Our Stories

A Diaper CEO on Adding Value to Language Training

Long gone are the days when I taught English to people who shared the same cultural background and spoke the same language.

Words That Aren't What They Are - 10 English Contronyms

We all know that some words have lots of different meanings.

Internet Collocations

In many ways I’m glad.

A Diaper CEO: Habits on Steroids (EN/CZ)

Our son took off with my wife for a birthday celebration of his friend from kindergarten. It is a beautiful spring afternoon.

36 Everyday English Acronyms

Humans are lazy. If we can find an easy way of doing something, then we do it.

Anyone can play guitar

In the immortal words of Radiohead, “Anyone can play guitar.”

Whose English is it anyway?

OK. Let’s start with a little quiz. Which sentences are correct and which ones aren’t?

LOS Reflections - We are all human

It strikes me as a gaping deficit of the modern education system that we often spend more time learning to communicate in a foreign language than we do learning to communicate truly and deeply in our own language.

Ruminations on the Emotional Heavy-Lifting of International Moves

In my third international (intercontinental, really) move in five years, I hoped that the process would become easier and that I would find more of a flow which thus far has eluded me.

Cutting a Dash

Do you know what a fen is? It's "a low and marshy, or frequently flooded, area of land". The 'low' bit is a shame, because I really need there to be a 'high' version. Not as part of some topographical experiment, but because I need a linguistic aid.

A Diaper CEO on "Shy Baby" (EN/CZ)

“Stydlivka or Shy Baby”. During my childhood, this nickname crept under my skin like the grit of the Zlicin playground, where as a boy I kicked a ball with my prep school team.

Setting Your Stall Out

I was meant to start this blog about procrastination weeks ago, but I kept putting it off.

A Diaper CEO on Language Talent (EN/CZ)

Managing to speak 2-3 languages ​​is normal these days, at least among people who are not indifferent to the current and future state of the world.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Speak German (EN/SWE)

When I settled in Germany at the beginning of 2017, I discovered that the Turkish, Italian and English languages allowed me to communicate with more or less everyone I met – in the kiosk, at the pizzeria or in town.

Tin-Deep

Every now and then an advertising campaign captures the public imagination and launches a catchphrase into the lexicon.

Fossilized Errors 3

Why do we need to correct students? If we don’t correct student errors, they will continue to make them and this could become ingrained because they think they are right.

Definite Articles

If you have ever travelled to the USA, you will probably be familiar with signs such as this.

A Diaper CEO on Building Trust Online (EN/CZ)

I have the same colleagues on my team that started the company LOS with me in January 2013. None of the ten founding members have left.

Chinese Pronunciation

My name is Xiaoming. I teach Chinese pronunciation to English speakers.

The Magic Garden of Languages

Recently I said to myself: „When you have your next birthday and you want to commiserate with yourself because of the years that have gone so quickly and because you have grown old, try to look at the whole thing in a different way!“

University Lecturers Improve English Microeconomics

“You’ve been chosen to launch Microeconomics in English.”

A Fashion for Passion

Are you a fellow fan of talk radio? If so, you are probably familiar with the concept outlined in the heading to this blog. You know the drill.

Just About Managing

Before I became a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language, I spent over 30 years as a Lawyer. And, for the greater part of that time, I was also the guy in charge of the whole operation.

Fossilized Errors 2

What mistakes do you usually make when learning a foreign language?

Mind Your Own Business

When I was studying for my Master’s, I came across a definition of a management consultant as “Someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time. And then keeps the watch”. This tongue-in-cheek assessment may be a little harsh on an industry which conscientiously and consistently strives to improve business efficiency, but it contains more than a kernel of truth - not least in respect of a tendency to state what Basil Fawlty used to call “the bleeding obvious”.

A Diaper CEO on Conflict & Delegation (EN/CZ)

In September 2013, our first child Samuel was born, and I founded LOS Language Online Services.

Wedding Coordination - A Lesson in Diplomacy

The wedding business is complicated, but I actually entered it quite easily.

LOS Reflections - Same Language, Different Cultures

Being fluent in a foreign language takes me nowhere. I must also learn to understand the culture of those who speak that language.

Fossilized Errors 1

What mistakes do you usually make when learning a foreign language?

A Beautiful Princess and Ivan the Fool

My grandmother was Czech. She always said that in the days of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy the Czechs adopted many German qualities.

Acing the Interview

McKinsey, Deloitte, PwC, Bain – winning an interview at a top consulting firm is exciting!

LOS Reflections - Off the Map

As someone born in Brazil of a French father and an American mother, married to a Swede and now living in Mozambique, nothing in Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map particularly surprised me.

LOS Reflections - My Culture Is Not Me

“That’s not me! And that’s definitely not me!” Erin Meyer’s version of Americans often distressed me as I read The Culture Map.

LOS Reflections - Connecting & Learning Across Cultures

I recently moved back to my home country, the United States, after three years of living in Spain.

Where There's a Will ...

Being an English lawyer living in Prague means being very busy at work.

My Hobby is Genealogy

Becoming International

I was born in the lake district of New York state, one of those places of incomparable and majestic beauty on this earth. When I was 7 years old, my family moved to Colorado, at the foot of the breathtaking Rocky Mountains.

Comenius Legacy at L.O.S.

I decided I wanted to be a teacher as soon as I started teaching. Before that, like many people in this world, I didn’t really know what to do with my life. When I was a kid I thought I wanted to be a war journalist, and which I think I have more or less been and I can still become. I knew that I could not do something related to math or numbers, because at school they told me...

Poetry & E-Learning

Recently I attended the International Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and E-learning in Prague.

Xiaoming's Adventure

Having taught Chinese for three years, I have gained much teaching experience and made many international friends.

Teaching English in China

My name is Lisa. In my six years teaching in China, I had the opportunity to work with people of all ages and backgrounds.

Typical Russian Mistakes 2

My name is Natasha and I'm a qualified Russian teacher and native speaker.

A Diaper CEO on Job Interviews

Corporate language training is becoming extremely important for today’s knowledge workers.

5 fel på svenska

Jag heterLuisa. Jag har jobbat som lärare i svenska i snart tio år och undervisat människor från hela världen.

ESOL Experience from England

My name is Eva. I have taught English at Stafford college for six years.

Typical Russian Mistakes 1

My name is Natasha and I'm a qualified Russian teacher and native speaker.

We're Vocabulary Freaks

How's Your Business Writing?

Our teachers draw inspiration from Harvard Business podcasts.

Základy položeny, 2010-13

Dne 28.10. 2010 jsem se rozhodl vytvořit svůj první blog.

Peace is Sexy

Started in February 2012 byMarianne Perez de Fransius, ...