(This is an update of an older article.) There are countless places where you can find advice on how to make presentations look nice, appealing, convincing, and so forth. Though these are all valid concerns, my experience with students and colleagues is that they also often simply need help in the practicalities of using their […]
Category: Education
How I Learn Vocabulary
On eating eggs and learning new words “How do you like them eggs? Soft boiled? Omelet? Scrambled? Poached? Sunny Side up? Over easy? Benedict?” To the bemusement (or embarrassment?) of my family, for years I would dread being asked how I wanted my eggs cooked at the Waffle House. Tired of gambling with my eggs, […]
Listening to English Online
(This is a revised version of an older post) At some point when you learn English (or any other language), it is important to listen to “real English,” not just to small pieces or excerpts from language textbooks and manuals, even if you do not understand everything. There are many easy ways today to listen […]
How to Improve your English
How do you keep on learning a language during the lockdown? How do you improve your English when you can’t go to classes, conversation tables, private lessons? More generally, how do you get your language skills up by yourself? Though some of this information might be useful for a beginner, the point here is to […]
Two Tips to Learn a Language with YouTube
The use of YouTube to teach or learn a language is pretty much a given today. Yet, speaking with colleagues and students, I realized that not all of them were aware that there are some features available that are really useful for language education. Here are two of them: Subtitles (or closed captions) and the […]
Learning a Language? Improve Your Pronunciation with the International Phonetic Alphabet
You’ve done it (or you had no choice). You’ve decided to learn another language! But then, quickly, the frustration builds up. Reading and writing is going along ok, but the speaking … the pronunciation. The bane of many language learners: how to actually speak that language without making a complete fool of yourself. Two quite […]
Hardware and Software Tools of the Trade 2018
After several years, time has come for an update of my 2015 Tools of the trade post. These are the hardware and software tools I work with in 2018. Computers and other hardware I’m still a Mac person (an old 2009 IMac and a 2010 MacBook Pro 13 inches, still reliable, albeit a bit slow). […]
How to pronounce the “th” without sticking your tongue out
“ze mozer of ziz boyz iz tirti-tri” A standard problem of English pronunciation: the English “th.” With a little help and practice, it actually is not that hard to master. (Note: For the first more technical article on “th” see my How I Teach the English “th” page.) Three Ways to Pronounce the “th” Contrary […]
Why You Should Use a Reference Manager
The bane of most academic writing is the bibliography. You’re writing a paper, an assignment, a thesis and the tedious typing and retyping of references to articles, books, book chapters, papers, etc., comes back to haunt you! That’s when you need a reference manager. A reference manager will take care of most of the chores […]
Why Use Styles in Word
Most writing software use what are called “Styles,” yet few people know about them or use them. Many who know about styles find them intimidating. They seem to be too complicated and a pain to learn and work with.