Tag: English Teacher

1109 Notting Hill Carnival 1976 | Looking Back at London’s Iconic Celebration

Take a step back in time to the Notting Hill Carnival of 1976, one of the most memorable years in the history of London’s famous street festival. In this video, we explore a story it was nearly 50 years ago. The Notting Hill Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe, celebrating Caribbean culture, music, food, and freedom of expression. The 1976 carnival was a defining moment that shaped the event we know today, remembered for its vibrant energy, its challenges, and its lasting cultural impact. 🌍 If you enjoyed our recent video on the modern Notting Hill Carnival, this look back to 1976 shows how far the carnival has come and why it remains such an important part of London’s cultural identity.

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Music by suno.ai

1071 Inside the Coffee Shop transcript

Hi everyone and welcome again to another Teacher Joseph podcast.

Well, I’m here today inside a coffee shop and it’s very, very hot outside. So I walked here and I’m taking refuge inside this coffee shop. Just to shelter from the hot, scolding sunshine. It’s kind of unusual for us to have such hot weather and to be honest, its making me feel a little bit wabbit. Wabbit is when you feel a. little bit down. A little bit kind of disorientated or dizzy and you’re on autopilot. Not functioning on all cylinders. I’ll double check in the dictionary that wabbit is there.

Alright and indeed it is. I just took a moment there. I paused our recording to check… it’s used mostly in the northern part of the UK. It’s introducing you to a Scottish / English word wabbit. It sounds like rabbit, but with a W. And it’s very common to hear people saying that.

Although the dictionary says it is actually a Scottish word. I believe it’s all over the UK. I mean, I’ve heard it in different places, people feeling a bit wabbit, but do keep in mind if you use it that it’s mainly a term from the north. Well, let me just go over what I’m doing here.

So I’m sitting drinking a cup of coffee. It is delicious and I know I shouldn’t really but I also had some doughnuts. And I know, I know, I’m supposed to avoid sugary things, but they were delicious. I mean, it was (they were…) chocolate covered and glazed…. I had to…… I had to try them. Now the thing about this coffee shop is that it’s one of these heavily automized coffee shops, which means that you do everything on the screen to order , and when you do approach the counter for service, they kind of look at you terrified. It’s like they’ve never spoken to anyone before.

It’s really funny. It’s like “Really ?? You actually wanna talk to somebody”? So the screen is where we order all of our coffees and these things. It’s one of these places which is rather grey looking. Typical UK style shop. Grey…. tiles on the floor, brown seating and the ceiling is open, so you can see all of the pipes. I believe this…. this chain is actually Canadian. They’ve got pictures of ice hockey players all around the walls, which, well, doesn’t make me want to rush out and do ice hockey.

Flashing screens are near me and to be honest with you, they are almost blinding me with bright colours and that that’s of course because they’re trying to sell more things.

I’m sitting by the window looking out to a very depressing car park. There’s only four cars in it. So it’s very grey looking and what else can I tell you about it? Yeah, it looks kind of industrial. Clearly it’s near the railway line. Looks like the setting for a music video. You know when there’s rapper walking along, pulling his trousers up every two minutes, it looks something like that. It’s a very deprived kind of area. Yeah, but it’s it’s lovely. I mean, the colours are beautiful, very green today, because the sun’s out and I cut the grass this morning. That was that was an adventure.

But I have to go back to the doughnuts. I mean, they were delicious. Really. And I ate them all myself because I’m out alone.

Yeah. So that’s really all I wanted to say for today, except just to point out that the weather here really is beautiful. Very green. I can see the trees swaying in the wind. It’s almost like they’re dancing because the wind is picking up but even with that, it’s very, very beautiful.

It’s very unusual for us here to have wind, which is warm, usually the wind comes and it blows you away and you’re freezing but actually it’s it’s lovely. And for me I I just I cut the grass this morning, weeded the garden felt exhausted, fell asleep for a couple of hours and then staggered out to come to this coffee shop.

Just looking around and thinking about my forthcoming holidays. I’ll be in the Netherlands this year at some point over June and July, so it’s all booked. I’m very happy. I won’t tell you the exact dates in case you come to try to steal my television when I’m away but there really is…it really is beautiful at this time of year to see the tulips and lovely places. So I’ll be looking forward to that…. yes, yes.

And that’s all for me right now. So I hope you’ve enjoyed this and yeah, some beautiful, beautiful scenes today. I’ll just give you those words again. Wabbit. That’s how I was feeling earlier, a bit exhausted and a little bit unwell. Swaying…. What the trees are doing in the wind. And colourful, beautiful, maybe even dramatic, we could say about things. And that’s it from me. So I’ll see you all again soon.

And I wish you all a beautiful day.

Bye.

 

 

Weekly Lesson: The Charity Givers

For study until 13th of October 2024

Subject: The Charity Givers

Audio: On usual social media platforms.

The Charity Givers

Last week, I was sitting at home watching my favourite TV show when someone rang my doorbell. I opened the door to find a woman dressed in black wearing a hat standing there with two henchmen standing behind her. The picture looked like some kind of 1980s  glam pop group trio, complete with backing singers. Katrina and the Waves came to my mind and this group looked a bit artificially happy. I doubt they were “Walking on Sunshine”  after all it was pouring with rain outside.

“Are you Danny?” – she asked, with direct eye contact and a flashing of teeth.  I immediately picked up on the accent and realised she wasn’t English and my radar started to try and work out where she was from. I settled with either Italian or Greek, leaning more towards Greek.

“No….” I replied.

“Ah, it’s the apartment across from you I think, but he’s not at home, can I leave something with you to give to him?” she muttered in bad English. I resisted the urge to correct her.

Images of the 80s, big hair and electrical guitars started to fade. They would be more fluent.

“Sure, why not?” I replied, remembering that my neighbour took my University books when they arrived last week when I was out. He handed them in later.

“We have a washing machine, a toaster and an electric fire”.

 At that point her head leaned slightly to the left and she showed teeth. She clearly felt we had some kind of affinity but I’m not sure why. I looked behind myself briefly because her gaze kind of said “what a cute cat” but my cat was nowhere to be seen. He hasn’t been receiving visitors in recent days because of his sickness. The only thing we might have had in common is the word charity. Whoever she was, she clearly was offering charity to Danny. I was doing the same thing by offering to take his stuff for him.

She clapped her hands once and the henchmen swung into action. From nowhere a washing machine, toaster and fire appeared at my feet.  She handed me the toaster.

“Um, about the washing machine….” ….. she pre-empted what I was about to say…

“Oh we will leave that at Danny’s door, and we will text him…. He told us he was homeless and we wanted to help” as she handed me the heater and toaster.

I remembered that the apartment across from me was indeed kept for those who are homeless while they search for permanent accommodation. It’s something I discussed on a previous podcast.

She quickly retreated and vanished, leaving no clue where they had come from or what group they represented, vanishing into the distance. This was like some kind of 80s video, the only thing missing was the artificial smoke as they disappeared.

 My cat wandered up, took one look at the doorway, made a noise and walked away. He was largely unimpressed.

It took me a few moments to register what had just happened. Who were these people? Either way, it was a nice feeling to  know I had done a good deed. It was that feeling you get when you hear a pop song from your youth.  Some weird feeling of security and nice memories which allow you to take a deep breath and smile.

That day, I waited for Danny to arrive but nobody came.

“That’s ok” I thought,  “He might be on holiday” but then the fifth day came and went, with no sign of Danny beating a path through the jungle to my doorway to collect his goods.

After a week and a half passed, it was clear that Danny wasn’t  coming back. I moved the heater and toaster away from behind my front door to a more permanent arrangement, my cupboard.  The washing machine is still sitting outside his apartment door.

I asked my neighbours what they thought. Some of them were worried that he was dead inside his apartment, others went along with the holiday theory but they  all agreed that they really didn’t care.

“I mean if he was dead in there, there’s nothing could be done anyway, he’s dead” they all concurred.

“Yeah… but no… but…..” was what I heard as we all were defending why we didn’t want to get involved. They were more uncomfortable with my direct communication than they were about Danny.

After another week passed my doorbell camera alerted me that there was a movement in the hallway. I cynically checked it, not expecting Danny to appear. My Landlord’s agent was clearing the apartment. This was my big moment to find out where Danny was.  Although it was clear she didn’t want to talk to me:

“Hi, that washing machine was left by a charity or Christian Group for Danny. Has he moved then?” I politely asked.

“Because of Data Protection, I can’t discuss anyone who may or may not be called Danny” she responded without turning around. She came with her own henchman He stared bitterly in my direction but once they heard the word charity, they softened a bit.

“We will get it moved for you” she unwillingly made eye contact. She looked like she was 16 and covered in acne, the fluorescent jacket made her look professional but she wasn’t fooling anyone. The henchman looked younger, acne much worse than her’s and carrying more puppy fat than a labrador dog. These people were young. I was just another old man in their eyes.

“Can you tell him to pick the stuff up” I pleaded.

“I wonder if you mean the last tenant, before this one” – she interrupted

“No, that was Stuart” I said….trying to get her to take some kind of responsibility.

“David has a support worker” – I will talk to them…..

“Are you sure she said the name Danny?” – she continued.

“Yeah” I quipped while trying not to roll my eyes.

“The woman was Central European, she could have said the name wrong” wondering why I had to defend my argument.

They quickly made their excuses and vanished. The washing machine is still there and my cat happily sits on the heater when he is doing his daily patrols around my apartment.

I haven’t decided what to do next. Should I move the washing machine into the cupboard as another place for my cat to rest his weary head  while he does his daily rounds?

Should I just call the local charity shop and get them to take everything. Will the woman who looked like an 80s rock star come back and collect the stuff?

What about Danny and his support worker? Should I expect them to appear with a van?

I’m not holding my breath, that’s for sure.

Weekly Lesson: The Shopping Mall

For study until 11 August 2024

Subject: The Shopping Mall

Audio: On usual social media platforms.

The Shopping Mall

Until the early 80s my town had a Butcher, Fishmonger, Newsagent, a really weird shop that sold only towels and a Fruit shop. By 1984 the country was gripped with a political fervour. A new breath was sweeping over the country in the early eighties with the promise of Capitalism.

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Problems with the IELTS Speaking Test #ielts #learnenglish

IELTS stands for International English language testing system. It is different with TOEFL and TOEIC which is pretty well-known. I am not saying that IELTS is not popular, but in Indonesia, if you are applying for a job, usually some universities and enterprises uses TOEFL for the requirement. The big difference between IELTS and TOEFL […]

via My Problems on IELTS Speaking Test — PRISTA DWI AGIK

ESL Textbook: Good or Bad idea #ielts #learnenglish

(Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1NIzotU) This is quite controversial issue and there are so many reasons to not use textbooks, it’s crazy, but let’s set out the debate and I want you to tell me what you think. Pros and Cons of using textbooks in the Classroom For Pros Cons ESL Children 1. Lots of good material […]

via Using ESL textbooks – good or bad idea — AIYSHAH’S ENGLISH PAGE

The CHANGING FACE of the English Learner #ielts #learnenglish

Originally posted on AIYSHAH’S ENGLISH PAGE: (Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1Uh281B) If you are learning English right now, you are one of a new breed of English learners. You may not be living in an English speaking country and may not be working in any kind of English work, but you are interested in ‘being connected’,…

via The CHANGING FACE of the English learner — AIYSHAH’S ENGLISH PAGE

IELTS and TOEFL #ielts #toefl

Students having the desire to fly abroad for their studies has the necessity to know about these two tests. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are the English language tests that need to be cleared by international students from other countries where English is not native […]

via What is IELTS and TOEFL? — Edubilla

IELTS WRITING #ielts #learnenglish

Qualifying IELTS is very important for those people who wish to study or work abroad. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is the most important test to be cleared by those candidates, who want to take their career to the next level. IELTS is essential for those who are planning to migrate to foreign […]

via Tips to Improve IELTS Writing Skills — vipindasblog

Free IELTS Courses #ielts #learnenglish

If you are preparing to take the IELTS test and don’t want to spend a large amount of money as well as your time attending IELTS courses at Englisg centres, this course is for you. It is brought to everyone by the University of Queensland, Australia and designed for self-study. You will be supplied with […]

via IELTSx – Free IELTS online course — phunguyen

IELTS WRTING SCORE #learnenglish #ielts

In our latest article, I’ll tell you how to improve your IELTS writing score by using parallelism. What is Parallelism? Parallel means two things (lines, objects, etc) running next to each other, having the same space between them at all points. For example, look at the word “parallel” itself – the two ls in […]

via Improve Your IELTS Writing With Parallelism — tedielts

IELTS Preparation #ielts #learnenglish

What is IELTS? The English language testing system is English language proficiency test. It is a very popular test for higher education or worldwide migration. Every year million of people take the test. It is designed by experts to evaluate all of your English skills like reading listening writing and speaking and results that how […]

via Complete Guide to IELTS Preparation. — The Learnify

IELTS Questions #ielts #learnenglish

Confused? Lost? Frustrated? These are the emotional torture that IELTS candidates will face while preparing for their test. You have questions but can’t seem to find the answers on Google or from your circle of friends. You feel confused, lost, frustrated… Fortunately, Lecturers on Demand is here to help! Lecturers on Demand is an online education service […]

via Get all your IELTS questions answered! — 2newmelburnians

IELTS HELP #ielts #learnenglish #ielts

Louis Rogers is a freelance author and senior academic tutor at the University of Reading. He has worked in a number of countries and taught in various contexts ranging from young learners to Academic English. Louis is co-author of Oxford EAP B1+, Foundation IELTS Masterclass, Proficiency Masterclass and Intermediate and Upper Intermediate Skills for Business […]

via IELTS Speaking Practice: Part 3 – What’s the word? — Oxford University Press

A Second Language #ielts #learnenglish

To have another language is to possess a second soul. Charlemagne One of the things that I am most grateful for is that my parents taught my brother and I German. We’re first generation Canadian. My parents immigrated to Canada in 1960. Three years later I was born and sixteen months after that my brother […]

via Possess A Second Soul — talktodiana

Teaching in Summertime #ielts #learnenglish

Hi from Teacher Joseph!

Summer Update

Historically June July and August are quiet months. In Europe its summer and many people are away on holiday, universities are closed. Teachers are seeing a slight drop in their student bookings and have more time to come to the forums and perhaps advertise. Its also a good time to sort out websites and blogs.

If a teacher reduces a language to become a commodity (in other words if a teacher views his job only as a way to earn money) then everyone is reduced down to something which is being bought and sold, the teacher, the student  etc. and his teaching practice will not be successful. People are not commodities and language isn´t either so there needs to be a balance of “giving” as well as offering free help to those who need it. A good teacher will be raising up his students to empower them, not to try and use them to get money. its unethical. There´s good months and bad months, just like any other job.

Teachers do need to earn but they also need to realize the world is not always about buying and selling. I often help students who have a quick question or need something correcting free of charge. Having said that,   I´ve been approached by many people on Facebook  who simply don´t want to pay for lessons. Pleading with me to teach them free. I think a good teacher knows from the initial enquiry or from the first lesson who is serious about learning. There are a lot of time wasters, on both sides teachers and students. I am pleased to say though that I have met many wonderful people and I think the system of Skype Teaching works well, but people should monitor Teachers more to see exactly what their ratings are, to ensure quality at all times or even do some kind of random survey or checks.

I´m happy to help.

Joseph

What kind of learner are you? — Ace Your Class #ielts #learnenglish

Do you learn best by watching, listening, or doing something? These 3 different ways to learn are also called visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. If you know your best learning styles, you can study better; focus on materials in your styles. For example, if learning English is easier by listening, you can study with a lot […]

via What kind of learner are you? — Ace Your Class

CULTURE: Learning About Home — Matthew Cowan #ielts #learningenglish

Today is Australia Day. It’s our national day of BBQs, beers and sunburn. A celebration of the larrikin within us ending with a riot of fireworks displays in our major cities and sausage sizzles put on by local councils and community groups. Our shenanigans in public parks and pubs “Down Under” draw a global audience […]

via CULTURE: Learning About Home — Matthew Cowan