Language Fuel Podcast

In this episode, I attempt to clarify the meaning of a few key pronunciation terms which are often misunderstood, or used incorrectly. These are: phones, phonetics, phonology, phonemes, allophones, phonics, the phonetic alphabet and the phonemic alphabet.  I also discuss why understanding these concepts is important for language teachers.  Teaching mature language learners in particular has its challenges when it comes to pronunciation, so the more you understand these issues, the better you will be able to help these learners.  This episode comes with an infographic summary which contains the definitions of these terms. Download the infographic here.

Meet Rosaria Campbell. Rosaria now has the role of French Advisor at ILEP, taking over the work that was recently done by Morgan Patterson. Rosaria speaks and has taught French, German and Maori. Listen to the interview to hear Rosaria's passion about: learning a culture alongside the language, helping students develop a new identity, understanding strengths that go with different cultures, linking in with the community of language speakers, constant upskilling, and how the use of technology in language learning can cater for the deficits in language teaching, and be a real democratizing force in the classroom.

Are your students using devices in the classroom? How confident do you feel choosing the right technology to employ these devices? In this episode, I discuss ways to approach BYOD, whether true BYOD, with multiple device types, or institution-issued devices. We look at the two main types of technology in the classroom (communication technology and language learning technology) and what to consider when using each type. We finish with 8 question to ask before choosing to use technology for language learning. Download the summary infographic at https://languagefuel.activehosted.com/f/39

Are you struggling to manage classroom behaviour? In this episode, I discuss three main causes of unwanted classroom behavior, and share tips for addressing those. We look at issues relating to unclear expectations, materials which may not be appropriate, and social dynamics in the classroom. I share an experience I had early in my language teaching career, where a negative relationship between two students surprisingly reared its head. It taught me to appreciate the internal emotional landscape that my students have, which I simply can't see, and how important it is to consider these when planning lessons. Download a summary of this at https://languagefuel.activehosted.com/f/41 

This episode is particularly relevant to you if you have decided you'd like to learn a language, but you're not sure how to go about doing so. Hiring a coach might be the way to go. Meet Leslie Foster, our resident Language Learning Coach. Leslie describes her role as assisting self-directed language learners understand the how, the why and the what of language learning. Tune in to hear her advice about learning to crawl before you attempt to run, benchmarking your language learning progress, the importance of reflection in the learning process, some language myths, and the importance of learning the culture along with the language. To contact Leslie, click here and send her an email via our website, and she'll be in touch.

Meet Heike Papenthin, Language Advisor for German at ILEP in New Zealand. Heike has learned many languages, and has made a career of her passion, first lecturing in Japan on the German language, now advising on the teaching and learning of German in New Zealand. Heike talks about the value of immersion experiences, the on-going, lifelong nature of language learning, and shares her standpoint that language learning should be compulsory and should start as early as possible, in order to prepare the next generation for life in the 21st Century.

We're talking about games and why they are so good in the language learning classroom. They encourage lots of repetition, helping to cement the target language. The rule-based nature of the interaction also levels the social playing field, encouraging more even participation among students. The teachers also gets a chance to step back, and pay attention to student language production. And of course it's quite simply a lot of fun energy. I suggest a best practice method to incorporating games in your lessons, using the acronym P-L-A-Y. (Prepare, Learn, Activities, Yet again). I then share a story about how I have used this method with one of my all-time-favourite pronunciation games from Mark Hancock's classic book "Pronunciation Games". (Order a copy here if you don't have one!)

In this episode, we interview Michael MacKinven, author of Kanji Pro: The easy way to remember kanji. During the interview we hear how Michael's first interest in language learning was ignited by another language learner – a friend who was learning Italian. He also mentions some of the things which keep language teachers going, and he tells us of his classic exemplification of the "spiky profile" learner – high level skills in one area, and lower level skills in another area. This eventually led him to create KanjiPro. Michael uses his language and cross-cultural skills in his everyday business life, even when not directly interacting with Japanese speakers. To buy Kanji Pro, you can click here. 

This week, I provide an update on my Te Reo language learning journey, and what it's teaching me about language learning and teaching. I discuss the awesome app that I found for my ipad, the importance of having lots of relevant listening materials, the amazing help that one piece of paper can be, and also what's been helpful in my social media feeds. Language learning in this digital age is certainly a different kettle of fish from what it was before the internet! The Facebook page I found helpful is here: Let's Learn Maori https://www.facebook.com/letslearnmaori/ The podcast I found (Opaki), which is actually part of a TV series from Maori Television, can be found here: http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/opaki

Today we're talking with Chee En, or Timothy Febey, or Larry Chinese, about his program, Chinese Buddy, and his journey through music, international travels, language teaching and now Chinese Buddy. Timothy is a musician, linguist and teacher, and has combined his talents to create a syllabus suitable for teaching kids Mandarin, in a fun and memorable way. I'm particularly impressed with Timothy's dedication to find great teaching practice. As well as including (good quality) music, he includes gestures, based on decades of research, starting with TPR (Total Physical Recall). See his blog here for an overview: http://www.chinesebuddy.com/chinese-kids-gestures/ You can connect with Timothy at www.ChineseBuddy.com or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJdwm0ut_GzVT5VzzylqDQA

In this episode, we interview Leon Butchers, creator of AGO card games, for use in ESL/EFL classrooms for young learners. The games, in the form of packs of cards, encourage interaction in the classroom and assist with early literacy in English.  Leon talks about the start to his (originally unplanned) English teaching career, how he kept learning by networking with other teachers, and how he found a need and met it. To learn more about the games, visit www.agocardgame.com. There is also an app which goes with the phonics cards, available on both android and ios. You can also find the game on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/agocardgames/  

In this episode, we explore the concepts behind vocabulary frequency lists, and why they are so important. (Hint: It's the "Goldilocks Principle"). We look at learners getting bang for their buck in terms of investing time in learning the right vocabulary. We also discuss how important context is for deciding frequency lists, and how choosing appropriate contexts is one way to avoid frustration at the intermediate level 'plateau' many language learners experience. I also mention a few resources which help you determine what the frequency lists for your target language are, and how you can run a text through a program for it to then highlight the different frequencies represented. This will then give you the clues you need as to how to simplify your text as required. This site has frequency lists in many languages: http://www.lexiteria.com/word_frequency_list.html The lexile framework (commercial system): https://lexile.com/ A "DIY" site (for English texts) to see vocabulary frequencies represented: http://www

I've decided to learn Maori! In this episode I outline the reasons behind this decision,  and then I look at what I already know. Maori is one of New Zealand's three official languages, and is a treasure (taonga) that I have not tapped into before. I'm also keen to keep my own language learning experiences new and vital, and to demonstrate self-directed learning. To kick start my language learning journey, I take the time in this episode to recap what I already know about the language: historically, morphologically (affixes & word parts), phonologically (pronunciation), syntactically (grammar) and lexically (vocab). I also attempt to pronounce the longest place name in the world. (Yes, it's Maori.) If you want to verify, see here. And for good measure, I throw in a snippet of Dave Dobbyn's brilliant song "Welcome Home" for its awesome crescendo on "Haere Mai". You can buy the song on itunes below. :) Welcome Home - Dave Dobbyn

In this episode, I discuss how to use graded readers in the language classroom. The issues to think about when choosing graded readers and how to use them include the following: Age appropriateness Level appropriateness Scaffolding required What skills you are encouraging You can actually practice many language skills with graded reader texts, especially those which come with an audio text. Don't assume that a graded reader text is only for teaching reading.  I mentioned also briefly the idea of sketchnotes. See a good summary here for what sketchnotes are all about. Above all, have fun, experiment with new ways, and follow what your learners are enjoying.   

Meet Morgan Patterson, who is the newly appointed (and very enthusiastic) French National Adviser for ILEP in New Zealand. Morgan taught French at high school for 7 years before taking on this position. She tells us a little about what her role as French National Adviser entails, including providing professional development opportunities for French teachers, and advising on great resources. She also shares a bit about her background - why she learned French, what she enjoys about teaching, and what advice she would give to new teachers. Connect with Morgan via her blog at http://frenchilep.blogspot.co.nz/ or via email at [email protected] Merci Morgan!

In this episode, I share with you some of my key tips and tricks for using movies to teach pronunciation. This episode was promted by comments on twitter about our recent blogpost on using movies in the language classroom. Themes of this episode include accent and identity, different varieties of English, role models, both native speaker and non-native speaker models, different features of pronunciation, and how to get learners to really engage with practising their pronunciation skills. In the episode I mention an article I wrote in 2011, which you can download here if you're interested. Keep in touch with what we're doing at Langauge Fuel by joining the community here.

In this episode, we hear from Adon Kumar. Adon teaches English (ESOL) in Auckland, New Zealand, predominantly to migrants who are wanting to find jobs. Adon tells us about how he got into teaching, his experience as a migrant himself 30 years ago, and how this has influenced his passion for what he does. He also shares a couple of stories about students he's worked with over the decades. Listen for his 3 pieces of advice for new teachers at the end of the episode. You can listen to Adon's weekly radio show for migrants via the online site http://planetaudio.org.nz/englishformigrants. You might also like to follow Adon on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/englishformigrants. If you would like to ask Adon to work with you, connect with Adon at his website http://www.goshenconsulting.co.nz/englishformigrants.  

As this is the very first Language Fuel Podcast episode, I'm simply introducing Language Fuel, explaining what it's about, and providing an introduction to myself (host), Joanna Smith. Why am I so passionate about supporting the teaching and learning of languages? In this episode, you'll hear about my own early experiences with learning languages. Some memories of language classes have nothing to do with learning the target language, but some great teaching principles were followed, such as psychological safety, and self-learning and memorisation. You'll also hear about later language learning experiences, such as visiting countries in which the languages were spoken. I even got to know my future husband on one of those trips! You'll hear how living in multilingual Switzerland blew my mind, and influenced me to change career path to become a linguist. I hope there are some stories in there that resonate with you. Enjoy! I'd love to hear your feedback. Head on over