"So many people are out there doing great things and they aren't ready, either, so I asked myself: Why not me?" 

We chat with teacher and entrepreneur Mariela Mondaca. 

Mariela is an English teacher, teacher trainer, and entrepreneur who has turned her 25 years of classroom experience into an online business.

She runs Fluent Connections. 

In this episode, Mariela discusses: 

• Overcoming Self-Doubt and Taking the Leap

• Believing in Your Own Path

• Dealing with Self-Doubt and Anxiety

• Starting and Growing a Teaching Business

• Finding Your Niche and Evolving

• Learning from Mistakes and Adapting

• Advice for New Teaching Entrepreneur

• The Turning Point: Strategy and Mindset

• A Week in the Life of a Teacherpreneur

• Starting Over: Key Steps and Lessons Learned

• Reflecting on Personal Growth and Transformation

"How do we make research meaningful for the classroom? What really helps students acquire grammar? Can apps ACTUALLY support second language learning?"

These are some of the questions we tackled in our conversation with Dr. Shawn Loewen. 

In our discussion, we diveinto:

• whether the explicit vs implicit debate matters

• if people can actually learn languages on "those apps"

• pattern recognition and why some learners “just get it”

• task-based language teaching vs. Instructed SLA

• why most institutions don't really know what their approach to learning is 

• leveraging AI and technology for learning 

• bridging the gap between researchers and teachers

• the limits and potential of communicative language teaching

"I have no shame whatsoever in marketing my own courses because I feel proud. I know for sure that it works."

Anna is an entrepreneur based in Georgia who runs Voice it English, a program that helps professionals turn English into their career superpower. She's been teaching for over 17 years and has had to reinvent herself many times: something every entrepreneur can relate to. With a focus on connection, community, and client results, we're thrilled to have Anna on the show. 

There's this myth that kids learn faster than adults. Research shows it's not true; adults are actually better language learners - Dr. Karen Lichtman. 

Karen’s research at Binghamton University focuses on instructed second language acquisition, including age differences in language learning and implicit vs. explicit language teaching.

In this episode, we dive into:

• the bad teaching that exists and how to address it

• the myth of children learning faster than adults

• why adults make better language learners

• why easier materials is almost always better

• designing a beginner course from scratch

• balancing implicit & explicit teaching

• addressing skeptical teachers

• the role of TPRS in language learning (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) 

 "If it doesn't go according to plan, what is the worst thing that could happen that is the minimum I can be satisfied with?"

We sit down with entrepreneur Jessica Dias to discuss growing a business. 

Jessica is an English teacher and founder of Jessy Academy — an online school that helps Brazilian learners break free from the intermediate plateau and develop real communication skills in English.

In this episode, Jessica discusses:

• Overcoming Failure and Setting Realistic Goals

• The Genesis of the Itch: From School to Side Hustle

• Turning Passion into a Full-Time Business

• Embracing Change and Growth

• Building a Sustainable Business Model

• Challenges of Running a Business

• Balancing Client Work and Business Operations

• Delegation and Use of AI Tools

• Scaling While Maintaining Quality

• Advice for Handling Business Slumps

From beginner to intermediate in 9 months: yes, it's possible and Claudia Fernandez tells us how.

Claudia runs her Spanish program at the University of Illinois-Chicago using a task-based curriculum. One result was bringing fifteen A1 students to intermediate over 9 months. She shares her story and how others can do the same. 

In this episode, we dive into:

• Implementing task-based language teaching from scratch

• Why there is still pushback against TBLT 

• Mindset shifts every institution needs

• Aligning tasks with assessments

• Claudia’s experience of helping students go from absolute beginner to intermediate in 9 months

• Effective task design

• How learners acquire grammar through input-based approaches

• Instruction habits that get in the way of learning 

• How to create needs analyses in task-based learning

*This launches the beginning of a new series of our show: education entrepreneurship.

In this episode, we introduce the series and discuss what it takes to start and run your own business. Specifically, we explore the transition from traditional teaching roles to entrepreneurial ventures.

We chat about:

• Why waiting until you're uncomfortable might be too late to start your business

• The real difference between commitment and consistency and why one matters more

• How teachers can build businesses without a one-size-fits-all model

• What Andrew's beach business (and Bob the Book) taught him about resourcefulness, scrappiness, and getting started

• Why belief in yourself is the most underrated strategy in entrepreneurship

• Who this series is for and who it’s not for

Does the grammar that is normally taught match the evidence corpus linguistics shows? Dr. Graham Burton helps us dissect the big beasts of English grammar.

In this episode, Graham discusses:

• Corpus Linguistics in Language Teaching

  • Benefits of Corpus for Learners

  • The Big Beasts of English Grammar

  • Example-Driven Grammar Teaching

  • What Teachers Should Unlearn about Grammar

  • Challenges in Teaching Grammar

  • Prototypical vs. Natural Grammar Usage

  • Misconceptions in Grammar Teaching

  • The Evolution of Grammar Teaching

  • What the CELTA Should Do to "Re-do" Grammar

  • The History of Pedagogical Grammar

  • Why the word "grammar" was negative (and "structure" was used instead)

"Don't teach at the students. Teach off them." Scott Thornbury becomes our first repeat guest and helps us dissect this and more. 

Scott Thornbury is a teacher, teacher trainer, and award-winning author in English language education.

He co-authored Teaching Unplugged (2009) and Dogme in Practice (2025), both with Luke Meddings. His latest book is called Scott Thornbury's 66 Essentials of Lesson Design.

In our chat, Scott delves into:

• tensions between planning & spontaneity

• what an effective lesson design process looks like

• if the communicative approach can be rehabilitated

• shifting from surface-level communication to meaningful interaction

• adapting teacher training and institutional expectations 

• the role of technology in education

Learner autonomy is something that happens INSIDE the classroom, not out of it. Teachers can't sit back and wait for their students to become autonomous.

This is part of what the esteemed Dr. David Little shared with us in our conversation. 

In this episode, David discusses:

• Understanding Language Learner Autonomy

• Defining Autonomy in Language Learning

• Pedagogical Models for Autonomy

• Autonomy in Diverse Educational Contexts

• Challenges and Collaborative Solutions for Teachers

• Language Learner Autonomy and Writing

• Developing Reflective Dialogue in Classrooms

• Practical Advice for Fostering Learner Autonomy

"It's  such social injustice to expect people to use English like native English speakers, whichever country they're in."

We dive into this and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) with Jennifer Jenkins. 

Jennifer Jenkins is a British linguist and academic. She was Chair Professor of Global Englishes at the University of Southampton until her retirement in 2019 and is a leading figure in the study of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF),

In this episode, Jennifer tackles:

• what English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is

• native speakers vs local speakers

• why she was shunned from many rooms for her views

• the cultural and linguistic bias in language testing 

• how tests are not predictive of academic success

• the myth that ELF lowers English standards

• the role of adjusting language rather than mimicking it 

• having a pioneer mindset even when people dismiss you

• how international universities have hypocritical linguistic standards 

• the future of English as a global language 

Learners can think a native teacher is a vaccine against poor pronunciation. Equally, native teachers can be misinformed in thinking that students should just follow them.

We dive into pronunciation, intelligibility, and teacher effects on learner performance with the great John Levis. 

In our conversation, John talks about:

• accent vs pronunciation

• the nativeness principle vs the intelligibility principle

• how he coined "the intelligibility principle"

• high and low value features of pronunciation 

• why some vowel sounds don't matter

• native and non-native teacher effects on learner performance

• learners viewing native speakers as a vaccine for poor pronunciation

• some native teachers believing learners should just follow them

• getting "caught" with accent

Native speaker or non-native speaker? Monolingual or plurilingual? Why do we have a binary bias in modern society?

These are some of the questions we tackled with Dr. Angelica Galante. 

n our conversation, Dr. Galante talks about:

• Linguistic and Cultural Discrimination

• Strategies to Combat Prejudice in Education

• Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence

• Navigating Binary Bias in Language Discussions

• Exploring Common Ground in Controversial Topics

• The Role of Language in Identity and Mental Health

• Practical Applications of Plurilingualism in Education

• Balancing Plurilingualism and Language Acquisition

• Challenges and Facilitators of Plurilingualism

Why do some teachers thrive as entrepreneurs while others struggle? We dissect this question. 

Many teachers want to earn more, teach online, and gain more clients - but struggle to implement a sustainable strategy. We go over seven "Cs" to help. 

In this episode, we dive into the "seven Cs of success for teacher entrepreneurship" and discuss:

• confidence as a skill rather than a feeling

• getting granular on goals

• strategizing goal achievement at both the macro and the micro

• reflecting on why having a business is (or isn't) a priority 

• how consistency compounds over time

• why getting more clients is nearly impossible if you have nothing to sell

• normalizing struggle and self doubt

• first steps to starting your business in 2025

If you use vocabulary and grammar tests, you don't teach communicatively.  Audrey Rousse-Malpat tells us why. 

Audrey Rousse-Malpat is an assistant professor in second language acquisition at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands

In our conversation, Audrey talks about:

• thinking like a scientist

• schools as factories

• AIM (Accelerative Integrated Method) and how it works

• feeling like the Marry Poppins of error correction 

• structure-based teaching vs Dynamic usage

• why teachers need to relinquish control

• what went wrong with the communicative approach

• tips for implementing AIM

• multilingual approaches in higher education 

Education is designed around focusing on the learner first and the teacher as a medium to support the learner. Sarah Mercer tells us why this leads to unhealthy teachers. 

Sarah Mercer is a Professor of foreign language teaching at the University of Graz, Austria.

In this episode, Sarah expounds on:

• why connecting with learners is fundamental

• cell phone addiction and what we CAN'T do about it

• re-framing what "student-led" means

• defining "engagement" and pedagogical caring

• students faking engagement out of respect for their teacher

• burnout and stress are the result of the systemic element of teacher well-being

ELT is full of disasters, including the destruction of the communicative approach. In this episode, Dr. Enrica Piccardo tells us why.

Dr. Piccardo is a Professor of Applied Linguistics and Language Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Her research spans language teaching approaches/curricula, multi/plurilingualism, creativity and complexity in language education.

In this episode, Dr. Piccardo discusses: 

• leveraging the messiness of learning

• how Headway destroyed the communicative approach

• multiple disasters in ELT: the separation of languages, the native speaker model, organization curriculum around grammar, and others

• how we're still teaching in a grammatical way because it's easier

• what mediation is, its role in learning, and its 3 types

• updating the CEFR to include mediation 

• the link between mediation and plurilingualism

• the action-oriented approach and its benefits

• why teachers need to delegate learning

What do toad venom, the 5 stages of grief, and precarity all have in common? Andrew, Leo, and Mike explain. 

In this episode, we discuss strategies to earn more by creating your own offer. Specifically, we dive into:

• the 5 stages of grief pertaining to precarity

• two paths teachers have: stay in ELT or move on

• why earning more money is a requisite to stay in the industry

• how to create a compelling offer that will actually sell

• why focusing on lesson frequency is restricting

• not creating solutions to problems no one cares about 

• toad venom and how you can apply it to your teaching business

ELT provides the wrong input: language as it should be spoken not as it is spoken. This is wrong and Sheila Thorn gives us another way. Sheila is a renowned teacher, trainer, and materials writer. She also founded The Listening Business in 1998.

In this episode, Sheila discusses: 

• ELT having the wrong input 

• coursebooks as impoverished language

• learners being scared of real language 

• how teacher training fails teachers as much as coursebooks fail students

• the 5 listening goals every learner should have

• a 3-pronged approach to teaching listening

• the problem she is trying to solve in ELT

Grammar instruction or grammar learning? We dive into this with today's guests, Silvina Montrul and Tania Ionin.

In this episode, they discuss: 

•  grammatical knowledge in the context of language acquisition

• what intervention research is

• why we expect too much of adult learners 

• how instruction contributes or doesn't contribute to grammar acquisition

• efficacious conditions for grammar instruction 

• how educators can influence the learning of grammar

• why studying monolinguals helps to understand L2 acquisition

• literate vs illiterate native speakers for a study on grammatical knowledge