Once they are seated I begin: “Zanzibar, Shimmy, Shiver, Core, Strength, Fuck, Whatever” Question to class: What do you think this is? Silence. Then timidly. A list. A twirly-keep-going movement with my right hand. A list of words… What sort of words? My favourite words. Question to class: What does this say about me as…
‘Oh, how lovely… Oh my God, where do I start?’ This was my reaction on reading an email from an M1 distance-learning student, a couple of weeks ago. It was one of those emails that you know composing a reasonable answer to, is going to take up more time than you can sensibly dedicate to an…
It’s now December. We went back to classes on the university campus in September, masked but present. In person. I was once again a real teacher in front of real students, handing out paper course packs. Classes finished 5 minutes earlier to air out rooms. Social distancing was still required, although not always enforced. The…
As the (very) weird and (less) wonderful 2020-2021 academic year draws to its close, many language teachers will be thinking about how best to use the whole online experience to enrich future teaching and learning. A timely moment then to reflect further upon online translation tools and the practical and pedagogical implications of their vertiginous…
The clocks have moved forward, curfew in France has been pushed back to seven o’clock in the evening and spring stirs. In spite of everything students continue to study and teachers to teach. This year’s 16 collaborative blogs written by second-year students are proof that enthusiam and perserverance and creativity continue to flourish. I would…