Why English is hard to learn
Two words: phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb plus one or more prepositions, and they are nightmares for my students because the meaning of the same …
improvised English class
Ever had that terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad feeling when it’s 15 minutes before class and you have absolutely no material or lesson plan or idea what you’re going to …
Another DS story
My Difficult Student was absent on the date the midterm test was administered. The following week, I had the corrected exams ready to hand back to the other students, …
The Difficult Student
Most group classes have what I like to call the Difficult Student. It’s the one who’s always playing with their cell phone in class, or who is chronically 30 …
The benefits of preparing English classes in advance
I currently spend about 6 hours per week preparing and planning my English classes. This is time for which I am not paid, and it’s not strictly necessary, since …
Mom
A lot of people have complicated relationships with their mothers. I’m often amazed by the powerful influence mothers have even on their adult children, whether for good or ill …
Carnaval in Salvador
March was the month of Carnaval, for which Brazil is famous. But there are some differences in the way it’s celebrated from region to region. Carnaval in Rio de …
The search for good customer service
While American companies are Facebooking and Tweeting and falling all over themselves in order to engage more with their customers, many Bahian businesses have yet to master the basics …
How to walk in Salvador
For a long time, I would get annoyed at the way people walk on the streets of Salvador: 1) Slowly 2) Illogically – sometimes people seem to change their …
Teaching English in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
I wrote this article for the website of Teaching House New York, where I got my CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults). I teach in Salvador, capital …