Will Slade's Language Teaching Blog

My friend Suzanne Mateus writes a blog that deals with challenges and opportunities of bilingual parenting in the United States (and more specifically in Austin).  Check out Interpretations of a Bilingual Life !

Lou Rawls performed this popular classic using modals in the past .  His title "If I Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda" uses an informal contraction for "If I could have (done something), I should have (done it), I would have (done it)."  He is using the modals in the past to talk about the regret when someone realizes that they have made a mistake but it is too late. This popular song by Cheap Trick uses infinitives patterns and verbs in the past tense in an interesting way.  It also includes some  puns or jokes with the double meaning of words like "want." The lyrics to this Smokey Robinson and the Miracles song are very simple, but they include a nice use of an idiomatic phrase "get a hold on someone"... They use it in kind of a unique way, that seems to mean that the singer is very attached to his or her lover.   (Of course, this is different than to "get a hold of someone" which means to contact them, especially by phone.)  There are...

Cuando visité a Denton la semana pasada, me contó un amigo que usa mucho este blog para sacar práctica en el español.  Me inspiró meter otros sitios para que practiquemos todos: Encontré algunos videos que se tratan de la educación temprana (por profesores en Harvard) . También este video en Youtube me interesó:   educación y teatro del oprimido (las ideas de Boal y Freire aplicadas en Bolivia)  . BrainPop  es un sitio educacional que me parece chido.  Es fácil inscribir para accesarlo gratis, aunque sea temporal.  Tiene videos interesante; acabo de ver uno que se trata de "bullying." Un estudiante de Arabia Saudita me preguntó de las influencias arabes en el lenguaje español .  Encontramos este árticulo en Wikipedia. Por favor, comparte cualquier corrección u oportunidades adicionales para practicar.  Puede usarw la sección "Comments."

One of my current students is focusing on verb tenses, and he asked for some resources and advice.  Here's what I sent him: For practicing verb tenses , here are some websites:  http://www. englishpage.com/verbpage/ verbtenseintro.html http://www.eflnet.com/grammar/ verbtense.php These should be good opportunities for specific practice on these skills; however, continued conversation and speaking practice is my number one recommendation.   Have you downloaded the  Audacity  program?  That is a great way to record yourself speaking and listen to yourself or send to an English teacher (like me) for feedback.  Obviously I am limited in how much I can listen to and comment on, but I will do what I can.  : ) Also, listening to  esl-lab.com  and noticing the use of tenses will help raise your awareness of correct usage.  As you pay attention to the tenses, you will find it more natural to use them in the standard way.  and notic...

If you're like me and study French, you might be interested in connections between our city and nation and the French.  Here are a few sites I ran across that might interest you.  The first is a party that's this coming week! Bastille Day Celebration on July 16 at the French Legation:  http://www.afaustin.org/ Brief history of cities with French names in the US :  http://nclrc.org/cultureclub/speakers_corner/Americas-French-Heritage.pdf American students of French writing poetry:  http://frenchcinquains.blogspot.com/

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CSX9YHL  

Austin is famous for having a lot of stuff going on.  How can you find out about it?  How can you access it?  This post will brainstorm different activities that I enjoy, and give links where you can find more information.  Search any of them in google maps  and click on "BUS" to figure out the best bus route to get there. Improvised theater can be really fun.  There are many theaters, like the Hideout , the Cold Town Theater , and Salvage Vanguard .  You can watch hilarious performances, and you can sign up to take an improv theater class -- most of these are attended by American English-speakers who are practicing to speak spontaneously. There are lots of outdoor places to swim in Austin.   Barton Springs and Deep Eddie are two of the most popular places to swim in Austin.  They are both natural water, but Barton Springs has more plants.  Big Stacie is a free pool in South Austin, and there are lots of pools at apartment comple...