Will Slade's Language Teaching Blog

Places to see art and beautiful sunsets: I think seeing beautiful places and art is valuable for its own merits, but I would also highly recommend these activities to someone who is visiting or living in Austin and working on their English. These can be inspirational and they can lend themselves to meeting people, making friendships, and engaging in stimulating conversations! - Mozart’s Cafe (nice coffee, snacks, and sunset!) - The Blanton’s Ellsworth Kelly installation (new art space/building.  Closed on Mondays) - The Oasis (beautiful sunset at this restaurant… I’ve never been there; it’s a little far northwest on Lake Travis, but people recommend it highly) - The MexicArte Museum displays Mexican art and culture in Downtown Austin - “Skyspace” art installation by James Turrell on UT Campus in the Student Services Building (location) .   Go at sunrise or sunset for a really amazing light and color experience. - More Art recommendations ...

Learning a new language is hard.  If you have money to devote to learning English, I highly recommend you study where I work!  UT ESL is awesome! However, sometimes paying for courses is not possible.  Austin provides many free or almost-free opportunities to learn English.  Here is an incomplete list.  The Austin Public Library has a great list of ESL Classes around town.  I will replicate it in part below, with my own commentary, but their list is more complete. UT hosts a free ESL course that is taught by master teachers and practicing teacher interns.  They provide a free class that the students can practice teaching, and ESL students can get an excellent, challenging free classes, Monday through Friday from 5:00 - 7:00.  Space is very limited, so watch the website or get on the e-mail list for information on how to register. Manos de Cristo provides almost-free ($20/semester) classes with morning and evening schedules.  They...

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...

Two things are reinforcing my interest in Bilingual Education: I am substituting for the H.O.L.A. program, a non-profit that is trying to help implement two-way dual language programs at campuses around Austin, 2. an awesome class in Bilingual Teacher Leadership with Deb Palmer and the Proyecto Maestria group. From that group I learned about the Daily Five , a program for helping kindergartners learn to read. My classmates say that their students have learned to read more quickly and successfully with the Daily Five than with any other program they've used. More links soon.