Category

Class bookends, both beginnings and endings, deserve special attention. This truism becomes more important in short term summer English programs where ESL students have traveled thousands of miles to study English. As so often, I tend to learn by stumbling. Yet, over the years,...

A bright college student asked a simple vocabulary question that threw me this week. “What is the opposite of jealous“? What is the opposite of jealous? Generous? Selfless? Confident? I found myself discussing various possibilities with students adding in situations....

“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self… Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and...

“In every curving beach, in every grain of sand, there is the story of the earth.” Rachel Carson (1907-1964), biologist and environmentalist The mailman brought the “Summer Fun” issue of Easy English Times yesterday, and it made me smile. It’s another wonderful issue...

Sometimes you don’t appreciate something until you lose it. My website, down and out for almost a week of tech turmoil as I changed server, host, and webmaster, demonstrates this point. The site, www.compellingconversations.com , has been restored and even slightly...

The art of conversation, once considered the sign of a civilized individual, seems less common today.  Yet I treasure the moments of sharing experiences, collecting news, and exchanging ideas.  I make a point of knowing my neighbors, allowing casual greetings to become long...

Converse with a teacher, student or stranger about books “No two persons ever read the same book.” -Edmund Wilson (1895-1972) American writerBooks and literature still matter in our 21st century global culture of blogs, especially for starting conversations. In the...

Why I chose not to censor Compelling Conversations to increase accessibility “Only the educated are free.” Epictetus (55-135), Greek philosopher Many English teachers have asked if I plan a “culturally sensitive” version so Compelling Conversations can be used in more...

Importance of authentic vocabulary reflecting interests “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”  -Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), British author What are the 1000 most common words in English? Wiktionary, an offshoot of the wonderful Wikipedia, offers this...