Language Bits

There are four main reasons why students are afraid of making mistakes:

1) perfectionism;

2) judgment of others;

3) defeatist mentality;

4) temporary inability.

Each one of these presents their own challenges and has to be tackled in a different way. On this episode, I talk about every one of them and suggest ways to remedy these problems. I speak in a very honest way, albeit respectful, and hope that no one takes offence.

REMEMBER...

[PODCAST IN PORTUGUESE]

Neste episódio, falarei sobre palavras que não escuto serem muito usadas por brasileiros, seja por desconhecimento do seu significado, seja por desuso. Percebi, à medida em que ia falando, que eu mesmo sou vítima da própria pobreza que critiquei: eu também utilizo muito o adjetivo "triste" no sentido figurado de "ruim", como é costumeiro na minha geração. Acabei por utilizar esse vocábulo inúmeras vezes dura...

On this week's episode, I interviewed my friend Brad Hillas, who is a British-Australian teacher of English as a second language. He tells us about his studies, what made him decide to become an English teacher, his travels around the world on his bike and his experience of teaching English to kids in China.

Due to low volume on Brad's microphone, this episode has no background music. 

If you wish to get in touch, please write...

On this first episode regarding Legal English, I'll talk about the difference between terms of art and legalese, and react to some discussion points raised by the matter: should lawyers remove legal Latin expressions from their writing? Should they delete old-fashioned English words such as 'heretofore', 'hereby' and 'foregoing'? I speak from the perspective of lawyers whose first language is English (therefore, professionals who h...

[PODCAST IN PORTUGUESE]

Neste episódio de Language Bits, entrevistei o meu aluno de português, Alexander Heinz, que é alemão e trabalha como engenheiro de refratários. O Alexander nos conta das suas experiências ao visitar o Estado brasileiro de Minas Gerais, além de falar sobre suas dificuldades e conquistas ao aprender o português brasileiro. Ele é um aluno recentemente aprovado para o nível B1 de português. 

Espero que você...

Have you been studying English for a long time and the only adjectives you ever use are: good, bad, nice, OK, beautiful and great? If that's the case, you might want to listen to this episode, in which I'll suggest the use of some regular and strong adjectives to help you colour the way you speak or write and make your discourse more expressive. I also talk about the use of adverbs to modulate the meaning of your adjectives (to mak...

[PODCAST IN SPANISH]

En este primer episodio de Language Bits en español, invité a mi ex-alumna y amiga Flávia Lange para hablar un poco sobre sus experiencias con el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras. Flávia es una empleada pública en Brasil, economista y abogada, además de entusiasta del estudio de lenguas. Ella tiene el nivel C1 de inglés comprobado por el CAE (Certificate of Advanced English) de la Universidad de Cambridge, ad...

This is the first episode of Language Bits in which I made an interview: you'll get to know my students, Fernando and Renata, a Brazilian couple of B1 English students, who have had some experience travelling abroad. We talk about learning English, its ups and downs, and using English as you travel around. 

If you would like to contact me, write an e-mail to languagebits2020@gmail.com or record an audio message on this podcast...

[PODCAST IN PORTUGUESE]

Neste primeiro episódio do podcast Language Bits em português, responderei à pergunta que dá nome ao episódio. Além disso, explicarei porque não acredito que exista uma variação linguística do português que seja "melhor" ou "mais correta" do que a outra, argumentando através de duas correntes opostas, a corrente colonialista e a corrente utilitarista ou colonialista ao reverso. Finalmente, falarei sobre as m...

Elementary students (A0 to A2 levels) usually come up with unrealistic goals for their learning and soon enough lose all their original enthusiasm. They want to be able to read a book in English, to listen to music and to watch films without subtitles on their own language. These are goals to be achieved later on in your learning process but if you are an elementary student you should first master the art of repetition. 

On th...

Students of English as a second language may find it very challenging to use the Present Perfect. Although they understand its form, they might find it hard to know what situations require the use of this tense. My approach here is to talk about form and compare it to German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. The latter is the most different to English in terms of form so Portuguese speakers will find it particularly difficult to ma...