Tag Archives: tefl

Does dubbing TV harm language learning?

Posted on 18/05/2013 by haonowshaokao

As anyone who’s attended my “pet hates” English corner will know, I’m not a fan of dubbed TV and films. As an example of a pet hate it works well – it’s accepted by society at large, but annoys me … Continue reading →

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False friends in English and Mandarin.

Posted on 03/09/2012 by haonowshaokao

“False friends” are words in different languages that are similar but have different meanings. From wikipedia: False friends (French: faux amis) are pairs of words or phrases in two languages or dialects (or letters in two alphabets) that look or … Continue reading →

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Mind Your Language – Series 1, Episode 2

Posted on 31/10/2011 by haonowshaokao

The Programme It’s a truism amongst writers that the first episode of a sitcom or drama series will be the worst. So much time is spent on set-pieces introducing the characters that little time is left for a decent story … Continue reading →

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Mind Your Language – Series 1, Episode 1

Posted on 03/10/2011 by haonowshaokao

A passing mention in a David Mitchell column this weekend started me thinking about the 1970s British sitcom Mind Your Language. As it was cancelled before I was born and not that suitable for repeat showings I knew little about … Continue reading →

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English in China: Accent

Posted on 06/05/2011 by haonowshaokao

One of the most disheartening things about English teaching in China is the way that gut instincts and what we call “first language interference” are allowed to interfere with education almost completely unfettered by awareness of what English actually is. … Continue reading →

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Speeches and donkey burgers

Posted on 22/04/2011 by haonowshaokao

It’s hard to teach a TEFL course in China when no Chinese know or care what a TEFL course is, and anyone with white skin and a native-ish accent is considered qualified enough to be a university teacher, so our … Continue reading →

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A page from ‘English for Hotel Workers’

Posted on 16/12/2010 by haonowshaokao

I’ll start to write things on here again in a week or so when I finally get a break. Most likely I’ll write about the things which are currently keeping my busy. And other things. In the meantime here’s a … Continue reading →

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What I do for a living

Posted on 12/08/2010 by haonowshaokao

After five years of on-and-off English teaching in the Czech Republic, the UK and China I came back to the UK in search of something to study. A year-and-a-half later (the year-and-a-half when I didn’t write anything here) I had … Continue reading →

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Applied Linguistics As A Foreign Language – English Education in China

Posted on 24/03/2010 by haonowshaokao

This is an article I wrote for the BCALS Newsletter. If you are not an applied linguist your mileage may vary. To an outsider the more practical theories of SLA may seem obscure and parochial, but their influence lives on in a … Continue reading →

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My MA Dissertation – The full, unexpurgated version

Posted on 18/11/2009 by haonowshaokao

In the interests of posting everything I do on a single blog, here’s something which will be unreadable for most people; my MA dissertation, finished a month-and-a-half ago, and now handed in, marked and returned (I passed, by the way). … Continue reading →

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