🎙 From the classroom: When I submitted my first written assignment on the teacher training course in France, my observer wrote three words: 'one idea only.' I had put four ideas in one paragraph. In…
🎙 From the classroom: My most successful speaking task in Brittany was simple: I printed two versions of a map of Réunion. Student A had the beach. Student B had the volcano. Neither could see…
🎙 From the classroom: For years in hospitality, I had to listen to VIP guests and understand their needs instantly — often in a language I was still learning. The trick I discovered: prediction. If…
🎙 From the classroom: Before I taught reading, I gave students a text and asked them to 'read and answer the questions'. They panicked, re-read every sentence, and ran out of time. One change fixed…
🎙 From the classroom: When I arrived in Sydney with textbook English, I couldn't understand people in the casino. They didn't say 'I am going to finish'. They said 'I'm gonna finish'. My textbook English…
🎙 From the classroom: My Bengali students in Brittany pronounced 'worked' as 'work-ED', adding a full syllable. My Korean student said 'wok'. My French student said 'workt'. All three had learned the same spelling. None…
🎙 From the classroom: No one taught me the schwa in Bangladesh. I spoke each syllable clearly and equally — like reading out loud. In Sydney, people couldn't understand me. Not because I didn't know…
🎙 From the classroom: When I was learning French, I kept stressing the wrong syllable: CAfé instead of caFÉ. French has near-flat stress; English does not. In English, the wrong stress in a word can…
🎙 From the classroom: Réunion Island is one of the most visually extraordinary places I've ever lived. The volcano — Piton de la Fournaise — is active. The lagoon is turquoise. The mountains are brutal.…
🎙 From the classroom: The day I stood in front of my first class of twelve adults in France, I was — in English — 'nervous'. But nervous doesn't capture it. I was terrified, excited,…
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