Committed to Reading

Real English Content: Expanding Vocabulary Through Experiences

Welcome to my blog!

Allow me to introduce myself and give you a better idea about what to expect from this blog. My name is Kyle and I'm an educator, content creator and English teacher from California. I'm currently residing in Berlin, Germany and have been teaching here since 2018. I've started this blog in order to provide English learners with content that can help support them and expand their knowledge through personal experiences.

My history with learning languages, as well as with teaching English, has lead me to various learning resources, many of which have been somewhat disappointing. I find it frustrating to use materials that have been created with unnatural or outdated language. I often come across stories that feel very scripted and use language that is old-fashioned, too formal or is not written for a wider audience, due to its offensive or problematic terminology. I Invite anyone and everyone to join this community as I do my best to stay up to date with correct terminology and the representation of all people.

My experiences in language education have led me to create this blog in order to help fill a gap in English-language resources, in a more natural way. I hope to talk about a wide range of topics from my personal experiences and help you to expand your vocabulary and to become more comfortable with the grammar found within these stories. As a learner, it can be difficult to know what aspects of English you need to work on until you come across it. I believe many different forms of input are crucial to this process. By reading and listening to many different types of content, you can start to understand the type of vocabulary you may struggle with or which aspect of grammar is challenging for you. Once you identify these weaknesses, it's a lot easier to start to develop your skills with more focus.

How to best use this blog

In addition to creating real content, I want to create material that is more interactive and suitable for all levels. This is why I write most of my posts in three difficulties. I want learners to be able to start reading at a very early stage and progress through varying levels of difficulties as they improve and expand their knowledge. If you are only able to read at a basic level, no problem, you can start with our beginner content and work your way up. Not sure which level you are? Start with a simpler text to see if you understand most of what you read and then progress to the next level for a bit more of a challenge.

I base this content loosely on the Common European Framework of Reference for Language or the CEFR. For example, A1 and A2 content might be found in beginner section, B1 and B2 in the intermediate section and finally the C1 and C2 content can be found in the advanced blogs. This is in the back of my mind when I write but I also strive for natural language, so there may be some crossover between the levels. These levels are also not perfectly separated in reality so I don't feel it's necessary to focus so much on levels but more on specific competencies and useful language for you, not what someone else needs. If you're interested in a particular topic, that is a great starting point for progressing in the language. Focus on cooking if you are an avid chef, focus on sports if you are an active individual, or maybe cryptocurrency if you are an aspiring financial expert.

Personal interests: Influences for content

I'm originally from northern California but have lived in various cities and countries since 2008, when I left my hometown. My upbringing and experiences have greatly influenced my interests and outlook on life. I enjoy many different hobbies that I've carried on since my youth such as mountain biking, kiteboarding, snowboarding, and camping, among other things.

From an educational standpoint, I've also had various interests. I initially started with architecture and design and transitioned to anthropology and archaeology. The latter is what I pursued for my bachelor's degree, with a focus on Middle-Eastern studies. This helped to ignite my passion for culture and language. I was able to study Arabic at my university and for a short semester abroad, some Greek. My studies led me the city of Haifa to further my studies in underwater and coastal archaeology. Language was always, by far, the most interesting aspect of anthropology and archaeology and it is quite fitting that I ended up in this field.

More recently, I've been increasingly interested in various aspects of economics because I feel that it gives you an interesting perspective to how the world functions. I've started to look into cryptocurrency and blockchain technology because I find some of the projects and possibilities fascinating. I've also been enjoying photography as a personal hobby and creative outlet. I am always looking for new interests to dive deep into and peer into other worlds. I believe this gives me a great opportunity to connect with many different types of people and to create content for many different types of people.

When I first arrived in Berlin, I was able to work for a short time as a kiteboard instructor and met tons of great people through that group of individuals. I realized that in this environment, where I was enjoying myself and needed German, was the perfect situation to learn a language because of a few reasons; It was a very specific type of language, there was a necessity to learn it and I wasn't nearly as stressed as I may have been in an unfamiliar environment. This experience made me realize hobbies, personal interests or passions really are a crucial aspect to language learning. You need to enjoy what you're listening to, watching, or of course, reading. My goal is to provide you with this type of content that can get you excited and motivated to learn!

What direction will this blog go?

In the end, this blog is for you, the language learner. I want to take your needs and interests into account and use them to create something useful for you. I try to write from personal experiences that provide specific and unique vocabulary so that you can expand your knowledge in different directions. With that being said, feel free to give feedback or requests as to what type of content may be interesting and useful for you. You can also get more out of this blog by joining my website's email list for new posts or subscribing to this blog. With this subscription, you will receive extra content such as audio files or worksheets to help supplement your studies.

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