In the past few weeks or few days, it seems like my social media has been flooded with just negative and depressing news. I think mostly about politics. Do you feel the same? It's hard to get away from it.

Aside from everything going on politically in our world today, we can all agree that life is not always perfect. No matter how much money you make, how many friends you have or how great your job is, we all go through ups and downs . Life is life. We must deal with hardships to be stronger, to recognize our strengths and to appreciate the beauty in life. But it's not always easy to push through difficult times.

I recently started writing as a contributing blogger on Teachability by Pearson Education, I'm excited to start sharing the different components of English learning and English teaching. You all know I'm very passionate about visual aids in teaching as well as learning through immersion and real-life context , so I'm pretty sure most of my writing will be focused around those topics.

If you're a teacher teaching ELLs, you might be interested in my recent post on Three Ways The Use of Visual Aids Can Benefit ELLs.  I talk about the ability of visual aids to increase retention, reduce time, and enhance motivation. Integrating visual aids does not have to be time-consuming or costly. I give some examples of my own work which are all downloadable for free on my website. Just type the name of the image in the search box on my website. If you still can't find them, send me an email! I'll be glad to help!

Although my English Student website allows me to share my own resources with learners (and teachers) around the world, Teachability will provide more dense reading materials for teachers in the ELL/ESL/ EFL field. Aside from being able to share my ideas to help other teachers, I'll also be able to read from the experience of other educators to strengthen my knowledge on learning habits and how to provide better resources for English learners!

If there's something you'd want to read about or share in relation to visual aids, I would love to hear from you! Send me an email here:  [email protected]

Today is International Podcast day, held on September 30th.

Do you know what a podcast is?

A podcast is the combination of the two words, "iPod" and "broadcasting". Podcasts are digital audio shows that you can listen to on your iPhone, iPad, or any other digital device. These shows usually have many episodes so you can save them and listen over and over again.  It's almost like having your own radio!

I think I started listening to podcasts as soon as they were available. It's a great way to learn when your eyes are too tired to read. I love listening to podcasts before bed, while taking a shower, cooking dinner, basically anytime! Listening is such an important part of learning English. You can hear pronunciation and intonation,  learn new idioms and slang, and understand basic conversation. If you don't have time to sit and study English through books, why don't you just try and listen?

Here I share four podcasts that I enjoy listening to.

CULIPS ESL PODCAST
I recently discovered this practical podcast for English learners, called Culips ESL Podcast. You can find them on iTunes or download an App such as Stitcher. Although I'm not an English learner, I love listening to their show because they talk about everyday topics in the form of natural speech. A lot of what they talk about is relevant, engaging, and useful. Their website also includes some additional help on each episode.

Their most recent episode, Don't Front, teaches you several ways to talk about people who are fake or inauthentic (someone pretending to be something they're not). I'm sure we all know one or two people like that in our lives!

I've always talked about listening to natural speech in order to improve English and this is a great podcast whether you're a beginner or advanced learner. I absolutely recommend this!

BILINGUAL AVENUE
Of course I must mention Marianna Du Bosq's amazing podcast, Bilingual Avenue. I was featured on her podcast a few months ago talking about the power of visual aids. If you missed it, you can listen to it here. Bilingual Avenue has so many great advice if you're a parent or someone trying to teach or raise children from a multilingual background. The podcasts cover questions such as, how to support second language learning? Will my child be able to learn a second or third language if he/she is older? All the podcasts feature people who've have years of experience on these topics. If you're a teacher with young students coming from multilingual backgrounds or if you're a parent trying to provide different languages to your child, check out Marianna's podcasts!

THE MOTH
I discovered The Moth Podcast a few years ago on a night I couldn't fall asleep. I tried to find something to listen to that would help me fall asleep and came across The Moth. It didn't actually help me sleep, but made me stay up even later. I couldn't stop listening! The Moth is a collection of short stories shared by regular everyday people like you and me. It uses storytelling to bring attention to ordinary life. Some stories are inspirational, some are funny, some are sad, but everything brings attention to different human experiences. Because all the stories are different and told through different people, you may find some stories easier to understand than others. Read the descriptions and choose the one that interests you!

TED RADIO HOUR
Most of you might have heard of TED TALKS. These are short videos of experts "teaching" and telling us about a subject matter. The TED Radio is kind of similar but it presents a topic and brings together all the relevant talks by speakers. So instead of hearing a whole talk by one speaker, you get to hear little bits from many speakers about a topic. Some topics include, the act of listening, our relationship with trust, why humans lie, how we love.

I use Stitcher Radio which you can download for free through the App store. It's one of the best Apps I own! I can find podcasts depending on topic or category and save them to my favorites so that I can always see new episodes from each show. Try listening to some of these podcasts and let me know if there are any other podcasts you would recommend!

This weekend is a special one for all my family who live in Asia as it's the Mid-Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival. In Mandarin, they call it Zhong Qiu Jie. This festival is celebrated in many Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. During this time, the moon is usually the brightest and roundest! This festival started many many many years ago in China. It was a day where people expressed (showed) their gratitude (appreciation), worshiped the moon, gathered (grouped together) family and friends together, and celebrated harvest.

Since I'm not there and can't celebrate with my family, it doesn't mean I can't enjoy some Mooncake! This is the common (usual, frequent) pastry eaten during this time. Mooncakes are shaped like a "moon." They are round in shape and usually have filling inside such as red bean and egg yolk. It's common to give family and friends mooncakes during this time. The looks of these can vary (change in some way) and nowadays, you can see all kinds of fillings and shapes. People start to get more creative and competitive (do something better than others)!

The older you get, the more you'll realize that life is not always fair or nice. Sometimes it can be scary,  frustrating, and stressful but you're not the only one. Everyone deals with ups and downs in life. But if we can think positively, the hardships of our lives may become easier to deal with.

This month, The Little English Therapist is encouraging you to practice "5 Mental Habits That Can Make You a Stronger Person" by Kallen Diggs.

To help you read this article, below is a bit of English help first. Once you understand each part you can try and read the entire article here where the writer explains more into why each point is important.

1. Be Willing To Take Risks
"Risk" (noun) is something that can cause danger, hurt, or loss. To take risks means to do things that may cause these dangers. But why? Think of people who go to casinos and gamble. Even though it is a risk (because they may lose a lot of money), they might also win a lot of money! That's why they are willing to take risks.

2. Embrace Change
When we "embrace change" we can accept and welcome change. "Embrace" means to accept something with enthusiasm. Sometimes change can be good, so try to "embrace" it.

3. Stay Positive
The opposite of "positive" (+) is "negative" (-). Positive is to be hopeful, enthusiast, and happy. When we are positive we don't think about all the things that are bad or sad but have a happy attitude.

4. Focus On What You Can Control
When we are frustrated or angry about something, it's very easy to sit and think about all the things that could have happened or should have happened. I do this a lot too! To focus on what we can "control" means to stop wasting time thinking about things that can't be changed. Focus on what we can do something about. "Control" means the ability or power to influence or change something. For example, "She has control over her husband " :-)

5. Always Remember The Big Picture
"The big picture" is the situation as a whole (focus on the most important facts of the situation).

Now that you've learned the meaning of each part, visit and read the entire article here. See how much you can understand.