Page 28 - ELG2307 Jul Issue 485

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RESOURCES

The rise of the teacherpreneur

How can a teacher stretch their limits outside the traditional teaching box?

As more and more people turn away from
traditional work to the so-called “gig
economy,” Brad Carty – author, educator,
and “teacherpreneur” – tells us all about his
books, his work, and his journey through
turning skills and knowledge from mere gigs
to successful business endeavours.
Deliberate learning of vocabulary and
Q idioms has always been popular with
learners. However, for many years the
academic preference has been for incidental
learning from context. Why did you choose to
go for deliberate learning in “500+ Business
English Idioms?”
The problem with idioms and phrasal
BC verbs is that they are the final step
in fluency. If you have spent enough years
listening to and reading another language,
you will discern meanings from context after
hearing and reading multiple examples.
Otherwise, you will have had very few
chances to make these mental connections.
This really only becomes an issue when
a native speaker deals with a non-native
speaker. When two non-native speakers talk
to each other using English as a common
language, they have very few problems;
when I would sit in on my German engineers
having teleconferences with colleagues
around the world, everything was fine
as they spoke in English with Chinese,
Middle Eastern, and Scandinavian partners.
However, as soon as they started talking
to Brits or Americans, the native speakers
would start using expressions that the phrases is that they are often too formal Apple’s iBooks platform, you get
Germans didn’t understand. I would take or out-of-date. For example; when native an automatic listing there, too. The bad
notes, and after the meetings I would send speakers are proposing a meeting, they don’t news is that you have to share royalties,
my students emails explaining all the idioms usually say, “Let’s have a meeting about…” and take a lower payment for physical
and phrasal verbs. or “Let’s meet to discuss…” In fact, they books printed in paperback or hardback;
are more likely nowadays to say, “Let’s sit Kindle digital versions don’t have these
This may be an e-book and audiobook, down and discuss…” This has been validated extra costs.
Q but it is still a book. Why choose a book by modern corpora based on recordings For Audible products, you have to meet
format in a world of YouTube, podcasts and of hundreds of meetings, yet textbooks their audio standards with the recording,
Duolingo? continue to use what are often more editing and mastering of the recordings;
For both the idioms book and the stilted phrases. that might require having a producer work
BC follow-up book on Business English on your raw recordings, and/or a narrator,
phrasal verbs, I wanted something that Reaching the desired audience is both of whom will expect up-front payment
would be a reference text with the entries Q integral to creating any successful or a royalty share. I narrate my own books,
in alphabetical order, so they could be easily business. Since your books are not just on and I taught myself how to produce them
looked up. If a non-native speaker hears “don’t Amazon, but also on Audible, they must have to Audible’s standards, so I can keep the
count your chickens” or “I have something a good deal of readership. What ways could full royalty.
to bring up at the meeting,” they need to be teachers potentially reach their audience If you choose not to use Amazon’s
able to find the meanings and examples easily, with their services or products? infrastructure, then you either have to find a
which is why a book format works best. If you want a book that is easy for publisher or publish it yourself and hope that
BC people to find and to buy, you want Amazon will accept the book and list them
In teaching business English most to be listed on Amazon. Likewise, if you for free on their site; it’s easy to do, but it
Q teachers err on the side of formality. want an audiobook to be searchable and certainly hasn’t worked out well for teachers
Why choose idioms which are generally easy to buy and listen to, you want to be I know who self-published. You can do all the
regarded as a marker of informal speech? listed on Audible. Amazon owns Audible, so marketing in the world, contact influential
Because businesspeople use informal getting the book on their platform makes it people within the profession, but if people
BC speech just as much as friends and very easy to also list the audiobook, and can’t easily purchase your product, you will
neighbours do. The problem with fixed since all Audible books are listed on have wasted your time.
28 July 2023