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One Year of Teaching English Online: The Good, the Bad and the Not-So-Ugly

Published on in Teaching

Most English teachers are yearning for the real-world classroom and treat online teaching as a hurdle that must be overcome… And yet, despite the obvious difficulties, I feel there is a lot to praise about online teaching.

In the last year, as ESL professionals, we’ve all had to go through something of a baptism of fire. Whether we liked it or not, we suddenly found ourselves whisked out of the classroom and locked up at home, teaching all of our courses online. Gone were the paper printouts. Gone was the whiteboard. Gone were body language, mingle activities and textbooks.

And in their place, only one thing remained (for most of us, anyway).

Zoom.

But today I come to praise online teaching, not to bury it.

When I return to the classroom, I won’t just be mourning the extra hour-and-a-half each day I lose to commuting, but I’ll be missing a whole suit of fantastic tools we all have at our disposal – let’s examine why online teaching is something to be celebrated!

Whiteboards

I’m going to start with the whiteboard… Zoom’s whiteboard isn’t great, but I prefer it to its physical counterpart! If you run out of room, you can easily move and edit components, or flick over to a second page (the small ‘+’ at the bottom-right). If you’re using Windows 10, Microsoft Whiteboard has unlimited canvas space and the ability to post pictures and videos.

You can share links, your students can add their own content and use the board for homework. There are also browser-based alternatives such as WBO and Mural.

Virtual whiteboards don’t just replace the features of their physical counterparts – they offer many more:

  1. Your students can write simultaneously.
  2. You can paste videos and websites.
  3. If you prepare whiteboards in advance, you can later edit and organise in-lesson notes into something worth keeping and email the results to your students.

Presentations

With screen-sharing, it’s easier than ever to give presentations – no more relying on a smartboard or projector! Microsoft Sway allows you to quickly make snazzy presentations. Google Slides gives you more control over design and can be supplemented with the Pear Deck addon. With this you can ask multiple-choice questions, or ask (anonymously) if anybody is struggling. Students can even draw their responses, for more fun engagement.

Presenting with Prezi

For something more swish, many teachers use Prezi – and once again, these presentations can be shared with pupils afterwards, so they don’t need to frantically scribble notes the whole time.

Tests

Even tests are now easier – and more fun! Kids (and many adults too) groan and delay when you give them a paper test. But the same test online using Kahoot or Quizizz? They will yell out their answers, dance when they win and demand to play again! These websites will also mark the tests and present you with statistics. No more printing or marking!  You can even integrate photos and videos to supplement written English with spoken.

Yay for “Ctrl+Z”!

Similarly, LearningApps offers dozens of different types of activities, including pelmanism, gap-fill, crosswords and wordsearches. It takes a few minutes to make your own, but then you can save them and reuse them, see completed statistics, give them as homework and edit them. Again – no more printing, cutting-out and laminating. No more carrying round and losing packs of cards!

Rooms

OK, I’ll admit a little defeat here… The internet doesn’t replicate meeting each other in an actual, physical room. However, that is changing! Spatial.io is geared towards education and business, and tries to replicate the sensation of sharing a room. If you want something less overwhelming, CozyRoom offers a simple cartoon world.

You can place furniture, point things out and move around – volume is based on distance to the person speaking. Mingle activities are possible again! If you fancy something a touch more powerful and professional, there’s Spatial.Chat – this even allows you to post pictures and videos, so you can replicate your favourite ‘art gallery’ activities.

Of Mice or Men?

I’ve adopted a technique that one student nicknamed ‘Mouse Teacher’ (after the rodent, not the gadget). I keep my camera and microphone off at first, giving new students only a few pictures that describe me. They then have to guess as much as possible about me before properly ‘meeting’ me for the first time.

I can still communicate through on-screen annotations, but this way they talk more, I talk less, and we have a thought-provoking introduction:

  • “He is under 40 and creative, by the way he types.”
  • “He doesn’t speak, he’s a mouse!”

With some of my classes I’m now a mouse for most of the lesson, noting errors in a separate window before pasting them onto the whiteboard for correction. Students have said they really enjoy the opportunity this gives them to talk together, and they don’t look to me for constant guidance.

Conclusion: I, for One, Welcome our New Robot Overlords

Of course, teaching online has its disadvantages – but so does any medium. For me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages – and some of my students have been pleasantly surprised with their online lessons. It seems like we’ll be stuck online for a while yet – so let’s stop seeing screens as an obstacle, and rediscover the sense of wonder the internet once offered!

This post has offered a variety of suggestions for within-lesson tools. If you want something to help with a ‘macro’ approach, check out Slobodan Kelecevic’s article on digital tools from the earlier days of lockdown.

***

08.07.21 Update:

One of ELTABB’s members has suggested this impressive-looking collection of online teaching tools! Check it out, and let us know your thougths in the comments!

Workshop Review: “What about the fifth skill of viewing?” with Kieran Donaghy

Published on in Teaching

Language learning is traditionally broken down into the four skills: Reading, Writing, Listening and  Speaking. In a recent webinar, Kieran Donaghy drew our attention to a fifth skill: Viewing.

The concept of visual literacy has been an important topic in many undergraduate humanities programs for quite some time now.

As the world we live in is becoming more and more multimodal, it only makes sense that we also include images and films in language teaching. Donaghy quoted Sophia Mavridi:

As the offline and online worlds increasingly intersect, students need new sociocultural literacies to live, learn and communicate.

Multimodal refers to any form of communication that utilizes more than one mode to convey a message. So, for example, a book of poetry is not multimodal, but say, Allen Ginsberg reading HOWL, accompanied by conga and alto sax is.

A photo: not; but a photo with text: certainly.

multimodal teaching
A multimodal image

So how can teachers facilitate visual literacy in the classroom?

Introducing the Five Core Concepts

As an introduction, Donaghy borrowed a slide from the Center of Media Literacy, which outlines five core concepts and related questions as follows.

Five Core Concepts  Five Key Questions
1. All media messages are ‘constructed.’ 1. Who created this message?
2. Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules. 2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
3. Different people experience the same media message differently. 3. How might different people understand this message differently from me?
4. Media messages have embedded values and points of view. 4. What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?
5. Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power. 5. Why is this message being sent?

 

Though the concepts and questions above might be fruitful for discussion with a group of intermediate to advanced-level learners, they might not work so well with elementary-level learners.
 
Still, most learners enjoy being entertained while learning a new language, and film serves as an excellent source of authentic language spoken in the context of a visual narrative.
 
What could be better than that?
 

Extensive Viewing in the classroom 

The actual process of integrating films into language lessons can be challenging and time-consuming. Luckily, I found a couple of viewing guides for films that I have really enjoyed on Donaghy’s Film- English website. His guides include a synopsis and discussion questions that are often specific to the film in question. They are part of the Extensive Viewing methodology and organized into three phases:

Pre-viewing, Viewing, and Post-viewing, comprising 7 stages in all. For an average class, the teacher would need to stretch the lesson over the course of several meetings.

The following lesson plan is for a drama about a divorce.

Pre-viewing: Stages 1-3

1) Priming
Discuss questions that focus on activating learner’s background knowledge and generating predictions.

  • Can you think of the names of film dramas that you’ve seen?
  • Do you know anyone who has ever been through a divorce themselves, or whose parents have divorced?

2) Focus on Context
Read the film synopsis (with a glossary of terms).

3) Glossary
Read the glossary of frequently used language along with synopsis of each section of the film before viewing. (Note: these glossaries can be quite long thus learners might need extra time to read them. Teachers may want to include translations for intermediate-level learners.)

Viewing: Stages 4-5

4) 1st Viewing
View film in its entirety (for pleasure).

5) 2nd Viewing

View film in sections after reviewing the glossary used in each section in order to better notice target vocabulary and how it is used.

Post-viewing: Stages 6-7

6) Multimodal Analysis of Film with the 5C’s and 5S’s Framework
The 5C and 5S frameworks organize the film into categorical areas of discussion. They expand on the 3 C’s and 3 S’s used by IntoFilm.

The following are a few of the questions organized into the film guide categories. They are intended to help learners develop their own personal response to the film. 

STORY: Why do you think C fired his lawyer and hired a new one? Why did N choose to stay in LA? 

CHARACTER: How does N and C’s relationship change over the course of the film? How would you describe H’s character? and so on…..

SETTING: How are New York and Los Angeles represented in the film? How important are the two cities to the story?

COLOR/LIGHT: How are the colors in New York and LA different? How is the light in New York and LA different?

SELF: Did you find the film easy to follow or confusing? What character did you empathize with the most? What do you think the message of the film is?

7) Multimodal Response
In the final stage, students are to produce a personal, multimodal response to the film. For example, they could write a review of the entire film or analyze a particular scene and incorporate still shots into their text. Or, they might record themselves summarizing the film.


SEE THINK WONDER — Visible thinking for still images

Donaghy summarized techniques like “visible thinking” to introduce and discuss still images in the classroom. He referred to a routine called “SEE THINK WONDER” in which the following questions can be asked about most images:

  1. What do you see?
  2. What do you think about that?
  3. What does it make you wonder?

Encourage the learners to use the same stems to scaffold their responses:

  1. I see…
  2. I think…
  3. I wonder…

The teachers should limit their role to summarizing the learners’ responses and encouraging group discussion.

Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS)

Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is another approach to introducing still images. It uses the following sequence of inquiries to challenge learners to find meaning in imagery and express their opinions:

What’s going on in this painting/photo?

After learners offer their opinions, the teacher then asks:
What do you see that makes you say that?

And then later to the group as a whole: What else can we find?

Final thoughts on the workshop

I enjoyed the workshop, but we certainly covered a lot of ground. If I remember correctly, there were more than 150 Power Point Slides over the course of a 150-minute-presentation.

Personally, I would have appreciated less time spent on the first part of the talk, which dealt with the importance of multimodal texts in curricular frameworks. That might have allowed more time to explore the second part of the talk, which dealt more hands-on with the use of multimodal texts in the ELT classroom.

***

Learner Autonomy and Teacher Wellbeing: Flip Your Classroom and Achieve More by Doing Less

Published on in Professional Development/Teaching

This article explores the journey a teacher may embark on to support learner autonomy. It also looks at the challenges and benefits this entails for both the teacher and the learner.

In an earlier article for ELTABB, we focused on how language coaching can support students in a way that provides empowerment and true motivation.

This time, we’re taking a look at the benefits of language coaching to the teacher/learner dynamic.

Rethinking the Teacher-Learner Relationship

As teachers, we tend to feel as if we are underachieving if we do not put 120% effort into planning, designing, implementing, checking, testing, and discussing.

On the other hand, incorrectly calibrated and oftentimes needless work will just increase frustration and demotivate the learner. The issue here is the insistent focus on ourselves: our planning, our implementation, our checking.

But what about learner planning, learner implementation, and learner checking?

How about working just the amount needed to help learners reach their goals and allowing them to take ownership of their learning process?

By keeping in mind coaching guru Tony Robbins’ words, “Energy flows where attention goes,” you can learn to direct this flow to concentrate on what is truly necessary. This leads to less fretful preparation for the teacher and heightened learner autonomy.

Research Says…

The above coincides with research in the field of learning. In fact, a workplace learning report from LinkedIn suggests that:

Over 40% of Gen Z and millennial learners and 33% of Gen X and boomer learners prefer self-directed learning experiences, or opportunities to craft their own learning goals and choose the learning content that helps achieve them.1

Language coaching is intended to make time for understanding your learners’ language learning goals and how to best reach them. It’s about figuring out steps towards becoming a more effective learner and communicator.

As you engage in coaching-style activities and conversations, you will notice that learner engagement grows. Consequently, it will be easier for you to come up with motivating activities, as learners are already focused and ready to learn.

The Learning/Teaching Matrix

In order to find out more about learner autonomy in the classroom, take a look at this matrix.

©2020 Gabriella Kovács ACC

If we rethink the roles that we as teachers have traditionally been assigned—or have assigned ourselves—we might start redesigning the basic components of our classes.

To highlight a few:

  • Decision-making processes (top-down vs. collaborative)
  • Classroom language (instruction vs. questions/statements)
  • Processes (pre-planned vs. on the spot)
  • Creativity (low vs. high)
  • Correction work (controlled vs. open)
  • Strategies to overcome challenges (few vs. many)
  • Materials usage (excessive vs.  moderate)
  • Rewards and success focus (macro vs. micro)

Colour Zones in Teaching

With a coaching mindset, your lessons will mostly tend to be in the green, occasionally yellow and blue zones. More traditional approaches to teaching will primarily be in the red zone, with occasional excursions into the yellow and blue zones.

The ‘greener’ your teaching becomes, the more it will lead to:

  • Collaboration in partnership settings
  • Diverse thinking
  • Multiple pathways to reach goals
  • Exploration of a wider set of skills and competencies
  • Stronger awareness of learning strategies
  • Promotion of learner strengths and successes
  • Clearly defined goals and clear communication

Small Tweaks, Big Gains

What we have found out so far points towards learner empowerment, increasing flexibility, and resilience—and we must surely agree that in these turbulent times we can all do with a larger dose of these.

Coaching can help here because it is largely based on asking the right questions.

This leads to opening up conversations instead of instructing—paying attention with curiosity rather than with the intention to lead. In turn, learner autonomy will develop and flourish, breeding teacher and learner wellbeing that’s built on a high level of trust.

Focusing on micro-skills and rewarding on a small scale will create a safe learning environment.

However, if we fail to support learners when facing their weaknesses and blocks, these will persist and resurface as low motivation, boredom, and poor language learning skills. Working towards large-scale goals and celebrating only major successes will keep learners with lower self-esteem caught up in negative self-talk and believing they are not good enough.

Focusing on subskills and micro-skills and rewarding them on a small scale will create a safe learning environment. As they say, it’s about “progress, not perfection.” These small tweaks to teaching can all increase self-esteem for learners, which in turn leads to the motivation to make progress and learn more.

5 Practical Steps to Increase Learner Autonomy

Now that we know more about learner autonomy in theory, how can teachers and educators create a learning environment that enhances learner autonomy?

1. Use the 80/20 Rule

80% teacher silence enables 80% learner talking/thinking time. 20% teacher talking time is sufficient, no matter the language level.

Activity: Record yourself during a lesson and roughly add up your talking time. Do one thing differently to increase your learners’ active class participation time.

Reflection: What did you change? What changed?

2. Welcome Silence

Appreciate silence in class as thinking time not to be reduced in favour of “doing things.” Thinking is when your learners are creating connections, bridging earlier and new ideas, knowledge, and skills. The most valuable time in coaching is when the client is discovering, exploring, and figuring out how to proceed.

Activity: Count to 10 before you ask your next question, give your next instruction. Also, count to 10 after asking/instructing.

Reflection: How did things change? What reactions ensued?

3. Offer Guidance where Needed

Make sure you guide the reflective process at the ends of activities, lessons, courses with 2-3 very simple questions/activities.

Activity: Use a multi-sensory approach:

  • How did this feel?
  • What did you notice?
  • What new thoughts do you have now?
  • How does this sound to you?

(Naturally do not ask all at once, but choose the appropriate question after an activity, at the end of the lesson or a complete course.)

Reflection: Did their answers surprise you? How did these questions and the answers make you see, feel, and think about your class?

4. Flip the Classroom

Learners will be more motivated and feel more involved if, instead of telling them what to do (strongly instructing), you open up space and ask them which of 2-3 things they would like to move forward with during the lesson.

By giving choices, you build responsibility. As they begin to own the decision-making process, they will become more aware of the reasons underlying the choices they make.

By giving choices, you build responsibility.

Activity: Divide your learners into two groups. While Group 1 writes down the questions that they would ask as a teacher from the class before an exercise (e.g. “p. 42/ex. 4”), Group 2 writes down the instructions that they would give to the class as a teacher before that exercise.

Reflection: How do the different types of messages make the learners react and why? Which do they appreciate more and why?

5. Focus on Resources

Focus on the skill sets and techniques learners use when learning. Call attention to and ask about these strategies. This way learners become more aware and autonomous, and you can encourage them to be open to new learning-related ideas from each other.

Activity: Create a strengths/positivity wall. Ask learners to write down what they see as a learning-related strength or positive learning habit in the person sitting next to them. Put these on the wall (or whiteboard in Zoom).

Reflection: What one word describes this activity for you? And for your learners?

Adopt a Coaching Approach in Your Classes!

Have these ideas sparked your interest in more activities of this sort? Do you wish to unlock your learners’ potential? Gain clarity and structure to support a language coaching approach in your classes and trainings.
If you think this could be the missing piece in your language teaching puzzle – take the first step and visit our website.

https://internationallanguagecoaching.com/training-courses

Courses start each season, from foundation to advanced levels. Also, check out our ILCA YouTube* channel for insights.

*ILCA is the International Language Coaching Association.

References

1. https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report
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Go to ELTABB Journal Homepage

 

Spice up Your Online Teaching: 12 Savvy Tips for Better Remote Lessons

Published on in Professional Development/Teaching

While most of us are experienced remote teachers by now, there is always room for improvement and fine-tuning. Here are twelve tips to help you step up your game when teaching English online.

1. Look at the camera

It’s tempting to look at the screen while teaching online because that’s where we see our students. Don’t give in to the urge. If you look directly at the camera, your client will feel that you are looking into their eyes and be more involved. You can move the inset video to just under the camera because then you’re actually looking at the student (or nearer to them). You can also use books to prop up your laptop and bring the camera to eye level.

2. Get a standing desk or a leg rest 

Teaching online changes your routine in some ways.

Sitting is the new smoking!

Mainly, it means that you may be glued to a chair for extended periods of time. That’s a problem in itself, because, as we know, sitting is the new smoking! It’s therefore advisable to get yourself a standing desk and just teach standing up. You can also just place a stool on your desk for an improvised standing desk. Alternatively, a leg rest will allow you to stretch your knees discreetly every now and then. Your muscles will thank you!

3. Choose a neutral background

There’s hardly anything worse than a distracting background when you teach (well, apart from a persistent hiccup maybe). You can work around this by using a plain piece of cloth as your background. Alternatively, you can buy a professional green screen and place it behind you. A third alternative is using a virtual background in Zoom. Just click the little arrow next to the video icon and pick the “virtual background” option. You can upload your own photos for the purpose. Just be aware that the background may shift and flicker when you move, so you might have to do some trial-and-error regarding the images you use.

4. Adjust your way of speaking

When teaching online, you might experience technical issues or sound problems, such as acoustic delay or breathing sounds. To facilitate listening, it’s best to speak more slowly than usual and with more pauses. Also, mute your participants while you speak and generally interrupt less than you normally would.

5. Get a good headset/mic

This is a no-brainer, but it still gets a mention here because it can fix a lot of your problems. If your headset reminds you of the tin can telephone you had when you were little, now’s the time to get a new one.

On the other hand, some integrated microphone are surprisingly good, so you might try ditching your headset for better audio quality first.

6. Manage your online classroom

In any classroom, online or not, there are some students who enjoy being in the focus and others who don’t. As an online tutor, try to target the ones that seem a bit lost without putting them on the spot. When you single out a person to engage them in your lesson, you can mute the rest of the group.

Also, be aware that some people may switch off their cameras because they feel more comfortable that way. You can use the group chat to encourage shy students to share questions and comments.

Online tools like Answergarden or Padlet are great for sparking your students’ interest. You can find out more about engaging tools for teaching English online here.

7. Provide visual input

Online learning is a very visual experience, and variety is key if you want to engage your students. You can share your screen to show slides or have your students write on the virtual whiteboard (in Zoom, enable the “annotate” function for this).

If you have a Pro account, you can also create live polls to liven things up and fuel discussion. For a quick recap of some of its helpful functions, check out this Zoom tutorial.

8. Use breakout rooms

You probably do this already: another way to add variety to your lessons is to have group work sessions, just as you would in a regular classroom. To split larger groups into smaller ones, Zoom offers breakout rooms. This tutorial will show you how it works.

9. Share handouts and files

The days of physical handouts are gone, so cloud storage services are the way to go.

Google Drive makes it easy to share files via links – the only catch is that you will need a Google account for this if you don’t have one already (and then there’s the data protection thingy…). However, it’s still one of the most efficient and popular ways to share documents, also because you can actually work on Google Docs simultaneously with the students.

Apart from that, the group chat may be helpful here for sharing links and smaller bits of information.

10. Be prepared

This is another no-brainer, but one that’s easy to forget. Before you start teaching online, make sure you have a pen, paper and water handy – you don’t want to have to fiddle around for any of these while answering questions. It’s also a good way to prepare and sort yourself out before a lesson.

11. Have a break (or two)

Allow for enough breaks from screen time. Sitting in front of a computer for hours on end is demanding, especially for young learners. Slip in a bathroom or tea break every now and then before everyone gets antsy.

12. Practise with other teachers

If you feel you need guinea-pigs to hone your online teaching skills, why not offer your colleagues a sample lesson? They may have some valuable feedback for you and learn from the way you teach as well. Plus, you can take turns, so everyone gets to be the teacher and student.

If you don’t know who to ask, no worries! Just join some social media groups for teachers and post a friendly request. You should be able to find like-minded people in no time.

Bonus tip: try this alternative to Zoom

Zoom is great, but the free version comes with a 40-minute-cap for group events (one-on-ones are not affected). After this, your conference call will be cut short and you will have to set up a new session.

BigBlueButton is a completely free, open-source alternative that offers all the features Zoom does, without limitations. Many universities and schools already use it. It may be a tad more complicated to set up, but it should be absolutely worth it.

Happy remote teaching!

For more tips for teaching English online, check out this article on the digital classroom.

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Learning Languages Effectively and Joyfully: Q and A with a Polyglot

Published on in Teaching

Language coach Miri Mikeska helps other language enthusiasts become polyglots like himself. Let’s see what he has to say about functional learning habits and why he gave up his career job to become a travelling teacher.

Hi Miri, it’s great to have you here on the ELTABB Journal! Let’s start right away with the first question.

What motivated you to become a polyglot, and when did you start learning languages?

Miri: I’ve always admired people who lived abroad and could speak more than one language. They were heroes to me. However, having luckily passed my A-levels in English and German at high school, I became very busy with my future career plans—studying in the UK, getting an interesting job at BMW in Munich and starting my own business afterward. 

Four years ago I came back to languages while travelling for almost a year. I had no better strategy than learning key phrases when watching films and talking to people. I met many people, and this was just an amazing time I had. My motivation was high, but the learning process was truly spontaneous and simple. 

How many languages do you speak? Are you equally fluent in all of them?

Miri: I do speak 11 languages and I am not equally fluent in all of them. Not at the same time. It is a constant process of learning, forgetting and refreshing. There is a nice quote:

A foreign language is like a frail, delicate muscle. If you do not use it, it weakens. Jhumpa Lahiri

I am usually fluent in the seven languages that I speak regularly. I am at the stage when learning a new language seems easier than maintaining the languages I already know.

Once learnt well and practised, the language is not possible to really forget. Even my grandma remembers some poems in a foreign language from elementary school. What we lose quickly is the ability of so-called ‘active recall’. I am sure you know what I mean. It is when you can understand but cannot talk. It is useful to know some strategies of how to refresh the language just before you need it.

What do you think are the biggest mistakes language learners make when starting to learn a new language?

Miri: We are taught to be perfectionists and as a result, we are afraid to make mistakes so we avoid talking in a new language from the early beginning. We postpone speaking and learn more and more theory without actually practising. Nobody has learnt sports or dancing by only learning the theory. Why do we believe it could work for languages? Furthermore, many of us tend to be highly conservative in terms of learning habits. 

According to a Eurobarometer survey, in many European countries, up to 80-90% of learners have failed to learn languages at school. But still, it is difficult for us to admit it and change some of our old learning habits for new ones, proven by neuroscience as well as both polyglots and memory athletes.

What would you say to someone who wants or needs to learn a new language but may not have a lot of time or energy to invest?

Miri: I would ask a few simple questions: 

  1. What level, skills and vocabulary do you really need and until when? Make it lean. Learn less overall, but focus on what is most important with more repetition and practice. Write down an action plan for 30, 60, 90 days.
  2. Can you find 15-30 min in your schedule to learn (almost) every day in the upcoming 3-6 months? Start with a few minutes daily and make it a durable habit—a part of your life—but in a way that you will not give up, feeling unhappy and overwhelmed.
  3. What makes you happy in your life? Do you love travelling, films, theatre, music, sports or just getting a beer with a couple of fun people after work? Connect all these to your learning experience. You will see the magic!
  4. Can you find people to learn, practise with and keep you motivated in the long term? An active social life, study groups, tandems, meet-ups, couchsurfing, social media…language is all about communication. Learning languages without practising is like learning dancing without dancing. Start with mimicking and repeating out loud, speaking to yourself, then engaging in short conversations online and offline. Prepare phrases in advance. Speak regularly.

Analog or digital learning: which do you think works better and why?

Miri: At the beginning, it is crucial to listen to the sounds of the new language with many repetitions in order to adapt your ears. Any analog tools—texts, textbooks and books—will be almost useless unless one can listen to it at the same time. The technique is called audio-assisted reading and it works great. 

On my way to B1-B2 level, I use YouTube lessons a lot for the same reasons—to hear the pronunciation of native speakers. On YouTube, I can easily search for dialogues and phrases which are exactly relevant to my interests and learning goals. 

I could not learn as fast as I do without digital content, flashcards and dictionaries. At the same time, I handwrite some of my notes or when using another magic—the keyword technique. Handwriting promotes memory recall better than typing. Some drawing helps too.

But if one decides to achieve C1-C2 level, it will not be possible without extensive reading. To sum up, it is important to know when to choose digital and analog learning. Doing both is a winning combination for me. 

In your workshops, you focus on brain-friendly learning. Can you tell us more about that?

Miri: When I researched the neuroscience behind the learning strategies of the best polyglots and memory athletes, the game for me changed completely. Language learning is a constant process that takes at least a few months even for experienced learners. It can be effective only when it goes hand-in-hand with our predispositions. 

That is why I focus on the best 5+1 proven neuroscience techniques which take advantage of the strengths of the human brain, unlike many traditional ways of learning. By using them, my students become fluent in a language in 3-6 months—similar to what an average polyglot is able to do.

Before becoming a language coach, you worked for big companies like Bosch and BMW. Why did you change careers, and what is your mission?

Miri: My childhood dream came true at BMW; it was nice to be part of a big family. Generally, if I can learn what I love, I am happy. Once I feel it is time to make a change to learn something new, it is important to step out, choose the less comfortable path and make a change to continue my self-development.

I am fascinated by the human brain, and I love to talk to people from all over the world and prove that the impossible is easily possible—that everyone can be fluent in 3-6 months. I also like to be flexible and able to travel a lot.

That is exactly what I combine through language coaching. I can make many people happy and meet my needs.

What do you think are the greatest benefits of speaking multiple languages? Do you think that polyglots make the world a better place?

Miri: The world becomes one. It is a life-changing and enlightening experience: a way to learn deeply the truth about human beings. To understand who we are. 

Nelson Mandela said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” 🙂 

The interview was conducted by Sandra Roggenkamp.

Hyperpolyglot Miri Mikeska helps Berliners become fluent by using modern learning methods and neuroscientific techniques. He says that everyone can learn languages fast if willing to adapt to the new, brain-friendly habits. His dream is to remove myths about language learning.

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