The Kate Languages Podcast

When teaching turns into a horror show! In this special bonus episode, I have gathered together some hilarious stories of when teaching goes a little bit wrong. From disastrous school trips to accidental swearing and inappropriate language, via some rather disgusting food-related staffroom blunders... this episode will hopefully give you a good giggle!

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media

For the last episode in season 3, I spoke to the very lovely Janina Klimas (@reallifelanguage on Instagram) about reading to learn languages. It was such an interesting chat and we covered so many fascinating areas, such as language acquisition, learning to read, comprehensible input and how 'reading' can incorporate so many more modalities than simply looking at words on a piece of paper.

Here are links to some of the things we discussed...

• Stephen Krashen's 2017 paper on polyglots

• Steve Kaufmann - polyglot featured in Krashen's work

• https://lingua.com and https://www.yabla.com

• Journal en français facile

• An explanation of 'movie talk'

• SQ3R

• My blog post on authentic resources for language learners

• The MFL Virtual Book Club on Facebook

You can find lots more of Janina's ideas and work on her website, YouTube channel and podcast.

To join any of my upcoming CPD courses, head over to my website and do let me know if you'd like to join me on the podcast or co-host a CPD session with me!

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media

Let's talk about workload! And a whole lot more!

In this episode, I chat to Deborah Young, my old head of department from my second year of teaching, which was... er... about 15 years ago now! We had such a good chat, most of which wasn't recorded or fit for public consumption, sorry... but the bits we did record were absolute gold, I'm sure you'll agree.

From teacher workload, to building great relationships with students, to accidentally teaching the wrong vocabulary items (this anecdote actually had me crying with laughter), Debs and I discuss all the important bits of work-life balance.

The title of the episode "it's just a job" is something she said to me all those years ago and is not meant to be a flippant dismissal of the importance of being a teacher... quite the opposite! It's a positive statement for teachers to understand that teaching, while being an extremely important job, is, at the end of the day, just a job and not worth sacrificing your entire life and health for.

As always, I'd love to know what you think so get in touch through my website katelanguages.co.uk or on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (I'm @katelanguages on all 3).

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media

In this episode, I had a fascinating chat with Elizabeth Swan (@Elizabeth_swan_uk on Instagram or https://elizabethswan.co.uk) about teaching MFL to people with ADHD and autism.

Elizabeth Swan is a teacher, coach and consultant, who draws upon lived experience and professional expertise from over 20 years as a qualified teacher, SENDCo, and headteacher in secondary and special schools as well as postgraduate study of psychology. Lizzy’s work is rooted in research-informed approaches to raising awareness and understanding of neurodiversity, with a particular focus on girls and women with ADHD.

We covered a range of topics, from the advantages of keeping students with SEND in MFL lessons, to her top tips for making the classroom ADHD/autism-friendly. We also chatted about using rewards and sanctions with ADHD/autistic learners, and the importance of keeping parents/carers fully in the loop.

As always, I'd love to know your thoughts on this episode, so do get in touch on my socials (@katelanguages on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) or through my website katelanguages.co.uk

During the episode, Elizabeth mentioned Paul Dix, who is best know for his books including 'When the adults change, everything changes', research on the benefits of bilingualism for autistic people (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.741182/full) and Tuff bags (of which there are many different varieties available online!).

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media

In this episode, I discuss topics that we regularly teach in MFL that are potentially difficult for some students and need to be handled sensitively. I outline the reasons why these topics, such as family, food and holidays can be hard for some students to talk about and give my ideas on how to deal with them mindfully and sensitively. As always, I'd love to hear your ideas, so do get in touch on social media - I'm @katelanguages on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter - or via my website katelanguages.co.uk

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media

In this episode, I chat to the wonderful Julie (@teachingplanninglanguages on Instagram) about how to plan your lessons in the most efficient way possible. We talk about finding reliable teaching resources, classroom routines, PowerPoint slide templates and her amazing backwards planning method, with which she can plan 6 weeks of lessons with a class in just 20 minutes!

During the chat, we reference Spanish and Umbrellas (the fabulous Erica, who teaches all of my Spanish online courses for MFL teachers and features in my bonus episode from June 2022) and MFL resources (the lovely Alba, who I did an Insta live with a couple of years ago). We also mention the Positive Teacher Company's PowerPoint slides, which are well worth checking out!

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media

Season 3 is here! I'm kicking off this season with my 2nd ever Q&A episode, in which I talk about my September resolutions and answer a couple of great questions from my lovely Instagram followers! Listen out to find out if your question was chosen for this episode!

In the podcast, I reference my online CPD and language courses, which can all be found here: https://katelanguages.co.uk/courses/

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media

Season 3 of the Kate Languages Podcast kicks off with a Q&A episode on 5th September 2002!! Subscribe now to make sure you hear it first.

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media

In this one-off bonus episode, I'm chatting to Erica (@spanishandumbrellas on Instagram), who teaches the Spanish classes in our online courses for MFL teachers and will do both of the Spanish online intensive courses this summer!

Taken from a recent Instagram live, in the episode we discuss what you can expect from this summer's intensive language courses for language teachers. Kicking off on Monday 1st August 2022 with French beginners, we’re offering 6 courses in total, on the following dates:

• French beginners 1st-5th

• French improvers 8th-12th

• Spanish beginners 8th-12th

• Spanish improvers 15th-19th

• German beginners 15th-19th

• German improvers 22nd-26th

You can either join us for a whole week for £200, which includes around 25 hours of teaching and lots of our fantastic resources, or pick and choose which day(s) you think will be most helpful for you and sign up to each one individually, for £50 per day. For timetables and more details, simply click on the course you’re interested in above, or get in touch with me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter - I'm @katelanguages on all 3.

Hope to see you there!

In the fifth and final episode of this mini-series, I talk about ending a lesson well. I discuss why it's important and describe some of my favourite plenary activities to do at the end of an MFL lesson.

Keep an eye on my website https://katelanguages.co.uk and social media (I'm @katelanguages on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) for details of upcoming CPD, including more chances to join me for some Lesson Planning 101 workshops in the future!

Music is from Pixabay by Coma-Media