Education

interesting talk...http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html

Moving to Portugal

We have a small farm which is in a very poor state.It has not been looked after since a fire came through about 8 years ago.We have grape vines ,some olive trees ,some fruit trees ,a well and ponds plus a stream/mini waterfall(depending on the time of year it is) and a building which we need to renovate before we can live in it......
I will continue working on line teaching English plus take up a new part time position with the British Council in the city of Coimbra.Exciting times!

rain in England and sun in Portugal

Since my children stopped school for the summer holidays it seems to have rained non stop!We are just stuck inside only venturing out to walk the dogs or pop to the shop.There is no lingering in lovely summer sunshine or camping.Instead I have had to put the heating on and close the windows.

In Portugal people are baking nicely.Its too hot at times to be out and about doing work on the land or anywhere else.I know where I would prefer to be.....

I shall be relocating to Central Portugal in a few weeks and hopefully I will be in time to catch some golden rays and warm my bones up after a long time in the damp conditions that this part of West Yorkshire suffer from.

Its a lovely place to live but its damp and grey most of the year and after 13 years of living here its time for a change.
Watch this space.....

fires in Russia

My Moscow based students are really struggling at the moment.The fires due to the extreme heat are causing real air pollution in Moscow.Students are staying indoors with all windows shut!But its 40 odd degrees in the city so life is quite unpleasant for them.
Last week I had a number of lessons lined up for us to discuss business ,climate change and the USA but most students wanted to talk about the fires and the high temperature instead which then led us on to discussing last winter in Moscow.Again ,even for Russia ,this was an extreme weather event.Much colder for much longer than has been the norm.It was a good week of lessons ,students acquired new Lexis and adjectives to describe the weather and its effects.This coming week I will be teaching a number of my old students who have bought a new package with me as their teacher.It will be good to catch up with them as over time the students that I interact with this way become more like friends after a while.I am interested in them and their lives and they return the compliment.Plus I enjoy the intellectual stimulation of our conversations so I put a lot of effort into preparing our lessons .

corporate responsibilty

This is the topic for tomorrows  lessons.I had to explain the term to Marina who works for a major US pharmaceutical company and Romov who works for a German firm .Both students are based in Moscow.When the topic was introduced they said that this was a new idea to the...that they would be expected to have an opinion on this.I mentioned the BP oil spill in the gulf of Mexico and this is what they need to research as they have heard little about this so far.

some difficulties

So I have now been teaching on-line to students in Russia ,Korea and the UEA states.Its been interesting discovering new things about these geographical locations.Customs and lifestyles and censorship are all alive and well.My students enjoy discussing the world and while some deny that we are facing global issues that may have an impact directly on themselves they still are interested to read the news reports or books that I may recommend.
Its good to be prepared for lessons so that I can anticipate any lexical issues or maybe be ready to throw in an idiom or two!Some students send my pictures of themselves and their home towns which again gives us a topic.They can have an entire lesson where they are using their descriptive skills within the language.One student sent some simply amazing pictures of the Moscow state underground and lots of other pictures of some of the very grand buildings in Moscow.
I am thinking of developing my teaching now so that the work is more direct(no middle man!) ...so watch this space!