Australian-born Dr Rosemary Westwell has been a teacher since 1969. Now British citizen she is determined to add her voice to the call for more common sense in our approach to teaching and learning. In this book the author casts aside formulated textbooks in favour of an approach that focuses on the learning process and how teaching and materials are best adapted accordingly. If teachers understand the mechanism of how students acquire certain knowledge and skills, and they alter their methods of teaching accordingly, the learning is swift and effective. Other publications by the author...

Picking up a stranger in a pub in Spain and buying a flat from him is an unusual way of starting a new relationship with the country and its language. However, this mature lady casts caution aside and gives the stranger her credit card to pay a deposit for her dream flat by the Mediterranean Sea. When the contract is signed and she first enters the building, she is unable to communicate with the electrician who is still fixing the wiring. She realises she has to learn Spanish. In a series of amusing anecdotes she records her feelings about the language and the Spanish way of life. She...