Learning a language is a complex and long process as anyone
who has tried will agree. One of the most difficult and
frustrating things is making the transition from the
classroom to the ‘real’ world. In the classroom, everyone
knows you are a student and mistakes are allowed, and the
environment […]

The Chinese Language and dialects
Each province, each city and even each village speaks their own dialect. There are hundreds of Chinese dialects in China so much so that each dialect speaker is not likely to understand another dialect speaker from another village or city. Fortunately, Mandarin, the official dialect, is understood by all dialect speakers.
Let’s […]

It is not easy to plan a fresh and new class for your English students every week. Even though your teacher book gives you some great ideas not all of them are practical enough for your classroom. You often have to come up with a few exercises and ideas of your own to fill in […]

In Japanese Kanji Learning: Short-Cuts to Rapid Mastery Part 1, we looked at mnemonic methods devised by James Heisig and Kenneth Henshall to speed-up kanji acquisition. We saw how their techniques activate the imagination by assigning different meanings individual elements of each kanji. But perhaps these methods do not work so well for you. If […]

Audible books are obtainable in a vast variety of titles and literary genres. Reading enthusiasts will always seek out a time to read, even so audio books offer a handy option for active individuals. So the in future when you are thinking of purchasing the hard copy of a book you might never find time to read, remember an audio book as a different alternative.

Spanish is undoubtedly the growth language in the world at the moment; it is now spoken by an estimated 352 million people as a first language (with a further 417 million speaking it as a second language) making it the second or third most widely spoken language in the world. Hispanic nations are also showing […]

I must warn you that I’m not an expert on slang. What I’m going to offer is my best estimate of the meaning to some of the slang that’s you may hear daily. If a friend tells you that I got the meanings wrong or that I’m not quite accurate, that may be true. However, […]

The Russian language is the most commonly spoken language in Europe. It is a Slavic language whose roots can be traced to Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin. Though not as internationally prominent as its days as the official language of the former Soviet Union, it is still the official language of such countries as Russia, Belarus, […]

So you’re thinking of learning a new language. Good for you! Being proficient in more than one language is quite an accomplishment. If you’re interested in learning something new, but aren’t quite sure which language to take up, you might want to consider Spanish.
Why Spanish? There are plenty of reasons. Did you know 400 million […]

For me - there’s no question.
Sooner or later as teachers of English as a Foreign Language, the question arises; “Do I need to translate my resume into Spanish?” After more than 20 years in the business the question still comes up occasionally even for me. Invariably you’ll need to send a resume or CV and […]