Breaking news

Hi !

I've been a bit lazy these days.
But not completely. I have some good news.

From the statistics I get for this blog, I am apparently read and followed by a majority of french players. This is really good to see that my english reviews are appreciated, even by french players.

So here are the "breaking news". Since yesterday, I was granted a "Teacher" account on KGS, so I am likely to use audio more from now on, online for a start. And maybe later, when I get used to it, I'll start recording my teaching games in audio/video too. I certainly need to get used to it - avoid switching from a window to another when recording... I did a test yesterday, and it was harder than expected.

I played a game against a 5k, recording my comments in audio and video. But it is REALLY tough to explain things without showing any variations. You have to be crystal clear, or the listener might not fully understand what important point you are trying to explain. It's a good exercise.

I used to listen to dsaun a lot when he was still stronger than me. And it was awesome, but I never thought how difficult it was to use "voice" during reviews. That's a high 5 for dsaun (and all teachers who are used to teaching with audio)
Expect to see some videos soon :)

Another good news. I started teaching for the "Go On" community (Rooms > Social > Forum Go On). The community here is mostly french, but their forum is GREAT, really. It's full of lectures, resources, tips for kyu players, and I can only welcome the english speakers to join . Their forum also has an english-speaking subforum already- a bit empty at the moment, and that's a pity.

If they created this english section, I assume they are willing to expand and share their knowledge with a world-wide community. Not so many of the french players can speak english fluently, unfortunately. But a few certainly can. I am one of them (and feel more comfortable in english than french, to be honest). For now, they have gathered no less than hundreds of lectures (in video, sgf, topics and so on) and they are only in french. On the long run, I intend to translate them all and share them in the english-subforum.

As far as I know, there are plenty of small social french rooms on KGS. This one is basically the only one where I'm staying. If I had to make a comparison, it would be that they are as influent as the english "ASR" room. They don't run a ladder (maybe one day ?), but their system is help and lectures-oriented and I strongly recommend you to join if you are willing to learn. The more demand there will be for english lectures, the faster they will come, that's for sure.

So, hurry and join, introduce yourself, and ask for more in the forum :)
Even for english players, whereas Lifein19x19 is full of "blabla", the "Go On" has the sole purpose of teaching, sharing knowledge, helping others. That's another good reason to join.

Pericles