📚🍻BOOKS ‘n BEER: SHAKESPEARE’S ‘MACBETH’
We are doing ‘Macbeth’ this week, a classic Shakespeare play… I am not in love with Shakespeare. I have read only three works by him in the past three years. We’ll see how it goes in the discussion this weekend. 😧 (Macbeth is not recommended for ESL learners but perhaps your native language? Maybe not. […]
🎯🏆September ESL Challenge: Coming soon! 🥳
📺WATCHING OUR 7th SIMPSONS EPISODE
A student and I watched our seventh Simpson’s episode together in two years: ‘Homer’s Enemy’, a classic from 1997! Watching the Simpsons is a creative and fun way to learn English AND classic American culture. I watched this episode live back then and I can’t believe it is now 29 years old! In this famous […]
😜CULTURE ENGLISH: THE WORD ‘ASS’
Learn about the many uses of the word ‘ass’ in English!
🏁FORD DEFEATS FERRARI IN THE AUGUST ESL CHALLENGE!🏎️🏎️🏆
Team Ford defeated Team Ferrari in the August ESL Challenge 1185 to 1035! CONGRATULATIONS, TEAM FORD! (Just like the movie 😉) Students competed by answering questions on the following English tests. 🌍 IELTS — International English Language Testing System, TOEFL — Test of English as a Foreign Language 💼 TOEIC — Test of English for […]
📚STUDENT READING: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST🪺🤯🪺
(Story English) A student is reading the classic novel, ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.’ Why? Well, he found it for 70% off at a book store so he figured it was his destiny to read it in English! Crazy? Maybe! 😜 Either way, he is in for an amazing read! And: the book and […]
🌍🌎Europe to USA: One Student’s Leap into 2028
Some stories I get to tell as a teacher fill me with pure pride, and this is one of them. One of my students — a woman with more than twenty years of hard-earned career experience behind her — is packing up her whole life and family in Europe to start over in the United […]
📚🍻BOOKS ‘n BEER: ‘THE FALL’ by Camus
Our last discussion was, ‘The Fall’ by Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus. It is a crazy, fun and at times disturbing look into Camus mind. Some even say it is a kind of confession about his own life. 5/5 Stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Fall is a small (120 ish pages) philosophical novel published in 1956. It is […]
🎥🍿THE HANDMAID’S TALE (Series and book)
(Story English) A student just finished seasons one and two of, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. I personally loved the book and give it 5/5 stars and season 1 as well. The series is rated 8.3/10 on IMDB and can be seen on Hulu, Prime video and Netflix where available. 📺 THE HANDMAID’S TALE – NO SPOILERS […]
🏗️L-1B VISA APPROVED TODAY 🥳
A student’s L-1B Visa was approved today! 🙌🏼👍👍CONGRATS!
🏁🏎️AUGUST ESL CHALLENGE: FORD v FERRARI🏎️
A FEW DAYS AGO Ferrari caught up with Ford. However, Ford has since taken a 175-point lead with just FIVE days to go! Challenge ends on August 31. Next challenge starts on September 3rd! 🎓 Our Five English Challenges: (Questions partaaay!😉🥳):
🎸🎶NEW GUITAR APP SUPPORTED BY Pete’s Lab
(MUSIC ENGLISH, BUSINESS ENGLISH (#2 STORY IN THE SERIES on PRACTICKAPP.COM) Fabiano’s Guitar App Pracktick — The Biggest and coolest Project in (Pete’s Lab) Music English History Pete’s student Fabiano — a guitarist and developer from Brazil — has built a real guitar practice app called Practick. And Pete has been supporting the English needs […]
🎬🍿🎥HOW TO WATCH MOVIES AND LEARN ENGLISH!
How to Watch Movies in English and Actually Learn Most people watch movies in English and wonder why their English isn’t improving. The problem isn’t the movie. It’s the method. Here’s how to actually learn from movies in English — the Pete’s Lab way. Step 1 — Choose the right movieDon’t start with Shakespeare or […]
🎥🍿🎬THIS WEEK’S MOVIE QUOTE: PET DETECTIVE / JIM CARREY (Comedy)
🎥🍿🎬THIS WEEK’S MOVIE QUOTE: PET DETECTIVE/ JIM CARREY. See Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura in, Pet Detective. In this scene ACE arrives at the home of someone he is looking for, Ray Finkle, a former football player. 🎬MOVIE DIALOGUE Ace Ventura: Hi, I’m looking for Ray Finkle. [Shotgun comes out of door, pointing at Ace.] […]
📘📚THIS WEEK’S SHORT AUDIO BOOK IS AVAILABLE🤓
“Eveline” is a short story by James Joyce about a young woman torn between staying in her hard, familiar life in Dublin or running away to a new life with a man she loves. It is a quiet, powerful look at the fear of change and the weight of family duty.
🗣️STUDENT USES AI TO MONITOR SPEAKING SPEED🏎️
A student was recently using the Preply AI report to show his speaking speed had increased. The AI is improving and it’s good to see some students putting it to good use. 😉🫡😎
🏎️🏁ESL CHALLENGE: FERRARI IS CATCHING UP!
FERRARI HAS PULLED OFF A MIRACLE AND IS WITHIN 30 POINTS OF FORD! The five English tests we’ve decided to use for our question sets are:
📚THIS WEEK’S (VERY SHORT!) SHORT STORY:
“For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn” is a famous six-word story often attributed to Ernest Hemingway. The story is a thought exercise that forces the reader to use their imagination. The rest is up to YOU. What are the possibilities? What could it mean? Before you Google it or ChatGPT it, THINK about it. 💡🧠
🌎🎤TOP 10 SONGS KARAOKE WORLDWIDE
Below are ten of the most popular sing-along/Karaoke songs ever. 🎶🎤💃🏼🕺🏼🎉🎈 “Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen A rock opera that captivates with its dramatic shifts and memorable lyrics. “Don’t Stop Believin’” – Journey An anthem of hope and perseverance, perfect for singalongs. “Sweet Caroline” – Neil Diamond Known for its catchy chorus, it’s a crowd favorite. […]
📘HOW TO READ SHORT STORIES
https://youtu.be/HA8Q-ECwk70?is=HNgxHby6xbDFc8ya
Family Guy making fun of all 50 US states 🤣🎯
https://youtu.be/VjIUHO9LwbM?is=C6hX3W-qAP1H9IbF
📚🍺Books ‘n Beer- Invisible Cities: continuing work this week.
As I recently said, this was a tough book to read. So, I bought this hard cover version and will continue working on it for the next few weeks. (Again, this book is not recommended for ESL learners. Perhaps, just perhaps in your native language??) 😉
📚SUMMER READING: ‘EPICAC’ 💻
Reading definitely slows down during the summer! Even so, a student read ‘EPICAC’ by Kurt Vonnegut this week. It is long for one of our short audio stories. But, it is a fun and interesting early look at AI with a big question: Can computers ‘feel’ real love? Some of EPICAC’s (The AI) last words: […]
🏗️STUDENT PREPARING FOR L1-B VISA INTERVIEW
🎯 Business English — Visa Interview Prep! One of my students is preparing for a US L1-B Visa interview. We are practicing through real dialogues — questions, answers, professional vocabulary and confidence building. This is exactly what Business English is for. Good luck! 🍀🫡
What’s your English level?
https://youtube.com/shorts/xlrNOE_BJbU?is=MZ_6NsmPKl2PO7ZQ
🏎️🏎️🏁AUGUST ESL CHALLENGE CONTINUES!
ESL CHALLENGE (In the WhatsApp Group): Team FORD has taken a big lead over team FERRARI this past week!
🎤🥳STUDENT MEMORIZES SONG!
A student and I sang Barry Manilow’s ‘Copacabana’ this week. Here is the best part: we did it without reading or using the lyrics. Neither of us read any words, and we sang it from beginning to end. This is the first time this has ever been done in class! This is another new step […]
📚🍺BOOKS n’ BEER: INVISIBLE CITIES by Calvino
Invisible Cities is a 1972 novel by Italo Calvino, where the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan talks with the explorer Marco Polo. As the emperor feels his empire is falling apart, Marco tells him stories about 55 strange and beautiful cities, each one a dream-like place that makes you think about memory, desire, and what it means […]
🏁🏎️AUGUST ESL CHALLENGE KICKS OFF TODAY🏆
Our August ESL Challenge starts today! There are just two teams this month because so many people are on vacation, etc. It’s Ford vs. Ferrari like the 2019 film about the famous LeMans race. This month will feature more questions from major English tests like the IELTS, TOEFL and TOEIC but MORE fun!😜 The challenge […]
🎭WHAT IS ‘DRAMA ENGLISH’???
What is Drama English? 🎭 Drama English is one of my most popular and unique classes. In Drama English, students read and act out dialogues — in English. The dialogues are about real situations: job interviews, vacations, conversations at work, everyday life. Sometimes I write custom dialogues based on YOUR real life. Sometimes we use […]