My Life after CELTA

I have relinquished all hope of sleeping through the night without interruption by this morning. I hadn't had high hopes when I went to bed yesterday night, so I couldn't care less about waking up twice in the middle of the night. However, the notion of not being able to spend the nights with uninterrupted periods of sleep starts to vex me a tiny bit. Not to mention the adverse effects it imposes on me, so it's high time I did something about it. Anyway, I completed my homework, which consisted of two tasks: 1. watching a sketch by Catherine Tate and writing a short summary about it, and 2. word transformation. I was elated when I finished the summary task because it felt natural for the first time in a long time. I'd explained to Charlette the other day that all my previous lessons and the little dalliance with ChatGPT resulted in a sort of cacophony in my wee mind, meaning my English seemed like falling apart. Well, not falling apart, but expanding to an extent where

Another terrible night's sleep indicated that it was high time I did something about it. I still need to figure out what because I have absolutely no idea what causes my insomnia. There are nights when I only wake up once and other nights, like yesterday night, when I break my sleeping cycle four or five times. Not waking up at the same time and the inconsequently variety in the length of my wakeful periods aren't helpful either. I might try drinking a can of beer or taking the sedatives before going to bed. Visiting an insomnia expert is not an option because I don't want to spend any nights being attached to a machine through several wires that are glued to my head and body. I hope my mind gets tired eventually and shuts itself down during the night. The weather is shite. It was raining, and there was a considerable drop in the temperatures, which made all of us exhausted. Ági slept after lunch for two and a half hours, and my existence resembles a lunatic sloth rather th

Little did we know about how the events would unfold later today when we woke up this morning. After a terrible sleepless night, my morning routines felt like black-and-white images from a slow-motion movie, and I resembled a sleepy bulldog. When the much-needed coffee found its way into my system, my whole perception came to its senses, and the world wasn't that grim anymore. I still need to figure out why my wee mind blows the alarm in the middle of the night and puts me fully awake. During these instances, I feel like a marathon runner ready for the next contest, and falling into a deep sleep seems impossible. However, when dawn comes, the whole game changes suddenly. My eyelids are no longer glued to the top of my head but gradually descending towards my chin like two 16-ton weights.  When my mind started to produce meaningful thoughts, I knew I was ready to talk about what to do today. Eventually, we decided to go to IKEA and buy some more unnecessarily necessary things. We ca

The return of Abby filled the house again with that inexplicable sensation that only dog lovers know. Ági took her for the usual evening walk right after getting back home, and the rest of the evening was heavenly. Despite the meticulous drying, she was all wet. But even though her fur was moist, she curled beside me and fell asleep immediately. And she also slept a lot today, owing to the previous two days' happenings. Her being at the dog sitter was a remarkable experience with a brilliant outcome, so her inability to adjust to any new situation wouldn't stifle our plan to spend a few days in Austria in August. Wonderful news! I spent a considerable amount of time rephrasing sentences ChatGPT provided me with today. Actually, this tool is getting better and better, and its attentiveness and ability to gradually elaborate grammar, vocabulary, and complex sentence structures made the whole journey a remarkable experience and time well spent. The road to C2 is still long, and im

Abby's back and the house is filled with something only dog owners understand. We fetched her at the dog sitter and brought her back today. She didn't seem too broke or depressed at all. On the contrary, she was over the moon to see us. When we got there, she was standing behind the huge pack of 20 dogs, but when she saw us and heard our voices, she immediately got in the front line. It's not only us that missed her, but she missed us, too. Leaving her with an old colleague and the dogs was a great experience for all of us. All our anxieties are lifted, and we can go on holiday in August. What a great day that was, and what great prospects! However, it's terrifying how much we missed her...

This is not an ordinary day for various reasons. Firstly, last night, the storm swept away the heat wave, which was just as well. It was high time nature did something about the unbearable warmth. Secondly, the storm left behind colder temperatures, so instead of suffering from the rainforest-like climate and wearing only a flip-flop, a t-shirt, and a short, I had to jump in my pullover in the afternoon. And thirdly , or most importantly, I took Abby to the dog sitter today for a couple of days to test how she copes with being far away from us. (Since we can't take her with us because she can't deal with new situations and/or locations easily and calmly, it is impossible to imagine any activity beyond her usual realm.)  We thought it would be easy to spend some days without her, but we couldn't have been more wrong. The house is not the same without her. Despite her peculiarities, she filled the air with joy and happiness and brought sunshine over our grim little life. I re

The storm hasn't wreaked havoc over here, fortunately. Apart from a long but gentle shower, we weren't hit by any predicted gale-force wind, tennis-ball-size hail, or flat flooding. I don't miss any of them, so I'm not moaning about it. The day went by quickly. I spent the morning with Bing, trying to rephrase sentences at the C2 level. It's still not easy to come up with higher-level sentences, though. Still, I'm aware of the length of the process it requires to reach the coveted proficiency. I'm sure it won't happen overnight. My English class with Charlette was fantastic. She really is the best, and as I explained to her, AI is not ready yet to take over the role of a flesh and blood teacher. And I don't think it will be ready anytime to be as professional as a human being. Well, this is it for today, I'm afraid.

Even though the attic resembled a sauna yesterday night, I woke up in the middle of the night and realised that I was freezing. What an utterly unusual reaction from my system! Anyway, after waking up and having the usual breakfast, I wanted to go about my daily routine when it dawned on me we were out of goods. With this in mind, we jumped in the car and drove to the stores to replenish our inventory. It was already hot when we left, and it became even warmer when we were on the way back home, but the afternoon brought the real heat, +35°C, which, in this part of the globe, is considered an inferno. It's 20:11 when I'm writing this entry, and according to the thermometer, the outside temperature is still high, +28°C. The impending storm that is supposed to bring significantly colder air is on the corner. The weather forecast predicts severe thunderstorms with hail and gale-force wind, and they don't exclude the possibility of devastating flash floodings during the next 24

The heat hasn't receded today; on the contrary, it intensified. The highest temperatures were around +30-32°C, so the dog days are far from over. Tomorrow will bring warmer air over the land, so we expected nothing less than a scorching day. It's still not as bad as in Southern Europe, where the heat wreaks havoc on the environment. The footage of raging forest fires in the news was heartbreaking. The fire destroyed a complete campsite leaving the owners destitute. I can't recall such long periods of heat from my childhood. Summers were warm, usually with +28°C maximum. When the thermometer showed +30°C at the end of August, people were terribly miffed about the unbearable heat. Nowadays I'm happy for the +30°C. As for my English studies, I asked ChatGPT to continue our previously started session. I still have much to learn to reach the craved C2 level, but I'm patient. It won't happen overnight, but putting much hard work into the process brings success. Anyway

Despite the colder night outside, I woke up in the middle of the night because of the warmth in the attic. I could do with autumn, to be honest, but it's not even on the corner yet. Anyway, after devouring my favourite breakfast - cinnamon pancakes - and watching another episode of Dexter, I met ChatGPT for another session.  At 11:15 a.m., we walked down to the town to have a nice meal at our favourite restaurant. Ági had the speciality of the house - some fish with vegetables and carrot purée -, and I had the usual beef stew with gnocchi. It was a nice celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. The afternoon went by quickly. I gave Ági a foot massage, then I sat under the sun for an hour, took Abby for her afternoon walk, and taught an English lesson to Ági and Roya. They weren't in their best form to learn, so I had to re-adjust the lesson on the fly, which made me a bit tired. Then I made my second batch of cinnamon pancakes, did some workout, and now I'm about to call

I have posted 150 entries so far - including this one - so it's quite a jubilee. 🍾🥂 After a terrible night's sleep, I woke up like someone pressed by a 16-ton weight. I can't sleep in a sauna. Anyway, I prepared my usual breakfast, cinnamon pancakes. After devouring the nosh and helping Ági with her MacBook, I moved my headquarters to the balcony and finished the lesson plan. I hope Ági and Roya will find the class engaging. I prepared lunch, fish fingers with rice and tzatziki, and once we munched the meal, we were ready to take Abby to the "dog-sitter". We wanted to know if she was compatible with this new situation. We want to spend a couple of days in Austria, and right now, it is impossible to travel with Abby. Even the slightest change in her daily routine makes her nervous, so a new location would certainly mix the neurons in her wee mind. We feared how she would behave, but she took the "get-to-know-the-others" well. She wasn't the centre o

I'm becoming more and more tired of the heat. I can feel the weariness in my body, and even though I try to replenish the batteries, the restless nights take their toll. Despite switching on the AC units in the attic, the roof worked like a huge radiator heating up the upstairs area, and as a result, the temperature in the bedroom was +23°C yesterday night, but after waking up, the thermometer showed +27°C. Nevertheless, it's still not as bad as in Southern Europe, where the temperatures were soaring during the last few weeks. "El Niño" has a terrible, devastating effect globally. Apart from my moaning about the weather, a lot happened today. Despite waking up late - I fell asleep at 6 a.m. and couldn't get out of bed til 7:45 a.m. - and having breakfast, I buckled down to plan the Saturday lesson at 9:30 a.m. I enjoyed the process. I think I made a decent lesson and can hardly wait to teach Ági and Roya on Saturday. I followed the CELTA guidelines while designing

This heat is killing me. I couldn't sleep because the attic resembled a hearth rather than a bedroom. I woke up several times, and all I could think of was moving to Iceland or Helsinki, where summers are moderately warm and there is no need to fear the constant heat waves. I'll freeze the bedroom today. I shouldn't complain about the weather because southern Europe has been suffering from the excessive heat from Africa hovering above them. According to the weather forecast, Athens, for example, will experience deadly temperatures reaching +30°C during nights and well over +40°C during the days. It sounds wild. Apart from the weather, I studied with ChatGPT today. I asked it to create five random sentences at the C1 level that I can rephrase, the usual stuff, and apparently, I'm on the right track. I could improve my writing during the last few weeks, and now I'm confident this is one hell of a way to improve my English. I revised some of the previous lessons when I

It was exactly 25 years ago to the day that we got married. The preceding days in 1998 were rather cold and windy, and even our wedding day started cloudy. However, the sky soon cleared up, and the weather turned into a typical summer day. We first went to the registrar's office to tie the knot, which was quick - roughly 8 minutes maximum - since apart from us, the two official "vitnesses", and the registrar, no one else was there. When the short ceremony ended, we rushed to the church, where all our invited friends and family were there. The whole process in the church took almost an hour, but it seemed like a split second for us. Despite all our "enemies" (mostly family members) and intricacies, nothing could do us apart. We've been through thick and thin. We have weathered the storms, and we already buried those who were against our relationship and marriage.  Nevertheless, casting our minds back, although there were certain things we would handle differe

The last day of the heatwave is over, although the temperature is still pretty high, considering it is already 8 p.m., and the thermometer still shows +26°C. Tomorrow's cold front is supposed to bring some cooler temperatures. However, the predicted 3-degree difference is not significantly colder than today's peak, +37°C. It's summer, so there is no place to complain about the warm weather, however, we had to switch on the AC units because the temperature in the house was simply far too hot - +29-30°C in the attic. That was too much... I wonder when the first camels will replace the horses in Hungary. My English studies consisted of checking two units in the "1000 questions, 1000 answers" book, which was an eye-opening experience. I still have some gaps to fill in terms of the "use of English", but there are fewer gaps, and they are getting smaller and smaller. At the same time, it dawned on me how I should proceed with my CPE preparation and exam. There

The day of expensive strudels Ági's old acquaintance had posted a picture of the "Első Magyar Rétesház", which triggered a voracious chain of thoughts in both of our brains. Needless to say, we drove off today to check the place and the " rétes ". Since the venue is in the downtown area of Budapest, we expected small but expensive portions. We weren't wrong. Even though the "rétes" was okay, one must pay for the swanky restaurant and location. The "rétes" they baked were okay, but mediocre would be more appropriate in this case. Other than that, the weather is terribly hot. Well, it's not as bad as in the Mediterranean region, but the +36°C is not for my winter-lover nature. I put off the visit to our friend in Balatonalmádi we'd planned because of the heat. I don't feel fit to drive two hours and then spend the day under the sun preparing some nosh in the cauldron on the open fire. This is not the right time to do that. Anywa

We completed the back garden today. Well, a few tasks are left to fiddle with, but at least we can sit there and enjoy the subtle temperatures in the mornings with Abby. She won't be able to run into the common garden for the fence. I finished the paint job that awaited me and enjoyed the sun till lunch. We enjoyed the delicious food on the balcony and the ice-cold beer I drank afterwards. I haven't drunk beer for over ten years, and this 3 decilitre of golden sap hit me in the head. No wonder I slept like a log for 45 minutes. Anyway, the rest of the day went by quickly. We watched two episodes of Dexter, and then I gave Ági an English class about tenses focusing on Present Perfect Simple and Continuous/Progressive. It was intense, and I hoped she could grab the gist of these tenses. It's not easy for the Hungarian brain to comprehend how these tenses work because we are wont to express it with adverbs or simply the present or past tense describe what the perfect tenses in

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY! I spent the day with my new friend, ChatGPT. I found new ways to enhance and improve my inputs to get the best answers from AI, and today it worked like a charm. This large language model - depending on the input, of course - can be a terribly useful tool to help improve one's English. However, the only caveat one should keep in mind while trying to get familiar with this tool is it requires precise input; otherwise, it cannot produce useful answers. Apart from my AI session, the locksmith came to finish the fence in the back garden, and it looks amazing. The frame is black, the slates are white, and it looks beautiful. Not to mention how useful it is because we can sit in our little garden with Abby without keeping an eye on her because the fence prevents her from running about in the common garden - which, by the way, is a complete shambles. The next turn is the front garden, where we need stairs and a fence to go out there with Abby.  The weather was hot tod

I continued my little cooperation with AI today. After finishing breakfast, I buckled down for another session with ChatGPT and asked it to provide me with another set of sentences I could rephrase, and it could assess, check, and explain its reasons for giving that evaluation. To my surprise, today, it evaluated all my sentences at the C1 level, and none of it was lower than that. I made some progress, but my sentences need more attention to reach the coveted C2 level. I had to interrupt my studies due to our appointment with Abby at the dog-groomer lady at 11:30 a.m.  When we returned, I had a delicious tuna pizza for lunch made by Ági. While we were munching the nosh, we watched another episode of Dexter, in which the events culminated - the season is drawing to an end soon, so they have to increase the tension. The afternoon went by quickly. I spent another session with AI; apparently, it became my new friend, which sounds a tad weird. The weather was terrible today. The early morn

The weather today was hot. According to the official weather apps, the highest temperature was around +36°C with not-so-clear skies, and it heated the attic so much that it felt like being in a sauna up here. Before hitting the sack, I'll surely switch on the AC units in the bedroom; otherwise, I won't be able to sleep. Anyway, as for my English studies, I made progress today. After the much-needed coffee, I buckled down to prepare the Saturday lesson for Ági and Roya, but sadly, Roya had to put off the meeting due to family issues. Since Ági asked me to teach her, I prepared another lesson for her, which consisted of the present and the past tenses. Let's see how things pan out with a one-to-one class with her. Besides the lesson preparation, I asked Bing and ChatGPT again to help me improve my writing. I get more and more positive feedback from AI, which is a good sign of my progress. Not to mention how much I enjoy these sessions. After my initial blunders concerning my

The colder weather they had forecast didn't bring freezing temperatures. In fact, it only brought a two-degree colder day, so instead of +35°C, the highest temperature today was +33°C. What a cool of, innit? Even the morning was warm, so our little visit to the dentist was not without a sweat. My English class with Charlette was fantastic. The lesson was all about natural remedies, including applying ayahuasca in indigenous communities in South America. We were talking about how the so-called Western way of thinking affects our perception of the world around us and how people in the developed part of the globe conceive of their roles in the world. It was a fascinating discussion. Besides the class, I asked AI again to help me improve my writing at the C2 level. Although I made some progress, there is still much to learn to reach the Proficient level. I'm on it.

Today was an intensive day in terms of studying. I refined my inputs and asked ChatGPT and Bing to help me improve my vocabulary. Additionally, I created a new set of parameters asking ChatGPT to teach me idioms and phrasal verbs. Surprisingly, both AI delivered proper and useful answers, and not only that, but their ability to do it in a split second was truly remarkable. I was thoroughly impressed by them. The weather was far too hot for my taste today. The highest temperature was around +35-36°C, so it was high time I switched on the AC units in the house. According to the weather forecast, the next few days will be equally scorching, and only the weekend will bring some relief.  Well, this is it for today I'm afraid.

This will be a short entry because I'm exhausted. 👇 The day started with celebrating my Name Day. 👇 Let's go to Ruszwurm and have an ice-coffee, a krémes, and an espresso. 👇 Return home and prepare lunch. 👇 Eat the nosh on the balcony. 👇 Nod off and sleep like a log. 👇 Have a sunbath, because it's summer 👉 +35°C 👇 Take Abby for her afternoon walk. 👇 Eat the krémes we brought home from Ruszwurm. 👇 2h 40m DIY. 👉 🌞😫 👇 Blog. 👇 Sleep.

The first half of the day was all about installing Ági's brand-new laptop. She gave in and bought a new MacBook Pro with an M2 chip. Despite its infamously high price, this model was a real bargain, and we didn't have to pay through our noses as much as if we had opted for a technically almost identical MacBook Air, which, surprisingly, was far more expensive. When we finally finished the minor and major updates, it was already lunchtime, so I prepared the meal, which was "Nürnberger Bratwurstchen" with rice and beetroot salad. After lunch, Ági nodded off, and I sat in the back garden sunbathing, and when my skin started to roast like a turkey in the oven, I took Abby for her afternoon walk. Upon returning home, I prepared the English class I would teach Ági and her friend, Roya, whom she'd met last summer during the CELTA course she'd attended. Since we haven't had any class since the end of March, I planned an easy lesson, mainly speaking and forming wor

I checked the slates we'd painted yesterday and realised they needed more sanding. With this in mind and my airdrops in my ears, I began the tedious donkey work at half past eight because I had to complete the task before Ági's class. My hands were moving as fast as the pistons of a steam train; still, I could only finish fifteen out of the thirty slates. When I finally dropped my tools, I was sweating like a swine on ice. After taking some time to recharge my batteries, I buckled down to my English studies. I kept asking ChatGPT to give me five random sentences to rephrase. I took four turns when the responsibility of preparing lunch struck me like a cartoon anvil. I spent the rest of the day with similar activities. The afternoon session began with studying, and then one of our neighbours delivered the concrete tiles I wanted to use outside. When we unloaded his truck, I took Abby for her afternoon walk. Upon returning home, Ági honked virtually behind us, so we opened the ga

I remember the alarm going off at 6 a.m., but I can't recall how I fell asleep. If I'm not mistaken, I must have nodded off immediately without any second thought. According to my watch, which monitors my heartbeats and sleep, I slept like a log until I finally opened my eyes at 7:30 a.m. Anyway, when I managed to pull myself together and prepare breakfast, the clock showed 8.15 a.m., but I didn't feel any better after devouring the nosh. Even the espresso couldn't widen my eyes. I buckled down to study after this not-so-early morning ordeal. My brain was rumbling like a freight train, and I couldn't help but notice how much energy it took me to focus on rephrasing sentences ChatGPT provided me with. Yes, I asked AI to help me rephrase sentences and assess my rewritten texts. It gave me more complex sentences and recommended various synonyms, idioms, and expressions to incorporate into my future sentences, thus expanding my vocabulary. After a two-hour learning sess

The DIY frenzy doesn't seem to cease. I painted the door of the electric meter's box, and it is ready, apart from the door handle, I need to install tomorrow. The inside of the box could do with a revamp, too, but there is better timing for such menial labour. I have to paint the wooden slates that the locksmith will install on Friday, so I have plenty of things to deal with in the next few days. I wanted to buckle down to my homework, but I couldn't distance myself from ChatGPT's assistance. I asked it to help me rephrase sentences, check them, provide feedback and recommend ways to improve my writing. It did a fantastic job, and I was impressed by how brilliant synonyms and idiomatic expressions it could offer me. The weather is hot. The highest temperature was around 30-31°C with slightly cloudy skies, but no rain today resulted in 28-29°C in the attic. I had to switch on the AC units because I felt like a sullen monkey.

I didn't have a restful sleep yesterday night. It wasn't too bad, however, it's been a while since I last had a good night's sleep, meaning not waking up during the night and not feeling knackered, waking up before the alarm goes off, and feeling utterly weak after dragging myself out of bed. Anyway, after finishing our regular morning routine and watching another episode of Dexter, I buckled down to study until lunch. Today I asked ChatGPT to create five random sentences that I had to rewrite, and it could check fro grammar, syntax, and semantics, provide feedback, and recommend ways to improve my sentences. I enjoyed our cooperation, and it seemed good at responding, assessing, and recommending how to improve. When I completed my studies with ChatGPT, I prepared lunch. After we ate the nosh, I took Ági to her hairdresser and drove to the craftsmen's store to buy some paints and screws. The DIY frenzy wouldn't stop this year, apparently. There is this box in th

I decided to use the Finnish days' name again. Not because I'm pretentious or want to boast about my non-existent Finnish knowledge, but because I still miss one of the best series I've seen so far, Bordertown. I wish I could set aside some time to learn Finnish and the other languages that have been waiting for me, such as Icelandic, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, and, let's not forget, French. Anyway, hardly had I buckled down to complete my homework when the locksmith called. He wondered if he could come today to install the fence in the back garden instead of the previously arranged Saturday. The fence is unlike the railing surrounding Buckingham Palace with those fancy golden figurines on top of each stick. Our fence is just a normal simple fence for normal simple people like us. We were happy about the news and were waiting for the guy. After hastily devouring our lunch and just as the coffee machine poured my cup of black refreshment, he pulled over. He brought th

Despite the hard labour we had to endure yesterday while pruning the humongous shrubbery - and grinding the cut branches with the wood chipper - in the back of the common garden, there was no pain in our muscles. I foreboded a terrible night and thought my body would be in a terrible condition after waking up. Still, apart from a slight exhaustion, I felt alright after the alarm went off, and I jumped out of bed like an old tortoise.   The day went by quickly. After devouring a phenomenal breakfast, we drove to IKEA to purchase some goods. We jumped in the car, and I couldn't help but notice how much I enjoyed to and fro. There were fewer cars on the streets, owing to the summer holiday starting last week, so it was an easy ride. When we left IKEA, we visited our old house in "Mátyásföld" before returning home, which, for the first time since moving out in 1997, couldn't evoke any memory from the past. I haven't been pondering why my mind wasn't affected by th

We completed the job today. With our joint efforts, we managed to trim the huge bush. We started at 9 a.m. and finished at 3 p.m. We stopped for a quick lunch - which we ordered from our favourite restaurant - but after finishing the delicious meal, we returned to the wood chipper and continued our branch-grinding ordeal. We have no words to describe how we feel, but one thing is sure, both of us feel knackered. Anyway, the bush is still light-years away from the park of Windsor, and it won't look like it ever. However, this refreshing trimming saved its life since the main branches had to endure tremendous weight caused by other plants that surrounded the shrubbery. Our neighbours adore climbing plants. They plant anything as long as it doesn't need tending and care. No wonder their part of the common garden looks like a meadow. Well, I'll call it a day because I'm so exhausted that my brain shouts down  every five minutes...