Month: November 2015

When we were babies we learned through the constant exposure to language and environment. How many times do you think our parents said “mama” or “daddy” to us before we finally said something? Just because our students are older than babies doesn’t mean the same principles don’t apply. Teaching in an immersion environment is actually proven to be the MOST effective means of language education.

The easiest way to understand your students’ lives a little better and get some insight into things they might be struggling with, is to meet and communicate with their parents. Communicating with parents can be intimidating, especially the parents of students that you consider to be difficult.

Learning any language is hard! Transitions and translations between two languages can be particularly rocky– especially with Chinese and English. I’ve heard a couple of mistakes repeated by my students that have given me clues about what the translation sounds like in Chinese.

Oh, dear. It’s that time of year in Taiwan again. The weather is starting to chill just a bit, and you’re starting to see boys and girls pairing off into couples (not as religiously as it happens in Korea, but it still happens).

Holidays are a great way to break out of the normal classroom routine, grab your students’ interest, and introduce some culture to the ESL classroom. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s a great time to think about ways to incorporate this fun and meaningful holiday into your classroom.

What I will say is that the type of green space you see, at least in Taiwan, differs from that of other countries, mainly based on its geography. Surrounded by mountains and the sea, Taiwan is able to retain so much of the islands natural beauty.

Did you go from a bustling corporation to a teaching gig overseas? Are you planning on going into a corporation after your adventure? Though it might not seem like it, teaching can have a lot of similarities with working for a big business. Here are just some of the similarities that, as a current overseas teacher, I have noticed.

A trend has begun amongst veteran expats and travel bloggers that isn’t very appealing or positive. This idea of #authentictravel is driving me absolutely insane. I worry that it might actually scare off new travelers from making the leap out into the world.