Learning languages can be an extremely enjoyable experience, and for those who are doing the teaching, knowing that you are helping someone to expand their knowledge can be even more satisfying.
The best lessons are often ones that are diverse and use a wide range of resources and ideas. Sometimes, the most valuable inspiration can be taken from other teachers and language specialists, so here we present ten of the best MFL blogs to inspire teachers and educate pupils.
Language teacher, Dominic McGladdery set up this blog to offer readers from all walks of life an insight into French, German and Spanish lessons. The blog is a great resource for teachers, students and even parents, looking to learn the basics to help their child. Dominic knows how to keep his audience engaged and will often focus on topical events such as the World Cup. He also reviews and shares other fantastic learning resources such as Le Sac des Filles, a blog that provides photos of the contents of womens’ handbags followed by a short story from the owner in French.
With 33 years of teaching French under his belt, Steve Smith uses his experience to pass on his words of wisdom to fellow teachers via his blog. With everything from lesson plans, links to great videos, and fantastic teaching tips, this is a one-stop-shop for teachers looking to make their lessons more alluring.
Native speaker Angelika Davey wants to help people to “learn German with a smile”.She’s a professional tutor and translator who strives to provide people of all ages and abilities with a fantastic resource to help them learn the German language. Her students have ranged from a three-year-old all the way up to someone in their 80s! Her extensive experience in proofreading, translating and interpreting has allowed her to create a fun and captivating support system for anyone learning German. The language suddenly becomes easy to tackle with the help of German jokes, games, and various cultural tales.
An award-winning blog, Box of Tricks shares a variety of resources to help teachers to embrace technology and strengthen their language lessons while keeping students focused and engaged.
For language teachers looking for easy ways to help small children to learn Spanish, Lisa Stevens’ blog is a fantastic destination for all your MFL needs. The award-winning teacher provides readers with a wealth of insight and resources to make the teaching experience much simpler. Thanks to an abundance of kids’ magazines, child-friendly recipes, and even Where’s Wally games – all in Spanish – learning the language has never been as fun and easy.
“Flipped Learning” is gaining popularity throughout schools across the country, and on this blog,language teachers, Javier Rodriquez, Sadie McLachlan and Rhiannon Dykes, share examples of how the technique can aid pupils’ learning. The innovative approach asksstudents to cover learning materials independently before each lesson. This means that during classes, teachers can help to solve any problems or questions that pupils have with the subject matter.
The Modern Language Musings blog is great for teachers who want to overcome certain challenges and improve children’s learning. No two pupils are the same, and finding ways to keep every member of a classroom focussed and interested can be test. Thankfully, with the help of this blog you can not only improve your pupils’ vocabulary, but you can encourage shy students to speak up in the language classes, while also helping those with short attention spans to remain focussed.
Tile Hill Wood School Languages
For timely updates regarding Modern Foreign Languages and curriculum changes, take a look at the blog of the languages department at Tile Hill Wood School.The blog documents the progress of its classes to help improve learning amongst its own students. Teachers from other schools are sure to benefit and will be able to take away a wide breadth of ideas for their classes.
Written by German teacher Jo Hardy, MFL Meanderings deals with the various aspects of teaching languages in secondary school. Readers will walk away with ingenious ideas for improving students’ paragraph structure, independence and essay writing skills.
As Language for Fun shows, it’s never too late for adults to start learning a language. By making use of this fantastic resource filled with tips and advice, adult learners are sure to succeed in their chosen language of choice.
There are so many fantastic resources online to make learning a language a walk in the park. Sometimes it can pay to take a break from workbooks and printouts and learn through entertaining stories, online games and hands-on activities instead.
WST is a school trip provider with many years of experience organising fun and educational school trips for both primary and secondary school students. Sometimes a break from the classroom can also help children to learn a language. When immersed in the culture and environment of a foreign country, learning that language can often become that little bit more natural.