Mr Househope and Mr Travelhope: An allegory The main message of this allegory is that you can't learn English conversation just by reading books. You have to practise speaking with other people. Download worksheet 1 (low-elementary level) Download Travelhope_WS1 Download worksheet 2 (elementary level) Download Travelhope_WS2 Ha-eun and Jin-oo prepare... Continue reading

Smartphones and English teaching. One day, I was sitting on the subway on the way to work, and I noticed a middle school boy approach his 2 friends on the platform. When he greeted them, they momentarily looked up from their cell phones, said hello, then looked down again. The... Continue reading

Reflections on teaching English to training students at a university in Korea. I’ve taught at 2 Korean universities, neither have been establishments prized for academic achievements. Most of my experience has been at a university most renowned for turning out taekwondo and judo champions. Korean universities are different from British... Continue reading

Reflections on teaching English at a Hagwon (after-school institute) in Korea. Over a decade ago, I taught English at a hagwon in Gyeongju for 5 years. Korean hagwons vary considerably. My experience may not match the next person’s. But here are some things that remain firmly embedded in my memory.... Continue reading

Reflections on teaching English to kindergartners in Korea. I taught kindergarten in Korea for 1 year. I’m really glad I did it for a year. I’m also really glad I didn’t do it for more than a year. It was a memory I cherish, but I’m not sure my sanity... Continue reading

There are many pronunciation problems Koreans have when learning English. There are sounds that occur in English and not Korean, and vice versa. Intonation is also different. These problems have been compounded by the former manner in which Korean was transliterated into English. Also, many English words are now used... Continue reading

I started to teach myself Korean in 1999 just before I left England, but in 2006 I took a year off from teaching and went to Pusan National University (PNU) for a year to study Korean full-time. My learning achievements were limited. The teachers were Korean and the students were... Continue reading

The broad spectrum of interview styles one encounters when trying to find an English teaching job in Seoul. (These interviews took place in 2009.) NUMBER 1: Secular university 20 minutes before a panel. Required to give short teaching demonstration that I had been given details of in advance. RESULT: Turned... Continue reading

A Tale of Two Students Before coming to South Korea 20 years ago, I taught for one year in a language school in London. I had a good taster there of the problems I would have teaching conversation in Korea. The students at that school were mainly Brazilian and Korean.... Continue reading

Mr Househope and Mr Travelhope. Once upon a time there lived a man called Mr Househope. He lived in a dirty, old, wooden shack with a corrugated iron roof. He dreamed of building a beautiful new home made of bricks but he had no money to pay a builder. Down... Continue reading

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For my first 18 months on Youngevity I couldn’t take the Ultimate Selenium due to a sensitivity to the bilberry juice it contains. A number of my food allergies have recently resolved and I started taking the Ultimate Selenium on 17th August 2014. At this point in my recovery I... Continue reading

I was planning to wait 3 months before I did another video to compare my walking ability but I've made significant progress so I've made another video after 6 weeks. Continue reading

I've got my height back! Continue reading

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This is my current walking ability. I still have a slight twist but I'm now walking at a reasonable pace with no pain and I can keep going for hours. It's my intention to record my walking again after another 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and a year to... Continue reading

Welcome to the ‘There’s plenty of mobility nutrition for dogs, but I’m human’ blog. The reason for the strange title is this: If you do an internet search for mobility nutrition you will find lots of websites about dogs but not too many about humans. When I found myself having... Continue reading