this conference: it was a source of many ideas, plans and projects for me.

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Polyglot Wannabe? Start a Business to Learn Languages

When you’re setting out to do something ambitious, the first instinct is usually to get rid of distractions, and focus only on the daunting task at hand. This is how works of art are conceived, heart transplants performed, and (in my household at least) breakfasts cooked.

But sometimes, the right thing to do seems to be the opposite. Learning languages may be one of these things. As a language learner and a former business owner, I’m going to try to sell you a weird idea today.

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Fear Less: Four Easy Ways to Lower Your Foreign Language Anxiety

My speaking exam was starting in five minutes, and I was about to faint. I wasn’t the only one: my partner, whom I’d never met before, was just as stressed. We were both sitting there, winding ourselves up, and then she said something strange:

“We should have had a vodka or two before that, you know.”

Several years later, I know how right she was.

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Too Big to Bother: The Pros and Cons of Accredited Language Schools

The reason for my prolonged absence from the blog lately is important, big and overwhelming. The school I’m working at is undergoing two accreditation inspections, back to back. We’re currently preparing for the inspections, printing out piles of documents, dotting every “i” and crossing every “t.” The important question, though, is: why bother?

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