Category: Volunteer

The ESL teacher I assist is moving to a new job at this facility. It’s a joy working with her, so I’ve applied for a volunteer position in her new classroom. Today, I scoped out the building on Lake Street and determined it’s easily reached by bike or direct bus. (MPS is Minneapolis Public Schools.)

In the Somali language there’s no P (puh) sound, so we reviewed the difference between puh and buh (B) sounds. (With puh, you can feel your breath.) The definite article (the) is another challenge for Somali learners: in Somali it’s a suffix to the noun, so it’s too easy to forget to use it in… Continue reading Minding Our Ps and Bs

Until today, as a native English speaker, I was familiar with the concept of an appositive, though I did not know the term. Discussed the concept of an appositive, a noun or noun phrase that follows a noun and further defines or identifies the first noun, just like in this sentence. Worked through examples with ESL learners without the assistance of Google.

Today I had to teach about sentences starting with “That.” In preparation for the class I plugged a convoluted sentence into ChatGPT: although correct, it suggested not starting sentences with “That.” After all that I needed ice cream as a reward, but the store was closed.

On Tuesdays I’ve been missing my good friend Dave who’s laid up waiting for surgery. Instead, I was an ESL classroom assistant then a one-on-one tutor. People have tough lives, but their great attitudes and desire to learn are inspiring.

Worked throught TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exercises with an adult learner. It’s always a joy to work with people who want to learn.

Nursed a Surly Furious waiting for Dwight to show from his greenhouse gig. He’d been nursing seedlings from an almost-extinct Hawaiian plant that he’d previously pollinated. I was happy to wait.