How to maintain and improve your language skills as an MFL teacher

Here are my top 5 tips for maintaining/improving your language skills as an MFL teacher...

1. Join a language class!

When I know I need to work on anything (not just my language skills) and sign up to a class or paid course, I make sure I am there and taking part every week! Yes, you can use apps like Duolingo, etc, but for me, the accountability of having paid for something and saying I'll be there at a certain time means that I am much more engaged and benefit from it a lot more.

2. Watch TV, films, etc in the target language

This is one where I need to take my own advice a bit more haha! I have some favourite films and TV shows in French, German and Spanish that I love watching, but I must admit I don't actually watch much TV at all these days. I'm always open to recommendations for great shows and films, so reply to this email with your favourite one, please!

3. Listen to podcasts

This is something that I do have plenty of time for, as my son's school is a 25-min drive away! I love listening to education podcasts (I hear the Kate Languages one is pretty good haha!) and business/marketing podcasts a lot, but still try to make time for podcasts in the target language. There are so many out there for language learners, but my top tip if you're fluent (or nearly fluent) is to search for something you're interested in (eg parenting) and then find a podcast in the target language about that topic.

4. Read the news online

Again, this isn't something I have a huge amount of time for (even in English), but I follow news outlets on social media, and even just scrolling past the headlines, etc, is a great way of keeping up to date with what's going on in the world and the countries where your TL is spoken.

5. Read books in the TL

I set up a virtual book club for MFL teachers a few years ago. I don't run it myself anymore, but I still try to keep up with the books that people are reading and discussing in there! The Facebook group where the book club is held can be found here and you MUST answer the questions to be let in! Listening to audiobooks in the TL is another great way of keeping up your language skills - and much easier to do when you're driving/ cooking/ falling asleep!

These tips are taken from an episode of the Kate Languages Podcast - click here to listen to the episode in full.