The English you never learned in school — English. The language of twelve verb tenses, twenty-six letters, a thousand exceptions, and a million mysteries. Two decades ago, at the beginning of my English teaching career, I made the same assumption thousands of other native English speakers had done before. Since I could speak and write well, I could…

Plus 5 Language Learning Tips That You Can Actually Ace — Many moons ago, I decided to delay the inevitability of getting a grown-ass woman job and explore South America for the year. My travel plan was so loose that it needed a belt. …

Meet my 3 best friends — With all life’s curveballs, we can use all the help we can get. So, when you dream of building a house, you use a trusted hammer. So, if you aspire to be a clothing designer, you had better invest in a sewing machine. Now, when you decide that your passion…

Why is it that Chinese people frequently excel at math? Why are some Indigenous peoples, such as those in Australia, less likely to get lost? While brain size or usage, genetics, or socialization may play some role, the language you speak helps to determine your skill set and shapes the…

Sending all skinny dentists to heaven — Move aside Keto, Paleo, and Polio (minus the Polio). Step off that throne, Atkins, Dukan, and Jenny Craig. And change addresses, Mediterranean and South Beach! …

English explained: ‘’this’ vs. ‘that’ vs. ‘which’ — There is one thing we can agree on about English. We can all agree that it has a complicated set of syntactical rules with an intricate grammar system. Aside from this, English is just about as disagreeable as two bickering octogenarians who’ve been married for too long. Now, if I…

The simple secret in pronouncing everyday numbers — When we spell out a name, it is common to use the NATO phonetic alphabet since so many letters sound alike (in other words, sounds that are differentiated by a single discrete sound). For example, “My name is Shira. …

Validating all compulsive public shouters trying to learn English — Imagine. It’s 1999. It’s China. There is a lot of global uncertainty. Will all global bank accounts crash when January 1, 2000 rolls forward? Will time just stop altogether at the turn of the century? Fast forward….nope. All good. But one thing was for certain even in 1999; English was…

And 3 lessons learned when these things do happen — It is truly beyond me how I found myself walking for hours alongside a dromedary through the thick Egyptian desert sand, heading to a rumored hippie festival in the middle of the desert. You couldn’t have pinched me hard enough to ensure this reality was not a desert mirage. But…