Running A Wonderful COVID-Friendly European Day Of Languages 2020
Why Celebrate The European Day of Languages 2020? The European Day of Languages 2020 on 26th September is an excellent opportunity to promote languages within schools. Not only with Brexit around the corner but also with more pressure on languages in schools and colleges after such a long break during the pandemic. Celebrating the European Day of Languages 2020 is an excellent opportunity for MFL Teachers to show that languages do exist and they are worth celebrating. Previous European Day of Languages Events A few years ago, I was in charge of organising the itinerary and events for this fabulous celebration of languages. I spent ages preparing. because my events…
Complete GCSE German and Intermediate Level Revision Practice Activities by Topic
German GCSE and Intermediate German Revision Practice If you want to practice your intermediate German language skills and revise topics covered at German GCSE level or German CEFR A2/B1 level, then try out the activities below. Theses GCSE German revision activities are original and include a range of tasks from the most common topics German courses to help you improve your intermediate German language skills. Improve Your Intermediate Level German by Topic and Skill The tasks have been created by topic and by skill, such as: reading, writing, listening, speaking and translation, as well as vocabulary training activities to help you with your intermediate level German revision. The revision tasks…
A Little Covid-19 Update from TheIdealTeacher.com
COVID-19 We are most definitely in one of the most uncertain times of our lives right now. Hopefully, you and your loved ones are all keeping safe. Have you been able to adapt to the ‘new normal’ yet? I’ve been a bit quiet with updates and teaching materials lately for a number of reasons. If you want to know what’s been happening and what’s to come, keep reading! What’s Happening at ‘TheIdealTeacher’ HQ? My family and I are staying in-doors and so far are keeping healthy. In terms of work, I am one of the lucky ‘self-employed’ people at the moment. I am able to carry out the majority of…
How Learn A Language Successfully – New Year’s Resolution
5 Tips To Learn A Language With Success This Year Some people might say that learning a language is hard. Those people would be right because learning a new language can be challenging and certainly time-consuming ! If you want to know how to learn a language, then read on. As you can see from the chart, there are plenty of reasons to learn a new language. Moreover, if you want to learn a new language, then there’s no time like the present to get started! Especially with it being a New Year and all. Are you daunted, don’t know where to start or feel that you might just fail?…
73 Questions About The Ideal Teacher
Have you ever seen Vogue’s 73 Questions? If not, go and check it out, after you’ve read this post about TheIdealTeacher, obviously! I enjoy watching Vogue’s 73 questions pitched to celebrities, which allows the general public to take a peek into the homes and lives of many talented people in the public eye. Although I strongly believe that celebs are just normal people, it’s still interesting to hear them answer personal questions that gives an further insight into them as human beings. In this same vein and since I haven’t really shared too much about myself over the last one and a half years since creating this website, I’ve decided…
Why Learn Languages? Ideas For Students!
Why Study A Language? I have been a language student for over 22 years and a language teacher for over 10 years and I often hear the question: ‘why learn languages?’ In this post, you’ll find some background, the benefits of language learning and a free PowerPoint which outlines why people should learn languages! Why Should People Learn Languages? It always impresses me hearing people speaking a language that is not their native tongue. I currently have a Business English student who speaks Spanish, German and English fluently. He also works as a successful manager at a well-known luxury car manufacturer. In addition, I have an ESOL student who speaks…
First German Lesson for A Beginner
Teach German With An Awesome First German Lesson for Beginners I am in love with the German language and I absolutely love teaching first German lessons. However, I can kind of see where the quote is coming from. German can definitely be seen as a harsh language. So, in this post, I’d like to give suggestions on how to present the German language as more of a hug, rather than a stab in the back! Enthuse Complete Beginners To Learn German In the past, when I taught German in secondary schools, the first German lesson for a beginner was fairly standard. We started by eliciting the words that students already…
Teacher Thank You Gifts
Teacher Gifts With the end of the academic year fast approaching and Teacher Appreciation Week just behind some of us, it got me thinking about when I was at school and what we gifted our teachers versus what teacher gifts students give their teachers nowadays. Particularly since there has been a dramatic change in society and many technological advances over the last couple of decades. What Thank You Teacher Gifts Did Students Used To Give? From my memories of being a student, I remember writing a personal message in a card as a thank you ‘gift’. My French and German teachers were especially lucky as my thank you message was…
10 Fun Ideas To Teach Vocabulary In Your Classroom
Learn Vocabulary Using Fun Activities Both from personal and professional experience, learning and being able to use vocabulary is a vital component to having confidence and being successful in communicating in any foreign language. Therefore it is important to teach vocabulary well to help students acquire and use the language, as well as develop that confidence. I recently travelled to Spain and managed to communicate with hand gestures and the words I remembered from doing my GCSE in one year, in 2003. I didn’t need grammar, because I could communicate with the words I knew and recognised. However, I certainly would have felt more confident if I had had more vocabulary…
Using Target Language for Progress in the Classroom
Using Target Language in the classroom can be somewhat of a minefield. Should I use it? Shouldn’t I use it? How much should I use? The students don’t understand, the students aren’t using it…. This is a struggle for many teachers and so, in this post, I will be sharing my teaching experience of using of target language in the classroom. You will read about professional research carried out on the topic and I will offer some practical ideas and useful resources on how to use target language effectively in the Modern Foreign Language (MFL) or English Language Teaching (ELT) classroom. What Is Target Language? I started teaching English To Speakers…
