Totally Unprofessional - Two Teachers Talking™ Podcast - Student Download Page - English Portal 

I used to teach…

Now that retirement is here, it seemed a good time to try something radical: separating personal and “professional.” Or, maybe post-professional. I will not be updating the Download or the Portal pages, but they will remain accessible (links at top of page.)


When I come across items that I think may be of interest to my former students and colleagues, I’ll share them here. Please stop by from time to time, and feel free to visit my personal page, Totally Unprofessional, as well. 


Us and Them: An Intercultural Communication Textbook for Japanese University Students and Their Teachers. http://tony-silva.com/usandthem/usandthem.html 


A Quick and Dirty Guide to the Japanese Business Meeting. http://tony-silva.com/japanesemeeting.html 


February 24, 2021 - Why study abroad?


In some of our classes we discussed the advantages of studying abroad. Since classes ended, I’ve talked with some of you about lessons you, your acquaintances, and your family learned while living overseas.


A great example is Momoko Nojo, who started an online groundswell that brought down Mr. Yoshiro Mori, former Olympic Minister.  No surprise, as Ms. Nojo, a 22 year old student at Keio University did a year of study abroad, in Denmark. 

https://japantoday.com/category/national/don%27t-be-silent-how-a-22-year-old-woman-helped-bring-down-the-tokyo-olympics-chief?


The lessons you learn living and studying abroad return with you to Japan, follow you wherever you go, and enrich very day of your lives.


February 19, 2021 - Hello, World

I’m not in the classroom. Actually, because of the pandemic, I haven’t been in a classroom since February 2020. No matter. As I’ve told my students this past year (2020-2021), you, they, I have overcome the obstacles and had a successful year of learning together.

Now, I have retired.

However, I realize that I will always be a teacher.

So, for now, this will be my medium. My old student download page will remain online, but I will no longer be updating that page. Nevertheless, there is much I encounter, learn, read, and hear that I know will be of benefit to students of English in Japan, and anywhere else. To their teachers, too.

I will share those things here. I hope you find the posts informative and useful.

One last time…huge THANK YOU-S  🙏🏽  to this year’s students and the students of all my years of teaching for adding so much to my life.  You’ll be forever in my memories, forever in my heart. 

My first offerings:

Visit Dan’s House

Students often ask how to improve their English. There are no secrets. Practice and hard work. For inspiration, I suggest this video of a man in Russia determined to learn English. Listen to Dan talk about his house in Russia: https://youtu.be/3INRUnTWd2o Give him some likes 👍🏽 and some encouragement.

Grammarly alternatives

Any of you who had written assignments from me have heard me talk about the utility of a good grammar/spell checker. Grammarly has gotten too expensive for most of us, but here is a list of free or mostly free alternatives. I haven’t tested them all, but I hope you can find one that works well for you.