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  • Student Successes
  • Updates From Pete's Lab
  • News From The Classrooms
  • Always something new
  • Student Successes
  • Updates from Pete's Lab
  • News From The Classrooms
  • Always Something new

Posts

📚🍺BOOKS n’ BEER: INVISIBLE CITIES by Calvino

August 15, 2026 No Comments

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 to be human.

I can’t recommend this week’s book to ESL learners in ENGLISH. I also might not recommend it your native language either. The book is interesting but just too unconventional for practical reading. I will be continuing my work on it in the coming weeks…

🏁🏎️AUGUST ESL CHALLENGE KICKS OFF TODAY🏆

August 11, 2026 No Comments

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 runs 20 days until August 31. Good luck team Ferrari! Good luck team Ford! 🏆🏎️

🎭WHAT IS ‘DRAMA ENGLISH’???

August 8, 2026 No Comments

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 famous movie scenes.

Why does it work?
Because acting forces you to FEEL the language — not just read it. You use emotion, tone and expression. You stop thinking about grammar and start thinking about meaning.

This week in Drama English:
Check back here for scenes, dialogues and exercises from Pete’s Drama English classes. 😊

“All the world’s a stage — and your English should be too.” 😄

🏢BUSINESS WORDS I LOVE! ‘PRACTICABLE’

August 8, 2026 No Comments

I LOVE the word ‘practicable’. It is one of my favorite words. It is similar to ‘possible’ but more specific:

Here’s the difference:

Possible = something that CAN happen — it’s within the realm of reality.

Practicable = something that can actually be DONE given real world constraints — time, resources, circumstances.

Example:

  • “It is possible to walk from New York to Los Angeles.” — technically true ✅
  • “It is not practicable to walk from New York to Los Angeles for most people.” — realistic assessment ✅

Something can be possible but not practicable.

Climbing Mount Everest is possible — thousands have done it. But it’s not practicable for most people given the cost, training and risk involved. 😊

💻A REMINDER OF ENGLISH IN SOFTWARE!

August 8, 2026 No Comments

Today, I was talking with my student who made the ‘Product Checker’ .( https://peteslab.com/student-creates-a-quality-test-tool/) He reminded me of the importance of English in his use of Python and SQL to make his Product checker. Below is a list of ten of the major software tools that are English-based.

Top 10 technical fields/tools that are heavily English-driven:

  1. Python — code, documentation, error messages all in English
  2. SQL — commands like SELECT, FROM, WHERE are English words
  3. JavaScript — syntax and documentation entirely English based
  4. Git/GitHub — version control commands and collaboration in English
  5. Linux/Unix — command line entirely in English
  6. APIs — documentation almost exclusively in English
  7. JSON/XML — data formats use English field names
  8. Machine Learning/AI — research papers, frameworks, tools all English
  9. Cybersecurity — certifications, documentation, threat analysis in English
  10. Cloud platforms — AWS, Azure, Google Cloud — all English interfaces

The global tech industry runs on English. A developer in Brazil, India, Pakistan or Mexico who reads English well has a massive career advantage over one who doesn’t.

Error messages are in English. Stack Overflow is in English. GitHub is in English. Job interviews at international companies are in English. Just a few more reasons why knowing ENGLISH helps!

📚🍻’BOOKS ‘n BEER this week: ‘In Watermelon Sugar.’

August 8, 2026 No Comments

Here we are yesterday at the bar, struggling with ‘In Watermelon Sugar’ by Richard Brautigan. Its a sort of dystopian-utopia story and one of the craziest things I have ever read. But, very interesting! The papers are some AI analyses on the book, which often turn out to be wrong! You can see some of the corrections on the paper. 😉 ‘In Watermelon Sugar’ is NOT one of our short audiobooks for students. (It’s 147 pages, not 20) But, the process is the same: Read or listen to the book, study, gather information, get your head together, then DISCUSS it with another person. Reward your brain. 🤯🧠🏆 (This was a level 4/4 read.)

🎤👩🏼‍🎤🎶STUDENT WINS CHATUSHKA SINGING CONTEST!

August 8, 2026 No Comments

A student of mine recently won a singing contest in traditional Chatushka music! Contestants had to randomly draw papers from a large box and then sing the lines that were on the papers! Her prize was a traditional ‘Platok’, pictured below. CONGRATULATIONS! 🎊

📚🌍MY TOP (BOOK) READERS? WHERE ARE THEY FROM?

August 7, 2026 No Comments

Some of my top readers over the past two years so far have been from these countries:

  1. Germany: 41 Books Read🥇
  2. Brazil: 33 Books Read🥈
  3. Germany 33 Books Read🥈

Currently, there is a ‘man on the move’ from Italy with 26 books read!

💼🛫STUDENT MOVING TO THE USA! 🎉

August 7, 2026 No Comments

One of Pete’s students — a professional Engineer and Project Manager — has just received an exciting two year work assignment from her company. She will be living in the USA for two years!

She has been studying with Pete since January 2025. She worked hard, stayed consistent and improved her English significantly. 

She started working on her English ahead of time, knowing she would need it.  Now her hard work is paying off in a very real way.

This is exactly what Business English is for. 😊

Congratulations! Pete’s Lab is proud of you.

🎤🎼BORN A RAMBLIN’ MAN❓

August 6, 2026 No Comments

While watching ‘Supernatural’ Jose heard a song he liked, ‘Ramblin Man’ by the Allman Brothers. We did some practicing yesterday and he even taught ME the second verse! Lyric video is below.

My father was a gambler down in Georgia

And he’d wound up on the wrong end of a guuun

And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus

Rolling down highway 41

🛫🌏STUDENT HEADED FOR SRI LANKA!

August 6, 2026 No Comments

A student has a trip planned to Sri Lanka in August! For months we have been doing dialogues, reading travel guides and history information, and studying vocabulary to prepare for the trip. There’s a lot of English spoken in Sri Lanka!

🛫🌍STUDENT VACATIONING IN PORTUGAL

August 6, 2026 No Comments

A student has a trip planned to Portugal in mid August! In classes we have been reviewing travel guides, vocabulary and many dialogues for months to prepare for this adventure!

📚🍻BOOKS ‘n BEER: IN WATERMELON SUGAR🍉

August 6, 2026 No Comments

In Watermelon Sugar is a strange and dreamy novel by Richard Brautigan, published in 1968. It takes place in a gentle, mysterious world where almost everything is made from watermelon sugar—houses, furniture, even a dress. The story follows an unnamed narrator as he remembers his past, his lost love Margaret, and the violent trouble caused by a man named inBOIL who lives in the “Forgotten Works” outside town. The novel is not a normal story with a clear plot; it feels more like a long, beautiful, and sometimes sad poem. It explores love, loss, and the strange ways people build their lives, making it one of the most unique and unforgettable books of the 1960s counterculture.