Category: Business Tips

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On better classroom judgment for ESL/EFL teachers: how to optimize learning, from Cecilia Nobre

One of the contemporary problems of ESL/EFL teaching is that teachers or tutors find that language instruction is a messy and inexact “science.”

As Brazilian EFL/ESL teacher (and CELTA trainer), Dr. Cecilia Nobre, argued recently on  Linkedin.com, if language teachers think “covering the [lesson] plan” will have made the lesson work, we “might be measuring the wrong thing.”

She writes that recently “a trainee told me she felt great about her lesson because she had covered everything in her plan. She had followed every stage, used all her slides, managed the timing well and given clear instructions. Yeah, sounds perfect!”

But the trainee’s students spoke for only about 7 minutes out of the 45-minute class.

Uh-oh.

Nobre tells us “I have spent years sitting at the back of training rooms watching lesson after lesson and I say this with care: we often confuse control with learning.

I too used to fill silence, rescue too quickly and explain before learners had tried. The lesson looked impressive (but the progress was slower than it could have been).”

She lists what should  be “the practices of teachers whose learners actually improve–15 habits,” although she observes she may have “missed a few”:

ESL/EFL teachers succeed when . . .

1- They wait (for learners to respond)
2- They listen more than they speak
3- They recycle language relentlessly (re-teaching and re-applying words or phrases within and between classes)
4- They notice patterns instead of isolated errors (that learners make)
5- They trust learners to try first (knowing that learning comes about through effort and errors)
6- They delay explanations (allowing learners to do their crucial cognitive work)
7- They respond to what emerges (from students’ thoughts and expression, not expecting coherent “wholes” in responses)
8- They use fewer materials more deeply (they don’t distract from learning by changing materials artificially)
9- They value learner effort over correctness
10- They let tasks run longer (when they are succeeding in eliciting student interest and learning)
11- They give feedback selectively (correcting only errors that are relevant and timely, or waiting for later to preserve a learning moment)
12- They build routines for noticing (observation may allow insights)
13- They resist rescuing (intervening only when a learner has reached the end of their capacity)
14- They accept mess (learning does not happen tidily or in a linear movement)
15- They intervene with precision (interventions should be brief, direct and unambiguous)

Nobre writes: “Unpredictability is not failure, it’s evidence of thinking in progress.” That is true of lesson plans for teachers and for the learning process of learners.

She observes that while it’s important to consider “pacing” in a class, simply “covering material (strict adherence to a lesson plan) without uptake from learners is just tidy administration.”

Adhering too much to “rigid planning kills responsiveness and responsiveness is where real teaching lives.”

“What matters is what [learners] carry out of the room, not how polished we felt at the front.”

Teachers use “selective feedback” because declining to correct too often “protects fluency and focuses on meaning before form” (because “meaning” is where fluency lies).

“Control feels safe; thinking feels risky. Guess which works?”

Are you an ESL/EFL learner or a teacher? Does Nobre’s list of 15 habits for English language learning make sense to you? Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you. 

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On Microhabits: How to Make Freelancing Healthy (any Time of Year)

 


January 2026 Vol 8 Issue 1

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Teaching English to economic immigrants and to

internationally educated, second-language academics

Let Us Help You Tell Your Story!

Welcome Mid-January 2026!

Happy New Year, Good Readers!

I’m a long-time admirer of the newsletter writing of American marketing star, Ann Handley.

Her fortnightly newsletter, “Total Annarchy,” charms her readers with its irreverence and fun, while not shying away from ethical implications, such as the rapid ascendancy of AI in all areas of our lives. She asks and discusses some of the most salient implications AI and related marketing hold for all of us.

An expert digital marketer, bestselling author, keynote speaker, former Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs and former journalist, Handley crafts “marcom” content that engages our emotions, at a time when emotional and ethical integrity are often displaced by the latest hustle of “impactful” prompts, trending bots and social influencers.

One of her many humourous strategies starts from the “get-go” in how she addresses her readers. Last November (American Thanksgiving), her addressees were “Butterballs.” In December (Christmas and Hanukkah), we became “Sugarplums.” I recall a spring issue, where we were “Peach Blossoms.” And by so naming her readers, Handley (literally and metaphorically) is just getting started.

One practice that keeps her newsletters grounded is that she loves and encourages readers to respond–whether with “yahoos,” “boo-hoos,” or comments in-between. I have exchanged some fascinating and animated messages with her.

Handley keeps things real.  She describes her newsletter as focusing “on writing, marketing, living your best life.” She writes as evocatively of her daughter leaving home for college as she does on publishing ventures.

Further north on the Canadian Prairie, some 15 years (or 180 issues) after I started writing “Tell Your Story Newsletter” (TYSN), I also strive for reality (not for “reality TV!”) and I’m delighted to receive emails and other messages from you, my readers–the best sign of engagement.

Like “Total Annarchy,” “Tell Your Story Newsletter” (TYSN) remains free. It’s also 100% AI-free, spam-free and ad-free. My newsletter often addresses entrepreneurial wellness as much as (or through) communications or marketing ideas, and as much as English language teaching and writing issues.

Long-form Communications as a living body of practices are the “bread and butter” of my days, and of at least some of yours, too, as valued readers.

At the dawn of a new year, I hope that reading “TYSN” will feel much like a conversation with a friend. It’s why I address you as “Good Readers” or “Friends” or as “we” or “us.”

I hope you’ll share relevant issues with your friends and colleagues.

And while we all love a good guffaw (and some of those will definitely follow, this year), ultimately I hope you’ll find, by reading and responding, that none of us is alone in facing the challenges of our times.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Shih

Principal, Storytelling Communications

 

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

->ARTICLE ONE:  On Microhabits: How to Make Freelancing Healthy (any Time of the Year)

-> SHOP NEWS

->ABOUT US

Article One: On Microhabits: How to Make Freelancing Healthy (any Time of the Year)

As most in the Western Hemisphere know, “New Year’s Day” is historically the date to make “resolutions” to improve our lives, health, or finances for our futures.

And while people tend to undertake these “resolutions” with great conviction, we all know that unrealistic expectations end in failure.

By mid-January and definitely by early February, often our resolutions, and the resolve to achieve them, have dissipated.

For that reason, I look forward to the quiet workout space at my gym, after “resolutionists” have abandoned their workout regimes!

But in place of “New Year’s resolutions,” I was inspired by a recent podcast episode from American copywriter and coach, Ed Gandia (“High-Income Business Writing Podcast”). The episode describes how we can make “freelancing” (and other kinds of self-employment) healthier. Healthier not just now, but even more so, three months from now.

So this first new article of 2026 will be dedicated to the wellness of entrepreneurs of all shapes, stripes, spots and sizes.

Gandia says: “Freelancers are great at pushing through. We hit deadlines, juggle clients, and squeeze productivity out of thin air.”

But at the same time, our “physical health often pays the price for all of this.”

Brain fog, insomnia, burnout, increased anxiety and depression,  insulin resistance, weight gain, intensive cravings for unhealthy food are some of the worst results from overwork. He says: “The side of freelancing that rarely gets attention is the slow erosion of our health when our businesses become the only priority.”

In the longer term, poor health and sleep reduce our creativity and with it, the quality of our work.

But how and what changes can we sustain, meaningfully?

Motivation is a finite source of activity. So building our own regimes on microhabits is wise.

Even the term “microhabit” has been a recent buzz-word. But it refers to a legitimate practice. A microhabit is a practice of making large goals feel less overwhelming by breaking them down into smaller pieces or activities, over time.

We repeat that small activity consistently over several weeks or months (such as walking for 10 minutes per day, or drinking two more glasses of water each day) until we achieve a goal larger than we could have initially imagined.

In his podcast, Ed Gandia interviews Lucie Robazza, an Australian-based, certified health coach, personal trainer, kinesiologist who has founded her own company, “Strenxia.” She’s a big believer in microhabits.

She says that “deadlines, your own business, AI, not enough sleep or healthy diet,” all lead to “all or nothing” strategies, doomed to fail by week three of a new year.

Robazza says if you track meaningful health metrics, you’ll start (gradually—one day at a time) to make real improvements through diet, exercise, and other lifestyle changes.

But this should be a gradual process, not a headlong rush!

Women face unique challenges in midlife that mainstream “lifestyle” practices miss, from Perimenopause to Menopause. Hormonal fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone are significant and as a result, “women become less resistant to stress in our 40s.”

Researchers have started (very late in history) to analyze biomarkers in Menopause. But Perimenopause can also cause emotional volatility, poor sleep and many other symptoms–that both women and men know little about. So 40+-year old women should discuss their health closely with their physicians.

Making incremental changes (not “all-or-nothing”) is more sustainable (e.g. 1% every week). New Year’s resolutions don’t tell us how to get there. (Motivation is never sustainable.) Instead, Robazza suggests that we need to build “systems,” based on small, attainable microhabits that we can do, even when we feel stressed out.

For instance she suggests practices as simple as positioning our bedroom furniture and clean gym clothes near our doors, to make it easier to get to the gym each morning.

Microhabits help us avoid failure, by helping us to strive for reasonable goals. She warns that otherwise, “the story of failure” will shape our identities, detrimentally.

As we start building microhabits, we start to feel good about our successes and build an identity over time that is positive. It’ll also be greater than the sum of our latest achievement(s)!

We will see the pattern of gradual improvement, consistently, over time. Robazza says we all need the encouragement that provides.

The jist of Gandia’s podcast is this: We tend to assume that New Year’s failed resolutions come from a failure in discipline or commitment, when they’re more likely too ambitious to counter the complex dietary and metabolic issues that humans face, especially as we age. (Gandia notes this applies to aging men, as well.)

So many freelancers have been pushing too hard for too long,  “operating in a chronic low-grade stress state,” affecting everything from “Thyroid function to inflammation to metabolic health” and more.

Here, to conclude, are Robazza’s top six microhabits:

(1) Get natural sunlight early in the day. This helps to regulate hormones for energy and sleep. Robazza recommends getting some sunlight in the first 10-15 mins of our mornings, as morning light improves melatonin production and helps with insulin reception. Daily sunlight regulates our sleeping and working hours. (In cold climates like SK, light therapy boxes can work.)

Even a morning walk to walk to the gym (without showering or preparing our bodies) will do wonders.

(2) Take water with electrolytes upon waking to reduce dehydration-related fatigue, cravings and to support cognitive focus. Robazza says to drink two cups of water as soon as we wake up and then to keep drinking water as we work through a day (an additional four cups).

Dehydration can cause cravings, brain fog and other problems. She recommends not to drink caffeine for the first hour after waking up. Water-soluble electrolytes are costly, so even adding a pinch of good-quality sea salt to two glasses of water each morning will make a difference.

(3) Ensure we get sufficient protein intake, especially at breakfast, to support muscle health, satiety and prevent energy crashes (critical for women, often late in the afternoon). A minimum) of 100 g of protein per day per women is necessary. And increase that to 120 or 130 g of protein, as we age.

Protein is the best antidote to those crashes, sugar cravings and an overly large appetite. Protein also helps to sustain muscle mass.

Robazza says  breakfast should consist of 30-40 g of protein to help regulate hormones. We need more as we age!

Consider that two eggs contain only 12 g of protein and we need 30-40 to start the day! So make breakfast more substantial or research healthy protein powders we can add to what we eat.

(4) Practice short movement bursts (“exercise snacks”) throughout the day, to break sedentary patterns, boost energy, and improve metabolic health.

Robazza reminds us that human DNA is structured to need movement. As many of us have heard, we’re not meant to sit at desks all day. So she urges us to try to disrupt sedentary work with micromovements (that improve insulin sensitivity).

For instance, she urges us to try “20 squats while the kettle boils; 10 desk pushups while ChatGPT is working on your search” and so on. Ten minutes spent walking on errands would also be great.

 

While these aren’t full “workouts,” these “exercise snacks” disrupt sedentary behaviour, like hunching posture, brain fog and exhaustion.

Over time, getting morning sunshine (microhabit #1) here could double up with one of these 10 minute, “exercise snacks” (microhabit #4) to reduce insulin resistance and help our bodies dispose of glucose. (Habits can be stacked when waiting for a bus or in traffic.)

(5) Reset and regulate our Nervous Systems by practicing deep breathing exercises throughout the day. (Deep breathing helps to manage stress, promote resilience and mental clarity). Before doing something difficult in our days, she suggests that we take one minute for box-shaped breathing (inhaling for four seconds; holding it for seven seconds; and then breathing out for eight seconds).

Also, deep breathing after we do something stressful can help to calm ourselves. (This is more realistic than following a half-hour of meditation when life is so mentally intensive.)

(6) Make habits “stick” as longer-lasting practices by simplifying our environments. For instance, lay out clean gym clothes the night before, keep a jug of water with sea salt near our beds.  Similarly, ask a spouse or friend to “hide the biscuit jar” out-of-sight and mind!

Robazza stresses that working with one microhabit for the first 28 days is the best way to start. Once it’s a routine, we can stack other habits on top, at 28-day intervals. Results improve greatly. (E.g. Stack some micro-exercises at the end of writing  a first draft of something; plan on drinking one cup of water after we finish every meeting, etc.)

She also suggests that setting “worst day standards” for terrible days can help with busy times. Then we won’t drop the ball entirely, but manage to fit in some breathing, for instance, and some protein-rich foods. The small size of most microhabits and their receptiveness for gradual stacking makes them more sustainable for the long-term.

 

Robazza concludes with the advice not to let our practices slide twice. (For instance, failing to eat protein on one day can still be counteracted. But if we repeat it on a second day, we’ll have started a “bad habit.”)

Start a microhabit “one at a time,” starting with one of the easiest. Do it for 28 days, reflect on whether it was easy (or not); then add a second microhabit and follow both now, for another 28 days (and so on). Robazza notes that behaviours can improve “from average to good to great” over three or more months. So starting one microhabit on a cold January day will reap benefits for us by spring!

By featuring Robazza’s insights on his podcast, Gandia illustrates that “practical, simple, and surprisingly encouraging” microhabits can make a lasting difference to our mid- and later-life health.

And who wouldn’t want that, in these challenging times?

And now it’s your turn. Are you happy with your current health as a freelancer or professional? Will you try to develop some of Robazza’s microhabits?

Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you.

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SHOP NEWS:

 

I’m observing this month that a long-term writers’ group I co-launched in 2015 with Ashleigh Mattern and Julie Barnes (Saskatoon “Freelancers’ Roundtable”), has been renamed and reconceived!

Henceforth, we’ll be known as Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group.”

Ashleigh, Julie and I started the group in the spring of 2015 to channel creative writers’ need for discussion, advocacy and co-referrals.

We planned our group over drinks (and a notepad) nearly 11 years ago, in a bar in downtown Saskatoon that long ago closed!

 

While we outlived that venue, we’ve since met in cafes and coffee shops across the city, including the Broadway Roastery on 8th, City Perks, Sparrow, and lately, HomeQuarter.

A word (and shout-out) to my co-founders and colleagues:

Ashleigh Mattern is the “chief storyteller” (writer, marketer and social media expert) behind Vireo Creative, a web design and content team (c. 2015).

She’s also a long-time creative, writing freelance journalist, producing content for the CBC, marketing copy for local businesses and exploring multiple literary genres and influences, including in her novel, Magicked Born (2021).

Ashleigh has been the regular anchor and leader of the group since 2015 and recently returned to that role after a few months’ hiatus. She regularly invites creatives to join in our discussions.

Co-founder Julie Barnes of Julie Barnes’ Creative Services, is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Saskatoon HOME magazine and for clients including the CBC. She is completing a degree in interior design from Yorkville University.

Some of Julie’s writerly interests include travel, gardening, architecture, residential construction, food, urban planning, cottage communities and education.

She has also worked as a talent agent for the folksinger/songwriter, Eric Paetkau.

. . . . With an 11-year history behind us, we and our other members are optimistic that Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group” will expand our topics of reading, thinking, discussion and co-referrals.

Since rebranding in 2021 as the principal of “Storytelling Communications,” I (Elizabeth)  have continued to write and edit communications copy, while pivoting to focus more on teaching the intricacies of English-as-a-Second Language (ESL/EAL/EFL) to adults and young adults.

Influenced by my background in academia, language studies and psychoanalysis, I continue to enjoy reading as eclectic influences as Susie Dent, Seth Godin and Adam Phillips, while striving to create clarity for the writing and speaking of non-native users of English.

. . . With our diverse interests as co-founders and members, Saskatoon’s “Small Business Group” has much potential to grow into the future.

“If the shoe fits,” we’d be happy to include you in our next meeting.  Please reach out.

 

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An energetic shout-out this new year to Northern Ireland-based, ESL teacher, Carl Cameron-Day, and (Glasgow-based) ESL administrator, Alan Moir, both of TEFL.Org.

Carl is an experienced, ESL teacher, tutor, teacher-trainer and exam administrator who has worked all over the globe. I know Carl as a sage advisor, who hosts webinars for junior and mid-career English language teachers with enviable energy.

When part of a work week takes me off the trail of language training, I’m always the better for tuning in to a TEFL.Org webinar, hosted by Carl and deftly facilitated by the amazingly skilled Alan Moir (himself an EFL teacher by training).

Their wry sense of humour adds to their charm. (Alan once adopted the name of a “Cupboard of Cheese” for a Q&A! . . .)

 

ESL/EFL teachers can watch recordings of these webinars (some going back years) on YouTube and on Facebook, filled with helpful tips and best practices.

There are always new stories and new people to promote in “Shop News.” But this is a wrap for mid-January.

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ABOUT US:

Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I  teach economic immigrants to secure better jobs or larger contracts by improving their English language skills.

I also help internationally educated, second-language academics, to progress through the tenure promotion process by improving their English language skills.

For both sets of clients, I help them to integrate into our community and marketplace more easily than they would working (in isolation) alone.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my (still CASL-compliant) website (www.elizabethshih.com)

After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!

Please visit my website for more information (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).
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What’s changing in English Language Teaching and Testing in 2026? Some highlights from a conversation between Cathoven AI’s CEO, Summer G. Long, and Erez Tocker (CEO, Trinity College, London):

 

  • The need for English language learning (and other languages) is still there, potentially growing. AI (such as industry leader Cathoven AI) hasn’t taken that away.
  • But when countries reduce their intake of international students, those students worry about completing a four-year degree, so demand (for ESL/EFL teaching) wanes.
  • The global economy also challenges the language education industry; English language study abroad is less affordable for most middle-class families, world-wide.
  • The Pandemic has similarly affected students’ English studies. It makes sense to “stay home to stay healthy” when learning a language. and as Tocker says at the end of 2025, “Duolingo is having a great year” teaching students online.
  • AI can improve language learning by lowering the stakes when giving students in-time (individual) feedback, AI gives confidence to students to try speaking, when they’re not in front of many peers (“a safe comfort zone”), or by placing them in different, simulated settings. And hiring an AI teacher is cheaper than working with a live tutor, over the same number of hours.
  • But some things are lost when language teaching goes online:  AI can give “too much feedback,” consistently, which can make students feel there’s no end to the need for improvement. By contrast, a human class offers a (provisional) end, so learning can coalesce in students’ brains.
  • AI also can’t provide the context by which students’ brains process and learn new things. Only a classroom can provide an “experience.”
  • Tocker says we must ensure our education systems develop 21st Century skills, including “soft skills” (e.g. workplace readiness, but the “workplaces” of the future are “fuzzy” now). GenZers will need to learn how to network and handle job interviews. When they’ve spent all their time using AI, they may lack such “soft skills.” Who will teach them those?
  • Community and context are very important (e.g. both Long and Tocker met at a live [in-person] conference and their online conversation spun out of that in-person meeting).
  • A useful analogy is MS Excel: when Excel was invented, it didn’t end the teaching/learning of mathematics. But Excel provided a tool that freed specialists from using pencils and paper.
  • Excel and AI are technologies that humans now can use.
  • But AI is (of course) more complex than Excel–it will take much more time to figure out how to incorporate AI into education and all vocational fields (e.g. accounting).
  • AI testing won’t replace standardized language exams, like IELTS. But Tocker says it will “shrink the number of players” in the space of English language testing.
  • There are many limits to standardized language exams. Students often worry more about learning exam-taking skills than they do about learning  how to communicate accurately. ESL should never take as its focus only standardized exams. (Teaching students strategy to master a particular kind of test is not ultimately edifying.)
  • Human teachers can help students to improve intonation, learn more collocations and impart students with skills needed in life.
  • One way to empower language education (including great teachers) is to invest some of the profit from (language testing) companies to sponsor students from “have-not” countries. That investment would help students to gain access to overseas colleges and companies, where they can learn new languages.
  • Over time, as Tocker concluded, “patient” strategies for teaching move education and the workplace ahead, better and faster, than “top-down,” hierarchical approaches. But enlightened education requires patience and won’t develop and evolve as rapidly as AI does.
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Seven ways to live more purposefully, in the mid-November issue of “Tell Your Story Newsletter”

November 2025   Vol 7 Issue 11

Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):

Teaching English as a Second Language

to economic immigrants and second-language academics

Let us help you tell your story!

 

Welcome Mid-November 2025!

And just like that, winter descended on November 6th! The first snow of the season fell fast on the heels of rain that froze, delivering a treacherous double whammy for pedestrians and drivers.

And yet, like last November (as my newsletter archive testifies), this month has otherwise given us many days of above-seasonal warmth and bright sunshine (at or near +10 degrees Celsius). The snow and ice have melted!

To have seasons, and to notice the changes that come with each one, are distinctly Canadian–and, especially, Saskatchewanian.

The recently crimson “Manitoba Maple” tree across the street from my office reminds me that we are not only a country of winter!

As I prepare this issue of “TYSN,” we are observing Remembrance Day. Are you, like me, grieving the contents of the nightly news–a world dominated by deeply autocratic, power-hungry men, not only overseas but also close to home?

While the “leaders” of the US, Russia, China, North Korea, Israel, Afghanistan, and Sudan, to name a few, hoard material and military wealth while their own people or their neighbours suffer impoverishment, starvation, disease and an end to public education. How can we register our dissent?

As you know, good readers, we strive to stay informed about these injustices, to vote for leaders who oppose them, to support human rights’ groups and to donate to relevant charities. There are, however, smaller steps that each one of us can also take to improve our lives as part of our global community: we can live more thoughtfully.

This month, in “Article One,” I share some simple insights on seeking “richness”–not in material wealth, but in “slow living,” from Jade Bonacolta. A former Google executive, Bonacolta believes that coexisting with oppressed neighbours in a troubled world requires us to live more simply. I go one step further by trying to donate to specific causes, when I can.

In “Shop News” this month, I share a change in my contract work, as I accept an invitation to serve local children who are struggling to achieve literacy so crucial to their survival, and in our first-world country, too.

As we approach the end of 2025, may you, good readers, find ways to register dissent from the autocracies that have overtaken so much of our world. Led by men (and many fewer women) who divide and conquer by hate (putatively on the bases of race, gender, class, religion and age), these governments are rooted in greed and exclusion.

And amid the noise that the latest developments of Artificial Intelligence (AI) raise, we strive to remember that the fundamental freedom all humans deserve has only been achieved in our world by (the tragedy of) sacrifice.

As we observe this month of Remembrance, and as the late Jane Goodall has said, we must continue to resist tyranny by working for a better world. This means we must continue to believe each of us still has purpose and value, by which we can collectively overpower the malevolent forces that threaten our world.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

Principal

Storytelling Communications

www.elizabethshih.com

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IN THIS ISSUE:

ARTICLE 1: Seven steps to live more purposefully (with Jade Bonacolta)

SHOP NEWS

ABOUT US

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Article One: Seven steps to live more purposefully, with Jade Bonacolta

 

With a weekly online newsletter polemically titled, “The Quiet Rich,” former Google executive and online coach Jade Bonacolta might appear to be part of the problem besetting western democratic countries—where free market capitalists pursue their own selfish gain. After all, the development of the AI industry costs trillions of dollars annually (an industry not foreign to Bonacolta), while millions of people worldwide suffer in poverty and starvation.

Bonacolta may have left Google, but she is still a high-earning tech star, as an online coach and guru to entrepreneurs, and for leading a club for LinkedIn “thought leaders.”

She may not be as mercenary as that sounds, however, as she does believe in learning from the past. She notices the irony that we may have “gotten every convenience imaginable” in the 21st century, but that we now need to revisit our grandparents’ simpler times. Why?  Because our lives now are “more anxious, distracted and exhausted than ever.”

She writes of her grandparents’ lives, “What if [they] had it right all along? . . . They started their mornings with the newspaper and coffee—not scrolling through social media. They cooked Sunday dinners from scratch. They walked to the store and actually talked to their neighbours along the way.”

We fritter away our conscious minds on “Social media notifications. Breaking news alerts. Stock prices. Dating app swipes”—all for a “flood” of dopamine that our brains are not genetically wired to handle, in the first place.

She observes: “The happiest people I know have figured out what our grandparents knew instinctively: offline is the new luxury.” I’d suggest instead that living “offline is the new sanity” and ethics, too.

Bonacolta recommends “seven old-fashioned habits” to improve our lives, even as we morally try to refuse the waste that can come from some of middle- and upper-class life.

Which of these habits work for you?

(1)   “Start your day with paper not screens”:

Keep a book by your bed, so you can read at least 10 pages each morning, before you look at your phone. (Try charging your phone in another room, so you don’t wake up to it.)

Bonacolta writes that our grandparents knew, if unconsciously, that “the first hour of your morning impacts your mindset for the rest of the day. Your brain will thank you.”

(2)   Practice making “ordinary dinners” once per week: 

She recommends buying a cookbook that genuinely interests you. Then, “every Sunday for the next month, cook one new meal from it. . . . You’ll be surprised by how much you enjoy the process of creating something new with your hands.”

If you live in a busy household with adult careers plus children to care for, how about trying to cook a “new” dinner, once per month? And use that as a break from the “old” dinners you’ve (and I’ve) been rotating for years.

(3)   Keep a “free library” at home:

Bonacolta recommends that you buy extra copies of a couple of your favourite books, if your budget allows for it. Then, when friends visit, you can share a copy with them (and they, in turn, may do so, with you).

She writes: “Books are meant to be shared, not just displayed on a shelf.”

(4)   Keep a “little things” list to observe life’s goodness:

In a small (e.g. dollar-store) notebook, jot down one good thing that happens every day, before you fall asleep. Examples she includes are “a nice email from a client,” a “delicious meal” you ate,  some “hilarious” humour that arose.

Then, “re-read the whole list on New Year’s Eve. . . . You’ll be shocked by how many beautiful moments you would have forgotten otherwise.”

(5)   Take a “white-space walk”:

Once per week, Bonacolta recommends taking a “20-minute walk with no phone, no music, no podcast. Just you and your thoughts.”

This teaches us that “boredom isn’t the enemy.” On the contrary, when you feel bored, your best ideas develop: “They need a little white space.”

(6)   Have some “vinyl nights”:

Bonacolta suggests that we listen to an entire album of a favourite singer or band, “from start to finish.” (I suggest trying this over the Christmas holiday season): She adds, “No skipping, no multi-tasking.  Just appreciating.” She argues that music can be an “event” and not just “background noise” to the rest of our busy days.

(7)   Take “1-minute voice messages”:

Finally, she urges us to send a voicemail or “voice memo” to let family and friends know you’re thinking of them. I would add, to remind them that you love them!

This should not be a text or social media message. “A voice memo lets them hear the warmth in your tone.”

While telephones were invented to connect us with loved ones far away, smartphones now “disconnect us from the people closest to us.” We might try using them for their fundamental use–as telephones!

And if we’re tempted (as I am) to dismiss Bonacolta for her apparent privilege, consider her closing words:

“There are seven weeks left until New Year’s Eve. Try one of these habits every week for the next seven weeks . . . . And for these final months of 2025, give yourself permission to slow down a little. To spend less time on screens. To stop multitasking all the time. To do fewer things that matter more, with the people who matter most.”

The message of calm and peace that can transpire might be the best gift you could offer loved ones and yourself, in this chaotic world.

And now it’s your turn: How do you live more purposefully or meaningfully, in these troubled times?

How can we outdo the aggression and greed that threaten to overtake our world? Please share your thoughts; I’d be grateful to include them in a future issue.

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SHOP NEWS:

 

I remember that an old family friend who lived in British Columbia at least 30 years ago, would answer my letters that inquired about the health of himself and his young family.

One reply showed his trademark humour: “We’re all much as we were, maybe a little more so!”

The latter clause struck me as both hilarious and charming. So I now share a similar “status report” with you–here are some ways that I too am “a little more” than I was, last month! And how are you?

I am delighted that my long-term colleague and friend, writer Ashleigh Mattern, is ready to return to leading our writers’ group, “Saskatoon Freelancers’ Roundtable,” after the conclusion of her cancer treatment.

I’m very grateful to Ashleigh, as this will allow me to plunge back into teaching and editing, which sometimes conflict with our group meetings.

That said, I’ve greatly enjoyed exchanging conversation with our group over the past year, and look forward to future discussions about “favourite books,” for instance, and about a potential writers’ retreat at St. Peter’s Abbey, next autumn (2026).

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I’m glad to share this month that while my communications’ business sees me work with economic immigrants and internationally educated, second-language academics, I plan shortly to begin work with two native-speaking children, who face  basic literacy challenges, and who were referred to me through my faith community.

In the area of children’s literacy skills, I had a wonderful opportunity last summer (as I shared then) to work with a (native-speaking) grade nine student who needed some support with his writing skills.

He flourished in the several short weeks that we worked together and the process impressed upon me the importance of literacy tutoring, even or especially for native speakers, who are sometimes overlooked.

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As Saskatchewan teachers and parents have long told us, primary (and often secondary) school classrooms are bursting at the seams with students, some of whom have complex medical needs that require ongoing maintenance (e.g. neurodivergence, breathing tubes, allergy alerts, etc.).

Quiet and often shy students (whether they have medical needs or not) are not always sufficiently served by teachers and by Educational Assistants (EAs)—that is, if the class is fortunate enough even to have EAs.

These children sometimes fall through the cracks, and I’m grateful to teachers and EAs who identify these cases, so that they can receive literacy tutoring in caring environments, with teachers like me.

I enjoy children. But my many years as a graduate student in Southern Ontario, decades ago, trained me to teach adults (18+ years), as the body of undergraduate students whom I would serve.

So I owe special thanks to retired teacher, Sharon Wiseman, whose vast experience teaching literacy students from K-12, in the US and in Canada, has again become invaluable.

Sharon’s awareness of the stages of literacy development and of relevant early children’s literature is indispensable.

Thank you, Sharon, for instruction and guidance on phonemic awareness, which lays the foundation for the study of phonics.

Literacy tutoring of children under the age of 10, can be tremendously rewarding, but also challenging, across different cultures, class, gender and religious differences.

But I’m delighted to help children who may be struggling to “catch up” in their literacy skills.

There are always new “thank yous” to share and new entrepreneurs and businesses to promote. 

But this is a wrap for mid-November!

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ABOUT US:

Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.”

I help economic immigrants and internationally trained, second-language academics to improve their spoken and written communication skills.

By doing so, I help economic immigrants to gain better jobs or larger contracts; and I assist second-language academics to secure promotions (such as tenure) more readily and quickly than if they worked alone, in isolation.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant website (www.elizabethshih.com).

After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!

Please visit my website for more information (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).

STAY IN TOUCH:

Become a Facebook fan

Subscribe to my blog

Contact us

Posted on

Is AI our “second brain?” On Artificial Intelligence and uncertainty in the mid-October issue of TYSN

 

October 2025 Vol 7 Issue 10

Tell Your Story Newsletter 

Teaching the English language to economic immigrants and internationally trained,  second language academics

Let us help you succeed in English!

Welcome Mid-October, 2025!

A social media posting I noticed last week reminded me that there are barely 80 (effective today, only 77 days) left in 2025 and until we are a quarter of the way through the 21st Century!

These are sobering thoughts and, as the old adage says, “time flies.” As we draw closer to the end of a year filled with much uncertainty, global conflict and chaos, we may feel (on  the tails of Canadian Thanksgiving) more worry and exhaustion than gratitude.

In “Article One” in this issue, I discuss a recent article from American resident supervisor, Rhea Tibrewala, on how some young undergraduates at Harvard University cope with great uncertainty in their personal and professional lives by turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI). In some cases, AI becomes their “second brain.” She cautions us about this trend.

In “Storytellers’ Corner,” I share “A Road Sign in Wales,” a much simpler “guffaw” you may recognize from Facebook, but which may still tickle your funny bone. Translation woes appeal to those who are learning a second (or third or fourth . . .) language, like some of my ESL/EFL students!

And in “Shop News,” I share some of the latest accomplishments of colleagues in my writers’ group, aka “Saskatoon Freelancers’ Roundtable,” and of a friend who manages a mental health program that offers genuine (human) support to those who struggle–and not AI or a digital one.

With Canadian Thanksgiving just over, the annual question returns: What are you thankful for, good reader?

I have been feeling very thankful lately for the life and service of primatologist, conservationist and animal welfare advocate, Dame (Dr.) Jane Goodall, who died on October 1st at the age of 91.

As most of you know, she dedicated much of her life to changing scientific understanding of the similarities and differences between humans and animals, and, in particular, to championing the endangered and maligned chimpanzees of Tanzania.

I have felt grateful to her lately for speaking the following “last words” in an interview made for posthumous release:

“In the place where I am now, I look back over my life. I look back at the world I’ve left behind. What message do I want to leave? I want to make sure that you all understand that each and every one of you has a role to play. You may not know it, you may not find it, but your life matters, and you are here for a reason.  . . . I want you to know that . . . your life does matter, and that every single day you live, you make a difference in the world. And you get to choose the difference you make.

I want you to understand that we are part of the natural world. And even today, when the planet is dark, there still is hope. Don’t lose hope [or] you will become apathetic and do nothing. And if you want to save what is still beautiful in this world . . . then think about the actions you take each day. Because, multiplied a million, a billion times, even small actions will make for great change . . .

I just hope that you understand that this life on Planet Earth isn’t the end. . . . I want you to know that your life on Planet Earth will make some difference in the kind of life you find after you die. . . As we destroy one ecosystem after another, as we create worse climate change . . . we have to do everything in our power to make the world a better place for the children alive today, and for those that will follow . . . Don’t give up. There is a future for you. Do your best while you’re still on this beautiful Planet Earth.”

My belated Thanksgiving wish for all of you, good readers, is that this season will give you time to renew or re-establish hope for our beleaguered and “beautiful Planet Earth,” and to renew love for the family and/or friends who share it with you.

I also wish that you will find meaning and purpose in your work; and that you will feel grateful for the blessings that still grace our lives, even in these challenging times.

Happy October.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

Principal

Storytelling Communications

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IN THIS ISSUE:

 ARTICLE ONE: Is AI our “second brain?” On AI and uncertainty, with Rhea Tibrewala

STORYTELLERS’ CORNER:

A road sign in Wales

SHOP NEWS

ABOUT US

www.elizabethshih.com

Article One: Is AI our “second brain?” On AI and uncertainty, with Rhea Tibrewala 

It will surprise no sentient being, these days, to say we’re living in uncertain times. “Uncertainty” abounds in our daily lives (as Jane Goodall’s remarks reflect) and one of the most salient ways we feel uncertain is in our relationship to technology–notably Artificial Intelligence (AI).

For creative entrepreneurs, we have reason to be worried that AI is now considered a “second brain” by many college-age students and for some still younger children, too.

In a moving article in the October issue of “Psyche” magazine, Harvard University tutor (a Lowell House residential supervisor and a communications’ strategist with more than 10 years of experience), Rhea Tibrewala, describes and warns us of what having AI as a “second brain” involves.

She reports that many undergraduates are using AI to filter their human-to-human interactions, to “help them feel more in control” of their relationships—not just to “help with an English essay, to summarize readings, outline syllabi” and other practical tasks. ChatGPT has become a source for advice on breakups, friendships and family turmoil.

AI has become an emotional companion to these undergraduates, as they “write” difficult messages to loved ones, as they process grief.  AI is no longer simply “a productivity shortcut” but also “an active participant in their emotional lives.” These young students have become what Tibrewala calls “cultural pioneers” (what we used to term “guinea pigs”) of the role AI will have in our world. The way students use AI to handle identity, intimacy, ambition, ambivalence and uncertainty are, she says, an “early glimpse” at how people will relate to these tools in the not-too-distant, future.

Some of these students see that “you can’t let your critical thinking atrophy” when using AI for academic purposes. But when students allow such tools to infiltrate their daily thoughts, so it becomes part of how they learn, reason and feel–AI can indeed become a “second brain.”

The reduced processing time for AI feedback (users marvel at “how rapidly AI changes”),  ChatGPT and other platforms now respond to our prompts or queries nearly instantaneously. Tibrewala warns that “leaves little or no time for human analysis, in-between.”

Students aren’t just using AI, but learning “how to live and think alongside it,” as an “extension of their own thinking.” Alarm bells for some of us have started to ring.

Some students go further, using AI as a personal therapist; or to adopt a persona of a famous mentor they follow online, with advice on how to deal with the uncertainty, pain and suffering of their lives. (More bells begin to ring . . . .)

Consider the tragic case of 16-year-old Californian, Adam Raine, reported on CBC radio (and elsewhere), who earlier this year planned and died by suicide, directed by ChatGPT, which had advised him on the method for over a month. (His parents , unaware of his obsession, are now suing OpenAI, for its lack of guiderails and mitigation processes.)

AI can “listen,” remember and respond “with emotional resonance that blurs the line between assistance and intimacy,” writes Tibrewala. So a “large language model” can resemble a friend and trusted advisor. That’s worrisome, when it is NOT sentient or capable of emotion, such as empathy. What  some undergraduates now consume comes from a line of predictive output, scraped over millions of sources online, void of any real knowledge or emotional sentience, itself.

And yet, AI offers a sense of “self-congruence” with it, so users feel it is similar and familiar to themselves, which makes its interactions feel comforting and natural (not machine-like).

But AI can affirms one’s assumptions, instead of challenging them as a friend or therapist would. Is there any surprise that there’s a cost to this artificial “comfort?”

Tibrewala reminds us that the chaos of the COVID-19 Pandemic forced classes online, required hours and hours of screen time and regular exposure to algorithm-driven feeds that replaced unstructured time and real-world conversation.

Students’ rapid adoption of tech necessitated by Pandemic times created what Tibrewala calls a “formative period,” that continues to shape how youth engage with the world. AI now is forcing a major shift in how generations under 30 or 35 learn how to think, focus and relate. Even their concept of selfhood  is “digitized.”

AI tools can offer quick access to knowledge and an external perspective, but Tibrewala argues that they also “make it easier to skip the friction that helps foster growth.” She writes: “If every doubt can be instantly soothed, or every decision readily made by (apparently) obliging machines, what happens to the messy, contradictory process of wrestling with uncertainty . . . ourselves?”

Youth may be teaching us, by their example, that we all have to put boundaries around what we allow AI to infiltrate and what remains off-limits.

One woman whom Tibrewala encounters is a young screenwriter who uses ChatGPT extensively, multiple times daily, as a therapist to cope with all of the uncertainty of ADHD, discussing things as crucial as medication effects and neurodivergent thought patterns. This is private, intimate knowledge.

Yet the same student won’t share with AI her “most emotionally layered writing,” because she sees that “it just doesn’t get nuance.” The young woman worries that she’ll inadvertently “train a system that will commodify the work she is hoping to create.”

What we now see in AI is not only a technological shift, but a deeply psychological one, too, where we allow it participate in our thoughts. More than giving us assistance, it is externalizing our internal dialogue, shaping, by machine, our most intimate thoughts: “AI is entering the space where we [fundamentally] figure things out,” Tibrewala says, and (I add) can intrude on how we do so.

She says this may not be inherently good/bad, but it’s NEW and some youth are adapting to it with little or no self-awareness, not staying conscious about the risks of becoming overly dependent on AI.

While so many professionals worry about being fluent with technology (for the positive aspects of using it as a “second brain), Tibrewala says it’s more likely the ability “to remain grounded in what we hold on to—the parts of thinking that make us who we are” (our first and best brain) that may be the most important skill to maintain!

Amidst all of the uncertainty the world is reeling from, Tibrewala writes “what students” and often other adults “are asking of AI isn’t so different from what they ask of me.”

“I sit with [students] through the in-between moments – the murky thoughts, the uncertainties, the things they aren’t ready to say out loud. I ask questions that let them hear themselves more clearly and help them go from feeling to understanding. Increasingly, AI is stepping into this role too, not because it’s smarter or wiser, but because it’s available.”

She continues that AI seems to “respond without judgment or fatigue. And . . . like any good sounding board, it helps you feel like you’re not thinking alone. . . .I still believe there’s something irreplaceable about the human relationships students form in college,” she asserts, “quiet hours spent unravelling the hard things, face to face. But I also see the appeal of this new, frictionless  companion.”

And in these times of both external and internal uncertainty, where AI passes between the two and can interfere with both, Tibrewala warns about its use as a “second brain” (bold emphasis is mine):

“[W]hat kind of presence do we want [AI] to be? The more these students and the rest of us turn to AI for comfort, reflection or advice, the easier it becomes to bypass the slow, messy and deeply human work of connecting – both with others and with ourselves. AI may not replace these relationships entirely, but it could displace them in some ways, making it easier to retreat inward, rather than reaching out.

That’s why the question matters. When students knock on my door, I’ll keep listening – the old-fashioned way. Sometimes they’ll seek my voice, sometimes an AI’s.”

“If we’re thoughtful, maybe there’s room for both.”

And now it’s your turn: What do you make of current young adult dependence on AI to cope with uncertainty, loss and other human experience? What will result from humans (of any age) using AI as a “second brain?”

Please share your responses with me; I’d be delighted to share them (if you wish) in another issue of “TYSN.”

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STORYTELLER’s CORNER . . . . 

STORYTELLER’S CORNER: Words, Stories, Riddles and Jokes on Writing and Editing . . .

From Facebook: “A road sign in Wales”

While carpooling with a friend one recent evening, she and I were both unsure of where a turnoff existed to enter the adjacent freeway. My friend observed that in many cities (“Saskatoon included”), “The more important the directions, the smaller the size of the sign!”

Road signage–signage of any kind–in many English speaking countries and cities can be problematic as you (my readers) and I have often laughed at, in this space!

My cousin, Colleen Brown, a talented interior designer based in Stratford, Ontario, recently shared a classic case of “signage snafu” over Facebook.

The story features a bilingual “Road sign in Wales” (i.e. posted in English and in Welsh, as is common practice in that western county of England):

“No entry for heavy goods vehicles.

Residential site only.”

Below was what the Highway’s Department official thought was equivalent  statement in Welsh:

“Nid wyf yn y swyddfa

as hyn o bryd. Anfonwch

un rhyw waith i’w gyfieithu.”

Now, preparing this sign, like most urban signage, had involved some planning. An official of the region’s Highway’s Department had emailed their English version to the department’s Welsh translator.

After receiving their reply from the Welsh translator, the English official proceeded to have the sign made and readied for installation. All’s well and good, they thought.

But not so fast! A few weeks later, Welsh-speaking and reading drivers started complaining to the Highway’s Department that the sign’s translation into Welsh had been botched!

They cited the second portion of the sign as saying this:

“I am currently out of the office. Please submit any work to the translation

team.”

Do you have a story, riddle or joke on any aspect of  communications? Please share it with me; I’d be delighted to use it in an upcoming issue. 

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SHOP NEWS:

PROMOTIONS and SHARING . . . 

I’m delighted to congratulate my fellow writers and other creatives of “Saskatoon Freelance Writers’ Roundtable” this month . . . .

We have much to be thankful for–and we know it!

The always dedicated freelance journalist, copywriter, creative writer, and all-around book enthusiast, Ashleigh Mattern, has shared that she’s turned a major corner in her recovery from cancer!

Ashleigh’s energy has returned and she looked and sounded great at our October meeting. Working as hard as ever, she’s  hungrily preparing website marketing for clients of Vireo Productions.

Congratulations, Ashleigh!

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Fellow co-founder of our group, Julie Barnes, has successfully completed one term and plunged into the next of her degree in interior design, through Yorkville University (Toronto).

Julie shared that she continues to read intensively and drawing designs for the coursework of her degree.

As her fellow creatives, we are excited to see what doors will open, as she works towards the completion of her degree.

Congratulations, Julie!

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The wonderful news continues to flow, from member Dawn Loewen, one of a very few Editors Canada-certified professional editors, nation-wide.

Dawn has shared that she has secured a part-time permanent, senior science editor’s position with the Victoria-based science communication company, “Talk Science to Me.”

With an extensive background in academic science, Dawn is fully qualified for, and delighted to support, the company’s work. They’re lucky to have her.

Congratulations, Dawn!

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On September 25th, member Ashlyn George was inducted at the “Hospitality Saskatchewan Awards of Excellence” as a “Tourism Builder.”

This award recognizes the many years Ashlyn has dedicated to telling the stories of Saskatchewan communities, businesses and people that have shared their ideas and stories with her.

The “Tourism Builder,” as the social media posting says, “honours individuals who have dedicated their life’s work to tourism, making a lasting impact on the industry.” That Ashlyn has received this award while still in her 30s, speaks volumes of her dedication to the field.

You can read more of her trailblazing work on her Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ashlyn.george8

Congratulations, Ashlyn!

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Photographer and graphic designer Tara Kalyn, another regular at Freelancers’ Roundtable, shared the great news that she has sold some of her recent photos on Pexels, where she markets several of her favourites.

Tara’s  also recently been selected by another client as their local wedding photographer, in light of her years of experience working in that challenging niche.

Congratulations, Tara!

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Outside of our creatives’ group, my wonderful friend,  Tracey Mitchell, continues to influence survivors of our mental health community with empathy, wisdom and insight.

Tracey coordinates the “Peer Support Program” for clients with mental health issues, for the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Tracey shares some words that one client of the program shared, abut her experience:

” ‘Your world opened up my world wider than I knew it could be,’ said the client, who lives with mental health challenges, to their peer supporter.”

Tracey provides some further information about the program: As it did for the survivor above, Tracey writes, ” ‘peer support’ is meant to expand people’s sense of hope, belief in recovery, and to offer additional support for moving toward what the person wants in their life.

[Peer support] differs from other supports and services available to those living with substance use and mental health challenges, because it is provided by people with shared lived experience of similar challenges.”

Activities might include being accompanied by a peer supporter to a casual appointment, or to enjoy a recreational activity. 

To find out more about this program and how to connect to it in the eight Saskatchewan communities where it is offered,  Tracey invites readers to visit the Peer Support  page of the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Thank you, Tracey, for your  outstanding service, as the program vastly improves survivors’ lives!

In light of the “uncertainty” and challenges discussed in “Article One” this month, such genuinely human and sentient, “peer support” is more needed now than ever!

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There are always new writers, editors, entrepreneurs, programs and businesses to promote in Saskatchewan.

Please write me to share your stories . . . .

But for now, this is a wrap for mid-October!

ABOUT US:

Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.

Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I now help economic immigrants and internationally trained (non-native speaking) academics to communicate more clearly in English–both in writing and by speaking–so they can better succeed in Canadian workplaces, marketplaces and academic settings.

Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant website (www.elizabethshih.com).

After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!

Please visit my website for more information (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).