Mr. Vig

Last week I told you about Pavla.

She thought her problems with English were her fault.

(if you missed that lesson you can read it here) Read More >

Pavla sat down on my couch and looked at the floor.

Her hands were in her lap. The left hand held onto the right.

She didn’t smile. Read More >

How many people are on Facebook now?

Something like the population of India + China + a few billion more?

Anyway, of all the people on the site, I’m the only Ryan Viguerie. Read More >

Greetings from this place:

Amazing! Right?

It’s called Puycelsi. Read More >

“One of the main reasons why people despair of studying a language is that it makes them feel stupid.”

– Dr. Paul Pimsleur, “How To Learn A Foreign Language. Let me tell you a story.
A long time ago, there were three brothers.

They lived in a small village in the mountains and had a peaceful 
life.

But one day, the king said, come with me and fight in my army.

The brothers thought about it. 

And thought about it.

And thought about it.

And finally said, “Eh. No thanks.”

But it wasn’t really a choice.

And it wasn’t really a question.

So to avoid prison (or worse) they got on a ship and sailed to America. 

One brother went to Colorado and married an Indian woman.

One brother (I forgot. Not important. On to the third brother.) 

And one brother went to New Orleans and became a successful business man.

His name was Viguerie.

And so is mine. 

And I’m telling you this story to tell you another story…

Next week my dad and I are travelling to France to visit the village where the Viguerie brothers came from. 

And because it’s in France, and because they speak French in France, and because I lived in Paris a long time ago and spoke OK French, I thought, well, it might be a good idea to, as we say in English, brush up. 

So for the past month and a half I’ve been using the Mr. Vig method (I get a good discount) to improve my French.

And part of that includes daily conversation. 

I  found a friendly French woman online. Her name is Fleur. She used to work in a laboratory in San Francisco but now she teaches African dance in Portugal. She’s not a “real” teacher. But that’s fine, because the last thing I want is a confusing lesson on the difference between the passé simple and the imparfait. So we just chat. She writes down new words and when I make a mistake she writes down the correct sentence. Then later, I review it all. 

And let me tell you. It’s not easy. 

Every day I feel stupid. 

Every day there’s something else I’d rather do. 

But every day I do it. 

And let me tell you another thing, I’m getting better.

So on one hand, I feel stupid and it’s hard and I don’t want to do it.

But on the other hand, I feel good because I’m improving and I’m achieving a goal I set.

And here’s how that works out in numbers.

Feeling stupid: 60 minutes

Feeling satisfied with myself: all day, every day 

I can highly recommend both to you.

Here’s the link to my other website, Teacher Creature, where you can find your own friendly, native speaker to chat with. And feel good and stupid at the same time. 

Last Thursday I went to a meetup of entrepreneurs.

At one point, we started to discuss the turn-out: about 16 people had RSVPed online, but only 6 people had shown up.

My friend, Kuba, figured it out quickly: everyone who was there had committed to another person. Read More >

These are two things you don’t see together back in the States.

If a place serves alcohol, and it’s not a restaurant, there will not be anyone under the age of 21 anywhere near the place.

True story: When I went home for Christmas I saw the grocery store clerk ask for my dad’s I.D. – and he’s 83! Read More >

Last Thursday I gave a presentation at one of the TEFL schools in Prague.

This is a school that trains English teachers.

I was there to talk to them about teaching private students, and one of them asked me an interesting question, “Do all students want grammar?” Read More >