Blogs

In these days of self-isolation, queues and scarcity of toilet rolls in the shops, I am reminded of my time during martial law in Poland in the late Eighties.  At that time you could live like God on 50 bucks, if you weren’t actually Polish and if there was anything to buy.  A popular pastime was to find a queue and join it, the only difference from today being that you didn’t have to keep your distance from others, in fact it was de rigueur to shake the hand of anyone you knew and their companions and the companions of the companions and so on, very Kevin Bacon.  The only thing you were likely to pick up was the buzz that there was a delivery of mustard due, or vinegar or even vodka.  Those were the best queues...               By Bazakbal  

As an international examiner for the last 20 years, and a teacher for the last 30, I have been extremely fortunate to travel the world, to all manner of places.  I have seen asados on fire off the shores of the Parana, downed scotch in a Nanning drinking den, eaten pizza with Godsons in Corleone. 

What is peculiar is that so many of my candidates, no matter where they are from, tend to display the same sort of problems when using English, from A1 to C1.  Even in In multi-national classes it is possible to find these ‘usual suspects’ .        By Bazakbal

There is a growing clamour for railway journeys these days, rather than taking flights, more and more people are choosing to travel by rail in their down time, especially overnight.  In Vienna there is now a movement towards taking a sleeper wagon to any part of Europe or even beyond.   High speed train services have reduced travelling times considerably.  It takes 10 and a half hours from Paris to Rome with no hotel fee either.  Flight-Shame has led to more people travelling by rail, especially in Nordic countries, and longer distance sleeper routes are now opening up between European cities and beyond.   By Bazakbal

Possibly the biggest effect of culture shock I’ve experienced was during my first teaching contract in Japan.  Prior to the football World Cup in 2002 there were not that many signs or labels in English, so it wasn’t unusual for me to get completely lost and buy fish noodles instead of a lovely dessert. And of course, there’s the spoken language confusion – I ended up kicking out my slippered feet and shaking my chest samba-style (which doesn’t look great on a man) with a load of elderly Japanese ladies instead of the salsa lesson I had been looking forward to.                                                    By Dave

I had a confidence crisis in my teaching ability a few years ago on an intensive four-week English course for a cohort of Japanese high school girls who had come over to the UK.  Any positive preconceptions of what the class would be like were dashed during the first lesson… I realized I was in for a challenging time.  I had to explain to my beginner-level class that they had to use the door to enter the classroom, not the window.  It was also the first time I’d had to add to my classroom rules that you were not allowed to bark like a dog, it sounded like Crufts initially.                                                     By Dave

Doubts had already started to grow in my mind about the new TEFL job I’d accepted teaching business English in Benghazi, Libya (before the overthrow of Gaddafi). Just getting to Libya had been a comedy of errors. To cap a frustrating 48-hour journey from the UK I was then asked to do the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever encountered as a teacher.  Standing outside the apartment I was meant to share with my colleague my boss asked if I wouldn’t mind physically throwing out the teacher I was replacing who was refusing to leave the flat after being sacked.   I dropped my suitcases full of TEFL books on the ground and tried to remain calm as I informed my DoS that I was getting on the first plane out of Libya if they didn’t put me in a hotel till they sorted this mess out.