Abbie

Write it to remember it

If you want to remember something write it down. Research has shown that students who type notes during lectures don’t remember as well as students who hand write their notes. Why is that? Researchers think because you can type faster than write, people who type tend to take verbatim notes – they write exactly whatContinue reading “Write it to remember it”

English for parents – leave it alone

You know toddlers, those little darlings aged 2-3 years old, who love to prod, poke, touch, thump and lick everything, put it in their mouths and, sometimes, spit it out again. You know parents, they are the ones constantly saying; Leave it alone! Don’t touch it! Stop it! And apologising. A lot. Leave it alone.Continue reading “English for parents – leave it alone”

Do you have grit?

This is an interesting, and short, TED Talk on why some students fail and others succeed. Have a watch and let me know what you think.

English for parents – Clean up or Tidy up?

I’m a big believer in consistency, especially around children. I think if you are going to teach them something you should use the same word for it every time. Especially around toilet training time – it’s no good telling your kid to pee one day and the next day telling him to wee. How willContinue reading “English for parents – Clean up or Tidy up?”

The magic of persistence

This video has been trending lately. In it a guy teaches himself to back flip in six hours. Watch the video hereI found it really inspiring. He doesn’t spend six hours reading a book about back flips, or watching other people back flip. He spends six long, hard hours turning somersaults, landing on his head,Continue reading “The magic of persistence”

English for parents – Come on and Hurry up

I probably use these two phrases about nine hundred times a day. Come on, put your socks on now. Hurry up, we’re waiting. Come on, let’s go. Hurry up! Come on – used for telling someone to hurry. Hurry up – telling someone to do something more quickly. Come on and hurry up meanContinue reading “English for parents – Come on and Hurry up”

Learning a language is like being on a diet.

What do language learning and diets have in common? I’ve been reading a lot recently about motivation and discipline and also willpower. Did you know willpower is finite? And flexible? Sometimes you have a lot of it, sometimes you don’t. Willpower is used to motivate dieters and language learners, but it’s not the best wayContinue reading “Learning a language is like being on a diet.”