Newsletter 2021#37

Good morning

The world seems to be going mad again. A new variant on the rise, red lists re-emerging and an email from a friend who is younger than I am telling me about her very scary hospitalisation with Covid. It's tempting to think that all of the stuff I churn out is just a bit of flim-flammery, to be honest, but I'll put it out there anyway and I hope that it has at least a bit of distraction value.

Something old

My grammar quirk video on relative pronouns seemed to go down well last week and it prompted my fellow CELTA trainer Arthur Laing to send me a fab presentation of his to share with you. It's aimed at secondary school teachers and in it he gives an example of how you can teach grammar to young teens using guided discovery (with the same language that I showed in last week's video).

So - on the basis that you might like another grammar quirk, here's the first one in the series that I made way back at the start of the first Corona lockdown. It's about the tricky animal, the present perfect...

Something new

Here's a quick quiz for you - why do some people find it easier to learn languages than others? How many different factors can you think of? Stop now and make a list (no cheating!) Then watch my new video this week which identifies TEN and see if yours are the same as mine.  This will also be really useful if you're a CELTA trainee and you're doing your Focus on the Learner assignment (for part 1)...

Something borrowed

Finally, something from the net. I recently came across CUP's 'World of Better Learning' Blog - don't be put off by the (IMHO) rather awful title - there's lots of great material here and it's free (obviously, they want you to buy their books, but you don't have to). The material is organised by skill, language focus, topic and blog type and there are materials for teacher CPD and for use in the classroom.  If you want a couple of recommendations to start you off, try this article by Nik Peachey on 6 tools and tips for CPD or this activity for younger learners by Justyna Matwiejczyk on The power of three in fairy stories.

Right, that's it from me for today- enjoy the rest of your weekend and (really genuinely meant) stay safe.

Best

Jo