In this episode, we are joined by Juliet Park the director of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) for the Share Trust. She is also a languages teacher and national MFL consultant-supporting schools and academy trusts. She is a successful author of languages resources. Juliet is an experienced examiner, and she regularly delivers training for awarding bodies and trainee teachers. She is also a specialist for the Secondary School Admissions Test (SSAT) in Dylan William’s formative assessment programme, and she supports primary and secondary heads to introduce this in their own settings.  She is passionate about developing a lifelong love of languages and linguistic mastery in young children.

In this episode we discussed ‘Tips for success in teaching a new language’ especially for teachers without a language specialism. 

Here are some of the questions I asked Juliet:

• You recently had a book published- could you give us a summary of what the book is about and why you decided to write it?
• As you know language teaching in primary schools often isn't taught by specialists- what kind of barriers do teachers without a language specialism have to teaching a language?
• How can they overcome these barriers?
• If a teacher is going to be teaching a series of language lessons what are your tips for being prepared for this?
• How can teachers ensure pupils not only learn a language but retain that knowledge?
• What are the barriers to language learning for pupils and how can teachers help them overcome these?
• What do you think is working well in schools for language learning and what do you think is needed to support this more?
• What skills are important to teach pupils that will help them be successful in language learning?
• Where pupils struggle with their Literacy how does this impact on their progress in learning another language and how can staff help them?
• There are lots of benefits to learning another language could you share some of your key ones?
• Is there any training/resources/support you would recommend to teachers and how can people get in touch with you?   

You can follow Juliet on Twitter at @julietdpark

You can also check out her book ‘Tried and tested: The ultimate guide to teaching primary languages and her languages resource website 

You can follow me (Kat Cauchi) on Twitter at @ReallyschoolK

Check out #OPIP and #OfPrimaryImportance for more content 

If you are interested on coming on the show or have a topic suggestion, send me a DM!