22/02/2026 Half term mayhem!
Half term has been and gone in a whirl, not least because we’ve been trying to unpack, relax, be active, learn, spend family time together etc etc. It just seems a neverending quest to get the end of a list! Anyway, for this Lent I’m going to try to stop being such a list-maker. It’s a habit of a lifetime, always checking what I’ve done against my neverending, and quite frankly ridiculous, list of “things to do”. As I’ve seen quoted many a time before, we’re human beings, not human doings, so that shall be my motto until Easter, wish me luck! …And on a totally unrelated note, here’s a picture I took of Westminster during a lovely day out with my girls this half term!
08/02/2026 New Year, New Everything?
In the New Year, we’re all quite excited with getting things off to a fresh start, aren’t we? Well, I read towards the end of last year that the resolutions we keep in the New Year are the ones we plan in September.
I’m not quite that organised, yet there are some things that just take a long time to get going. And moving house is certainly one of them! After a few false starts, offers falling through, and the inevitable paperwork mountain, we’re finally moving this week! It may only be in the same town, but any move is like a fresh start, planned months in advance!
In other exciting news, I’m starting a new job very soon, as an English and Academic Skills Assessor at University College Birmingham. I can’t wait to get back to working in a team and helping students reach their goals. I’ve also been working on my CLT assignment for my PGCE, which is bringing to light more fascinating insights from other trainers and academics into online teaching and communicative practice. I’ll share more once I have submitted my paper, and hope to host a webinar together with other trainers very soon. Now, I must get back to packing…
28/12/2025 A bit of breathing space
What with all the Christmas preparations, my to-do list got rather long and unwieldy, but no more! Thanks to an almost never-ending supply of roast potatoes and a lack of real days of the week, I’m making headway (no textbook pun intended!) with my PGCE research. I’m taking a look at my own teaching situation, and realising that there’s a lot to unpick about online language courses and Communicative Language Teaching. I recall many similar themes and issues from my previous life as an interpreter, moving online during the pandemic. Technological glitches and specificities have a huge impact on how we communicate both verbally and non-verbally, and our interaction patterns in general. I hope to tie this in to my assignment on applying CLT to my teaching situation.
On a more Christmassy teaching note, I’ve found out a lot from my students about Christmas food and drink in Belgium and beyond this December. I’ve also learned more about the crazy (and fab) stuff we do here in the UK – bread sauce sandwiches, anyone?!
30/11/2025 Finding time
Advent is nearly here , and I’m looking through my fingers with trepidation to the next few weeks. Not because I dislike the run-up to Christmas, but that it just goes so fast!! I’m not one to get the Christmas shopping “out of the way” by October; I’m much more for relaxing and seeing how it all goes, to be honest. But let’s see how we are in three weeks’ time!
I’ve been enjoying lots of other stuff this month, particularly more roller skating, ComicCon in Birmingham (completely ace!) and more professionally, The Language Show; an online event with talks and workshops on all aspects of language learning and teaching. I’ve been catching up with talks over the last week, including a brilliant workshop on how to use AI tools to support your learning style (and not just ChatGPT!), and meeting the well-being needs of ESOL learners. I’ll be sharing my top takeaways in my next post!
09/11/2025 Seasons changing
I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last posted! And the Christmas lights/markets/countdown seems to already have begun. Frankly, I’ve got loads I want to get done before Christmas, and very little of it is Christmas-related. So, I’m going to stick my fingers in my ears and get on with it!
We went to see the fantastic Sam Avery last night at Gloucester Guildhall, hilariously funny and spot on with his observations of British society (although my husband was laughing a bit too loudly and I was convinced we were going to get picked on!). I also went to see Grayson Perry in Bristol a few weeks ago with a friend; another cringingly accurate depiction of British society, with a good measure of self-reflection thrown in…
Half term has also been and gone, and we were lucky enough to spend it away AND without the kids (!) Seriously, although I love my girls, it was great just to spend some time with my husband, cycling, eating and drinking our way around Salento in Southern Italy. Now it’s back to work, my PGCE modules, and the whirlwind of activities we’re all involved in on a weekly basis. And the house move? Watch this space…
http://www.salentobicitour.org
03/10/2026 Time warp
You know those moments when time seems to be both speeding by and crawling at the same time? I feel I’ve been living that for the past month. The seasons are fluctuating with alarming rapidity, both warm and cold, dark and bright, rainy and sunny at the same time. I actually like this time when autumn is deciding what colours to put on, and that heel-dragging end of summer finally decides to pack its bags. That sense of sadness you get at the end of August that “it’s all pretty much over” gives way to a much more forward-looking, business-like September and October.
Having said that, what with all the new routines and changes afoot, I’ve been very confused to see both Hallowe’en (acceptable, I think) and Christmas (totally unacceptable!!) items in the shops. I mean, I know they want to sell stuff, but Christmas?! The first time this year I saw December paraphernalia in a shop was a full three months before Christmas Day. I have so much more to look forward to before then…I hope you do too!!
Talking of things to look forward to, my PGCE course has finally started, and I’ve been getting stuck into the first module. Again, time seems to be moving both slowly and quickly here as I’m working entirely online. It’s far more difficult to judge where you are and pace yourself when you have no lectures or seminars to attend. To get myself in the mood, I’ve been busy buying stationery that I don’t need, and trying out my new student card (discounts, anyone?!) However, I think I’ll be using them on different things than your average student (clothes for the kids, homeware…)
And on the subject of homes, we’re still imagineering our new place…more imagineering than actual practical “doing” as we still haven’t completed, thanks to… well, it’s nothing to do with us, anyway 😉 Maybe I’ll have some pictures by the next post!
07/09/2025 How is it September already?!
Well, that was a shock! After a summer of sun, relaxation, and incessant garden-watering, we’re right back to the routine. My girls started school only on Wednesday, much to their great delight and my confusion (“Surely Monday, 1st September is the perfect date, no?”). I still haven’t got back into the full swing of classes, but I’m now timetabling, so now’s the moment to ask about a new course!
I’m also really excited about my PGCE, although I’m still waiting for my course access to be sent to me, so it’s not quite feeling real yet. Having spoken to other people who are going (back) to uni as mature students, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s a lot of it about! Is it dissatisfaction with work? Panic in our late 30s/early 40s? A sheer love of learning? Something else? I feel really lucky to be able to study as I grow older and continue to learn and update my skills. I hope everyone going on to education this autumn will feel properly proud of themselves too. Enjoy it!
22/08/2025 New Beginnings
We’ve now been back in the UK for nearly four months, and things are changing fast! That holiday feeling is fading, but as ever, I’m grateful for the chance to visit Montenegro and spend some time in the sun (even though the UK has come up with the goods this year too). Once again, on my return I’m re-motivated to learn more Serbian, and hopefully get back to Belgrade to get my C1 certification? Who knows! I’m very happy with my progress (I was even able to share a few jokes with our neighbours in Prcanj), but there’s always more to be learned, and I’m ready for that challenge.
We’re also happy that we’ll be moving house soon (another thing I’ve had to learn to talk about in Serbian recently). This will be our first buy/sell since our eldest was born, and it’s amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in a few years. Although we’ve moved pretty much every two years, and had regular clear-outs, we still seem to have collected far more than we’ve got rid of. In Brussels, you’d often see “Ã donner” next to a pile of books, Barbies, and board games, but here I’ve seen very little of this. Is it just where we live? Are people all hoarders like us?! Maybe putting a few things outside the front door would stop idiots climbing over our garden wall and nicking our bikes…
One more exciting change – I’ve been accepted onto a PGCE in TESOL at the University of Birmingham! I’m really motivated for this one as I love teaching, but feel I’m lacking the theoretical basis and background I need to develop further. I’m also really passionate about training other trainers, so I hope this course will help me on this path and give me the extra skills and confidence to help others. The course starts in October, so I’ll be updating this page as things develop here too.
Happy end of summer!!
22/07/2025 School’s out!
So the school holidays are finally upon us, and as expected, the hot sunny weather has given way to rain! We’re discovering (and re-discovering) favourites in the Gloucester area, and there’s plenty to do! Thankfully, my girls are old enough to occupy themselves a fair amount. However, this comes with challenges, namely finding things that a nine-year-old and a nearly thirteen-year-old will want to do together…and with their mum! So far we’ve got the cinema, camping, and eating on our list! Here are our top tips for Gloucester and surroundings. I’ll be adding to these as we head out and about this summer…
https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/skenfrith-castle
https://www.sherbornecinema.co.uk/
03/07/2025 – Moving on…?
We’re currently in the process of selling our house and moving to a bigger place. Having lived in larger rented houses for ten years in London and Brussels, we’ve come back to the house we bought when there were only three of us. And it’s a bit of a squeeze, to say the least! Although the process of buying and selling takes a bit of getting your head around (stamp duty, solicitor’s fees, surveys etc.), its a great topic to discuss in another language, and with friends from different countries. I didn’t know that in Serbia, for example, it’s much more popular to sell privately, without an agent, and without a building survey, something very few people would be willing to deal with in the UK. Personally, I’m much happier entrusting the sale to an agent, even with the commission! On which note…
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/163940723#/?channel=RES_BUY
15/06/2025 – Something New
If I think of doing a new sport or activity, something out of my comfort zone, I usually take about three minutes to talk myself out of it. “I’ll look like a wally”, or “What if I hurt myself? I won’t be able to do that other thing”, or “I’ll try it next time.” I’ve had a pair of roller blades hanging around for at least three years, and haven’t yet got beyond hurling myself across the front room. Well, today was different. Largely because I hadn’t overthought roller skating to the point of doom before leaving the house. And my nine-year-old was so excited, well…I had to!
And how amazing was it?! Utterly!! Thanks to a banging soundtrack mash-up of Dee-lite, 90’s hip hop and some other new stuff I didn’t recognise (but my daughter certainly did!), we had an ace time! The roller rink in Gloucester is brilliant and has cheap slushies. Yes, there is of course the inevitable lesson that you shouldn’t care about looking like a tit…but then we all knew that really, didn’t we?! And my daughter said she was very proud of my progress, “and you’re only six years off being one hundred!” Sorry, what?! I hope I make myself look like a complete wally many more times before then…
05/06/2025 – Back to the UK!
After eight years living in Belgium, we decided it was “now or never” to return to the UK…so we did! Settling back into a slightly slower pace of life (no metro, no Place Meiser, and no O’Tacos!) in Gloucestershire is taking some time, but we’re enjoying getting out and about. There’s actually loads to do in and around Gloucester, particularly if you do a bit of research (big shout to the local library!). One thing that we are struggling a bit with however, is keeping a daily contact with French. Thank goodness for the ability to call friends at a moment’s notice and for having French language available on films and TV, but at home, it’s a bit forced, as none of us are native speakers. Watch this space…and maybe a few more posts from Belgium!
Reynolds-Brown Languages 