Author: Birgit

What I know / What you should know

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There is no use in having great reasons why life today is upside down and nothing works. It’s ok, the reasons are real, but we are no longer children and we need to decide today: Will we sink with these problems and challenges or will we swim against all the odds? It is easy to have opinions on what other people put out on the internet. But consider this: If your response is a billboard, is it the image of yourself that you want to hold up in the world? Change is hard. There is no way to sugar coat it: sometimes change is devastating and very lonely. Don’t give up. You can do more than you think you can. You probably also should rest more than you do. Set your ambitions higher and do the same for your boundaries. Are you over 40? Where did your dreams go? Find them. It’s not too late. Start today by making it your goal to each day do something that helps other be a better version of …

Dear Fanchon Fröhlich

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Dear Fanchon, I continue to think about you long after you have gone. Your company, art, book collection, inspiration and soirees won’t ever be forgotten. Neither will my first experience of opera and La Traviata. I wish time could, for just a day, be a-linear and allow me to skip back to June 10th 2016. I’d choose differently. I would take a taxi to the distant part of town to see you before I left. My poor choice of not saying goodbye is something that forever haunts me. I hope you knew how much you mean to me, still.

When language learning isn’t showing progress

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Someone asked this Question: “I have an Italian language student who improves extremely slowly. I have tried everything I can think of to support her learning progress, with no results. She is becoming frustrated and I don’t know what else to do. I have suggested that she take an additional tutor or learning system but she said she wants to study with me or she will give up studying Italian.” (You can swap Italian for any other language.) Do you work with a course book? Can you revise an additional resource list that fits with the general themes and chapters of the course book. This list can include Youtube videos and children’s quizzes, comic book pages, graphic novel sections, multiple examples in different formats and different media of the same grammar or theme or vocabulary. You can gather a list of material resources that compliment your existing lesson material over time. It will be useful for all students.  Don’t try to move too fast if the foundation won’t stick. Make it feel ok to not …

journal of personal bits and pieces

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Trying something new. This is more for personal benefit than it is for you but if you want to stay in touch with me or get to know me better and know what influences my choices then in this series you can. I came across a review of Bangkok as one of the safest cities in the world. They speak about UK market towns (sleepy towns) that are much less safe than a dark soi (back alley) in Bangkok at night.. 😊 https://youtu.be/rS2ddlzTEyY?t=755. I agree. I have been to Bangkok several times and always felt unbothered and at ease. I know how to be on alert in urban settings and I found no immediate necessity for this second nature skill during my times in Bangkok. Listening to Bangkok Pat talk to his Youtube colleague, while carrying on with knitting our chihuahua a sweater. You could argue that this is a terrible use of time. I argue that it is a meditative practice that is restorative to the nervous system and in these wild global times …

My 3 favourite Asia Life-Travel-Food Youtube Channels

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3 Family friendly Youtubers sharing life, food, culture in Thailand, Korea and China Paddy Doyle in Thailand Paddy Doyle in Thailand is a friendly, wholesome, family friendly Youtuber, currently exploring all 77 provinces of Thailand on a little motorbike that he named ‘Dreamy’. Great viewing for anyone who has always wondered: “Why aren’t we seeing more about Thailand outside of the well known tourist hotspots?” Paddy is doing a great service to broadening all of our horizons and the next time we visit we should all take a leaf out of his book and get off the comfortable beaten path because it’s a big country with so much more to offer than the same same places.  From his Channel’s About page: “About Paddy — I LOVE to entertain, educate, and inspire people to get out there and have adventures, so let’s explore the world, eat new and fantastic foods, and let’s just spread some positive vibes as we do so!” ABOVE is one of his recent videos that I missed to watch and I only noticed because I went …

I recommend that no matter what you do in life: Regularly collect feedback. Why? (read on)

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Sharing one of my very best tips that is entirely free but will cost you action taking and courage. The perceived risk is high, the actual risk minuscule. Click on the title or on ‘more’ to read this and take action. If you want to change how you feel in life then here is your opportunity, it’s 100% in your own hands. And there is no email link or trap. Just do it is all there is to this one. Are you ready?

Use my link to sign up to Wise & save on international money transfers (compared to Paypal or your traditional bank)

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One way to support my blog, the work & time that it takes to write, is to use my Link to sign up to Wise. Wise offers hands down THE best international currency conversion when you send money to yourself (or to friends, family, businesses) between countries. Wise also has a borderless bank account with wallets in multiple currencies. This allows you to get paid and/or safely store your money in multiple currencies. When you use my link to sign up and use Wise for your money transfers abroad (you can do this without a bank account with them) I will receive a bonus to my own Wise account. I ONLY recommend Wise because the company has saved me well over $1000 in the last few years. (I periodically send money between the UK and USA and occasionally receive payments for Art work or services from abroad into my Transferwise account.) Here is my WISE sign-up link. This is called an affiliate link, because I get a reward for telling you about Wise. In case …