Where the hell have I been?

Not on Steemit, obviously.

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Fusing with Goku!

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It's been a couple of months since I've shown my face here, but the good news is that the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

(What? There were no rumours? The Steemit community didn't even notice I was missing? I don't believe it!)

As you may recall, I recently began training to become an teacher of English as a foreign language here in Guadalajara, México. (My job title sounds way cooler in Spanish by the way - maestro de inglés.)

Before even finishing my training, I was snapped up by one of México's most prestigious private language schools, where I have been working ever since. I am the only native English speaker at the school, however there are other teachers who are half Mexican-half American, or who lived in the US for decades, and speak with a native or near-native accent.

It's been an incredibly satisfying learning curve, especially watching my students develop from nervous speakers to a point where they are able to laugh and make jokes with me in English. I have learned that, as a native speaker, I have a different skillset to the Mexican teachers who learned English in a classroom themselves. I am stronger in the areas of pronunciation, tone of voice, vocabulary and idioms. However I have found that it's actually quite difficult to teach the grammar of your native language, given that you use it so instinctively and unconsciously yourself. Furthermore, I don't have the innate knowledge of specific challenges that a native Spanish speaker faces, at least not as comprehensively as a Mexican teacher does.

Everyone loves grammar

Nonetheless, my knowledge and understanding of both English, Spanish, and linguistics as a whole has profoundly improved. I have also developed a fantastic relationship with many of my students, most of whom are around my age or only a few years younger. Aside from teaching English for 8 hours a day, I'm also spending a solid 3 to 4 hours a day learning Spanish or consuming material in Spanish. I am employing numerous methods, often honed by what I have learned from teaching English, and I am confident that I will have achieved a reasonable level of fluency within the next 6 months.

"Spanish course for foreigners"

In between all of this, I've been managing to make a little time for dating, and taking advantage of the fact that my blue eyes make me exotic in México. Guadalajara is famous in México for its beautiful women, but more importantly, they are intelligent and kind as well. Furthermore, I have quit smoking (17 days without a cigarette!) and Facebook!

From here, I will try to make time to continue telling my India to Germany story before the memories become too distant and vague. I will also be posting more about language and linguistics, and that may eventually become the main focus of this blog. Soon, I intend to post a guide on how to self-teach a language. Stay tuned for that.

Guadalajara Cathedral and Plaza Guadalajara; historical centre of the city and relic of the Spanish conquest

Hospicio de Cabañas; once a hospice, now an impressive art gallery, it is said to be the largest Spanish colonial building in all of Latin América

Tacos Gay - probably the city's most famous taco joint, despite the tacos not actually being any good

Guadalajara has an amazing graffiti scene

Barranca de Huentitán - a 700 metre deep canyon and my motivation for quitting smoking