Beckie Loewenstein

Turkish business professionals often seek English lessons to advance their careers.  Many would like to speak in English at meetings with international clients.  Some would like to work for a multinational company.  Recently, many of my lessons focus on how to interview for a job.  I recommend my students bring their resume for real life practice. As a teacher, I usually play the role of interviewer.  However, I like to encourage my students to interview me, too!  Be the interviewer to think about the questions you would ask a candidate.  Then, prepare for these questions.  Most importantly, enjoy the questions and have fun! Interviews mostly focus on the why and how of the job change: How did you perform in previous experience? Why would you like the new job? How would you contribute to the new position? My student E. would like to work as a manager in a multinational company.  In preparation for the interview we practice resp...

My student A. asked about the meaning of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the wind" song.  Honestly, I could not give a good answer so I decided to listen more carefully to Bob Dylan.  I learned the song captures the 1960s civil rights movement. I planned this lesson as part of my own thinking about folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's role in civil rights for African Americans.   Listen to Bob Dylan's song "The Death of Emmett Till", available on NPR .  Compare and contrast the song to Margalit Fox's NYTimes article about Willie Louis, a witness of the court case.  How does the song capture the chagrin of the trial's acquittal of the murders? Listen to the song and fill in the blanks with the proper tense of the following verbs: --> bear beat commit confess drag fill find give kill live live remember remind repeat roll speak step stop throw torture The Death Of Emmett...

Robots of the future may leave many jobs behind, including teaching.  Would you like to learn a language from a robot?  This lesson focuses on reading and listening about how technology rapidly changes work and personal life.  The target level is upper intermediate to advanced. Read the article The Robot Economy by David Von Drehle, Time Magazine, to answer the question: What jobs will robots and technology leave behind? Here are some of the answers: accountants travel agents X-ray technicians truck drivers (maybe) welders teachers journalists My students say they have already witnessed the disappearance of many jobs in their neighborhoods.  In Istanbul many tailors, butchers, and textile makers have gone out of business due to changes making them obsolete in the global economy.  Technology would just continue this trend. Find out the meaning of these idiomatic expressions from the context of the article: canary in the coal mine chip away at...

My seven-year-old student M. and I listen to Nellie McKay's "The Dog Song" to practice the present continuous.  What is she doing now?  She is walking the dog!  What sounds do dogs make?  Pant.  Woof!  Then we act out walking an imaginary dog.  Fun! Listen to more Nellie McKay songs here