IH Sofia

Culture is important because expectations are important. We need to make sure what the S sees matches their expectations. (either by adjusting what they see or by adjusting their expectations). Whether a S can accept an alien idea (or at least not be offended by it) or not depends a lot on their ego permeability [...]

Introduction: (introduce your idea) 1st sentence: Introduce the topic („Many students find TOEFL essays difficult to write“) 2nd sentence: Transition to thesis statement („However, they are wrong) 3rd sentence: Thesis statement („Because TOEFL essays follow such a strict pattern, students can easily write one in 30 minutes with just a little training“)  In other words, [...]

I’ve taught lots of different people. Every student has their own motivations, needs, and preferences, but over time, I have noticed a few patterns. Which one of these is true for you? 1.   You want grammar! Maybe you think that if you understand grammar, you you’ll be able to speak the language (you’re wrong. Sorry). [...]

What is the role of a language teacher? I have noticed that one of the things that separates the good language teachers from bad is their answer to this question. Many people, remembering the teachers they had in history or math or science classes, think that a language teacher should be a source of knowledge. [...]

Motivation is the most important part of learning a language, or indeed, of doing anything difficult.  But what, specifically, are our motivations for learning foreign languages, and how can we use them to learn language more effectively? Following the work of B.F. Skinner and Albert Bandura, we know that rewards or incentives motivate us to [...]

There is a certain type of person who thinks that any change is decline. These are the people who complain about kids today, and how they don’t speak or write properly. These are the proscribe, otherwise known as the Grammar Nazis. I’ve talked about this philosophy of language before, but a recent development in Bulgarian [...]

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On our way back from my vacation in the US, my wife and I stopped in Frankfurt to see friends. We had a great time walking around the Frankfurt, a city so interesting and beautiful it distracted us from our jet-lag for nearly five hours. However, as our plane rose over the city and the [...]

Тези времена се изполват за ситуации, в които ресултатът от едно действие е поважен от самото действие.

Monday is the first of March, which means that it will soon be Baba Marta, Bulgaria’s cutest holiday.

It’s the season of Коледа (Koleda, or Christmas), we’re making cookies and singing songs, and I thought today would be a good day to write a blog about the Bulgarian tradition of Christmas caroling, Коледуване (koleduvane). Коледуването is when коледари (koledari, or carolers) come to your house and sing коледарски песни (koledarski pesni, or caroling [...]