Word Hunters: Left, Right and Off-Center

Carol grew up in the UK and trained to be a French and German teacher in the UK. She has taught EFL in Greece and Mexico and is currenlty based in the US (San Francisco). She has worked on the UC Berkeley extension Certificate in TESL/EFL for about 20 years teaching Methods and Materials and Fundamentals of Linguistics for ESL/EFL teachers (since 2020 online), and worked on the New School MA onlin...

Russ is an author, blogger, teacher and teacher trainer based in Japan. His book, An Introduction to Evidence-Based Teaching in the English Language Classroom: Theory and Practice , has been well received in the teacher training community and the larger ELT field-- it is a great reference for examining common teaching practices. His popular blog is also filled with interesting critical writings on...

Ken Lackman has been presenting workshops and developing materials for English language instructors since 1996. His company,  Ken Lackman and Associates , was formed in 2007 to offer teacher training sessions to schools and other language teaching organizations. Since that time, he has presented over 300 workshops at schools and conferences in Canada and Europe. In this episode he talks about his...

Elbert is an artist, librarian, freediver, traveler, and nature lover. In this episode, he tells us about growing up in Los Angeles, and how experiencing racism made him more resilient and tolerant. He shares stories about teaching in a poor neighborhood in South Central L.A. and talks about his current passion, freediving in and around Suma, as well as other topics. He has a YouTube channel and y...

In this episode, we talk with Ikuko Sunagawa about her background and experiences learning the English language, translation work, and other interests. Links to some of the topics can be found in this blogpost . 

Leo is the founder of Learn your English (.net), as well as an ESL teacher, trainer, and entrepreneur.  Leo believes that individuals develop through reflection, experimentation, and learning from their mistakes. Leo and his business partners work to build a language community for both instructors and learners to become more autonomous and effective. In this episode, we talk to Leo about his backg...

Anthony is a teacher trainer, blogger and teacher, and most known for developing an ‘unplugged’ CELTA course based on Dogme teaching principles. We discuss this interesting model of teacher training as well as Anthony’s background, his views on the resistance to more ‘reactive’ styles of teaching, and other topics. Show notes (links) can be found HERE .

Dr. Josh Jodoin is a lecturer, researcher, and author. He is passionate about sustainable development and is currently writing a book on a new area of study called Language Education for Sustainable Development (LESD). In this episode we talk to Josh about his research, his experience teaching in Europe and Asia, his experience with indigenous people in Calgary, and other topics.  Here is a link t...

Vincent is doing research for a Master’s Degree at Kobe University and is focused on Japanese literature and history.   In this episode, he shares his experiences of living in different parts of his home country, Germany,  his experiences studying in Japan, and his current research interests. He also gives us his views on the differences between German and Japanese universities and classrooms, as...

Atsushi is a unique and adventurous Japanese university student, and has traveled to 37 countries, hitchhiked across Japan and America, and is planning a trip to Africa.  In this episode he tells us about his background and some of his travel stories. 

In this episode, we talk with Neil McCutcheon. Neil  is an author, teacher trainer, and ELT consultant with more than 30 years of experience. He has worked on teacher training courses around the world, including in Ghana, Hungary, France, and the UK. He co-wrote Activities For Task-Based Learning   in 2019 and has an excellent blog for teachers at https://fluencyfirstelt.blog/ .  He's also an...

In this episode, we talk to Cory Mckenzie of Hamstead, New Hampshire in the US. Cory is a Research Fellow at Kobe Universtiy studying medieval Japanese literature, with a particular interest in a little-known legend called Yuriwaka.  Interestingly, he reads classical Japanese texts in Kobun ( classical Japanese), and is also writing his thesis in Japanese. His dream is to someday share with studen...

In this episode, Derek talks with Danyk Amyot, a teacher, community-based event organizer, designer, and polyglot. We discuss his background growing up in Canada, his language learning strategies, his projects, current interests, and other topics. Our blog post with links to references from the episode can be found here: https://wordhunters.com/7-danyk-amyot/    

In this episode,  we hear from author, teacher, and adventurer Jim Jensen.  Here is a link to the references mentioned in the episode: https://wordhunters.com/6-jim-jensen/

Edward is an Air Force Academy Teacher & Pilot and is currently doing his Ph. D. in Philosophy at the University of Hawaii. His research interests are at the intersection of eastern and western philosophy, particularly focusing on what it means to be an ethical person. He is a great guy to converse with and I am sure you will find something interesting in this wide-ranging conversation that in...

In this episode, Brent and Derek discuss the topic of reticence to speak among Japanese learners of English. Here is a link to the references mentioned in the discussion: https://wordhunters.com/4-derek-and-brent/

John Spiri is an educator, writer and self-publisher based in western Japan. In addition to EFL textbooks, John has researched, written and published the "Asians at Work" series, featuring "Japanese at Work." His hobbies include hiking, bicycling and go. Here is a link to references mentioned in the conversation: https://wordhunters.com/3-john-spiri/

In this episode, Derek interviews Brent about his background, his career, and his current interests. 

In this episode, Brent interviews Derek about his background, his career, and his current interests.  Here is a link to some of the references mentioned: https://wordhunters.com/episode-1-derek-keever/

In this episode, we talk briefly about the who, what, why and how of the Word Hunters podcast.