About
Hi, my name is Rob Puffett and I teach General and Academic English at Central Queensland University (CQU) in Sydney, Australia.
Reinvent English is a blog and a philosophy about English language teaching (ELT). Reinvent English is also two businesses – one, a proofreading & editing business based near UNSW in the suburb of Kingsford, the other a tour business trading as ‘Sydney Alive’. First, the blog!
The blog
This blog has grown out of my experiences as an English language teacher over many years, and from experiences in the corporate world as an English Language Teaching (ELT) consultant for a major educational publishing company.
This blog is focused more on process than content, that is the how, not the what!
The aim of this blog is to cover more active and contemporary ideas of ELT and teaching in general, as well as not directly related topics.
Topics could include but not limited to:
- Culture – Western, Eastern, Pop, Youth
- Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy
- Educational theory – ESL, General, Age specific
- Contemporary and active lesson ideas (see Project section)
- Audio Visual material – Pictures, YouTube, TED, ESL specific
- Links – both ESL and non-ESL
- Funny stuff – Cartoons, Observations
- Travel and tourism (see Project section)
This blog is for you, so please comment and reply, and please submit and share and let’s reinvent English!
Editing & Proofreading Services
Along with teaching English, I have also advised and lectured for the Academic learning centre (ALC) at CQU.
In my role as an English language teacher, I prepare students for entry into bachelor and master programs.
In my role as a Academic Learning Adviser I would work with students currently at CQU in a 1 on 1 advisory role, mostly helping with assignments.
In my role as an associate lecturer I conducted embedded lectures in academic communication skills for the business, I.T. and engineering schools, as well as conducting workshops open to all students.
These academic communication skills I now offer to UNSW students in the Kingsford area. Please see the Editing & Proofreading Services page for more detail.
‘Sydney Alive’ Tour Services
One of this blog’s initial main aims was to get learning English out into the real world. With the world as a classroom, anything is possible.
Perhaps walk along the Sydney coastline while on a treasure hunt then finish your adventure in a conference room at Bondi beach with dinner and drinks. Or learn vocabulary and grammar associated with golf in the clubhouse before walking out on to the course or driving range and teeing off.
Numerous studies have shown that ‘learning by doing’ is far more successful than traditional pedagogies. Reinvent English is experiential learning which aims to make ESL learning fun and unique. It is an idea whose time has come! Often the best day for students and teachers alike is excursion day, where the change of environment enhances the learning process.
Think of Reinvent English as a mix of study tour, event planning, excursion day, game show, variety show, conversation club, social event, class, corporate training and anything else really. Reinvent English gives both learner and teacher creative freedom to choose how to learn or teach.
The aim or philosophy of the blog and my teaching experiences has led me to create a unique tour service. Based on this philosophy ‘Sydney Alive’ is the first step in reinventing both tourism and educational process. Please visit the Sydney Alive page for more information.
Please click on this link to watch a basic video explaining the premise of Reinvent English.
