lauranic.languages

Hi all,

I can't believe autumn is already here! 🍂
Now that the term is about to start, I look back and reflect on what the summer has been like.

The summer has been a time for rest, family, and friends, as well as sunshine ☀️, exploring new places and swims 🏊‍♀️.
The summer has brought wonderful celebrations but also plenty of losses.
The summer has been full of trips by plane, train and bus to spend quality time with loved ones 🫂.
The summer months have also been full of preparation for new and exciting projects, meetings, and long hours sitting in front of my laptop 😵‍💫💻.

I'm ready for Term 1! 😉

Are you ready for autumn?

Hi everyone! How would you finish the sentence: Summer is time for...?
For me it's time for family 🫂, sunshine☀️, swimming pool 🏊‍♀️, sunsets🌅, summer fruits 🍒🍉🥭, and putting my feet up 💆🏻‍♀️, among other things.
I hope you find the time to slow down and reset!

Hi everyone!
Today is World Refugee Day. 🌎🌍
On this day, the World honors the courage and resilience shown by refugees who were forced to spend difficult days and nights in their home country through no fault of theirs.
World Refugee Day is observed as a day to remember all those people who were once happy in their native land, but then were forced to leave everything behind and move elsewhere.

Hi everyone, it's been a while!
Do you struggle with pronunciation? 🗣 I hear you! 😅 Try to read this poem (I don't know the author) and have fun! 😉

Happy international women's day!
Celebrate every important woman in your life: mothers, sisters, other relatives, friends and partners!
Think about the impact each one of them has had in your life! 🌾

Happy World Book Day! (UK) 📚

Several years ago I discovered this photo called Endless Stories, by .joh
I love how it transports you to the magic one can experience with stories and books.

📚 Do you remember any of your childhood favourites?
I remember enjoying several books from the 'Choose your own Adventure' series.

📚 Do you have a favourite book? Or a favourite author?
I love Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns as well as And the Mountains Echoed. Emotionally difficult to read, as they portray life in Afghanistan, but wonderful.

📚 What's the last book you've read?
That would be The Fair Botanists by Sara Sheridan. It's set in Edinburgh in the 1820s. If you still haven't read it, I highly recommend you do!

A different language is a different vision of life. 🗣🌍

Have fun exploring and experiencing different ones! 🌍🚶🏽🌎🚶🏽‍♀️🌏🚶🏾‍♂️

Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year! 🎊🎆

Materials taken from: http://chinesenewyear.net

Buongiorno!
Oggi un post in italiano!
Conoscete la canzone Meraviglioso di Domenico Modugno? 🎶 C'è anche una versione dei Negramaro. 🎵
Io ho scoperto questa canzone qualche anno fa, e mi piace tantissimo da allora. 💙
Ogni tanto la ascolto e mi aiuta a ricordare di guardare intorno a me... 🏖☀️❤🌅🫂🧒
Se guardi intorno a te, cosa ti sembra meraviglioso?
🌱🌄⭐️🌍💜🫂🎶
Materiali tratti da: www.italianoperstranieri.loescher.it
Ecco il link per la versione dei Negramaro: https://youtu.be/EikicSEKi4M
E qui la versione originale di Domenico Modugno: https://youtu.be/a--FJ5g6b_w

Buon fine settimana! 🎶🎵

Hi everyone!

Another year has gone by with its exciting & happy moments, but also with its fears, tears & frustrations.

I'm grateful for all of you who are in my life: family, friends, colleagues & students.
I'm thankful for the moments shared with you: a text or two, a walk, laughter, tears of joy or sadness, a film, a phone or video call, an arty moment, a lightbulb moment, even a fight that's made me grow, a trip, a meal and dozens of lessons & meetings.

I'm grateful because you make my life richer & more exciting.

Have a wonderful 2023!

Merry Christmas everyone! 🌲
I hope you have a wonderful day, however you celebrate.

Hi everyone!
Wishing you a happy St Andrew's Day! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Hi everyone! Wishing you a happy St Andrew's Day! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I hope this is your experience with any language you're learning!

It's astonishing how much enjoyment one can get out of a language that one understands imperfectly. Basil Gildersleeve

Have a wonderful weekend. ☺️

Hi everyone!

What's the most important thing in communication 👥️️?
Probably speaking clearly 🗣, so people can understand, and listening carefully 👂, paying attention to what people are saying.

When we focus on pronunciation, we often try and sound more like native speakers, however, native speakers of English are only 20% of the people who speak the language, and the other 80% speak it as a second, third, fourth language. 🌎🌍🌏

So what's important when we try to learn pronunciation?
Being aware of the fact that people pronounce 📢 words very differently depending on where they come from. Not only if they're from the UK or the States, or if they're from different regions within a country, but also if they're from India, Spain, Poland, France, etc. 🗺
Let's promote and embrace diversity. 🫂

If people pronounce 📢 the 'r', the 'th-' and even the vowels differently, does it affect communication? Most of the time it doesn't.

So let's focus on things that research has shown actually help with communication and understanding in English:
* Long and short vowels.
* /b/ & /v/
* Aspiration (air coming from our mouth) with : /p/, /t/, /k/ and not with: /b/, /d/, /g/.
* Consonant clusters (groups of consonants).
* Nuclear stress in a sentence.
* And the ability to adapt our pronunciation to make sure people understand us.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Saddened to hear about Queen Elizabeth II's passing.

I never expected as a foreigner living in the UK that I would get emotional about the Queen's death, but I am.

Even if one doesn't necessarily support the monarchy, it's impossible not to recognise her 70 years of service.

She probably made plenty of mistakes and wrong decisions throughout her life, but she has had a positive impact on so many people.

Thinking of her family and everyone who knew her.

Hi everyone!

I feel privileged to have had such an unexpected long break this year.

The end of August 🗓 brings the start of a new academic year 📚 and all the planning✏️🗒 that comes with it.

The beginning of each term and the start of new courses bring extra work in the shape of emails 📧 , meetings, scheduling new and old classes 📋 , reorganising materials 🗂 and a lot of planning 📝 .

I'm looking forward to meeting new students and seeing again the old ones! ☺️

How are you enjoying your summer? ☀️🍉🍹

Hi everyone, the end of the academic year is always hectic, but I'm grateful to be able to slow down a bit 📖😴, enjoy quality time with the people I love 💙 and enjoy the summer season for a few weeks ☀️🍉. What are your plans for the summer? 😎

Hi everyone!

What stereotypes are there about your city and your country?
Here are some Scottish, English, Italian and Spanish stereotypes.

Does everyone drink whisky in Scotland? Do people always drink tea at 5pm in England? Do Italians eat pasta every day? Do all Spaniards dance flamenco?

The only way to really understand the culture and traditions of a country is by interacting with the local people.

Have a wonderful weekend!

📷 freepik.com

Happy Easter!
Do you have any childhood memories celebrating Easter?
I remember when I was a child we used to paint eggs after having emptied them making two little holes.
I also remember once some of my relatives were visiting and brought this huge chocolate egg that looked enormous to me!
What are your childhood memories during Easter? 🐣🌸✝️

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!

Enjoy Spring! ☀️❄🌱🌷🌦🌈

Happy International Women's Day to every woman around the world!

Let me just share with you an interesting video about Women's day:

https://youtu.be/0PzWnljCpL0

No to war, always! ☮

No to war around the world! 🏳🙏🏼

Let me share with you what I found out this week about the origin of the peace symbol. ☮

Stay safe and support affected communities however you can.

Hi everyone!

We've been talking about weird food in class today. What's the weirdest food you've ever eaten?
The weidest food I've ever eaten is Japanese food natto: fermented soya beans. They weren't my favourite. 🤢😅 I've also tried Japanese dried squid with vinegar, and as far as I remember, it wasn't too bad. 😊

But out of all the things mentioned in the text, I'd only be willing to try haggis! 😅

Are you braver/more adventurous than me?

Text: www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishteens

Hi everyone!
Are you celebrating Burns Night?
Are you eating haggis, drinking whisky🥃 and dancing Ceilidh?
Here's some information about Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, who celebrated Scottish culture and language in his work.
Here's also part of his poem Address to a Haggis in Scots, and the translation in English, which is recited before every Burns Supper.
Have a wonderful night celebrating everything Scottish! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Hi everyone!

Are you unsure about your level❓
It's often difficult for students to really know what their level is.
An experienced teacher will be able to help you with that.

If you would like test your level online to get an idea, you might want to start with the General English test:

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/test-your-english/

Tests are never 100% accurate, so don't let this discourage you if it's not what you were expecting.
Challenge yourself to find new ways to improve your skills❗

Happy New Year everyone! 😊

May we learn to be grateful for the little and the big things 🤗.

May we find projects that excite us and surround ourselves with people that fill our hearts 💙.

Have a wonderful 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣2️⃣❗

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄

Having a multicultural family, we have different traditions from around the world. 🌎🌍 From eating panettone and hallacas, to having turrón and polvorones, and listening to aguinaldos and carols.

How do you celebrate Christmas? What traditions do you have? 🎇🎅🏼

Have a wonderful Christmas season whether you have always celebrated Christmas or it's the first time you're celebrating it! 🌟🎄☃️🌟

Hi everyone!

Americans celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday, and although I don't celebrate it, I think it's a great opportunity to stop and appreciate what we have.

I'm sure all of us have felt overwhelmed, frustrated or sad at some point in the last year with the whole Covid situation. It has affected our health, relationships, work, free time, and how we go about everyday life!

However, let's pause and think about what we are grateful for. I'll start!

I'm grateful for...
My parents, siblings & extended family around the world.
Friends, colleagues & people I've crossed paths with throughout the years.
You've inspired me in so many ways! 😉💙

I'm grateful for...
Smiley eyes, laughs & hugs. 😷😄
Listening to music in the morning, and watching series in the evening. 🎧🎶💻🎥
Paintings, photos, and crafts. 🎨📷🪅
Flowers, trees, sunrises, sunsets, the moon, rainbows, and blue skies with stunning clouds! 🌺🌳☀️🌙🌈🌤☁️

I'm grateful for...
The look of a student who's understood something or who's fascinated by the topic we're discussing in class. 😊
Struggles that are making me grow. 🙃
The possibility to travel and visit family this Christmas. 🛫🫂 🎄
A warm bed to sleep in every day. 🛏
Things & people that open our eyes to this world's needs, struggles & beauty. 🌎🌍🌏

What are you grateful for?

Hi everyone!
It's been a while. 🙋‍♀️
This week I'm speaking about culture shock with some of my students. It's such an interesting topic and so many of us have experienced it: feeling confused, shyness, headaches, insomnia, feeling overwhelmed, misunderstood, lonely, homesick, etc. 🙃😖🤕
Once we adjust and accept the new culture, we feel more at home, despite being aware of the differences. 😅🤷🏻‍♀️
Have you heard of re-entry shock? Our experience abroad changes us and we often feel like strangers when/if we go back home.😥🤦‍♀️
Have you ever experienced culture shock? What about re-entry shock?

Hi everyone!

I believe talking about the local and national culture in class is essential, it helps understand better the local people.

There are plenty of famous myths and legends in Scotland: from Nessie 🦕 (popular around the world), to the Kelpies🐴, the Selkies 🧜🏻‍♀️🦭, and Ghillie Dhu 🧚🏽‍♂️.

Storytelling is such an important part of Scottish culture 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 even nowadays: having the ability to tell a good story and keeping people engaged as you tell them about something that happened to you is of great importance to help bring people together and for entertainment.

Here's a link for you to read more about myths and legends in Scotland:

https://ebooks.visitscotland.com/ghosts-myths-legends/ 🐙🌪🐍

Centuries ago these stories were the way to pass on knowledge, to try to explain how the world works, sometimes even to try and control people's behaviour. 👻🐲👑

Can you think of a myth or legend from your country?

Hi everyone!

I hope you've had a great weekend.😊

Here's another one from The how to be British collection, by Martyn Ford and Peter Legon.
This one focuses on how to get around in English.

If you're a foreigner living in the UK, you will have noticed that 'sorry' is an extremely important word to use in so many contexts! 😅 Make sure you use it often!

Have a wonderful week.

Hi everyone,

A few days ago I discovered this artist from Afghanistan and her beautiful poignant art. 💙

How does her art make you feel?
Do you have the vocabulary you need to express it?

One of my tips to learn a language and develop your vocabulary is to read as much and as widely as you can. 📚📰📱
Read and listen about things you are passionate about.
Follow artists and causes you love, 🔉🎧 listen to podcasts and Ted talks about topics you're interested in, read articles about social justice ✊🏽, sustainability, art 🎨, equality, human rights, recycling ♻️, psychology, women's rights, politics, nature 🌱, travel 🌍, etc.

If you're interested in something, you're going to want to talk about it with others 👥, so be prepared to do it!

Art by:

Hi everyone!

Did you watch the Olympics a few weeks ago? 🏄‍♀️🏊‍♀️
Well... the Paralympics have started today!🏓🧑‍🦽🤺

I just wanted to share with you a video that shows how medals for both games have been made sustainably🥇🥈🥉:
https://youtu.be/63osCv1W_8s

Why not also check out this interesting article about the Paralympics? ✅
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/58306545

And the website where you can find everything happening in Tokyo 2020:
https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020

Have a wonderful week.

Tokyo 2020
Paralympic Games

Hi everyone!
It's been a while... I hope you are all enjoying the summer, wherever you are.
What comes to mind when you think of summer?
Depending on where you live, and if you're working, different things might come to mind.

For me summer means: family, rest, sunshine 🌞, but also rain 🌧, cherries 🍒 , excursions, trips, and preparation for the start of the next academic year.

Useful vocabulary:
*sunnies: sunglasses 🕶
*popsicles / ice lollies: flavoured ice on a stick
*s'mores: a campfire treat typical in the US & Canada, consisting of toasted marshmallows and chocolate 🍫 sandwiched between 2 biscuits

Hi everyone,
I hope you've had a good week.

This past week has been Refugee Week and I have participated in different events that have helped me see the work that is being done particularly in Edinburgh/Scotland:
from learning about STEPPS (Syrian teenager tutoring and educational programmes) 👌https://www.ed.ac.uk/chaplaincy/refugee-work/syrian-teenagers-tutoring/the-story-of-stteps to attending an Edinburgh City Mission event reflecting on displacement 🤝https://www.edinburghcitymission.org.uk/where-to-find-help/salaam-refugees-and-asylum-seekers/ and finally listening to Bilingualism Matters' latest podcast 👍https://mlstpodcast.com/

The theme of Refugee Week 2021, ‘We Cannot Walk Alone’, is an invitation to extend your hand to someone new. Someone who is outside your current circle, has had an experience you haven’t, or is fighting for a cause you aren’t yet involved in. 🤝✊👥👥
https://refugeeweek.org.uk/theme-of-refugee-week-2021-we-cannot-walk-alone/ 👣👣

Have a lovely Sunday!

Why learn languages❓
Learning a language increases your cultural understanding of other people and how they see the world. It creates a bridge between your world and other people's world, helping build tolerance. 🌍🌉🌎🌉🌏

Why learn languages❓
As a result of learning a new language
and new ways of thinking, you become a more effective communicator, and you are able to create connections with a broader range of people. 👩🏽👨🏻👱👴🏿👵🏼👧🏼👳

Hi everyone!

Most people I know are bilinguals or multilinguals❗
It is estimated that 50% of the world's population is bilingual, although the percentage of bilinguals changes depending on the part of the world we talk about. 🌍🌎🌏

What languages do you speak? Why learn languages? What benefits come from speaking more than one language? 🗣️

Please leave your thoughts and comments here. 😊

Hi everyone,
The weather has been so changeable this spring. 🌤️🌧️🌈❄️☀️⛈️🌫️ The flowers are the only thing that give away it's spring. 🌱🌼🌷🌸🏵️ But I live in Scotland, don't I? 🤷
Have a lovely weekend!