1. Do I need to sound like a ‘native speaker’? is the latest episode of the TeachingEnglish podcast https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/podcast/teaching-english/teachingenglish-podcast-do-i-need-sound-native

PDFs of show transcript and notes below.

2. A trio of programmes from BBC Radio 4:

i) Prophet Song by Paul Lynch won last year’s Booker Prize. Set in Ireland in the near future, it depicts the struggles of Eilish Stack, a mother of four trying to save her family as the Republic of Ireland slips into totalitarianism https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001y8d8

ii) An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi is the story of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001y86b

iii) Three Million tells the history of the Bengal famine in British India during World War 2, in which at least three million people died, told for the first time by the eyewitnesses to it https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wr57

3. The A S Hornby Educational Trust is again this year offering a fully-funded MA scholarship for Teachers of English as a Second Language to Refugees. More information and application form at the top of this page https://www.hornby-trust.org.uk/scholarships#Scholarships Please note that to be eligible teachers must themselves be refugees or have had previous experience of holding refugee status.

4. This one’s been doing the rounds on Facebook and LinkedIn but may be just a little late for April Fool’s Day, I think Snippets and Sayings from History from the American Society of Professional Estimators website (heaven knows why!) https://www.aspenational.org/blogpost/1657539/321809/Snippets-and-Sayings-from-History

5. And, finally. Toby Litt on commas https://awritersdiary.substack.com/p/on-commas