Jeremy Harmer's picnic in the park

Which park would you go to?
The Botanical Gardens in Sydney.

Why?
Because they're lovely, the views are great and Sydney is just a fabulous place to visit.

Who would you go with?
My wife and daughters because they haven't been there and I'd like to show them what it's like.

What would you take to the park?
- a book Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa in both Spanish and English - so I could laugh again and work on my Spanish at the same time.
- a CD Mahler's 2nd Symphony (The Resurrection) because it's got the whole of human emotion, it goes on for hours and it ends up with an outpouring of love that is just overwhelming.
- a magazine The London Review of Books.
- a video to watch later All About my Mother, Pedro Almodovar's film - to see if it is as good second time around.
- anything else? A notebook and pens. I never go anywhere without them!

Inside your picnic basket what would you take
- to eat? Some really typical Mexican tortas compuestas.
- to drink? Ready-mixed Margarita cocktail that you can buy in Mexican supermarkets!

Who would you like to meet in the park?
Joy Murphy, elder of the Wurrundjeri people who I met once before in Melbourne.

What would you talk about?
The history of her family and her people, and the position of native Australians in the 21st century.

What would you do afterwards?
Take the ferry to Manly and watch the stars come out over the ocean.

Jeremy Harmer is a teacher, teacher trainer and author. Among his many books are the classics, The Practice of English Language Teaching and How to Teach English, both published by Longman. He is the general editor of the Longman methodology series, and hosts the popular teacher development site ELT Forum.

Click here to read a transcript of Jeremy Harmer's richmondpark chat, What's the Point of Language Study?

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