My bag of tricks

The life of a traveling teacher is, well, tough.  Have you ever entertained a child without toys?  How about in a foreign language?  Have you ever tried to teach a 5 year old anything?  Take it from me, it's no walk in the park (which ironically is actually quite tough for me these days).  If you find yourself in my shoes, here are a few tricks that might assist you in your seemingly impossible task.

One thing to know about teaching kids is to keep them constantly occupied with as many varying activities as possible.  If you're doing an activity with a younger student and they start to fidget or stare off into space, change the activity.  Don't just plan one, two, or even three activities for an entire hour with a private lesson, have at least 6 to 7 activities to do for that hour.  Make sure you have a back-up.  Here are some of the tricks I carry with me everywhere.

1.  A Ball.  Just a small, soft ball will do the trick.  I use it as a reward game with me students.  Usually works best with two or more people.  I keep a tallied score chart throughout the lesson that tells me who "won" each activity and at the end of the day they play a game of football or have a shootout.  If one kid has 6 and the other has 1, it doesn't matter, the kid with 6 gets 6 shots on the kid with one.

2.  Post-its or stickies.  These are great for body parts or room labeling.  You write the word and they have to find out where to put it.  Its great for review games too.

3.  Guess Who.  My beautiful, smart, and all-around amazing editor of a girlfriend brought a travel size "Guess Who" when we were in the states and it has been great for private lessons.  The students love it and they learn physical characteristics pretty well.

4.  Phase 10 / Uno.  Any type of game that makes their brains think doubly is good.   This one combines the most basic of vocabulary, numbers and colors.  I usually use it as a transition game into another activity.

5.  A book in English with lots of pictures.  One thing you'd never believe is that a lot of my lessons love to read.  So they're only 8 and they butcher words, at least they're trying and loving every second of it.

Best of luck to you all!

Basic Spanish
café solo - black coffee

Advanced Spanish
Eres una bocazás - your a bigmouth/ you have a big mouth

Basque
Café esnea (is-neh-ah) - coffee with milk

British English
to be in a strop - he/she is in a mood

5 preparatory hostel techniques

When I studied abroad, hostels were a way of life.  Now, it's only after I exhaust all me my hotel/apartment/bed&breakfast options that I use hostels.  Consequently, as a result of an increase in pay since I studied abroad (anything is better than nothing) and a change in the order of my traveling priorities (used to be seeing the sights, partying, meeting new people, eating out, etc., has now become seeing the sights, eating out, meeting new people, etc., partying).  However, if you're young, on a tight budget, and looking for lots of memories (good or bad), a hostel might be a perfect fit for what your looking for.  If it is your fit for one of multiple reasons, here are a few tips that might make your journey a bit better.

1.  Invest in a noise machine.  

I have a simple application on my Ipod that provides my with noise options including white noise, fan, waves.

A single room in Paris.

2.  Bring your own sheet sleeping bag and pillow case.  

If you get the image of stained sheets or bed bugs every time you hear the word hostel, bring your own.  Take a double sheet, fold it in half, and sew up the edges to make your own sleeping bag sheet.  Also, as always, look for bed bugs before you jump into bed, but this is a recommendation for every hotel, even the fanciest of them.

3.  Bring a lock.  

Trust everyone and no one.  Instead of worrying all day about whether your roommate (if you decide on the cheapest method of travel) in your 8 person mixed dorm is going to steal your valuables, just bring a lock and use the lockers that most hotels have in every dorm room.  Lockers are usually a one size fits all type of deal so just get anything padlock size or smaller.

Four bed mixed dorm in Salamanca
 (but I don't know who the guy in black is).

4.  Bring something that illuminates.  

Whether you use your Ipod, a small key chain flash light, or a small hand held flashlight, bring something to avoid turning on every light on your way to the bathroom and waking your roommates.  

5.  Bring a sleeping mask.

In preparation for all of those people that will forget to bring a a flashlight, it would be wise to bring something to keep your sleeping world dark and effective through the night.  In addition to the inconsiderate people, the rooms tend to receive glows from various outside sources, thus impairing your sleep.

6 bed mixed dorm in Dublin, good thing everyone knew everyone else.

All of these techniques come after the fact, if you don't choose wisely to begin with, these techniques will be the least of your worries.  When your searching for a hostel, make sure you compare and research  them carefully.  Look at the photos.  Look for bunk beds made of wood rather than metal.  Is the bathroom inside or outside the room?  Does the room come with lockers? Is your room connected to the common area?  Does the hostel come with a kitchen?  Can your entire party take up the whole room or at least most of the room?  All of these will help you in deciding on the best possible hostel before you even go.  Be prepared.  Stay tuned.

6 bed mixed dorm in Rome, very spacious compared to Dublin.

Basic Spanish

cama (Like karma without the r) - bed

Advanced Spanish

manporro - a smack

Basque

geldi (gel-dee) - verb - be still (stay or stop possibly)

British English

take away - take out 

I'm back

It's been over a month sense my last blog and up until late I had zero desire to write anything, but now I'm back.  I have had a rejuvenated desire to see Europe, however, with time slowly draining from my extended stay European clock, I feel the pressure mounting to see everything I want to see.  My mentality has switched back to my study abroad, go-go every-weekend, rain or shine mentality.   Let's go!

Study abroad me.

One thing that is adding to this pressure is the necessary recovery time to make me "travel ready".  I am half-way through my boot recovery (which coincidently ends in the middle of my 10-day vacation) and then who knows.  Maybe I'll be able to walk like nothing ever happened.  Doubtful, but we'll see.  Stay tuned.

Basic Spanish
ganar (ga-nar) - to win

Advanced Spanish
Te voy a capar - I'm going to castrate you / chop of your balls / make it so you can't reproduce

Basque
Doministiku (dah-me-ne-stee-coup) - the act of sneezing