Join 9,800 readers (and counting!) Dear Reader, As your trusted Sunday newsletter companion, I feel pretty much contractually obligated to start today's email with a very heartfelt: happy World Teachers' Day! I'm not one for platitudes, but if there is a day to remind ourselves that teachers are valuable, I say: why on earth not? To me, teaching is a myriad things - exhilarating, rewarding, confusing, challenging, and I could go on. But I know that it can get tiring, so sometimes it's useful...
3 days ago • 8 min read
Join 9,800 readers (and counting!) Dear Reader, My devotion to this newsletter is such that it sometimes gets into my everyday life. A good example of this has been this week. I knew I was going to write today's newsletter about the topic of habits; specifically, good habits to start incorporating into our routine that will serve us well down the line. And lo and behold, I started seeing signs of this... everywhere. First, I was asked not once, but twice, to re-explain for what I feel is the...
10 days ago • 7 min read
Dear Reader, If I could summarise this week in a word, that word would probably be... ennui. Some days, Michel from Gilmore Girls is my spirit animal Not familiar? Ennui is a word describing a mixture of boredom, dissatisfaction and tiredness. In other words: a delight. I think the reason is twofold: summer is properly ending, and I've been marking almost non-stop this week. Indeed, September is marking season in the glittering world of precarious academics: dissertation after dissertation,...
17 days ago • 7 min read
Dear Reader, 'tis that time of the year again (no, not Christmas, I'm not that big a fanatic): the sublime time of 4 seasons in a day. And I'm not talking Vivaldi, I'm talking actual meteorological manifestations of the 4 seasons in the same day. England is at the forefront of this avantgarde and since this morning has delighted me with about 10 bursts of rain, 10 of sun, and it's currently raining while sunny¹. As if I needed to get more confused than I already am - spoiler: I don't. I am...
24 days ago • 7 min read
Dear Reader, What is this feeling in my gut that tells me in no uncertain terms that I can wear t-shirts and make pitchers of lemonade as much as I like, but the truth is that the summer is pretty much over? Are you, by any chance, also burying your head in the sand and deluding yourself September isn't right around the corner? A visual representation of me right now If so, welcome to the club, my deluded friend. But the hard truth is that September always comes around, so at this time of the...
about 1 month ago • 9 min read
Dear Reader, after years of experimenting with travel, I have developed what I think is a fairly solid theory: that the time you spend on holiday is always going to feel too short¹. I feel confident sharing this with you because a) I know you're not likely to be a physics buff who will scoff at me while invoking Einstein's theory of relativity and b) you're also a teacher, so you know that nostalgic tail-end-of-summer feeling. I was here until last week, so you can't blame a girl for wanting...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Dear Reader, What. a. week! Two lessons down this week, two more to go next week: Culture in English-speaking countries is officially underway 🚀 Here's something you might not know: I was well nervous before we started. I care about my courses a lot and every new one pushes me a little more outside of my comfort zone... so I did not sleep like a baby¹ the night before the first lesson. But here's the funny thing: once I get started, I get in the zone and then I just enjoy it. I loved giving...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Join 9,700 readers: sign up for the newsletter Dear Reader, Notice something a little different? Slightly different, odd-looking email? Well, after days of banging my head against the wall (figuratively, don't worry), I've had to give up and accept the fact that the system I normally use for the newsletter wasn't going to work due to an unresolved technical bug. Always lovely when that happens, huh? But fear not, for I didn't relent: I've switched to a different system¹ for today's email,...
3 months ago • 6 min read