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Steve Smith

@spsmith45

French teacher 33 years, now writing materials frenchteacher.net, blogs and books about language teaching.

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14.08.2024
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Latest posts by Steve Smith @spsmith45

I was aged 17 or 18 and still in high school, deciding what to study at university.

13.03.2026 04:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

In 1975 finding the book by David Crystal called What is Linguistics?

13.03.2026 04:07 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
About fine-tuning and rough-tuning of input I'm not sure who first coined the terms fine-tuning and rough-tuning of input, but they have certainly become associated with the work of S...

New on the blog. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/abou...

13.03.2026 04:04 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
An enjoyable teaching experience A few weeks ago I was in Brussels visiting an old friend, Jonathan, who is retired but does voluntary work including teaching English to te...

A recent post. Was this a Dogme-style lesson? A bit. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/an-e...

12.03.2026 10:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
What is cognitive offloading? I used the AI tools Deepseek and Le Chat (Mistral AI) to help me write this - a great example of cognitive offloading, as you'll see. So wh...

A little cogsci jargon for you. My latest post. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/what...

10.03.2026 09:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I presume they all avoid mirrors these days.

11.03.2026 19:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This study found that participants with better working memory predicted following words more easily, improving their listening skill. www.oasis-database.org/details/i9qe...

11.03.2026 15:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
What is cognitive offloading? I used the AI tools Deepseek and Le Chat (Mistral AI) to help me write this - a great example of cognitive offloading, as you'll see. So wh...

New from me. I'm doing more and more of this! Are you? frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/what...

09.03.2026 18:07 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Tressol-Chabrier

Aucun problème www.tressol-chabrier.com/actualites/I...

10.03.2026 09:27 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be joining Bluesky as interim CEO. I deeply believe in what this team has built and the open social web they're fighting for. More here: toni.org/2026/03/09/c...

09.03.2026 19:09 πŸ‘ 1992 πŸ” 312 πŸ’¬ 402 πŸ“Œ 209
What is cognitive offloading? I used the AI tools Deepseek and Le Chat (Mistral AI) to help me write this - a great example of cognitive offloading, as you'll see. So wh...

A little cogsci jargon for you. My latest post. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/what...

10.03.2026 09:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
What is cognitive offloading? I used the AI tools Deepseek and Le Chat (Mistral AI) to help me write this - a great example of cognitive offloading, as you'll see. So wh...

New from me. I'm doing more and more of this! Are you? frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/what...

09.03.2026 18:07 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

These tools are much better at just doing, not explaining. My son and colleagues in their scientific sector (solar) use AI all the time for coding.

09.03.2026 15:48 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

So far it has matched texts to CEFR levels well. Early days though.

08.03.2026 23:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m using Le Chat by Mistral AI at the moment. Working well for my usage.

08.03.2026 19:23 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Rapid Warming Explained: The New Climate Report You Need to See!
Rapid Warming Explained: The New Climate Report You Need to See! YouTube video by Just Have a Think

Recommended YouTube channel if you are interested in climate breakdown. youtu.be/e2paRMQ1k6k?...

08.03.2026 19:23 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Btw, these are extremely quick and easy to design using AI - roughly 20 minutes once you have your template. I've done another one at A2 level (Higher GCSE) on volunteering in France. frenchteacher.net

07.03.2026 12:01 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A text discovery pairwork task Always remember how good information gap tasks are! This one generates listening, reading, speaking and factual, cultiral knowledge for the...

The latest on my blog. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-te...

07.03.2026 08:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Btw, these are extremely quick and easy to design using AI - roughly 20 minutes once you have your template. I've done another one at A2 level (Higher GCSE) on volunteering in France. frenchteacher.net

07.03.2026 12:01 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A text discovery pairwork task Always remember how good information gap tasks are! This one generates listening, reading, speaking and factual, cultiral knowledge for the...

The latest on my blog. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-te...

07.03.2026 08:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A text discovery pairwork task Always remember how good information gap tasks are! This one generates listening, reading, speaking and factual, cultiral knowledge for the...

New from me. A paired 'text discovery' task. Based on the information gap principle. Adaptable to various levels. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-te...

06.03.2026 12:14 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Archives: Updates | frenchteacher.net Description.

The latest from my site. www.frenchteacher.net/latest/

04.03.2026 15:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A text discovery pairwork task Always remember how good information gap tasks are! This one generates listening, reading, speaking and factual, cultiral knowledge for the...

New from me. A paired 'text discovery' task. Based on the information gap principle. Adaptable to various levels. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-te...

06.03.2026 12:14 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
An enjoyable teaching experience A few weeks ago I was in Brussels visiting an old friend, Jonathan, who is retired but does voluntary work including teaching English to te...

An enjoyable teaching experience. I'm sure many of you will identify with this. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/an-e...

05.03.2026 14:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
An enjoyable teaching experience A few weeks ago I was in Brussels visiting an old friend, Jonathan, who is retired but does voluntary work including teaching English to te...

An enjoyable teaching experience. I'm sure many of you will identify with this. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2026/03/an-e...

05.03.2026 14:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Archives: Updates | frenchteacher.net Description.

The latest from my site. www.frenchteacher.net/latest/

04.03.2026 15:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

coincidence

04.03.2026 14:30 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

My last blog post was about implicit learning. By coincidene, this came into my inbox about 'learning without awareness'. www.oasis-database.org/details/2dcb...

04.03.2026 14:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Lumo (Proton) and Mistral AI seem like good European options for many usages.

04.03.2026 12:00 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks.

04.03.2026 11:38 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0