by Adam David Broughton | | Education, Language analysis, Motivation, Practice
It’s so true. The best classroom learners generally really annoy and frustrate traditional teachers. After all, the teacher has prepared their (possibly irrelevant) material to try to put into their students’ heads, planned the class with what they’ll say and when...
by Adam David Broughton | | Education
Hi there! Here comes part 3, where we get stuck into the last and easiest problem to solve: time. Want to refresh your memory? Here’s part 1, and here’s part 2. If you haven’t read them, give them a once-over, and start on this post after. There’s one thing that...
by Adam David Broughton | | Education
Hi guys! Welcome to part 2 of The problem with English classes, where I go deep into the major obstacles that impede a learner’s progress in a classroom environment. Today, we’ll be looking at the role of the teacher, and that of the learner. If you haven’t read the...
by Adam David Broughton | | Education
I got a message from my dear friend Leticia last night. She asked me the following question: “Hi Adam! I’m wanting to improve my English. I’m thinking of going to English classes again. Do you think it’s worth it?” My answer to her question is in the next three posts...
by Adam David Broughton | | Practice
In 2007, a man named Dave Farrow broke the world memory record for the most decks of cards memorised in a single sighting. 59 decks of cards to be precise. That’s a total of 3,068 individual cards which took him 14 hours to memorise, and 9 hours to recall....
by Adam David Broughton | | Uncategorized
These very two things: learning a new language and losing weight through dieting, are a lot of people’s thorn in their side. Many people battle through life, swearing to themselves that they will do one, or the other, or often both. Many people, unfortunately, fail to...
by Adam David Broughton | | Practice, Psychology of learning
Now I don’t want the title of this post to demotivate anyone. If you’re reading these words, then that means you didn’t jump out of the window in desperation. Well done! I titled it this way because if you really understand how the brain “learns” a language, this will...
by Adam David Broughton | | Motivation, Practice
One of the first things I tell my students is precisely what the title of this post is trying to say: “These are not magic classes”. It shocks them at first but I keep telling them. Then they realise what I mean. Sometimes they get frustrated by this statement. The...
by Adam David Broughton | | Practice
Let’s do a little exercise for a moment. A bit of ‘mindfulness’ before we get into the meat of the post. Take a deep breath. Relax your body and your mind. Imagine a flowing river in a valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Wild flowers growing on the banks of...
by Adam David Broughton | | Education
“What on Earth are they?” Esther asked me. We were moving in together and I was carrying a big box full of unopened letters. “Bank statements,” I replied. “Why have you got a box full of unopened bank statements?” she asked, looking rather confused. “Erm…because...
