1. Trinity run an interesting Transformative Teachers series of webinars; you’ll find both recordings and details of future events here https://learn.trinitycollege.co.uk/ttw Register for the next one, ‘Am I Good Enough?’ with Paula Medina, at 16:00 UK time on Wednesday, 26th January, here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/am-i-good-enough-tickets-245638690937
“What does it mean to be a good teacher? This session will look at both the challenges and advantages of teaching as a non-native speaker of English.”
2. The partners in the European Language Grid initiative aim to establish it as “the primary platform for Language Technology in Europe”, and they seem to have made a pretty good start https://live.european-language-grid.eu/ Explore? Explore!
3. The 2022 Hay Festival in Cartagena de Indias doesn’t start until 27th January, but you’ll need time to explore the programme, I think. It’s a hybrid (and bilingual) event: for most of us that will mean digital https://www.hayfestival.com/c-262-colombia-digital.aspx or – for a lucky few – in person https://boleteria.gematours.co/hayfestival/index.php?id=113&categoria=&la=en&tp=
I’ve booked for a number of events, including Patrick Radden Keefe in conversation with Verónica Smink at midnight UK time (!) on Wednesday 26th January and Reni Eddo-Lodge and Djamila Ribeiro in conversation with Vanessa Rosales at (the more civilised) UK time of 17:00 on Saturday 29th January.
4. I wonder whether the pandemic cloud has had a silver lining for those of us who suffer from apanthropy (as I do occasionally)? All the book festivals one could possibly want and none of the crowds ….
5. And, finally, Alan Bennett, a ‘professional Yorkshireman’ a generation older than me and someone I can imagine suffers from at least intermittent apanthropy, reading extracts from his diary for 2021 https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/the-lrb-podcast/diary-for-2021 for the London Review of Books podcast.
I’m never quite sure how well Alan Bennett’s whimsical humour travels outside the UK – let me know, please!
More LRB podcasts on an eclectic range of themes here https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos
Roy Cross's Blog 