Correct Wisely, please

Ciao, bonjour, こんにちは!

Correction is a fascinating topic for me as a language teacher. I'm still a student and love taking language classes and learning, making me a compassionate and mindful educator. I switch language teachers like I do a song on my playlist that I'm not into.

WHY? Time is precious, and I can't afford to spend it listening to long explanations during my Swedish lessons. One explanation concerns the definite article, which is not a separate word before the noun. Instead, it is indicated by a suffix attached to the end of the noun. Additionally, the suffix must match the noun's number and gender. Although this may not be too difficult, it requires some practice to become familiar with.

HA, did you fall asleep? Yeah, I almost did writing it.

As humans, we are always changing, so our teaching method need to reflect that.

There are some undeniable truths, but there are many methods that are outdated and simply put, cruel. Yes, cruel. Sorry to all those students I was too harsh with; honestly, it was what I thought was correct. Deep down, I was faking it, and it didn't feel right! But what did I know as a brand new teacher? Well, A LOT!

If you're confused and new to the blog, WELCOME! Read my last post "When is Correcting Language Productive?" Read that and come back over and join this conversation!

Okay- so yes, I did redeem myself before I set out and started my own language school FOUR years ago; wow! Mamma mia, time flies. Before I leaped, I radically transformed how I assessed my freshman Spanish students. I noticed that my students were more engaged and the assessment felt more genuine and beneficial. They were surprised to see that they could improve. However, this approach didn't work for other teachers. It was either you understand or you don't. This is why students fail at languages in schools. #sosad

Language Mindset aims to revolutionize the way children learn languages.

While it may seem like a bold statement, I truly believe in the value of this approach. Having studied over eight languages myself, I have come to understand that rigid, black-and-white thinking simply doesn't work in our world.

There wasn't a point taken off for every SINGLE accent that was incorrect. Let's be honest here, and even natives misuse Spanish accents.

I had the audacity to correct a 14-year-old who has been studying Spanish for 2 years. SILLINESS! #confessionsofalanguagteacher

There are some excellent language teachers, even in public schools who adopt this grading system. It's all through proficiency-based learning. You do standard-based learning, what does that look like? It's holistic, it's natural. It's productive for the educator to guide the child and it's clear feedback to students on how to improve instead of getting a 75% on a quiz. What does that even mean?!

A low-novice can use isolated words, that's me in Korean. hehe...I'm probably a Novice-High in Swedish trying to push to Intermediate Low where I can string together my thoughts and be a bit more fluid.

Check out this awesome path of language learning! We are going to have to make one for Language Mindset!

If you're interested in this method of teaching your child a new language, consider enrolling them in our private 1:1 language classes with our exceptional instructors! You can find more information on our website or reach out via email to discuss your child's interests. We'll match you with one of our outstanding educators.

Happy Learning!!

Juliana