I do have some exciting news to share with you about what's happening from mid-March onward.

I've accepted an online English language teaching position with EF English Live. The job will be based in Bali, Indonesia. After an initial period of training in systems, procedures, etc. and a month of online work based in the English First office in Denpasar, I should be authorised by them to work from home, which I'm planning I will make in Ubud. The position's focus will be mostly conversational English, either individually or in small groups, via the Internet.

If you know Bali, you will be aware that Ubud is its art, dance, music and cultural heart. It's also famous for its rice terraces and expansive views, not to mention the book and film "Eat, Pray, Love" which has made it a tourist draw-card.

After sorting through my health issues, I'm anticipating that my new home will be more stress-free. I've been there twice already and have a reasonably good idea of what I might expect. Amongst other things, I'm hoping for some massages, meditation, yoga, and to learn some Indonesian language. I might also see if I can learn to play Balinese music - perhaps gamelan.

Once I'm settled and have some more experience, I'll be ready to post some updates to this site.

In September, 2016 a brand new, fun English learning book hit Amazon. It's called "Have Fun Talking: 101 Informal Conversations in English".

My role was as editor & contributor to the book, the e-book (on Kindle), and as the creator of the related website http://www.havefuntalking.com. The publication contains dialogues dealing with a wide variety of life situations including Chinese translations of each conversation, as well as exercises to expand knowledge and vocabulary. It includes jokes on each page, idioms, and words of wisdom to promote thinking skills. The dialogues are also available on audio and CD formats.

That’s right, jokes! HUNDREDS of jokes! And why not? The name is HAVE FUN TALKING!, and we want you to have hundreds of laughs while you learn. There are jokes about cats, dogs, cars, banks, luggage, cheese, fish, teachers, monkeys, chickens, phones, motorcycles, airports, railroads and artists. You name it, we have probably included a joke about it.

What do you call an alligator in a vest? An investigator.

The e-Book version of “Have Fun Talking” is now available for purchase on Amazon!!!  It features all of the same content as the actual book, but has a few extras.
You can make notes of anything you’d like to remember or practice.
You can build a set of your own flashcards for any vocabulary you would like to recall.
Our testing has shown that the e-Book will work on a wide variety of devices, including:
– Windows PC’s
– Apple computers
– iPads
– Android tablets
– iPhones
– Android phones
So, you can take the e-book with you everywhere and spend any spare moments dipping into the dialogues and exercises, or just enjoying the jokes.

More recently, all 101 Have Fun Talking conversations are now available to purchase and download in .mp3 audio format. Each conversation is numbered and listed in the table of contents, so you can easily find the ones you are interested in studying. Listen to native English speakers while reading along in the book or e-book, practice your pronunciation with them, or just listen for fun. Whatever you decide, these audio files will be a great addition to your English language learning.

Please check out the website and have a look inside the books on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2k3MKge.

​(That's me on the right, by the way.)

Hi Jason,

Yes, both my short Korean public school career and anecdotal evidence from colleagues, leads me to confirm that things are really sad there.

Both students and teachers waste enormous amounts of time on meaningless, repetitive tasks while patting themselves on the back for putting in so many hours. Unfortunately, it's so deeply embedded in the culture that they don't even see it.

As I've mentioned elsewhere before, this is also a contributing factor to the high youth suicide rate in South Korea. A colleague told me at her school they didn't even acknowledge when this happened to one of her students - it was just business as usual. Does that mean suicide is "normal"? If all one's youth was wasted sitting in sweaty classrooms with no vacation breaks, no time for friends, endless homework and memorisation, and seemingly uncaring parents, one might wonder whether life was worth living as well.

If we could spend an equal amount of time educating governments, parents and administrators there on efficient and effective ways to learn, we could PERHAPS turn things around. However, I fear that nothing short of a "shock and awe" campaign would have any impact on the entrenched ideas, the ruthless pursuit of profit, or the fear they feel towards many things non-Korean.

I'd have to say too that as an "outsider" while living there I felt powerless to influence change. It WILL come in time, but at what cost?

Posted 6th August, 2010 at http://jasonrenshaw.typepad.com/jason_renshaws_web_log/2010/08/teaching-in-korea-eight-days-a-week-and-a-cruel-summer.html

Hi David,
I agree that we ought to use local models for songs if available. I would assume many of these can be found on YouTube, or by asking the students themselves for favourite artists.
Of course, we should also recognise that the musical tastes of our students will vary too. While some might like a particular singer, others might loathe them. Some might love 'rap' music and hate 'pop'. Either way, it will reduce possible cultural imperialism slightly.
For lower level, elementary school students one has to be careful of the music chosen not just on cultural grounds, but from a number of other aspects. As popular songs are not written generally for classroom use, adaptation and explanation will often be required. For example, I haven't heard Rain's ABC song yet.
I would argue however that it won't completely eliminate cultural imperialism, as many locals simply copy the styles of Western artists. I have yet to see any videos of Korean musicians using traditional instruments and singing traditional Korean music in English. That WOULD be someone special!
I'll check out the International Music discussion link you provided shortly. Thanks.
Originally posted at http://eflclassroom.ning.com/profiles/blogs/culturally-specific-music-for?xg_source=shorten_twitter