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…
Because it’s fun and it enhances language learning. Today begins the second-year undergraduate remote blogging course for the third year running. I started the ball rolling by posting a message in the forum welcoming students and asking the following question: why develop a blogging course for students enrolled in English? The short answer was because…
Radio silence since September! Did I lose my voice? What happened? Well here’s what happened. I fumbled my way, masked and panting through September. Quite often breathless and sometimes even dizzy as I rushed from classroom to classroom. I became expert at mad gesticulating to make up for mumbling in a foreign language. Only muffled…