Two years ago now, I set up a Facebook group called ENGLISH QUESTIONS ANSWERED. In a sense, it was a purely selfish move as I wanted to be able to shepherd into one place all the questions about language that…
Twenty Things in Twenty Years Part Four: the way I was taught to teach grammar crippled my understanding of grammar!
I feel it best to warn you in advance that this is a post that could potentially spiral wildly out of control! It may also, I fear, contain themes I’ve entered into from slightly angles during other posts in this…
Twenty Things in Twenty Years Part Three: kicking the grammar habit
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my induction into English Language Teaching via a four-week CELTA at Westminster College (and, indeed, my subsequent year-long part-time DELTA) left me with that very same affliction that so many of our students still…
Back to School Part Three: lessons of forgetting and laughter
They say that learning a foreign language is a good way of avoiding dementia in later life, but with learning Russian I sometimes feel that maybe dementia has already set in! Words taught mere seconds ago can become a blank…
Back to school Part 2: TomAYto TomARto
In my last post, I described two basic routes to learning language as a means of communication. At this point, I should reiterate that what I am talking about here are not routes to any real kind of fully-functional fluency.…
Back to school: Part One
As you may have noticed, we recently wrote a Beginner’s book and I have written a series of posts exploring the ideas behind it. One thing that's driving this two-man campaign (you can decide for yourself if that means it’s…
A different kind of Beginner-level book 5: Pronunciation
Pronunciation: Really? Do I have to? While the bulk of Beginner coursebooks on the market are pretty uniform when it comes to the way they handle grammar and - to some extent - vocabulary, there seems to be little consistency…
Grammar nonsense 11: more verb patterns
So, following on from my recent post on verb patterns, I've managed another one already. You know how it is: you wait for hours for a bus and then two come along in quick succession. Not that this is a…
Grammar nonsense and curiosities 10: verb patterns
Welcome back? It’s been a while, but I'm now back by popular demand - by which I mean Hugh’s demand, if I'm honest! Here for your delight and delectation are some further thoughts on grammar nonsense. So step right up…
A different kind of Beginner-level book 4: a spiralling syllabus
A spiralling syllabus is NOT just about grammar Hopefully, you'll have read our previous post on a spiral syllabus. In this short post, I want to add that the spiral syllabus doesn’t only apply to grammar. The same principles also…