After a few years of collecting notes, trial and error in the classroom as well as hours and hours of research and reading, I’ve finally published my first book. Most of my day is spent trying to help Spanish speaking students communicate more clearly and confidently. I’ve collected 11 of the most troublesome pronunciation issues… Read More English Pronunciation, A Brief Guide for Spanish Speakers
Every man or woman eventually pines for the days of the past, at least occationally, and either marvels or shudders at the speed at which thing happen, change, and disappear. Unfortunately, most of these observations of culture are drowned in sentimentality and eventual contempt for “the crazy things kids do nowadays.” But our collective memory… Read More What is this?
Languages take loan words and phrases for many reasons. Some languages, like English, sneak in the middle of the night and steal words, and bring them into a creepy woodshed in the backyard, and in a shakedown proceed to change their pronunciation to fit the toolbox of a long vowel-rich, dipthong-ridden tongue. And then, as… Read More Language Files Part 1: Spanish and Bullfighting
Television and radio presenter Art Linkletter was an orphan who was moved from Canada as a child to live in San Diego, California. He was married for 74 1/2 years. He was a major investor in the patented hula-hoop, without whom it may never have existed. During the Great Depression, he hitched on trains around the… Read More The Cuckoo’s Nest: My Days in a Spanish Elementary School: Part 6
As we approach the end of the year, and the beginning of a much-appreciated vacation, I thought I’d dip into sentimentality and take a little look back at a post made in my first days as a teaching assistant. Some things have changed, others haven’t. Over a year ago, on my first day on the… Read More The Cuckoo’s Nest: My Days in a Spanish Elementary School: Part 2 (re-post)
Casual Notebook 