Neil Bennion's Blog, page 5

Blood, Sweat and English Teachers – Just How Hard is the 4-Week CELTA Course?

From the back I may have looked composed and professional, but had I been facing a mirror rather than a whiteboard, the truth would have been apparent.

What on earth was the passive voice used for? My mind had gone totally blank with the pressure and the whole lesson was evaporating as I stood there.

“I can’t do this,” I thought, “it’s all over.”

In similar circumstances, a trainee in a previous year had sat down and got out their lunch, leaving the pupils wondering if it was part of the lesson....

The Polish Sleeper Train – An Insomniac’s View (VIDEO)

Wroclaw to Gdansk is nearly 400km as the crow flies. The crow doesn’t offer a sleeper service, though, so I’ve decided to take the sleeper train.

I could take the plane instead, but I hate the fact that we’ve become so blasé about flying. And I could take the day train – that way I could get some work done. After all, it’s only a 7 1/2 hour journey. But I must admit to finding the idea of sleeper trains quite exciting, even if the whole point is you miss the journey because you’re asleep the w...

New Book: Dancing Feat

Here it is!I’ve finally published thebook about how I went to Colombia to learn how to dance.

You can buy it right now on Amazon as a Kindle ebook:

Dancing Feat: One Man’s Mission to Dance Like a Colombian

Don’t have a Kindle? You don’t need one – just download the Kindle application forMacor PC. You can even read it on your phone (iPhone/iPod/iPad, Android and Windows).

Want to buy a copy already? Then you can get one here. And do please leave me an honest review on Amazon – it would be very muc...

TEDx Talk – Travel with a Narrative (VIDEO)

A few years ago I set out on a mission to learn how to dance like a Colombian. But I didn’t just learnt about dance – I learnt something else really cool in the process.



And that’s what I discuss in my talk at TEDxWroclaw 2014.

The video is right here, and the transcript is below.

The book is out now!

Want to know more about my dance adventures in Colombia? They’re detailed in my book:Dancing Feat: One Man’s Mission to Dance Like a Colombian

If you like the sound of it, you can buy it here.

Transcr...

The End of the Line in Prague

I’ve been to a lot of places in my travels. That’s not a boast. Well, okay, it’s not just a boast. Well, okay, it is just a boast.

But the thing is that when I first started visiting places, I was quite happy to go and see the things you’re meant to see in a place, to tick the boxes. But the more places I’ve been to, the less I feel this. So instead of spending the day in Prague castle, or one of the museums, I decided to go to the end of the line on random transport routes to see… well, just...

31 Reasons Semana Santa in Seville is Amazing

Semana Santa or Holy Week is an annual festival during the lead up to Easter Weekend, and the one in Seville is famous for being, you know, really good. The main spectacle is that of the processions, run by the city’s various brotherhoods.

I was living in Seville at the time Semana Santa a couple of years ago, and almost didn’t bother going out because I didn’t think it would be up to much.

What a mistake that would have been. Semana Santa in Seville is amazing. Here’s why:

1. The beauty of the...

Into the (Slightly) Wild – Hiking in the Owl Mountains

As we hiked up into the wooded foothills of the Owl Mountains of Poland, I turned to look back on the town of Bielawa.

“The problem with this kind of hiking,” I said, “is that it just makes me hanker for more exotic places.”

I was probably just in a funny mood because of the way things had started out.

A companion and I (which makes me sound like The Doctor) had headed out of town to stretch our eyesa bit and see something of the green stuff.We’d planned to hang out for a bit round a reservoir b...

How to Give a Terrible Pitch in 23 Easy Steps (VIDEO)

I recently gave this performance at the Tech Saturdays startup event in Wroclaw, Poland. They wanted me to do a deliberately bad pitch as a way of showing people some of the things to avoid.

Doing a deliberately bad version of anything is great because you can claim any genuine errors are intentional. Mind you, I tend to do that in life anyway.

My experience is in public speaking rather than pitching – I’m the host for TEDxWroclaw – so I needed the help of Tech Saturdays organiser Dermot Corr...