Leslie Brand

Leslie currently lives in New York, where she freelances in publishing and writes a food and health blog, The Whole Plate. Aside from travel, she is (almost) equally addicted to theater, thrift shopping, yoga, and cooking with natural foods.

ESL Teaching: Look on the Bright Side

They were mentors for those of us in the younger generation, preparing us for the real world.

ESL Lesson Planning: Breaking the Ice

As an ESL instructor, there are times that may require you to become a bit of a hypocrite.

ESL Teaching: Getting Personal

I had to ask myself whether I strived to cultivate a friendship or a student-teacher relationship.

ESL Teaching: How Do You Say “Jewish” in Your Language?

Though it was an unnecessary feeling, I sometimes felt isolated as a Jew in Europe.

ESL Students Say the Darnedest Things

I have to be honest: sometimes, I remained silent, grinning internally at my students’ expense.

ESL Lesson Planning: Forget the Grammar; Give Thanks Instead

Every course, whether ESL or not, needs a day or two that break from the norm.

ESL Lesson Planning: Controversial Topics

This unassuming binder, we were told, would become our lesson planning bible.

One to One: Teaching (and Gossiping with) Individual Students

I found justification for ditching the lesson plans for long chats.

Crafting an ESL Schedule, or the Art of Saying No

Yes, you obviously need to accept some courses – but you don’t need them all.

Introducing Leslie: Travel Addict and ESL Survivor

I’m very excited to be joining the Go Backpacking team, and I’ll be posting weekly on the grand experiment: the ESL life abroad.