As the days get shorter in the northern hemisphere and winter approaches, many people will be looking forward to Christmas. As an EFL teacher, I know what that means – the song “Last Christmas” playing repeatedly! It certainly seems to be a favourite here in Poland. The song was originally released on December 3, 1984, and George Michael's melodious tale of jilted love has since been absorbed into Christmas tradition, to the extent that wherever you are in Europe during the festive season you seem unable to escape this timeless piece of synth-pop. Regardless of whether you love it or hate it, “Last Christmas” has been around for forty years now – yes, forty years! – and its popularity shows no signs of fading, despite attempts to ban it from the airwaves. When the Wham! track initially hit the UK Singles Chart, it managed to stay at number two for five consecutive weeks, held back from the top spot by Band Aid's “Do They Know It's Christmas?”, the lyrics of which poignantly
Much has been written recently about AI and its potential to profoundly alter the course of human history. Such warnings tend to evoke a certain science fiction film in which humanity fights for survival in a future world dominated by machines. But if I can divert your attention away from the Terminator franchise for a few moments, I'd like to present you with some research on artificial intelligence in the world of ELT. In a recent survey conducted by the British Council , teachers were asked if they agreed with the statement “AI and automated translation will eventually make learning languages unnecessary.” Reassuringly, a significant majority disagreed. Teachers' jobs seem safe for now, although some private schools in Europe may have seen a drop in the number of students of late, probably due to the economic climate. The way I see it, AI offers more opportunities to improve speaking and writing, in addition to what a flesh-and-blood teacher does. Furthermore, teachers can u