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    • Tag Archives: teaching

    New 1.5 Day Workshop Format! (and lower prices)

    Workshoplogo

    WorkshoplogoI’m trying out a new format for the Los Angeles workshops (July 13-14 and July 20-21). Instead of two full days, we’re going to do a full day on Saturday (10am-6pm) and a half day on Sunday (1:45pm-5:15pm). Prices are now $195 for both days, and if you register by the 1st of July, it’ll be $175. I’m doing this for a couple of reasons: First, my main audience in LA is classical singers, and most singers have church jobs on Sunday mornings. By starting later on Sunday, those singers won’t need to cancel work in order to attend. Second, everyone’s strapped for cash, and the idea of shelling out over $200 for a workshop is understandably difficult. By cutting back on the time, I can drop prices without cutting out too much content.

    See the new workshop format here.

    Announcing Workshops!

    Workshoplogo

    WorkshoplogoA few months ago, I put together a workshop at the University of Vienna on language learning. It was kind of a monster; we started at 9am on a Saturday and ended a bit after 7pm, with a 1 hour lunch break. 9 hours of teaching in a day. By the end, everyone was naturally a bit wiped out, but we had so much fun. I really like teaching in that format, and all the attendees really liked learning this stuff. The feedback forms were just overwhelmingly positive, and aside from a few suggestions to split the material into a 2-day workshop, it seems like we landed on a really good format for teaching my whole method in a weekend.

    So I want to do this a lot more often.

    Starting today, I’m planning two 2-Day workshops in Los Angeles for mid July, along with another 2-Day workshop in Vienna in November. I’m also interested in doing some East Coast workshops in August/September/October, though I don’t have quite the same network there as I do in Los Angeles/Vienna, so those are a little more tentative. But honestly, if I can drum up enough interest (let me know!), I’d happily flit around the world putting on workshops all the time. It’s fun to teach this stuff.

    Anyway, you’ll find all the details, along with a fancy video with clips from the Vienna workshop and comments from the feedback forms at the new Workshop section of the website. If you want to attend one, but I’m not offering one in your area, let me know. If I get enough interest in a certain region, I may set one up near you.

    Reader Q&A: Later on - C1 Fluency, Teaching, Immersion, Language Maintenance

    Reader questions, part three!  Here we talk about the later stages of the language learning process - what C1 fluency means, some of the pros and cons of immersion programs, how to teach using these methods, etc.

    Q: How long does it take to reach C1 traditionally (in school)?  Did you reach C1 before or after immersion at Middlebury? A: No idea! I took 5 years of Russian in school and maybe reached A2.  I think most people have the same experience.  At the Austrian school I teach at, students have half of their classes taught in English for 8 years, and at the end of it, some of them are near C1.  

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