English with Jennifer

Have you recently used such niceties such as, “How was your weekend?” Have you ever taught your learners expressions to interrupt like, “Sorry to bother you”? I have. Apparently, we’re doing great harm — according to a series of ads trending on YouTube. A Google search confirmed that they’re deepfakes. (See screenshot.) Most often, the characters are middle-aged women, and th...

Have you ever read a book twice and discovered a new insight the second time around? That’s what it was like when I attended The Effectiveness of Text Shadowing on Adult ELs’ Pronunciation at TESOL 2026. I had gone to Mishelle Kehoe-Seamon’s presentation at COTESOL back in November 2025,

Some of my memories from Salt Lake City back in March are already blending together, but key takeaways from TESOL 2026 remain with me. I believe it was Gabrielle Sosnowski who mentioned the possibility of playing Zip, Zap, Zop in the context of her session Improvisation for Spontaneous Speaking in the EAP Classroom. At least a couple of heads nodded in recognition of...

The final keynote of TESOL 2026 was given by Nayr Ibrahim of Nord University. “The Power of Multilingualism: Voices and Choices in Inclusive Classrooms” reminded us how every learner deserves a full welcome. As I listened to Dr. Ibrahim’s own rich linguistic journey within and beyond school walls, I recalled the family story told by Carl Hernandez in the first keynote. (