Hi Students! I was preparing some materials for a listening class this morning and I came across this great site for understanding song lyrics. It’s called Genius.com. It is a website where people annotate songs. This means they give you the lyrics of the song with explanations and examples, so you can understand the song better. One […] Read more »
Podcast Episode 52 – Traveling by Plane
Last month, my daughter and I traveled by plane from Washington to California to visit family and friends. I created this podcast episode to share that experience with you and to help you learn useful vocabulary and expressions related to flying in the U.S., and in general. By listening to this episode, you will also learn […] Read more »
Boston Blizzard of January 2015
Slow Speed (3:48) Normal Speed (2:20) (How to use this lesson: Listen to me read the blog post out loud. Repeat as needed to understand. Look up any words or expressions you don’t understand. Listen again. Advanced students can watch the videos and read the extra materials below.) As many of you know, […] Read more »
Seattle Seahawks Do it Again – Never Give Up!
Wow! I wasn’t even watching the game and I was feeling the excitement! The Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers were playing a playoff game today, to see who would get to go to the Super Bowl. (If you don’t know what I am talking about, listen to podcast episode #18 about American Football). […] Read more »
Podcast Episode 51 – The Rosie Project
The other day I was looking at Bill Gates’s blog gatesnotes.com and I came across his article about the book “The Rosie Project“. He has given away 50 copies of this book to friends, so I thought it would be worth checking out. I listened to the audiobook and finished it in only 2 days. I found […] Read more »
Podcast Episode 50 – Goals or no goals?
It’s that time of year again – time to make your New Year’s Resolutions and set some goals for the new year – or is it? In this episode, I talk about the pros and cons of making New Year’s Resolutions and setting goals. I talk a little about both sides of the debate: how you can […] Read more »
Podcast Episode 49 – 10 Language Learning Tips
Language learning is a life-long process and many people use a variety of methods and strategies to continuously improve their skills. In this podcast episode, I am giving you my thoughts related to 10 language learning tips from a panel of multilingual experts. I read about these suggestions in a recent article online at TheGuardian.com entitled Learning a […] Read more »
All About that Bass – Explained
Earlier this evening I went to pick up my daughter from her dance class and I heard the song “All About that Bass” by singer Meghan Trainor on the radio. It’s quite popular and lots of people have been making videos for it and spoofs of it (a spoof is when you make fun of it in […] Read more »
Podcast Episode 48 – Renting an Apartment
Lately, I have been working with several private students who are either living and working here in the U.S. already or planning to move here to work in the near future (thus the inspiration for this latest podcast episode topic). One of the first things a person has to do when they move to a new […] Read more »
Podcast Episode 47 – Privacy and Edward Snowden
This past weekend I saw the new documentary Citizenfour about the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. This got me to thinking about privacy and how people feel about the U.S. government having access to private emails, phone calls, video calls and chat messages without getting a warrant and without prior consent. How do you feel about companies […] Read more »