Two years old. Happy Birthday!

This month, Pronunciation Bites turns two years old.

I would like to celebrate this second year of shared experiences with all my readers, and especially, with my teacher trainees who have inspired, in so many different ways, each and every post.

So, first and foremost, THANK YOU!

I would also like to make a statement. For those of you who do not know about my background, I just wanted to remark that I work over 45 hours a week at state-run and private Teacher and Translation Training Colleges in Buenos Aires and occasionally at two universities, and as a teacher trainer at tertiary level, I don't get any allocation periods to do grading, or research, or planning. This is all done in my own "free" time. I am somehow expected to continue enhancing my qualifications, but I am not given time or funding to do so, and very often my rights to ask for a leave of absence for training and research do not get acknolwedged. (Note: I am grateful, of course, to those authorities and institutions that have supported me in my professional development endeavours helping me through all the red tape. I am lucky to be surrounded by people who know I take my academic career seriously.). I have paid, out of my own pocket, for almost every single course, conference fee,  plane ticket and hostel (except for the fees and travel expenses to present at the IATEFL 2014 conference in Harrogate, thanks to the fantastic IH and PronSIG Brita Haycraft Scholarship. I am sooo indebted to them!). I've lost count of the money I've spent on books. And I don't make any profit out of these blog posts, and I am not planning to make this commercial in any way for the time being. I have found this blogging space to be a "cocoon" for reflection and development away from all the shortcomings in my context. Everything I've written down over here is a result of reflection, after-class madness or frustration, post-exam-board sense of fulfilment, "Eureka" moments, coffee chats with friends and colleagues, and self-imposed research and independent reading.

So all I expect at this point is to be able to continue supplying teachers worldwide with book reviews, conference reports, reflections in passing, tips and tricks, pronunciation integration strategies, and some activities of my own making. I guess I simply want to be of use, to be the person who tells people the things I myself would have liked to be told before, to be someone who can perhaps guide you on how not to make the mistakes I myself may have made, or how to take some "shortcuts" that I have found after being lost and wandering for a long time.

Once again, I am grateful to all those life and academic mentors who have advised me to trust my intuition and follow my dreams. I thank all those people who inspire me constantly, the friends that are always there, and my students who keep me "in shape" with their comments, criticism, and support. I hope I can continue to be of service to the ELT community by making sure pronunciation is here, there and everywhere in the English lesson.

As always, I would appreciate any comments for improvement, or ideas of areas you would like me to discuss or tackle in this space. 

Thank you all so very much. See you all online.