Comments

Hello Simon! I would like to say that your blog is really funny. Your seem to be a person that transmit a lot of energy and enthusiasm. I am a teacher too, but a science teacher in a secondary school. Sorry I haven't got time to make the homework... I really love your blog. Could you tell us a bit about Turkey? Bye for now

Hi, Simon nice to meet you again. I'll try to answer for the tasks you gave us: 1) You’ve never really liked being told what to do and it was propably one of the reason why you became a teacher. But I think you are really communicative and sociable person and that's why you choose this kind of job. You've been living and working in Istambul for 13 years. You had other job apart from being teacher.You worked one day in Baden Wutemburg as a Harbour Master on Lake Constance:) 2. You used third conditional to talk about sth possible which did not happen to you. Reformulation hmm.. I'll brake that word like this: Re - formulation . Formulate -to create sth, reformulate -to create sth again, one more time e.g you reformulated Marvin's first sentense.He wrote: "Maybe I should start with introducing myself" You wanted show him his errors and you reformulated the sentense into the corect form: "Maybe I should start by introducing" and I think this is just useful phrase to use at the beginning of interview.:)) I'm looking forward to hearing from you again. Good night

It's nice to know more about you and it is interestering to read your blog. You became a teacher because you can tell the other people what to do. You have been living in Istanbul for 13 years. You are a teacher all the time. You said "I would have done the same thing myself" because you also entertain your friends first rather than blogging.

Oh yes, Azerbaijan! I guessed correctly the country your wife is from, but I did do some errors: you see, in the meantime I founded that Mehpare is not an Arabic name but a Persian one and means “ a piece of the Moon”( isn’t that beautiful, dear friends?) and secondly I supposed you’re Scottish because I wrongly understood that it was you the one who described Nehir as a “wee girl”- more used in Scottish dialect.. In fact, it wasn’t you, it was Alex from Italy! Regarding the phrase “I would have done the same thing myself”, you believe in true friendship (like Marvin do!). An old friend remains a close friend not for only a month blogging time. Friends who last forever are the ones that are always by your side no matter what. Useful new words and phrases: apart from wee girl( grazie Alex!); end up; make decision; get a foot in the door :-); But it is really just a question of a few finishing touches for you! and ensconse. PS Simon, why did you write “Roumania” and not Romania? You know, I’m sure you were not the only teacher blogger who wrote in this way. Although I don’t remember at all who was the other one.

Hi Simon, I'm sure you have a great time in Istanbul. I had the chance to experience this fantastc city this year when the soccer European cup was up. I saw there Turkey playing Kroatia in a pub. Latter beat Germany before *aursch*. On a mayer square was a truck with music all the time. I remember Turkey playey badly, but could equalize. Finally, they crashed Kroatia in the penalty shooting. I think later Germany beat Turkey. Lucky me, that time I was back in Germany.

Hello Simon, ha ha ha my imagination of you as a business person turned into a teacher was totally wrong! I can’t help making a remark that I thought only here, in Serbia, it’s not important what do you know but who do you know when applying for a job!! You started teaching because you believed you would have had a greater chance of getting a job in the publishing sector if you have had some experience as an ELT teacher. You have been living in Istanbul for 13 years and you haven’t had any other jobs except teaching. You agree that Marvin had a good reason for being late in the “Blogland” - if you had been him you would have also entertained your guests rather than blogging (so would I). I think that formulation means idea, and when adding a prefix “re” it means the same idea expressed once again, but this time in a way that sounds more natural. I regard phrases “to get a foot in the door”, “send off one’s CV” , “get some experience” and “have specialized knowledge” as being very useful when talking about getting a job. In addition, I like the phrase “to keep the conversation going”, I would never know to say that way! Bye for now.

Hello Simon, It's so cool to know why you became a teacher, sorry for you looking for your dream work experience though. Your dream partly comes true now, doesn't it? - a teacher blogger for the BBC. I know some teachers here who, like you, don't really like being told what to do either but can't stand their similarly behaving students. How about you? Could you please tell me what you would do with the naughty students? Here are my answers 1/You became a teacher not only because you never like being ordered but as such a teacher you would gain some experience to work in the ELT text publishing. Apart from being a teacher you worked as a Harbour master on Lake Constance in Baden Wutemburg. 2/By saying 'I would have done the same thing myself' you mean in the case if you were Marvin, you would entertain friends rather than blogging. The term 'reformulation' can be broken into re- and formulation - re- means again, formulation is the way to express your idea correctly. 3/Looking through your blog entry, I have just found three phrases used to talk about getting a job - finding a job, being offered a job and getting a foot in the door. Another today's useful phrase to me is 'missing in action'. However I don't understand what you mean in 'But it is really just a question of a few finishing touches for you!' Could you get through to me,please? Thank you so much, All the best, Yen.

Hi Marvin. 1a) You became teacher because you want tell everyone else what they can do and what can not. 1b)I don't understand how long you lived in Turkey, maybe I think 2 years, or thirteen? 1c) no, you have. you sent off a loads of CV, but no one brought out any results. 2a)I would have done the same thing you did. 2b)Reformulation can be divided in 2 words, re-formulation, the first one means repetition, so re-formulation means rebuild the sentence (in the right way). 3)I sent off to get a foot in the door (which means to advantage by knowledge of someone?) I didn’t have any specialized knowledge beyond my university degree

Hi Simon, Let me try to answer your questions. You become a teacher because you wanted to gain experience so that you could work in publishing as an editor. You have been living and working in Istanbul for 13 years. You have been a teacher ever since you had your degree. You used the phrase to let us know that if you're in Marvin situation at that time you would do the same as him. Reformulation mean redevelop. Re & formulate. Phrases - "to have contacts in the sector to get a foot in the door". Other phrases are "Welcome on board!", "Missing in action", "Polish Up", "put them in touch with me", "will undoubtedly change your life!". Have nice weekend everyone. I enjoy reading the comments from all of you.

Hey Simon! Thanks for all these details. I had understood the main lines you're fleshing out here. So you became a teacher to have the chance to give orders! I've virtually got the same case at home : our elder loves university because he's free to work at his leisure. he didn't like school and yet he has chosen a long term study since he's studying medicine...he crams a lot and passes his exams with flying colours. Well, you've been living and working in Istambul since 1996 and teacher is the only job you've ever had. Don't let us forget your new one you've been practising for some days!! If you had been in Marvin's situation you would have stayed with your friends as well. If you reformulate sth you write or say it in an other way keeping the same meaning but without mistakes. The formulation is kind of reviewed. You have to have contacts in the sector to get a foot in the door (It's a job for the boys!) It's a bit sad but it works. Unfortunate are those who haven't got a lot of clout or strings to pull! They have to sweat!! A good side though, these ones are often more thrusting, go-ahead don't you think so? To send a CV to apply for a post. To get an interview but not being offered the job. The main barrier to finding a job was you hadn't specialized knowledge at that time. We all have to start one day haven't we? Isn't it unfair? Why did Katherine put BBC Learning English in touch with you? Did you previously talk it over with her? Had you intended to throw your cap! in the ring for long? I particularly like when you use adverbs which make phrases richer, more lively such as safely, hopefully, undoubtedly truly and so on. Sure with this kind of homework we have to read and reread haven't we? To flick through would be insufficient. Your posts are going to be printed in our minds!! Isn't it a sly way to spur us to work more deeply ? Bye for now.

Hi Simon!: anyway you are a lucky guy, be teacher is an interesting job. with respect to the homework...!1. because you would have wanted be a editor in publishing, then you looked for to publish ELT text but as first step to get it, you should be a teacher..You live in Istambul for 13 years,. You haven't had any other jobs apart from being teacher. 2.If you are Marvin, you do the same thing, to entertain your friends, when some word begining with re, you do something again.,3. Why do you want to get this job?, what do you do if you get this job?... regards.

Hi, Simon! Your tasks: 1. You became a teacher because you wanted to work for a publisher producing ELT texts. And for doing this you need an experience as a teacher. But the true reason is that you want to tell everyone what to do =) You have already been living and working in Istanbul for 13 years. As far as I understand you are working as a teacher in a primary school and for the BBC. I think it would be interesting for me to try working as a teacher of Russian or Belorussian language, but only on the internet =).But I don’t know about analogous programs with this languages. 2. When you said “I would have done the same thing myself” you meant that if you had the same situation as Marvin had you would act the same. Reformulation is a teaching technique when a teacher corrects a student’s mistake by repeating his phrase again but without mistake during conversation. Reformulation = re-form- 3. I like your following phrases : “To get a foot in the door”, “The main barrier to finding a job” and also “it’s not what you know but who you know” – that is a problem of today at least at my place. Bye!Take care!

Dear Simon, Your way of correcting mistakes made by students is appreciable and if student is clever enough, he/she can feel what mistake he/she has done and its correct form. In such situation, he/she can feel comfortable even you have corrected mistakes. Your story how you became a teacher is very interesting. People who are really lucky can get proper job as they desire after graduating from university. The first step in career path is very important to achieve a goal in life. Though you want to work in a publishing house, you were unable to get job due to the lack of experience as well as you hadn’t had contact with proper person in this sector. In order to work in the field of ELT text producer, some experience in the field of teaching was essential. That is why you took CELTA course and worked as an English language teacher. You have been living in Istanbul since last thirteen years. You had worked as a Harbour Master in Baden Wutemburg besides being a teacher. You have written the phrase “I would have done the same thing myself” to show third conditional sentence without if clause. Reformulation word is formed adding suffix re in word formulation and formulation is noun of formulate. Formulate means to develop all detail plan or procedure to do things. To get a/your foot in the door means to enter in an organisation at a bottom of ladder but with a chance of being successful in the future.

Hi, I see that now that Marvin appeared you have presented yourself without need of reading between the lines. Part of the homework: -You became a teacher because you thought that you could find a job in a text publishing company if you had previous experience as a teacher. Finally you dedicated to teach and didn’t apply anymore (it seems) for a publisher job. - You were living in Istanbul for 13 years. - No. If you had some job apart from being a teacher, you hadn’t tell us yet.

Hi Simon, it's a great surprise to find we are colleagues.I'm a primary teacher too. My pupils, who are the same age of yours, are very interested in learning English and yours? By the way, being in the meantime student and teacher made me more sympathetic to my pupils problems. Now,as a student, I'll try to do your tasks. 1.a) You became a teacher in order to get some experience to work for a publisher producing ELT texts. b) You have been living and working in Istanbul for 14 years (this one included).c) You haven't had any other jobs apart from being a teacher (I don't know if then you have managed to work for a publisher producing ELT texts).2.a)You used the phrase "I would have done the same thing myself" to mean that if you were in Marvin's shoes you would have chosen to care your guests rather than blogging. b) "Reformulation" means to say or write the same idea in a different way. Re=prefix for do again; formule=to say or write; ion=suffix to form nouns. 3.a) I wanted to work...b)to get a foot in the door...c) I wasn't offered the job...d)the main barrier to finding a job...Other useful phrases: you were missing in action for a while; how I got where I am today; the certificate has as wonderful an effect on your life as it has on mine...Have a nice Sunday

hi Simon ,1)you became a teacherto be able to tell everyone what to do. 2)You have been living in Instanbul for 13 years. 3)Apart from being a teacher you worked as a harbour master on Lake Constance. You used the phrase2I would have...."to let Kevin realize you sympathize with him. "resormulation"means to express the same idea in a different way. re formu: to write it again. About getting a job: "I sent off my CV to loads of different,,,," "I got an interview" "Th emain barrier to finding a job2 " 2You had to have contacts "to get a foot in the door" bye bye for now maione

Dear Simon, thank you for your interesting blog. Now I know you much more than last entry. The reason for you becoming a teacher is that you failed to get jobs in publishing then you decided to take CELT course to equip yourself with some specialized knowledge on English teaching. With the CELT certificate, because of your Turkish friends and your nice experiences there, you went Istanbul and started your Enlgish teaching career 13 years ago.As we all see, besides English teacher in Istanbul, you are also the teacher blogger in BBC learning English now. You use "I would have done the same thing myself" to comfort Marvin that you understood his situation and would have chosen to entertain friends as he has done. "reformulation" means to rephrase. Here you means a type of teaching skill that if you find your students make a mistake, you rephrase the content with the correct sentence. The word "reformulation" consists of "re" and "formulation" two parts which directly shows the meaning of the word "to formulate again". When you talk about getting a job, you use phrases like: "have contacts in the sector", "get a foot in the door", "It's not what you know but who you know!(We have exactly the same Chinese sentence:))", "send off my CV to", "loads of different companies", "get one interview", "be offered the job" and "the main barrier to finding a job". Other useful phases are "long term unemployment", "I wish you the best of luck for your course", "which is great fun", "just a question of a few finishing touches" and "It's up to you how you do it." That my answers for today's assignment. Many thanks!

You said you became a teacher for not being told what to do. In my opinion, that's not the whole truth, nonetheless. Maybe at that time you were already looking for a simpler, warmer human relationship. You have been living and working in Istanbul for 13 years. In the last sentence you told Marvin you had been a Harbour Master on Lake Constance. From a psychological point of view you really think, like Marvin, a friend is a very important person to take care of, deserving our full attention. On the other hand, "I would have done the same thing myself" introduces such a difficult tense... Explaining concepts by means of different, simpler words can be considered reformulating them.

Hi Simon! How are you doing? I enjoyed very much reading the story how you became our teacher blogger :-). Well, I´ll give a go at(? Is that the correct preposition?) the homework: 1- Comprehension: 1- You became a teacher because you´ve never liked being told what to do. Moreover, as a teacher you can tell people what they might have to do. 2- You´ve been working and living in Istanbul for 13 years. By the way Simon, could you post some pictures of Istanbul, please? It would be so nice to see some photos of this city. 3- No, you haven´t. You´ve got an interview but you weren´t offered the job. 4- No you haven´t. After university you wanted to work as an editor, but, once what is more valued is who you know than what you know( I think nowadays everywhere is like this) you didn´t find a job in the publishing. So, you took a CELTA course and then you decided you wanted to go work in Turkey as a ELT teacher. Finding meanings: 1- I think you used the phrase “I would have done the same thing myself", in order to express an imaginary situation, a conditional that in fact, it hasn´t happened. 2- I guess reformulation means to formulate something again; to improve something that you´ve already done but it needs a final touch in order to become perfect. 3- Developing Lexis: 1- In order to; The main barrier to finding a job; in the end; I also decided that I wanted; I applied to be. 2-to get my foot in the door; long term unemployment. Well Simon I´ll bid farewell now. It´s time to hit the sack :-). Have a nice weekend, Ana Paula.

Hello Simon, you write in such a fine way, that I have no problem to understand everything( or better anything?) of your blog, also when I don't understand every word. I'm very curious about your time in Baden Württemberg( reformulation) as a Harbour Master at Lake Constance, I hope you will tell us more about it. And now to your tasks: - You did become a teacher, because you have never liked being told what to do.- You have been living and working in Istanbul for 13 years -You wanted to work as an editor 2) You did use the phrase" I would have done the same thing myself" to give Marvin a sign, that you understand his behaviour well. - In a reformulation you repeat a wrong word/sentence in the right way. 3)- to get a foot in the door - the main barrier to find a job - I took the course - to do a good job - to get down to working - he got a job as a - business before pleasure So I hope, I have done my "job" well. I wish you and your family a nice weekend and I'm looking forward to your next blog, see you soon..

Hello Simon. Let’s play you rules. The first task: Your attempts to get job for publisher had failed, that’s why you decided to get some experience as a teacher. You’ve been working as a teacher in Istanbul for thirteen years and used to be working as a Harbor Master many years ago. The second task: I recon you use the phrase “I would have done the same thing myself” because from your point of view to act in similar way is the best decision in that situation. I think “reformulation” means to say another words. The third task: I find useful phrases “to get a foot in the door” and “in the end I decided to take”. Give me a clue please why do you use word “ensconsed” which is not included in Oxford, aren’t I right? I’m looking forward to see you again. Bye.

Hello Simon!I'm Russian student and this is my first comment I've written in internet.By the way this is my home work.And first of all I just wanna ask you.If I write with mistakes will you them? Please answer me.Thank you.

Hello Simon, I’d like to start by writing some words about myself. I’m one of the oldest or maybe even the oldest your blogs reader and commentator. I don’t mean my age but how long I have been reading you blogs and writing my comments. I started reading your blogs years ago and I found them a good source of learning and improving my English. You ask why you became a teacher. I think you became a teacher because you really wanted to. Maybe you didn’t fully realized that but if you hadn’t wanted to be a teacher you would have chosen another job or changed the one you have; you’ve had a lot of time so far, haven’t you? By the way, I like you writing style: it’s very vivid. Best wishes to you and your wife.

Hello Simon, 1) You became a teacher because you could not find a job in a publishing company due to unfriendly system in the job market for the inexperienced youth. The main barrier to finding a job for you was that you did not have any specialized knowledge beyond your university degree in English literature. Despite the fact that you never liked being told what to do, you still wanted to work as an editor in publishing. Your desire to do so became to an end when you realized that it does not matter what you know but who you know. Your all efforts to get a job in a publishing company went in vain, so finally you decided to become a teacher. Becoming a teacher was not a bad option at all because you had an aptitude towards teaching as well. In the end you decided to take CELTA course to get some experience as a teacher in order to work for a publisher producing ELT texts. ……… You have been living and working in Istanbul for about thirteen years. You have also worked as Harbour Master in Dadn Wutemburg on Lake Constance. 2) You used the phrase “I would have done the same thing myself” to endorse Marvin’s decision to entertain his friends rather than a dehydrated blogging. You also tried to encourage him as a teacher. The term “reformulation” used in language teaching. It refers to a conversation among teacher and students, in which a teacher repeats a student’s grammatically wrong sentence/phrase accurately in order to teach his class in an interactive way. This technique also helps avoiding bore lecture and provides a practical exercise opportunity to the students……….. re form = re produce. Reform = to correct 3) to get a foot in the door, sent off, to loads of, in the end, ended up, the main barrier to finding a job, one of the worst, in order to , it is not what you know but who you know, Some useful phrases: bottom of the career ladder = in a low positioning in a work organization or hierarchy, dead end job = job without a good future, run-of-the-mill = boring, routine.

Hi Simon, its hard to read between the lines to find the answers of your posted question. But, in order to learn we've to do it. First task of comprehension: You wanted to work as an editor but it was not easy because in those days you had to have contacts to get a foot in the door. You got a job in the publishing sector but you were not offered because of your lack of knowledge in the area. So finally you decided to do the CELTA course in order to improve your qualification. You've been living and working in Istanbul since past 5 years. You worked as a Harbour in Baden Wutemburg on lake Constance. 2- You said because you are agree with Marvin that he did the right thing. If you were in his place you'd do the same thing. Reformulation means to continue sth and demonstrate its correct usage. In reformulation, 'formulation' means the style of expressing yourself and 'Re' is the prefix so it would be like redefining sth. 3- Lexis: I think first one is To get a foot in the door and the second one is Barrier to find a job. I dont find any other lexis relevant to it. See your next blog soon. Bye

Hi Simon! Nice to meet you. I have read all your blogs and found them very interesting. I am going to pass CAE exam but I am not sure whether the level of my english is adequate to this exam. I hope that reading your blog and doing your tasks help me achieve the CAE certificate. Your hints, how to improve my english, will be welcomed. Comprehension You became the teacher because you had thought that the experience gathered as a teacher helps you to get the position of editor in publishing. You have been living and working for 13 years in Instabul. You have not had any other job apart of being a teacher. Finding meanings You used the phrase “I would have done the same thing myself” (third conditional) because you want to say that if you were in Marvin`s shoes you would also entertain your friends instead of blogging. Reformulation – to edit again. Developing Lexis When we are talking about getting a job we can use the following phrases: to send off CV, to get an interview, to be offered a job, to find a job, to get a job, to apply for job.

Hi Simon, How was your weekend? I really enjoyed with my family and friends.1. After attending four weeks CELT course in England Simon became a teacher. Simon has been living and working in Istanbul for the last 13 years. No, Simon didn’t do any other job apart from being a teacher. 2. Marvin was entertaining his friends’ rater than bloging. Simon told him that he would have done same thing if he had received friends. Reformulation means put the words in a correct order to make a sentence sensibly. Re-form= put it again, put it in a correct way, put it in order.3. I sent off my CV, I got one interview. To have contacts in the sector, to get a foot in the door.

Hi Simon, nice talking to you again. I loved your reformulation idea. This way, we, your readers, can also benefit from your tips to Marvin. Let me try the answers to the exercises: Why did I become a teacher? You became a teacher because you didn't like to be told what to do and being a teacher gave you the opportunity to reverse the situation and tell people what to do. How long have I been living and working in Istanbul? You've been living in Istanbul for thirteen years. Have I had any other jobs apart from being a teacher? You also worked as a Harbour master. Why did I use the phrase “I would have done the same thing myself” You used this phrase to say you agreed with Marvin's decision to entertain his guests rather than write the blog the first days. What does “reformulation” mean? Can you break this word into smaller parts to find the meaning? re means do something again formulate means to put something in words. tion turns the verb into a noun. So reformulation means to make the sentence again to make it better. What useful phrases can you find that are used when talking about getting a job? To put sb in touch with sb means to introduce sb to someone. What other useful phrases can you find? to make it is to succeed in doing sth. This is one very useful phrase. Simon, I'd like to ask you about a sentence you used: "...hope that the certificate has as wonderful an effect on your life...". Is the article in this position for some reason such as emphasis? When can we use this? Well Simon, let me tell you that this short time you've been with us has been very stimulating and joyful. See you later. Byebye.

Hi, I am currently working in a BPO and I wish to do a CELTA/TEFL course so that I can move to the Learning and Development department(As a voice and accent trainer). Please can someone advice if the above mentioned course would be sufficient or will there be a need to go through any further courses. Please advice. Many thanks