Category: EFL Teacher Blog

Having lived and worked in Asia, Arabia, Europe and the USA, I’ve retired. I would like to share my knowledge, while writing my new book THE EXPATS.

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Card Cheat – 3

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Damn, these new boots are killing me!  I sure as hell don’t like lying in the dirt like this none, either.  Ain’t right. Something’s wrong here.  Kinda peaceful, though. Bet I killed him, right between the eyes. Mustva fallen over.  Damn, what the hell is this! I can’t move nothin. Hey, my foot just fell aside. I’ll just get up and brush off this dirt, saddle up and move on.  No way that bastard’s gonna call me a card cheat.p Well oh well. Look at that. There’s blood running from my body from about, let me count em, one on … Continue reading Card Cheat – 3

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Alice in Wonderland through the Cryptocurrency Maze

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

The New York Times printed an article todayhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/opinion/senate-cryptocurrency.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage This article is long and confusing, but I thought it was about time I understood cryptocurrencies. I found this quite one-sided even to my relatively uneducated mind. Where were the facts and data about the use of such currencies for fraud, ransomware attacks, money laundering and others I did know about? So I sought knowledge in the COMMENTS section and found it! Watergate Redux Chicago6h ago Cryptocurrencies are an attempt by powerful private interests to wrest control over the creation of money from national governments. In the U.S., that power is vested … Continue reading Alice in Wonderland through the Cryptocurrency Maze

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Why Writing is so Difficult

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Following is a letter to my paid for (yes, I am self-published still, sadly) editor and cover designer. This is why writing for me is so difficult. But now I must research surviving knee surgery. Unfortunately, Portuguese DHL makes it near-impossible to buy from Amazon.com which has so many more options than European web sites! I’m sorry I didn’t answer you fully. 1. These two new books will be KINDLE/e-books only – no spines or back covers. 2. The DNA one can have a desert brown back for the name. 3. The green/white background for the name is ONLY FOR … Continue reading Why Writing is so Difficult

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Teaching English Overseas – Dream or Nightmare?

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Both. In the 1980s, EFL ‘Eh-full’, (English as a Foreign Language) was a dream job for savvy college graduates. Being a native speaker became a passport to a job, legal visa, often with paid housing and paid airfare to and from foreign lands. After the 1990s, it became too popular. After 2000, its attractiveness tarnished and its wages stagnated. Colleges, language schools and various English language employers demanded proof of a Bachelor’s or preferably, a Master’s and attestation (a complicated, time-consuming and expensive process.) Eventually, employers began demanding teacher credentials. Adios to the ‘backpacker’ English teacher. In the early 1990s, … Continue reading Teaching English Overseas – Dream or Nightmare?

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DNA, DESTINY, OR CHOICE

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

How much control do people have over their own lives? Not much. Maybe from zero to 20%. The wealthier, the more choices. The other portion of self-identity and life choices dwell outside the realm of individual control: gender – male, female or other; geography – place of birth; historical times – war or peace, health conditions, food access, and more; religion; culture – dictatorship, tribal, democracies, other; education – availability, contents, control; parental genes; and finally, family upbringing. NOTE: Numbers 7 and 8 are not discussed here. Modern science offers a plethora of information. For example, neuroscience has revealed the … Continue reading DNA, DESTINY, OR CHOICE

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TWO FREE ELECTIVE SURGERIES!

Alice Delaney Walker, aka Dana Walker

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago (1986), a commoner of limited means (teacher) lived in a Kingdom (Saudi Arabia). She risked a free operation in that Kingdom. As an American, she rarely had health coverage. Years of codeine pain relief for her monthly passing of blood, which destroyed three days, now, at the age of 36, annihilated seven – one fourth of her life. She plunged into the Kingdom’s dubious medical procedures. She lived in a university-hospital housing compound, buses daily chauffeuring her and female colleagues to and from the university. The yellow and black rod which … Continue reading TWO FREE ELECTIVE SURGERIES!