I haven’t had much time to write here recently, and part of that is due to the Distance DELTA. Just this past month, I’ve gone to the moon and back with teacher development. I video-recorded three of my lessons for feedback from a teacher trainer; submitted detailed lesson plans including aims, objectives, and assessments; wrote… Continue reading Doing the Distance DELTA: My Yearlong Journey to Power-Up my Teaching Practice
Author: Michael
Fieldnote #2: When a Pokémon Master knows 17th-Century French Literature
I’ve recently been playing through the French version of Pokemon Omega Ruby for Nintendo 3DS— partly for the nostalgia/escapism, but also as a means to improving my French reading. For those who aren’t familiar, there’s a place called Maison de Combat (“Battle Maison” in the English version, strangely enough), where you can enter 20-round tournaments… Continue reading Fieldnote #2: When a Pokémon Master knows 17th-Century French Literature
To Buenos Aires
Te echo de menos, Amor de Verano— Even if I struggle to speak of three days We spent in love strolling across Summer afternoons in Italy and France In t-shirts and gym shorts, still I Whisper your name beneath blankets Of strangers. We lay on the grass behind Gardens of roses and flowers of metal,… Continue reading To Buenos Aires
Fieldnote #1: On the French verb ”arriver” + the creative life
In French, the verb arriver can describe both a physical arrival as well as a figurative one. For a long time, I’ve wanted to experience both of these feelings in my travel and creative life. “Je suis arrivé à écrire une histoire”: I’ve managed/succeeded to write a story. This is something I had always dreamt… Continue reading Fieldnote #1: On the French verb ”arriver” + the creative life
Linguacultural Lessons from the Jula of Odienné: Exploring Côte d’Ivoire’s Northwest
Lesson #1: I jatigi ye jɔn ye? Who is your host? There were two major reasons I traveled to the north, and neither of them involved getting stranded in a dirt field. As I looked down at my map, I realized I had miscalculated. Odienné’s tiny airport was about an hour’s walk to the city… Continue reading Linguacultural Lessons from the Jula of Odienné: Exploring Côte d’Ivoire’s Northwest
How to Learn Nouchi like an Ivorian
On dit quoi? At first glance, Côte d’Ivoire’s colorful argot can be difficult to decipher. Some call it a dialect, some call it a creole, while others may consider it a completely different language. No matter which way you see it, you’ll certainly hear it spoken in Abidjan and many other parts of the country.… Continue reading How to Learn Nouchi like an Ivorian
That One Time I Got Arrested in West Africa (and my first experiences of culture shock)
I. Silence Speaks Louder than Words It is 2AM and I am sitting barefoot in a white plastic chair. Behind me, two men, armed with shotguns, tower in silence. An old man sits across from me. He stares at my face, then at the items on the table, and then he stares back at me… Continue reading That One Time I Got Arrested in West Africa (and my first experiences of culture shock)
The 5 Principles for Learning a Language Effectively
How do you learn a language effectively? Language learning is one of my greatest passions in life. Up to this point, I’ve studied 13 languages, and I’ve used two of them at a high communicative level. Even though I can’t claim near-native fluency in any of them (yet), I’m happy to say that learning a… Continue reading The 5 Principles for Learning a Language Effectively
My First Five Days Living in Yamoussoukro
Dimanche The bus ride to Yamoussoukro takes four hours, and five if you count the time waiting for the bus to depart. After one week of orientation in Abidjan, you would think I’d have relaxed my Westernized conception of time. But I still sit in my exhaustion and hunger and an overwhelming sense of ”Finally!”… Continue reading My First Five Days Living in Yamoussoukro
My 2021-2022 Individualized Development Plan (IDP): Mid-term Update
There were a lot of reasons why I didn’t want to start a blog, and a lot of those reasons had to do with fear. I was afraid that my ideas or experiences would be attacked. I was afraid of putting in all of the work for very little in return. I was afraid that… Continue reading My 2021-2022 Individualized Development Plan (IDP): Mid-term Update