In this week’s episode, I have a **fascinating** Q&A question. Blog reader Andy is learning Russian, and finding the amount of word changes overwhelming.
On digging in, we discovered that there’s more at play than just grammar. Listen in and check out my tips to get a better experience when your lessons leave you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
Read moreMany people who find me and my work through Fluent often assume that I took the classic route of learning how to teach online after studying for a TEFL exam, but that's not actually true. In fact, I never set out to be an entrepreneur at all. In today's blog post, I want to share this awesome interview with me and Gabby Wallace from Laptoplanguageteacher.com.
It's an in-depth look at how I started out in language teaching, and how my independent streak actually helped me discover my own niche in this market. As you can see, I'm just as scared as you are when it comes to that niche challenge!
And of course, I also mentioned various ways of working with me in the video. The 50 Calls project is now finished, yes I actually spoke to 50 amazing people. It was so much fun!
The feedback I got from them helped me create the course Compass, which is now available to online teachers right here on Fluent as the (renamed) Savvy Brand Toolkit. I'd love for you to check it out, and don't forget to sign up for my newsletter so that I can send you discount codes and promotions when I run them.
Gabby and I are running a joint Facebook event on 7 May. It's called the Online Teaching Show and designed to help online teachers get the word out. All for free, so please come and join us by registering here on Facebook.
Today's post is inspired by a recent episode of David Mansaray's "Language Is Culture" podcast. In Episode 12 of Language is Culture, we hear from computational linguist Judith Meyer - she's German, she loves languages and you can totally hear it in her voice!
Working with a language tutor is something I can recommend for any language learners, especially introverts, because you'll just get more out of the intense environment and focused attention.
Even if you have never worked 1-to-1 before, you can easily to use it as a booster, for example before an exam or as a quick refresher after a quiet spell.
But it's important to get the chemistry and expectations right from the start, so take account of the following key points.
If you are looking for a tutor that works specifically on your goals, then it's much more important to have a clear conversation at the start. The experienced tutors will know what
Some questions I like asking my new students are:
And here is what you should ask them:
You should know what kind of answer you want to hear, so make sure you have made some notes before the first conversation.
My own style, for example, is very friendly and I like to build up a supportive relationship with my students. If you were looking for a sober teacher, my lessons might not meet your expectations!
Judith's interview is focused on how learners get the most out of working with a language tutor. Here is her theory:
Any 1 to 1 language lesson should be led by either the tutor or the student, so an inexperienced learner should look for an experienced tutor and vice versa.
I thought about this point for a bit, and I do agree. The dynamic between me and my students can be very different depending on how experienced they are at language learning. When a student knows very definitely what they want out of the lessons, I often find that they're less keen to react to my input - it's not a lazier lesson for me, as I then take a role of watching out for errors, prompting the conversation and supporting through extra challenges. With a student who is new to language learning, I am more likely to direct the lesson in many ways and set the topics myself.
A good tutor is sensitive to what the student expects, and able to make adjustments to the teaching style that meet those expectations.
My favourite people are new to tutoring and often they're studying their first foreign language. In those cases, my students are often happy to experiment. They just love a challenge, so we can enjoy the variety that I bring to our lessons and just focus on having fun along with the more complicated parts. As someone with a love of coaching, I like providing those extra services of improving learning methods, finding new exercises and encouraging them along the way.
Thanks for reading this article on Fluent - The Language Learning Blog. Don't forget - if you sign up to our newsletter, you will receive a free Guide to the Best Language Learning Resources!
Here on the Fluent Language blog, we have previously covered the idea of invisible progress and how it affects your motivation. No language learner will find it easy to maintain high motivation and dedication when they feel like they are going along without much direction. So how do we make the progress a little more visible?
This is a look behind the scenes of a language tutor's work - all the prep and track work that students might not see, but that will be an important part of the service. My aim is not just to help my students learn, but to keep them going and keep an eye on what's already been covered and I do track every lesson.
Think Outliers and practice hours and remember that you are working systematically towards the moment when it all falls into place. Not as beautiful a story, but achievable.
Here are a few steps that you as the language learner can take in order to keep track and stay motivated.
©dmachiavello on Flickr
You will need a consistent place to do this, and one that is easy to use and very accessible. Basically, what we are looking for is a template which can be as low-key as a desk calendar or as high-powered as Evernote.
The important things are as follows:
For me, formatting and printability were more important than universal access so I settled on creating a template that works for me, in MS Word.
Self-taught learners in particular should have an idea of where they want to get to. The key to planning is to mke sure your objectives actually make sense. So write down a 1 month goal, a 3 month goal and a 12 month goal. This can be as poetic as you like, so "Have a conversation with a real German market trader" can go up there.
I insist that you cannot actually have that market chat without taking lots of individual steps, and here's how I may break them down:
You should be looking at the long-term goal and breaking it down into smaller steps, then list the smaller steps as SMART goals.
Smaller steps for arranging travel to the German market?
If it looks so simple that it's all obvious now, remember your original goal was to talk to a German market trader. How did you think that was going to happen?
The check in dates are the ones you chose in your objectives, and you are looking for an idea of how much closer you have come to the overall goal. These check ins are a great contribution to knowing whether your language learning project is running on time or behind, and they will also give you a chance to fix anything that's going very wrong.
Should you be checking in and realising you've been way too ambitious, you only need to stay calm and work out what you actually got done. That's your realistic working pace. Apply it to future goals, without judgement. You will now know if you can achieve the end goal in a year or not, and will be able to add 2 months on at the end if required.
If you want a step-by-step guide to creating your personal language learning system, check out the Language Habit Toolkit, featuring language trackers, goal-setting guides and a review sheet to help you cut out the unnecessary and speed up your progress to fluently communicating in any language.
Thanks for reading this article on Fluent - The Language Learning Blog. Don't forget - if you sign up to our newsletter, you will receive a free Guide to the Best Language Learning Resources!
So you guys, I've got a personal announcement to make. You've just seen it in the heading - my office days are done, I'm going to dedicate myself fully to Fluent Language Tuition.
I have never done anything like this before. It's scary and exciting, and it's a credit to all my lovely students and friends that I feel ready for this. Let's make sure we take this opportunity and turn Fluent Language Tuition into a success!
In practical terms, this means I will have booking slots available every day of the week.
As an ideas person, there's always a lot bouncing around in my head. One day I want to write the ultimate German learning ebook, the next I want to take you all on a holiday, and I always want to inspire businesses to get into the international markets out there!
Inspiration is everywhere and I'm really excited that I will be able to work on more projects. But I want some guidance. What IS it that the world is missing? If you have suggestions, ideas or thoughts then please do comment. My blog is important to me and I love hearing from the community!