Buondì. Since our language school was compelled to move to 100% online teaching by local anti-Covid restrictions, my wife has, amongst many other duties reliably and efficiently carried out, been setting up and monitoring the English conversation lessons we organise for the locals. Wow, she commented over dinner the other evening, after having listened to […]
Seeing the wood for the trees
Buondì. Many years ago, when I could barely speak Italian at all, I signed up for a part-time MBA course (taught in Italian – I was the only foreign student) at our local business school. The first module in the two-year course was on ‘la strategia’ (n.b. ‘abstract’ nouns in Italian have a ‘the’, unlike […]
New “How to” series: your suggestions, please!
Buondì. I’ve nothing to sell you this week. Deliberately as there’s far too much teaching and other stuff going on. Besides my ninety-nine million online classes, it’s also the end of the month, which comes around all too regularly! Anyone who runs or has run a small business will know that the end of the […]
My Italian teacher said… (the usual unquestioned nonsense)
Buondì. I feel a rant coming on, though it’ll have to be a brief one as I have a conversation lesson starting shortly (Friday mornings is Turkish!) Yesterday’s first (now online) English lesson was a fantastically-fun group of three teenage girls, by which I mean that they are stimulating to interact with and, with a […]
Don’t like reading? Read this, at least.
Buondì. I’m not feeling well today. Also, it’s rather cold in my house. And I have to plan and teach two online lessons later. So I’m going to cheat! David left a comment on the club website to the effect that: “This would have to be one of the most helpful, comprehensive and sensible pieces […]
“Leave it in the back porch” & Half-price Ebook of the Week
Buondì. This week we’re not publishing anything new, but have a half-price ‘Ebook of the Week’ for you. What this means is that, for a week only, we reprice one of our older ebooks, so something that you may not have seen, at £3.99 instead of the usual ‘easy reader’ price of £7.99. The idea […]
The unfamiliar? (Becomes familiar.)
Buondì. First week of online teaching of groups (which I would otherwise have met face-to-face, in an actual classroom): completed! Monday was terrifying, and intensive, Tuesday better, Wednesday hard work. Thursday was tiring, but ultimately satisfactory. The final class of the week was what used to be my only class – until my erstwhile colleague […]
Late for the future
Buondì. As mentioned on Monday, this week I’ve been forced by the virus restrictions to shift my English teaching (six groups of Italian kids and three of adults) entirely ONLINE. We spent the weekend setting up Zoom classes, and worrying how they would work out. Monday was stressful, with three groups to teach using this, […]
Can true friendship between a man and a woman really exist?
Buondì. I’ll keep this one super-short, as the rules have changed in the part of Italy I live in and all the classes I teach have to be shifted online, starting today! Which means I have to learn how to use Zoom, and how to keep groups of kids interested for ninety minutes without the […]
Totally messed that up!
Buondì. Yesterday evening I taught an English class, and totally messed it up. I say ‘totally’ because I could feel it slipping rapidly into the abyss DURING the class, rather than reflecting on it afterwards and realising that I could have made better decisions, which happens often. The kids I was teaching reacted differently from […]