Language Fuel Podcast

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.lextutor.ca/vp/eng/

Happy Goldilocks texts creation!

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 to www.languagefuel.com and connect with us there. If you're interested in following the journey as language fuel gets launched, do join the community by leaving your email address here, and we'll ensure you're kept up to date.

You can also follow us on Twitter @LanguageFuel or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/languagefuel.

See you next time.