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Ralph English Teacher
Professional TeacherHi,
In my classes, I especially enjoy conversations about travel and culture and learning things about your countries.
The story below is from Chapter 8 of my coming book, The Long Road Home. The story is true and takes place in my second year of teaching in the Czech Republic. Jitka became my first wife.
"...The Chemopetrol managers I teach are upper intermediate or advanced. The latter spot the sexual innuendos in the short stories I take.”
Jeff stared at me after looking round the room.
“It’s not that there’s sex in the stories, but rather there are bits that if taken out of context could be sexual. This one’s not but take the sentence: I had a friend for dinner. Do you understand that I served him dinner or that I ate him?”
Jitka gasped, “What?”
“Yeah. English is hugely context based. Words don’t have a fixed meaning. Take one sentence out of a conversation and it could mean a number of things. I think Hannibal Lector uses that line in Silence of the Lambs.”
The lesson today is when you read and see a new word, look it up in a dictionary, but take the meaning that most closely fits the context of the paragraph, not always the first meaning.
Check out my podcasts. Two discuss different chapters of my book.
I specialize in teaching teens and adults critical reading, creative and academic reading.
Book a trial. Let's chat.
Apr 8, 2025 6:29 PM
Ralph English Teacher
Language Skills
English, Spanish
Learning Language
Spanish
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