Hey Y'all I am Ann

[AnnDJ]

I love reading and looking for a good place to disccuss books is not the easiest thing specially when I can not make it to the book clubs in my area for lack of child care. I am so excited to get to know you guys and learn about some new books!!!

[ALynnPowers]

Hello Ann! Are you a southerner like me? I love that you said y'all with the apostrophe in the right place!

[AnnDJ]

I was born and raised in Florida I love it so many people think it suppose to be ya'll lol northerns. Nice have another southern around.

[ALynnPowers]

It drives me crazy when people spell it ya'll!! I'm originally from Memphis, but now I live in Tokyo! So far away from the motherland!

[AnnDJ]

Oh wow that is far I thought I moved far when I moved to New York but I just moved back home five years is enough of those people making fun of my accent lol. How do you like Tokyo???

[ALynnPowers]

I have family that used to live in NY (Brooklyn) but moved back to their home in Alabama a few years ago!
I love Tokyo so much! It's amazing! Unfortunately, my Japanese is terrible, so I get people just looking confused a lot whenever I try to talk.

[AnnDJ]

Lol how long you been there... I want to travel but that is my biggest concern is the language. So I have time to learn why my kids are growing up!!

[ALynnPowers]

I've been here just over 4 years... teaching English, so I use only English at work everyday. Except when I go to restaurants or something, but that's easy to pick up. And menus always have pictures in them here, so I can just point and say "this" if I don't know how to read it.
If living abroad has taught me anything, it's that language is the least important part of communication. Only in America have I seen people being so obsessed with having to understand every single word that someone says. You can travel and get around fine without knowing the language! As long as you are patient and polite!

[clockwork360]

Hello Ann,

I find it very interesting that you are living abroad and teaching the English language without having to fully understand their native tongue. Some years ago, someone told me about getting work overseas teaching the English language that made me excited about the prospect. However, I never followed through because I figured I would need to be taught the native language and/or get licensing to do such a thing. How did you manage to get started in that?

[ALynnPowers]

Hello Ann,

I find it very interesting that you are living abroad and teaching the English language without having to fully understand their native tongue. Some years ago, someone told me about getting work overseas teaching the English language that made me excited about the prospect. However, I never followed through because I figured I would need to be taught the native language and/or get licensing to do such a thing. How did you manage to get started in that?

It's not Ann that is doing that; it's me!
Depending on what country you go to, you may or may not require a license. Most countries will require certification like TESOL or something similar, which you can get through a short university course or even online. I was a teacher before I came to Japan, so I actually had more than the qualifications needed to teach here. Just google "teaching English in ___" and what country you want, and you will likely find lots of options, especially in Asian countries.

[clockwork360]

I apologize for the mix up I was actually looking at your logo but reading the title "Hey Y'all I am Ann" and got mixed up some where in there lol. Anyhow I really do appreciate the response and will start to research the idea. I guess it does help to already of been in the field of teaching beforehand but I will see what options are available to me. Thanks!

[AnnDJ]

It is all good, I wish I could do that go over seas and teach but I love where I am at too I find learning about others very interesting. What do you do for a living Clockwork

[clockwork360]

I'm an entrepreneur at heart, selling things online for a living across sites such as ebay, amazon, and etsy. Stock market investing and various other ventures to keep cash flow. I was a chess teacher for a time until they closed the chess program at one of the local HS in my city. I guess I go where my heart tells me though. However lately and what has drawn me to this site is the prospect of writing. I've always been told I have a mind for writing but always put it off thinking what I had to say wouldn't be important enough or I wouldn't be able to make a living doing it. But I heard you could make money reviewing books on this site so I'm really still looking into that. But it isn't just about the money, I feel stronger about being around like minded people. Authors and Readers alike, reading about the kinds of books they like, and just the atmosphere.

I am already a good ways into my book but since it is my first, I get kind of that "I want this to be perfect" mentality that it almost paralyses me lol. But I hope to find good supporting people here.

[AnnDJ]

I think that is awesome. I would love to write book one day but I am a horrible writer. lol I think alot faster then I can write. I agree with you I love being around people who enjoy books but I love the diversity you gt online because I want to know if some dislikes the book I am reading also not everyone will like everything and I have been to book clubs where they were afraid they dont like. I will support you and be one of the first to get your book you let me know when it comes out I will by a copy.

[clockwork360]

Ha! Thanks Ann, Things like that help built the confidence to continue on. I hope to also get into doing some reviewing here as well, so I can open up my mind to how good writers produce in their respective genre. On the topic of thinking faster than you write, I am actually the exact same way. The scenes I develop actually play out in my head like a movie, and I could be thinking of the scene for a day or two before actually sitting down to write it down. I think it helps me because then even though I have actually thought out the manuscript over the course of five books, I keep the main topics at bay or write them down in Microsoft OneNote, then force myself to focus on the one scene. Probably to discipline myself on not skipping ahead to make sure structure stays intact.

So who knows, you could be an aspiring writer and don't even know it

-- 16 Sep 2014, 13:48 --

I'm sorry, by structure I mean plot, character development, and overall pace of the story itself; not just the building of sentence structure.