Tag Archives: ESL
The Case Of The Haunted Windshield
When I was a kid, one of my favorite jokes was about the Viper. A lady in a big house all alone gets a call from “the viper” telling her he’ll see her tomorrow… then tonight… then in 1 hour… … Continue reading
Grammar In The Projects
I got a couple weeks of work teaching at a GED program run by the local housing authority. The funding situation hcnaged at the last minute, so my starting situation was a bit disorganized, but not so bad that someone … Continue reading
End Of Part Two
I’m still in Beijing, but I’m getting into an East Coast sleep pattern already. It comes from lying in bed wondering exactly what I’m going to do with myself next, and then waking up to an anxious countdown of time … Continue reading
Reasons To Work In China
In the belief that such things are very Western, my school encourages me to wear jeans, sneakers and t-shirts to work. Subscribe to Violet Eclipse by Email
Fengtai Scavenger Hunt
Sunday afternoon, Stick and I went out to find a list of fruits and vegetables for his class on food words. He was planning to bring in examples of the kids’ vocabulary words, to give the kids a break from … Continue reading
My Sister The Pirate
My sister Bethie just returned from three months of sailing the high seas, so naturally when I got to talk to her tonight, I asked her all about her pirate life. “Did you call your friends, ‘me hearties’? Do you … Continue reading
English Assignment
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Universal Behavior
I did some Mad Libs with my new teenage class. This is secretly a test to sort out English speakers from nodders. I can’t even fault them for faking it… I spent most of my high school chem class pretending … Continue reading
Only In China
I applied today for a quick tutoring gig, the ad said the school wanted someone to tutor some high-schoolers in a prep class for the AP English test. The interviewer told me about some problem students, and asked me how … Continue reading
What My Dad Would Call “Logistics”
So I’ve narrowed it down to two possible jobs. One job is Singapore Academy, with small classes, teenage students, all the things I want, but they weren’t able to meet my salary expectation, and between losing our double housing bonus … Continue reading
