Welcome to LATAM English Class!

Hello, English students!

I've been through a rebranding project and I'm happy to announce my newest project, LATAM English!

I have almost 4 years of experience in teaching English in Latin America and I really enjoy helping my students learn English quickly and easily.  I've decided to make a bigger effort in my online teaching in order to reach students all over Latin America.

The benefit of studying with me is that I speak Spanish and I've studied education and specifically how to teach English.  I have students that have been with me since I arrived to Chile because they are so content with our classes.  I also have students that are living or studying in other countries now because I helped them improve their English enough to study abroad.

I can see common errors that Hispanohablantes make in English, and I understand why they make those errors, which makes it easier to correct, and easier for the student to remember.

I hope to offer online courses in English later this year, so everyone can study English lessons at an affordable price and on their own schedule.  For now, make sure you're following me here and on twitter at @LatamEnglish  and check out my free mini-lessons on Periscope: @rachellaycook

Thanks for checking out this site!  I can't wait to bring you some great content!

Taking a Short Break

Hello, Dear Students!

I apologize for the lack of content lately!  I've been incredibly busy with classes and with my degree legalization process, as well as preparing documents in order to apply to my Master's program.

I'm going to be taking a very short break from the blog to give myself some time to work on my grad school application.  I'll be back with regular, brand new content on November 1st!

Happy Studying!

Wednesday Reading: Budapest Foodies Hope Cuisine Can Help Heal Anti-Migrant Prejudice

Good morning, dear students!

So today I have this amazing article for you to read that I hope will lift your spirits for the week.  It's about how restaurants and kitchens in Europe are changing their menus to serve food from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Eritrea in an attempt to combat xenophobia that many Europeans are expressing toward migrant arriving to Europe from these countries.

A few words you might need to know are:
Bustling
Eateries
Surpass
Heal

There is also the option to listen to the radio report of this story, found right below the title of the article on the website!

What do you think of this project?  Would you be interested in eating those foods?  Do you think sharing food is a good way to decrease racism and xenophobia?  Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wednesday and Happy Studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: In, On, At

Good morning, dear students!

I hope your week is off to a great start!

I have a small graphic for you today to explain the difference between three really tricky prepositions:  In, At, and On. 

It can be difficult to remember when to use which of these, as the rules are varied.  Study this graphic to help you feel more comfortable with them!

Which of these prepositional uses always confuses you? Let me know in the comments!  These are hard to master completely, but I will be focusing on preposition corrections during October to try to help all of my students improve their usage of these words!

If you're interested in the source of this graphic or more information in how to use these prepositions, click here to go to the source site!

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Concurso!

Good morning, dear students!

I want to give you a heads up about a little contest I found on Facebook!  Check out the image below and see if it's a contest you're interested in entering.  The Facebook page connected to the contest is here.

This could be a great opportunity to study abroad!  If you'd like to enter and want help creating a short (max. 30 seconds) video to enter the contest, please let me know and we'll work on it this week!  

Let me know if you decide to enter the contest, and good luck!

More information ca be found here.

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students, and happy Monday! 

I'll keep this short today-- I challenge you to do something amazing and terrifying.  Whether it's applying for a new job, joining an English-speaking book club, applying to study abroad-- Anything!  If it matters, if it makes you nervous, it's probably because you care.  And if it terrifies you then it must be something really big.  Frame it differently-- Don't you want to do something REALLY BIG that you CARE ABOUT A LOT??  Everyone does!  So let's talk about it this week-- what's the big goal that you're going to set for yourself, and how can we work together to get you there!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

12 Ways to Stay Motivated

Good Morning, dear students!

I hope your week is going well!
I found this cool little infographic with some great tips on staying motivated, and I wanted to share it with you.

Many of my students have very demanding, challenging jobs.  Most of you also have family responsibilities and hobbies and avid social lives!  I'm always impressed with the effort you put in to add another project to your plate-- learning English requires lots of time, patience, practice, and  motivation.

Check out this infographic for a few ideas on how to maintain your motivation and keep up with your busy, demanding lives!

So what do you think?  Which of these would be a good idea for you to incorporate in your schedule?  Do you have any other tips or advice on how you stay motivated?  Let me know in the comments!!

Happy Thursday and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: Battle of the Commonly Misspelled or Misused Words

Good morning, dear students!

I hope your week is off to a good start!

I have a cool graphic for you guys today.  It compares the definitions of words that are commonly spelled incorrectly or used incorrectly in English. Take a look and see if any of these words are words that you confuse sometimes!

This graphic comes from a site called YourDictionary, a site I found recently that I would like to recommend to all of you.  This online dictionary offers dictionary and thesaurus services, and can even show you a word in a quote or example and give you a word list.  Here's an example of a dictionary entry!  This is a great tool to use, because sometimes very formal dictionaries use complex words in the definition of the original word, and the whole definition-seeking process gets really complicated. 

Enjoy the graphic and the new dictionary tool!  And tell me in the comments, which pair of these words is the most easily confused?  Which pair was new for you?

Happy Tuesday and happy studying!

Monday Motivation

Good morning, dear students!  Your Monday Motivation today comes from my childhood (and maybe yours, too!).  What was your favorite movie/cartoon as a child?  My favorites were Pocahontas and Lion King.  Many children's movies and cartoons have inspiring stories, morals, and advice that we hope children absorb as they're entertained.  Just because we're adults now doesn't mean that we can't find inspiration in the simple, beautiful stories of our childhoods!  I hope you have a great start to the week and spend some time thinking about your favorite little motivational quote!

Happy Monday and happy studying!

Chilenglish

Good morning, dear students!

Happy Friday!

I hope you've all had a great week and are ready to begin a relaxing weekend!
Check out this video by Woki Toki-- It's technically an advertisement for EnglishFirst, but there's a lot of truth to it!  (And make sure you come to class next week to avoid any potential embarrassment with English faux pas!)

Happy Friday and Happy Studying!

Wednesday Reading:

Good morning, dear students!

Today I have a very short article from Buzzfeed about the final episode of Don Francisco's ''Sabado Gigante'', and how U.S. politicians thanked Don Francisco for his decades on the air.  The article introduces several videos, one from Hillary Clinton and another from President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama.

A few vocabulary words that might be new for you are:

Farewell
Household
Launched
Century

Happy Reading (and watching) and happy studying!

Tuesday Quick Tip: The Difference Between Less and Fewer

Good morning, dear students!  

Today I want us to take a quick look at the difference between LESS and FEWER.  The two words are often confused (even by native English speakers), but there is a simple rule that will help you remember when to use each one. 

Remember the difference between countable and uncountable nouns?  Here, the rule states that verbs that are countable (and can be plural) must use ''fewer''.  For example:

Mary has fewer friends than Jessica.

You should eat fewer cookies if you're trying to lose weight.

They have fewer students in grade 7 than in grade 8.

Meanwhile, ''Less'' is used for nouns that are uncountable (and thus are never considered plural).  For example:

Next time, you should drink less wine.

I have less patience than she does.

We will take less time on the metro than in traffic.

There is some debate (if you didn't know by now, there are several current debates about English language usage) about what the rule should be.  If you're interested in learning an alternative rule, you can read more here.  

So which should you use for the following nouns:

Tacos
Computers
Knowledge
Potato Salad
Beer
Friends
Animals
English


Leave your answers in the comments and we'll talk about them in class!

Happy Tuesday and Happy Studying!