Every lesson, essay and journal entry, newest first. 726 published posts.
In the feedback room after a lesson observation, the first question is always the same: 'What was your main aim?' If you can't answer in one clear sentence, the lesson was probably unclear. I had…
English has about 20 vowel sounds but only 5 vowel letters. When I arrived in Sydney, I couldn't hear the difference between ship and sheep, or pull and pool. These are not the same words.…
At the casino, tone of voice was everything. The same sentence — 'Is there anything else I can do for you?' — meant entirely different things depending on how I said it. A falling tone…
When I first started speaking English seriously, the /θ/ sound — 'th' as in think — was physically strange to me. Bengali doesn't have it. French doesn't have it. You have to put your tongue…
When Vanessa and I first met, she spoke French fast and I spoke English fast — and neither of us could follow the other at full speed. Fast speech is not just quicker. The words…
My first week in Sydney, I said reCORD when I meant the noun. My colleague said REcord and I thought he was pronouncing the same word. He was. In English, stress changes meaning — and…
When I read Dostoevsky as a teenager — secretly, since books were not encouraged at home — I had no one to explain the subtext. I had to infer. I had to read what was…
I have sent thousands of emails — job applications, complaints, appeals, formal requests. Each one from a different country, in a different situation. The best advice I can give: a formal email is not a…
One of the most useful things you can do in English — in an interview, at a dinner, in a job — is tell a short, clear story. Not a long explanation. Not a list…
My daughter is 18 months old. Before she can speak, she listens with her whole body — watching faces, anticipating sounds, filling in gaps. She does what every good listener does: she predicts. Teaching yourself…
When I was studying for my French C1 test, I had to read long articles in 40 minutes. There was no time to read every word. I learned to skim first — get the main…
I have called four places home: Chittagong, Sydney, Plessis-Trévise near Paris, and Réunion. Each one needed its own vocabulary. Réunion is not just 'nice' — it is lush, volcanic, remote, tropical, and for me, something…
When I was reaching French C1 level, English kept ambushing me. I told my neighbour I was embarrassed — and used the French word I thought matched. In French, embarrassé can mean 'bothered' or 'cluttered'.…
I have had job interviews on three continents — in English, in French, once in broken Creole in Réunion. The one thing that helped everywhere was knowing the right vocabulary: not just the buzzwords, but…
When I arrived in Sydney in 2005, I could say I was 'happy' or 'sad'. That was it. But feelings in English are precise — there is a difference between homesick and lonely, between overwhelmed…
I trained as a sommelier at Uccello and Establishment — two of Merivale's restaurants in Sydney CBD. The vocabulary was its own language. Guests would ask for 'something dry, not too oaky' and I had…
When I was learning French as an adult — working towards C1 — I realised I had stopped thinking in English while I studied. But I had also stopped to check my English grammar. Same…
Positive sentence → negative tagShe works here, doesn't she?
I sometimes lie awake and think: I wish I had written that down. If only I had kept a record from the beginning. Now I write everything. But the grammar of regret — wish and…
"I need an information." I said this. In a job interview. The interviewer smiled kindly and said nothing. Information is uncountable in English — a fact that ruins sentences for speakers of almost every other…
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Sourov Deb EI · SIRET 106 764 061 00011 · Saint-Pierre, La Réunion