Directions in English: How I Got Lost in Paris and Found My Way Back
My first week in Paris in 2017, I got lost in the Métro every single day. Not because I couldn't read French — I could. But I was building the mental map in English, and…
Category: English Teaching
Telling the Time in English: From Shift Start to Last Call
At Merivale in Sydney — the group that runs The Ivy, Uccello, and Establishment — a shift started at 5:30 PM and ended at 2 AM. Time was everything. A five-minute delay could mean a…
Jobs and Workplaces: Talking About What You Do in English
In twelve years in Sydney I had many titles: waiter, barista, bartender, sommelier, floor manager, restaurant manager. Each title came with its own English vocabulary. In Australia, 'What do you do?' is often the third…
Food & Drink Vocabulary: A Sommelier’s English Lesson
I became a sommelier at The Ivy in Sydney. My job was to describe wine to people who could not see the bottle — only taste it. That forced me to learn that food and…
Numbers 1–100: What the Star Casino Taught Me About English Numbers
At the Star Casino in Sydney, every night was a number problem. Table 17 wants two martinis. Bill for $248. Thirty-five guests on the reservation. I learned English numbers fast because I had to —…
Hello, I’m Sourov — Greetings & Introductions in Real English
When I landed in Sydney Airport in 2005 with one carry-on bag and what I thought was decent English, the first stranger I spoke to said 'How ya going?' I had no idea what that…
Telephone and Video Call English
From Sourov's world: My first phone call in French after moving to La Réunion was about a gas bill. No face to read. No body language. No way to point at anything. Just words and…
Skimming and Scanning — Two Different Reading Speeds
From Sourov's world: As a sommelier at The Ivy in Sydney, I held dozens of wine labels every shift. When a guest asked about a wine, I did two completely different things in about four…
Future Forms — Will, Going To and Present Continuous (B1)
Three ways to talk about the future — and each one sends a different signal
Writing a Short Story — PEEL Structure
From Sourov's world: One night at The Ivy in Sydney, a champagne glass slipped from a tray. I caught it mid-air, less than a metre from a dress that would have cost more than my…