Reality on a Stick

You REALLY should listen to this. I might not be in the wrong line of work after all!

Just click the photo and press the play icon [on the British Council podcast site].

I have to say I am pretty stoked that David Graddol will be one of the PAC7 at JALT2008 plenary speakers this November in Tokyo. He will be sponsored by the British Council, thanks to my buddy Alan Mackenzie of BC, Thailand, who I was able to bring onto the committee as one of this year’s conference chairs.

Alan was one of my mentors when I first got involved in ELT and it’s very cool to still be finding ways to work together, even long after his departure from Japan. It’s really amazing how much ground he and I can cover in a few late nights of heavy beer consumption once every year or so, usually somewhere in Thailand around the time of the ThaiTESOL conference. I really relish those times, because we usually coordinate to meet up with my pals Ted, Juanita, and Stacey, too. Oodles and oodles of witty banter.

What strikes me now is that most of the important connections I’ve made in ELT have occurred in similar circumstances during/following teacher gatherings near and far, so I guess I better not stop drinking anytime soon;-) And speaking of excellent friends in language teaching, I just had my mind blown by Tom Merner, and Mayuka Habbick, who were both kind enough to participate in a teacher training seminar I have been organizing. They both knocked the participants’ socks off. Richard Graham of Genki English is coming out this weekend. Nothing like sharing perspectives with the leaders in the field. I really have nothing to complain about these days:-D

Steven

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