Today is my 100th post! I’ve been updating for a year an a half, have about four consistent readers (2 parents, 1 sister, 1 random—God love ’em), and can honestly say that writing has become my biggest passion here in Bilbao. In 2014 my ...Read More

I was working with a class of 15-year-old boys on the grammar have/haven’t got and has/hasn’t got (à la Brit, as per usual). The textbook showed six photos and it was the students’ job to describe what the person had in each. Thick book: ...Read More

Congratulations, you gave this post some long hard thought and decided you have what it takes to be an Auxiliar de Conversación. It’s time to fill out the application! (Well, starting January 9th….) Part II: What to Think About While You Apply Regions   ...Read More

It’s that time of year again: Holiday parties, Christmas lights, mulled wine, and the Spanish Ministry of Education’s vague hints that they will be opening up the next Auxiliar de Conversación application process sometime in early January. Even though the 2014-2015 Spanish school year ...Read More

After hearing from my students one too many times, “Jenny, do you live on the bitch in California?” I’ve decided to focus on teaching correct English (well, West-Coast American English, anyway) pronunciation. It started easily enough–I showed them how to stretch their cheeks far ...Read More

I thought Spanish and Euskera would present my biggest linguistic hurdles here in Bilbao. Turns out, I’m having more trouble with U.S. vs. British English. Students in Spain learn British English, for obvious reasons of geographic proximity, just as students in California tend to ...Read More

In order to avoid a completely sugar-coated travel blog, I’ll discuss in this post some things about living and working abroad that are testing me, to the point where last week I almost had a mini mental breakdown (hence the gap in posts on ...Read More