Pink Hippos, Jimi Hendrix, Chorizo, and How to Memorize Anything

Well here’s a slightly geeky yet totally awesome aside – Anthony Metivier has interviewed me for his podcast about memory techniques. Metivier is a well-known memory expert, originally from

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The Sexiest English Teachers in Spain Throw Down in this EFL Celebrity Deathmatch

It’s a debate that’s lighting up online forums all over Iberia. No, it’s not the referendum for Catalonian independence (although I guess that’s important, too). And no, it’s not

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As Baby Boomers Near Death, Inane Blathering about Millennials Increases

On a recent morning in Minneapolis, Tom Dickington was approached by one of his young employees. Dickington, 63, who manages a local Foot Locker, says, “The kid said he

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Cercedilla Article on Vaya Madrid, and Quotes for Hemingway’s Birthday

Well folks, I have a new article on Vaya Madrid these days. It’s about Cercedilla, a lovely town up north in the mountains. The title is Escape the

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Breaking: The Huffington Post is Lame

Oh man, has my facebook page been abuzz of late with some lameness from our friends at the Huffpo! And it’s not even the usual liberal whining they’re famous

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Big Publishing, Kiss Your Ass Goodbye (Part 2)

Big publishing is on the way out. Or at least I hope so. Something I see in English language teaching all the time… It’s one of the mighty,

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The Effective Abolition of the Germanic Lexicon

It is endlessly amusing, to me, how worked up perfectly sane people will get over certain monosyllables. Why should a certain combination of sounds be considered offensive? The

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Against the horror which is colloquial English

Poetry, in some form or other, has been around for millennia, but we all know that some poems are better than others–some, in fact, are nothing more than

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The Spanish Brand: Snuggle Up With Marca España

Is the Spanish brand suffering? Maybe… The Spanish government is trying to improve the Spanish brand these days, and ungramatically trying to attract foreign investment. That was the

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Five Fun Italian Proverbs

Ready for some Italian proverbs? ‘Cause I spent this Christmas and New Year’s in Italy. Everybody seems to be impressed by this fact except me. Actually, as far

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