Category

Talking about money remains problematic, but this conversation topic is more for self-reflection than classroom application. But please bear with me. How rich are you? How much money would satisfy you? Americans, and many other people in consumer societies, sometimes seem to be...

Easy English Times, an adult education newspaper for English language learners published in California, adapts a chapter from Compelling Conversations each month. The editors selected “Reading Pleasures”, one of my favorite chapters, to run in their November-December...

Who gets to speak in class? Whose ideas count? Who chooses the assignments? How do students receive feedback? Do students have a chance to conference with their instructors? Can YouTube be a valuable source for homework assignment? Do you want your students to become...

How would you choose an English language school? What if you lived in Korea, Spain, China, Brazil, Turkey, or Vietnam? What factors would influence your decision? How would you find out the school’s reputation? Who ranks ESL programs? What is their criteria? Hundreds of thousands...

Sometimes living in Los Angeles feels fantastic. Beauty – in many forms – pervades. You look around, and you smile. The sun shines, the scene looks great, and many languages fill the day. I visited the Huntington Gardens, a beautiful oasis near California Institute of...

Teaching remains an art, and excellence remains rare – especially in a bureaucratic age. The ancient Socratic methods and modern enlightenment ideals have increasingly fallen out of favor in American public schools – from elementary and middle school to high school...

How did George W. Bush actually become President of the United States? After all, he received fewer popular votes for President than Al Gore, didn’t he? How could Al Gore win the popular vote and still lose the 2000 U.S. Presidential election? The short, unpleasant answer...

“Do you want to know how to start a conversation? Ask a question, and listen.” Robert Bly (1926- ),  American poet and activist That’s not a bad starting point, is it?

As CNN and the other global news organizations rushed to tell the world, a 5.4 earthquake hit Los Angeles yesterday. The earth shook, people got scared, and fears of “the big one” entered the minds of millions. The shaking lasted for almost a minute, many pictures fell from walls...

Sometimes a simple comment leads to a delightful conversation. Today I noticed a very, very old truck parked on the street while walking my dog. “She’s as old as I am,” replied the owner from his frontyard. He soon came to the sidewalk. “Made in...