Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sabrina Gabriele for JAM

I met Sabrina Gabriele through my friend Anthony Landereau.  I was meeting Anthony for dinner in Soho, in London, after a hiatus from the Dubai golden days. Anthony had moved back to Paris and I had moved back to London.  … Continue reading

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The history of pinyin

Mandarin (or other pictorial based languages like Japanese, Korean, Hindu, Arabic, Russian…) can be a pain to learn if, like me, you find it much easier to learn a language through phonetics. Pinyin is the romanisation of chinese characters. It … Continue reading

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Riding for the Disabled Association of Dubai (RDAD)

Every Monday afternoon, I escape a little early from the demands of the workday to volunteer for Riding for the Disabled Association of Dubai (RDAD).  It’s a 20-minute drive straight out into the desert to arrive in their home nestled … Continue reading

Posted in alternative education, Autism, Desert Palm, Disabled children education, education for children with Autism, Riding for the disabled, Uncategorized, Volunteering in Dubai | Leave a comment

Women are the best thing since sliced bread!

Okay I might be a little biased – I am one… Today, March 8th, marks the 100th International Women’s Day. Events take place all across the world to celebrate economic, political and social achievements of women. Maybe ‘celebrate’ is not … Continue reading

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Chinky-Chonk eyes

You know that children’s song, “Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes“? Where, each time you sing the song, you remove one extra word and just point to your heads, or shoulders, or knees and toes… In my portuguese lesson the other … Continue reading

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The Language of Public Affection

World traveller highly educated and dear friend whom will remain anonymous sent me the following email as she prepared for a 6-month journey around the world with her husband to be. Hi Maria, I was reading some things about Dubai … Continue reading

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The English Language

When I first started my CELTA course I thought this is going to be a piece of piss (= very easy) but when I did my first real English test I was at a loss (=couldn’t figure it out). I … Continue reading

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Raising multi-lingual children

I’m a terrible chinese person but a perfect example of chinese kids growing up in western culture. I was born in New Zealand, to Chinese-Malaysian parents, and moved to Hong Kong when I was 10 years old. I wasn’t able … Continue reading

Posted in Brazilian portuguese, child development, children, english, esl children, fun for children, learn english, learning english, learning languages, learning portuguese, living in sao paulo, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The history of making New Year resolutions

The first day of January is the one day each year that everyone takes into account their year just past and makes plans for the New Year. Whether you believe in making resolutions, it’s something you will do consciously or … Continue reading

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“The Sandwich Swap” by Her Majesty Queen Rania

jam has invited Dr. Alexandra A-Gabriele, a native Spanish speaker from Colombia to contribute  to jam.blog in SPANISH.  ’malex’ is a dentist by profession, a dear friend and the mother of jam.baby - Charlotte aux fraises ’Jam strawberry baby’.  We hope you … Continue reading

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