Welcome to Mindful Monday, where we bridge the gap between Second Language Acquisition research and the practical realities of both your classroom and your business. Each week, Leo and I share research-backed insights to help you sharpen your classroom teaching while building the freedom to work on your own terms.
See our CPD Courses & Materials here.
In partnership with: E-Solutions for ELT
You tailor your teaching to your students.
Your tech should be tailored to you.
E-solutions by Renata Kucharska for ELT helps teachers build an online system that works for them by building practical websites, course platforms, landing pages and automations designed around the real needs of their ELT businesses.
Tech should make your business simpler, not more complicated.
Welcome to September! Whether you’re at back to school, end of summer holidays, or the end of winter, happy you’re with us this week. We’ve got some exciting announcements, so let’s get to it.
In this week’s Mindful Monday, you’ll see:
-
Leo interviewed Andrew for our podcast series
-
Webinar on classroom-focused TBLT (Sept 16)
-
Summer Book Club
Hope you enjoy this week’s edition.
🎙️ When Safe Isn’t Enough: Navigating Risk, Anxiety, and Career Pivots
“Risk is what’s left over after you’ve thought of everything. You can plan out the perfect business idea, and after that, there is still an element of risk that exists. There is no riskless starting of anything; you won’t find out what it is until you start.”
As you know, we flipped the podcast script recently when we interviewed each other for our entrepreneur podcast series.
This month, it was my turn (Andrew) to be in the hot seat. It was definitely a different experience – I’m used to asking the questions, not answering them – but am very glad we did this.
Leo asked me to share the story behind my work, my projects, and how I ended up building organizations instead of sticking strictly to a traditional career path – and the big anxiety that came with those choices.
Kudos to Leo for asking great questions and pulling answers out of me I hadn’t fully articulated before.
You can listen to the episode on YouTube here:
One question that stuck with me was when I first saw myself as an “entrepreneur.” To be honest, I’m not sure I ever have. I just do the work, solve the problems in front of me, and let people use whatever label fits.
Projects and ventures I’m proud of and I mention in the episode are:
1. My work with Learn YOUR English – The podcast, our CPD frameworks, and bridging the gap between research-informed theory and real classroom practice.
2. My new work with ImPact Canada – My new initiative focused on turning global newcomer founders’ expertise into Canada’s competitive economic advantage.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in traditional systems, curious about building something of your own, or passionate about newcomer economic empowerment, I think you’ll get a lot out of this conversation.
FOR MORE FROM ANDREW WOODBURY:
3. Ingle: The English Practice App
4. Learn YOUR English website (coming soon)
You can also listen on Spotify here:
Let us know what you think of this episode (and our interviewing each other overall).
🎙️ Webinar for Second Language Research Forum (SLRF):
Webinar Date: Wednesday September 16, 3PM ET
SLFR Conference: October 2-4, 2006
*$50 off for all readers with the code “TTTPOD” by clicking here.
The Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) is an annual conference that brings together second language researchers and teachers from all over the world! This year’s conference is hosted by the University of Montreal.
We’re lucky to partner with the SLRF team to bring you an exclusive pre-conference session with two of the primary presenters: Matt Coss and Laura Bryfonski.
Join us, Matt and Lara to chat about TBLT, practical applications in the classroom, and talks at this year’s conference that directly apply to what teachers do in the classroom.
Webinar Date: Wednesday September 16
Time: 3PM eastern time
Register free here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jcBWm9hZSE-lJzovK2UaZg#/registration
*All registrants will receive the session recording.
Attend the Conference at a Discount!
Listeners of the Teacher Talking Time podcast get $50 off their registration at SLRF 2026 with the code “TTTPOD”!
The Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) is an annual conference that brings together second language researchers and teachers from all over the world!
This year’s conference is hosted by the University of Montreal in collaboration with the Montreal Institute for Second Language Acquisition (MonISLA), and will take place in Montreal, Quebec, from October 2-4, 2026.
There is something for everyone at SLRF 2026, but especially for language teachers with an interest in TBLT. Come see presentations by Lara Bryfonski, Matt Coss, Claudia Fernandez – all Teacher Talking Time podcast guestes! – and so many more!
Check out the full program here: https://www.monisla.ca/en/slrf2026-program
Use code TTTPOD for $50 off your registration here: https://catalogue.continuum.umontreal.ca/Web/MyCatalog/ViewP?pid=%2fLpglhWIJQgU9HvZ6zCfhw%3d%3d&id=RhvUKzfua1ICaGL2nhNPRA%3d%3d
📚 Summer Book Club
Wonder Boys (1995) by Michael Chabon. My book club has an absolute winner this time.
Have you read it?
The story follows Grady Tripp, professor and former publishing prodigy who has lost his way as he tries to finally finish his novel Wonder Boys after about ten years or so. James Leer, one of his writing students with an obsession with the self-destruction of the Golden Age of Hollywood, is along for the ride.
As they say, they both help each other – or they don’t.
I’m about halfway through and am struggling to put it down. It’s a great read and I’m very glad we chose this book this time. Perhaps the book is set in simpler times, but it does appear that professors have very close friendships with their students. Perhaps I’m just getting old.
If you’re wondering, our book club is called “Did you know this was a book?”, which means there is a movie. I’ll definitely be watching this movie (with Michael Douglas, Katie Holmes, Toby McGuire, Robert Downey Jr., et al) very quickly after finishing the book.
That’s all for this edition. Talk soon,
Leo and Andrew
Want to grab a coffee and strategize the next step of your business?
If you enjoyed this, the best compliment we could receive would be if you shared it with one person or restacked it on Substack.
What we do at Learn YOUR English
1. Subscribe to our Teacher Talking Time podcast here
2. CPD courses for teachers here
3. Brand new website coming soon!