“Ahoy” from a rainy Prague.
That’s what sailors say instead of “hi.”
And this week, I’m living on a boat on the Vltava River, so I feel like a sailor.
(That’s also how Czechs say “hi.”) (Except they spell it “ahoj.”) (Isn’t that interesting…)
Why am I living on a boat?
Well, I saw one on Airbnb…
I’ve always wanted to see what it’s like to live on a boat…
So I booked it for a week and here I am!
Something Else I’ve Always Wanted To Do
Last week I went to a Halloween party in Virginia.
Here I am with my dad.
| Can you guess what I’m dressed as? I’ve got a cape and teeth like a vampire… And I’ve got a badge and a nightstick like a policeman… If you guessed “Vampire-Cop” you would be correct. Or… Count Copula. Or… Dracu-cop. Why did I choose this costume? Well, there was a cape in the closet. And I’d always wanted to wear it. Capes are cool. Unfortunately, they’re also a few hundred years out of style. But Halloween is a time to dress strangely… So I RSVPed to the party and I wore the cape! IF ENGLISH IS ON YOU “ALWAYS WANTED TO” LIST Some students tell me they need English for work. For them, English is a must. That’s great, because there’s a lot of motivation knowing you’ve got to speak English in a meeting Monday morning. And one of my Laws of English is, Motivation First, Method Second. That means, if your motivation is strong enough, you’ll find the proper method. But there’s another group of students who tell me English is on their list of things they’ve always wanted to do. And for this group, I hear a lot of stories of starting and stopping and never quite reaching their goal. So what to do? TWO WAYS TO CLIMB A FENCE There are two method for climbing a fence. Method A: You put one foot on the first board. Then you put your other foot on the other board. You throw one leg over, then the other. Then you climb down the other side. Method B: Throw your hat over the fence. I prefer Method B. Method A works. But the problem is there’s not a lot of motivation. You can decide to stop at any time. With Method B, you’ve given yourself the motivation before you started. You’ll work out the details later. How can you throw your hat over your own fence? When I fist moved to Europe many years ago, I had been dreaming about it for a long time, but it didn’t happen until I called my landlord and told him I would be moving out at the end of the month. Can you do something similar? Here are some ideas: Get a private teacher. Schedule lessons at the same time every week. Pay in advance. Sign up for a non-English course (yoga, painting, currency trading, whatever) (virtual or live) in the US or UK. Advertise a room to rent in your house/apartment and say it’s only for a native speaker.* Apply for a job with a company that requires English. Advertise a job opening in your company — native speakers only.* See? You’ve got options. Now take your hat off your head and… Cheers, Mr. Vig |
| *I say “native speaker” but there are so many non-native speakers who speak better than native speakers… so don’t be too picky about where they come from. As long as they speak better than you, that’s good enough. |