The best of the Corner each week!

The best advice, ideas, and language from every week are found here. You can always get these Week In Review messages in your Inbox -- just let me know that you'd like to receive them.

March 12 2023

Everyone! Please pay careful attention to your class start times during the next week. Daylight Savings Time (DST) begins in North America on Sunday, 12 March. This will result in class times changing for students in Asia, Europe, and South America. I may have to reschedule classes in the event of a conflict between two different students. Please keep an eye on your email / WhatsApp for a message from me.

For those of you in Europe, Daylight Savings Time will arrive on Sunday, 26 March. That may (again) cause a scheduling conflict. Please reach out to me via email / WhatsApp if the time change causes a conflict with your schedule.

I really dislike Daylight Savings Time. :(

A more interesting topic!

People often ask about this unusual yet often used grammar construction. Usually, the question has to do with why English teachers recommend that you never use the passive voice.

I made a video for YouTube that explains the passive voice: how to create it, how to use it appropriately, and when to avoid it entirely. You’ll see it at the bottom of this message.

February 19 2023

The English Corner has been a resource for people all over the world to get the highest quality language classes at the lowest possible price. For nearly four years, I have had the pleasure of working with students from nearly every age, culture, and nationality. Thanks to the support of you all, the English Corner transitioned from a part-time hobby to a full-time project back in 2021. I have not regretted it for a moment. You have inspired me to experiment, innovate, learn, and stretch in new directions. All of that has allowed me to grow both as a teacher and as a businessman.

In that spirit, I am happy to announce some major changes coming to the English Corner. My hope is, of course, that you will be just as (if not more!) satisfied with these changes.

1) I will be on vacation from February 27 to March 5. We had hoped to spend that week in Mexico City; but, alas, the logistics of caring for two dogs led us to opt for a road trip. This is a happy alternative because we love road trips. We’ll try again to visit the beautiful Ciudad de México in October as a birthday gift to ourselves.

The second and third announcements are related.

2) I will not be teaching on Thursday or Friday for the month of March. I’ll be devoting these two days of the month to making the English Corner even better. The time away from classes will give me the energy to create additional resources and services to help everyone take their English language to the next level.

3) New prices and class opportunities are coming in April This point deserves your attention, so please follow me. I have noticed a decline in my energy and memory during the last few months. I would sometimes arrive to classes feeling very tired or other times forget to send information to students. This was embarrassing. At first, I thought that I was getting old. I realized while talking to friends, my husband, and a mental health professional that the problem was not age. It was exhaustion. I am burning out. I have been working seven days per week since Summer of 2022. I could not refuse the requests for help during my day off (Friday) or during other days that stretched for 12 hours. It isn’t sustainable now and certainly wasn’t sustainable back then. Additionally, the pandemic forced hundreds of millions of people to learn and work from home. The demand for English classes skyrocketed in 2020 and 2021. I saw teachers online who had raised their prices by 50% or more. Inflation went up in 2022, causing prices to increase across every industry. Prices of English classes also went up everywhere I looked. But I never once raised the price for my students. When Russia began its war against Ukraine — I lowered my price for Ukrainians. I am committed to that decision for as long as Ukrainians anywhere have to defend themselves, their families, and their homes from invaders.

Having said all of that, I’m excited to share that the new personal growth class price will only increase by $2 USD. Additionally, I’m offering a new class time: 45 minutes. The 45 minutes option will offer the same high quality English classes to people who don’t need the full hour or are unable to manage the price increase.

The new prices starting April 1st will be:

Personal Growth (30 minutes): $17

Personal Growth (45 minutes): $22

Personal Growth (60 minutes): $24

Many students offered their feelings and wisdom to me on this topic. I absolutely hated the thought of taking time away from people or raising prices. The feedback that many of you gave me was as compassionate as it was thoughtful. I marvel every day at my good luck to be doing this work with such wonderful people.

As always, reach out to me with any concerns or questions that you may have.

February 5 2023

A Chinese balloon floated over North America this week. People lost their collective minds with hysteria, political posturing, and a lot of jokes.

Did you know -- and this is serious history! -- that the Japanese regularly sent balloons floating across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to bomb the United States? The balloons were called "fu-go" (ふ号[兵器). The strategy was an overwhelming failure. Except... in early 1945, only a few months before the end of the Second World War, one of the balloons landed in a rural part of Oregon. American civilians were not aware that Japan had been sending floating bombs across the ocean. Most of the balloons fell harmlessly into the ocean.The US military intercepted a handful of others before they could become a threat. The government had strict censorship at the time, so local media were forbidden from reporting on the aerial threat. In May 1945, some local young people found a fu-go device deep in the Northwestern woods. They had no idea what it was. Nor did they have any way of knowing. Unfortunately, someone in the group kicked the machine causing the bomb to explode. All six of the young people who found the fu-go died. Their deaths are the only ones caused by a hostile power (in this case, Japan) to occur on the American mainland.

I had never heard this story until one morning in 2015 when my favorite show -- Radiolab -- devoted an entire episode to the fu-go incident. I strongly recommend listening to it! Their website also includes a transcript which in case you don't catch some of the words.

Here are the best language examples that came out from this week's classes:

An impulse purchase - This is something that you buy without planning it. Maybe because you saw it in the store or online. My grandmother would make impulse purchases of celebrity gossip magazines when she went to the grocery store.

Farm to table - The relationship that restaurants have with local sources (such as farms, orchards, etc...) for obtaining food grown nearby. The appeal of farm to table is that customers can support both the restaurant where they eat the food and also the farmers who grew the food.

To refuse - This verb means that a person is unwilling to accept something (a gift, money, etc...) or to comply with a request (to lend a person money, to accept a bad offer, etc...). The hotel mana parents do not have the means to buy a car for her.

If you're interested in getting high quality books to assist your language development, I've provided links to three. They're available in traditional paperback and as an ebook. Whichever ones you choose to get -- OR NONE -- let me know so that I can prepare our lessons based on that material.

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Course Book

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Practice Book

English for Everyone: Practice Grammar Guide

As always, thanks for trusting me with your English-language journey.

January 29 2023

One of the many joys of being a teacher comes from hearing a question to which I have no idea of the answer. Really! Students are as different in assumptions, culture, and experience as you are motivated to improve your English. Those differences sometimes give rise to questions that I don't expect. Such moments are exciting -- like finding $20 in my pants pocket. Here's the moment that took place this week:

A student asked me how Americans thought about their income and their bills. My response was that we usually thought of our income (salary / wage) in terms of weeks and years, but!, we thought about our expenses ( bills / debts) in terms of months. But... why? The student wanted to know why we wouldn't think about both things within the same terms of time. Her question stumped me for a few minutes. Nobody had ever asked me that question and so I had never thought about it! After our class, I asked a few of my friends if they knew their monthly income... and nobody did! Well, not immediately. Everyone had to do the math to arrive at the answer-- either multiplying their weekly income by 4 or their bi-monthly income by 2. Conversely, everyone knew right away their monthly expenses. :)

Here are the best language examples that came out from this week's classes:

Cool Head vs Hothead - A cool head is what a person has when they are calm, collected, and patient. A hot head is someone who reacts impulsively, inappropriately, or dangerously.

Body Shaming - This is mocking, harassing, or insulting a person for their physical appearance. Body shaming has been a common method of bullying in schools.

The means - this word means "resources," -- usually money. Jennifer's parents do not have the means to buy a car for her.

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Course Book

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Practice Book

English for Everyone: Practice Grammar Guide

As always, thanks for trusting me with your English-language journey.

January 22 2023

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone who celebrates it. We have said goodbye to the Year of the Tiger and welcomed in the Year of Rabbit. I hope that all of the rabbits living in our neighborhood feel a little bit of pride as they keep warm against the snow that finally started to fall this weekend.

Here is the best language example that came out from this week's classes:

The Silent B - Did you know that some words are spelled with a silent b? The b isn't pronounced at all -- which is pretty odd for modern English. The reason for the silent b reason comes from a mixture of our language evolving from Old English and from modifying foreign words.

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Course Book

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Practice Book

English for Everyone: Practice Grammar Guide

As always, thanks for trusting me with your English-language journey.

January 15 2023

The weather continues to be unusual here in Chicago. The sun has come out while temperatures rose to 8°C. I couldn't complain but did feel pretty sad for people wanting to do anything related to winter: ice hockey, ice skating, sledding, snowball fights, etc... February is usually the coldest, least pleasant month for our area. I fully expect to be complaining about it as is custom.

My first recommendation! My goal with Donald's English Corner is to offer the highest quality English lessons at the lowest possible price. One can almost hear sound of my husband's eyes rolling when I say the price part. To that end, I have avoided making any recommendation to students that involved spending money. Until now -- and for very good reasons. I began using these books back in December at the recommendation of a student. Not only have we been using them to great success, but I have found myself impressed by the book's ability to explain difficult concepts. In addition to the text, the books also provide lots of listening comprehension practice. Each book links to free audio on the publisher's website. The conversations include accents from throughout the English-speaking world, so listeners get experience on hearing many different sounds.

I've provided links to three of the books. They're available in traditional paperback and as an ebook. Whichever ones you choose to get -- OR NONE -- let me know so that I can prepare our lessons based on that material.

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Course Book

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Practice Book

English for Everyone: Practice Grammar Guide

Here are some of the best language examples to come out from this week's classes!

Rollercoaster -- this thrill ride has become an essential part of theme parks all over the world. I'm including it in our weekly review because many European languages call this experience "Russian Mountain." As a Spanish speaker, I knew this (montaña rusa) but was completely surprised to learn that other languages called it the same! After reading up on this interesting linguistic quirk, I'm still not exactly sure why the rollercoaster is Russian.

"Black Sheep / White Crow" -- this metaphor describes a person who is different from the larger group. The expression can refer to both positive and negative differences. The wool of sheep is typically white, so a black-wooled sheep stands out from the herd. This week, I learned that Russian and Persian speakers use instead "white crow" to describe a strange or unusual person. This makes complete sense given that the feathers of crows are normally black. Jessica has been the black sheep of the family. Everyone went to university and found regular work while she travelled around Asia and became a monk.

To become - this verb best describes a major change, development, or transition. You can use it to describe professional changes, biological developments, and emotional/mental transitions. Martha wants to become a doctor. // We can become US citizens after living in the country for five years. // Teachers at George's school worried that the boy was becoming violent with other children.

As always, thanks for trusting me with your English-language journey.

January 6 2023

It has been a joy this week to hear everyone's stories about their holidays. The situations were as diverse as the people: from celebrations with family, to quiet evenings without electricity, and video calls with friends all over the world. Many times while listening to you all, I found myself not being a teacher. What I mean by that is the conversations were so good that I enjoyed them on their own terms rather than trying to teach new grammar or vocabulary. Sometimes, the best lesson teacher is a person paying attention to -- and having fun with -- what their student is sharing.

Having said that, I look forward to hearing the stories that come out of Orthodox Christmas happening tomorrow and Lunar New Year which begins in two weeks.

Speaking of New Year 2023, I did make a few resolutions. The most important one is to have more patience with myself. Like many people, I sometimes fall into a philosophical trap: to judge my present self against the person I was in the past -- instead of being honest with who I am in the present and then working towards a better future. My current self is -- in many, many ways -- better than my past self who started Donald's English Corner back in 2021. I got married, bought a house, adopted two dogs, and have continued to grow as a teacher thanks to wonderful students all over the world. My resolution is then to be at peace with the limitations of the present tense while also reaching towards greater happiness in the future tense.

The other resolution is to share some of the best language from this week's classes!

"To play by ear" -- this expression refers to unplanned or unexpected activity. Think of a musician who plays their instrument without reading music or having memorized the song... they play creatively! The tour company had to cancel our visit to the ancient ruins because of bad weather. We didn't have any plans for the day, so we would have to play it by ear.

"Red Tape" -- this metaphor means bureaucracy, overly complex processes, or inefficient services. We lost our passports while abroad. The stress of the loss was enough on its own, but then we encountered a lot of red tape with the local embassy. They wanted an insane amount of documents, photos, and other items.

A bummer -- this informal word is used to describe an unfortunate event or an unpleasant experience. Your friends got COVID during New Year? Oh no, that's a bummer. :(

I posted a dumb meme on Instagram, because I am both an old man and an immature weirdo.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

February 19 2023

We are watching the Super Bowl -- the largest and most important sport event in the United States. Many years, the most memorable things that come out of this game are advertisements -- not the score. For those of you without any interest in American Football then let me point out that Team Fluff won this year's Puppy Bowl for the second year in a row.

Tomorrow is St Valentine's Day. This holiday is best known worldwide for love, roses, and chocolate. In Chicago, the holiday is popular for the reason exactly the opposite of romance: The Valentine's Day Massacre. Here in Chicago, back in 1929, the Italian mafia lead by Al Capone killed seven members of a rival gang run by the Polish and Irish. This was the time of prohibition, so organized crime organization waged bloody battles in the streets while corrupting city officials at every level. Thank goodness we have moved on from that! :)

Here are the best language examples that came out from this week's classes:

A coward - This is someone who shows runs away from a challenge, who does not defend themselves or others. The young man was a coward, not helping his friend who was being bullied at school.

A body shop - A place that repairs the frames of cars after an accident. We took our truck to a body shop after someone smashed into it in the parking lot.

To be soaked - This adjective means that something / someone is immersed or covered in water. I was soaked after being caught outside in the rain.

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Course Book

English for Everyone: Level 3 Intermediate Practice Book

English for Everyone: Practice Grammar Guide

As always, thanks for trusting me with your English-language journey.