UK Lingua 2022
Recently I was privileged to speak at the UK Lingua languages conference at Durham University. It was lovely to be surrounded by language professionals from all over the UK and indeed the world. It was also so interesting to hear about areas of teaching languages that I am not involved in, such as primary and the university sector.
The keynote speaker on Sunday morning was Professor Sugata Mitra, formerly of Newcastle University, who talked about his research into the way that children learn, firstly in his native India, and then in the middle of Gateshead in the North East of England. It really was fascinating! He reminded us that children can be the agents of their own learning…if they are interested!
I was lucky enough to give a presentation on my experiences of teaching French to my adult learners during the Covid-19 lockdowns in the UK. I talked about how, for me, for business and for my learners, it was transformational. If you’d like to take a look at the presentation, here is a pdf version of it.
I met lots of other professionals and as I teach independently then this was very valuable for me. Teaching can be a solitary occupation. Even though we are surrounded by our students when in the classroom, they look to us to direct and to guide their learning. We are the masters of the ship at that time. Similarly, when we prep our classes, it is our decision what they learn and how they learn.
Sometimes we get it bang on.
Sometimes we don’t.
To be able to meet others in that situation is such a valuable experience.
I wasn’t the only small business owner there, there were a couple of other independents there. Notably Nathalie Paris who I know from the business side of things. She teaches at both ends of the publicly funded teaching spectrum – to primary school children and to university students.
Meeting up and chatting is not to be under-rated. Especially if you work solo or relatively so. Is that networking? I’m not sure that I like that name. I also find it difficult to do. I’m not a natural at it, and am quite shy with people that I don’t know.
Do you get the opportunity to meet up with other languages teachers, from other institutions?
Or are you surrounded by so many of them in your institution?
Do you feel supported and valued?
Or do you have other experiences?
I’d love to know.
Please get in touch, I love hearing from other teachers.
If you’d like to work with me why not take advantage of a power hour with me to pick my brains or talk through a business issue you may have
