January 28th, 2024

Hello there, everybody, 
This school year (2023-2024) is really difficult for me at the moment. There are so many new responsibilities that I’ve been encouraged to take on, that I’m now realizing I was never really going to be able to take on, on top of just lesson planning and teaching, but it’s also the year that we went on strike. 

Seeing as I’m scheduling this in the same year (2024), I am hoping that we did get some good things from the strike and that it is not going to have been for nothing? But… anyways, let’s move on to my recommendation for you today: 

What are we talking about today? 

Etymology. I am sure that my colleagues are not all about etymology, but even before being an English teacher, I knew that etymology was a huge interesting thing for me to read about, and to remember.

Today, I saw this one video that reminded me of my love for the origin of words in general. My students complain about the way we write… we can complain about how English is difficult because it is an amalgamation of words from different languages, which means we have difficulties finding out the way we are supposed to spell words. 

Hang in there, fellow TESL-ers. If you are struggling through the class that is History of English, and if you have this particular book (image from this website here), I share your pain.

But I want to encourage you to continue, because it could help you with your spelling, and who knows? You might encourage other young minds to LOVE etymology the way I do (moderately, and not in a creepy way nor hardcore way)! 

Please enjoy this one video from the YouTube channel called Answer in Progress (at least, that’s what the name is at the moment of writing this post), all about spelling and about why etymology is important. 

Have a great day,
See you next month! Oh, and have a nice beginning of the school year!
Miss Vu
P.S. Do not take on more than you can chew at the beginning of the year, Future Me!