June 2019

Don’t make me feel stupid: the language of museum panels

July 27, 2021June 25, 2019 by A Baltimorean Abroad

This past week, I stumbled upon an old article from Art News, which discussed how museums around the world are re-writing museum interpretive panels (the text that tells you about an object or a site) to better communicate with visitors. The article is entitled, “Your Labels Make Me Feel Stupid.” This really struck a chord with me after an encounter with a fellow traveller in Spain.

We were at a Roman site just south of Barcelona when a gentleman, who heard me speaking English to my husband, asked if I would help him with the English panels describing

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How to communicate in English for Americans and Brits

July 27, 2021June 11, 2019 by A Baltimorean Abroad

In a recent one-to-one lesson, a student (we’ll call him Klaus) confided in me that conference calls are the thing he hates most about his job. But only certain conference calls. “I’m fine if I’m on a call with colleagues from Spain or the Netherlands. But when I hear that it’s the London office on the phone, I panic.”

Why? Because he can’t understand them.

They speak too fast. They tell jokes no one understands. They use idioms. They mumble.

Now, Klaus isn’t a beginner. Grammatically, he is a high B1 (intermediate). Conversationally, he’s a B2 (upper intermediate). That means … Read the rest