Language Learning for Busy People – Tips on how to make the best of limited time

Daily rituals

Incorporate your language learning into your daily routine. You could, perhaps, listen to a Coffee Break French/German/Spanish/Italian podcast whilst you are on your commute or do a session on the Duolingo app during a break from work, or review your vocabulary from your most recent Lingua Learn UK lesson whilst you are waiting for the kettle to boil for your cup of tea. If you are in a boring meeting, you could try to translate a bit of the meeting in your head. You can change the settings on your devices so that they are in the language you are learning, there, visible for you all the time.

Microlearning

Many people find a short, focused session works best if you are working independently. That could be just a couple of minutes learning some vocabulary, perhaps on the Quizlet or Memrise app. It could be a really short burst; maybe you can remind yourself of a grammar rule whilst your waiting for your partner to come back to the car. Have you seen those professional cricketers busy signing autographs on the boundary, and then, as soon as the ball is live again, instantly switch back on with laser-like concentration? Can you apply that switch to absolute focus to your language learning?

The Pomodoro technique

A few years ago, an Italian academic had a kitchen oven timer in the shape of a tomato (pomodoro in Italian). It was broken, and could only run for twenty-five minutes. He found that that was a great amount of time to concentrate, followed by a five-minute reward break to make a round thirty minutes. This 25+5 set can be repeated if time allows. Our Italian friend had come up with the Pomodoro Technique. Whilst this technique can be applied to many tasks, it’s particularly good at reminding us to keep our brains working in a time-efficient manner in languages.

Practise your Italian

…or practise whichever language you’re learning any opportunity you can. If you are working for a larger company, you may well have colleagues you can exchange a word or two in that language with. Are there opportunities in your busy schedule to watch a film or drama in the language you’re learning?

Gapped learning

Don’t worry or beat yourself up if you cannot put a lot of time into your language learning on a particular day. Rather than half an hour one day, it will often be better to spend two lots of ten minutes in sessions on different days. This is because of the need to keep practising a language regularly anyway; your second session will help revise your first session and improve your recall of it.

Multitasking

Can you practise the language you are learning whilst doing something else? Absolutely! In a boring meeting, you could see if in your head you can translate the presentation or what someone is saying. You could listen to a podcast or foreign-language radio (via the internet) whilst you are doing something else. I will often to listen to France Bleu radio whilst cooking – for me it has the right mix of music, lightweight chat and news to help me with my French.

Goal-setting

Most people work better with a definite goal: it could be that you want to get to a certain level on a language-learning app or achieve the next CEFR level with your Lingua Learn UK course. A realistic time-frame and achievable target will be more fruitful that overpromising to yourself that you’ll be fluent in Spanish by the time you step on the ‘plane next week.

Lingua Learn UK

Use Lingua Learn UK! Having a definite lesson with times and a live teacher will help you carve out the time and set a realistic goal for progress on your language journey. Join us at www.lingua-learn.co.uk!

Sample German Teacher Profile
NAME	Ms Xxxxxx Xxxxx
NATIONALITY	German
LANGUAGES	German (Native) English (Fluent) French (B2)
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE	7 years of teaching / assessing experience
QUALIFICATIONS	- DAAD Teaching German as a Foreign Language - Master Degree - Education - ALPT qualified assessor issued by ICCI - Qualified Translator; German & English

Sample Arabic Teacher Profile
NAME	Mrs Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx
NATIONALITY	Jordanian
LANGUAGES	Arabic (native) English (Fluent) French (Fluent)
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE	16 years of teaching / Assessing experience
QUALIFICATIONS	- TAFL-Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language - Diploma in Business Administration- Jordan - ALPT qualified assessor issued by ICCI - Qualified Translator; Arabic, English & French

Sample Italian Teacher Profile
NAME	Mr Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx
NATIONALITY	Italian
LANGUAGES	Italian (Native) English (Advanced) Russian (Advanced)
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE	8 years of teaching / assessing experience
QUALIFICATIONS	- CEDILS - certificazione in didattica dell'italiano a stranieri. - BA in Literature - Diploma in Linguistics - Qualified translator Italian, English & Russian.

Sample Spanish Teacher Profile
NAME	Mrs xxxxxx xxxxxx
NATIONALITY	Spanish
LANGUAGES	Spanish (Native) English (Fluent)
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE	14 years of teaching / Assessing Experience.
QUALIFICATIONS	- Pedagogical Aptitud Certificate - CAP - Intensive Course in Spanish as a Foreign Language Teacher Training Course by International House Madrid - Postgraduate in Spanish as a Foreign Language Teacher by Universidad Virtual de Barcelona
EXPERIENCE	- Provision of tailor-made group /one to one online and face to face sessions that focus on developing the professional skills needed in the workplace. - Creation and delivery of training in developing critical thinking skills, presentation skills, negotiation skills and pitching skills. - Delivery of blended courses that use online tools such as google/zoom classroom. - Creation and delivery of professional development courses to business professionals in numerous sectors including customer service, medical, aviation and telecommunications.

Sample French Teacher Profile
NAME	Ms xxxxxx xxxxxx
NATIONALITY	French
LANGUAGES	French (Native) English (Fluent)
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE	7 years of teaching / assessing experience
QUALIFICATIONS	- DAEFLE (Teaching French as a foreign language) - Bachelor's degree in business - 7 years teaching the French language

4 Skills Assessment Full Detailed Report
General Evaluation
Xxxxxxx has a great grasp of the English Language; however, there is definitely room for improvement. Specifically, in terms of grammar, some tenses need a brush-up to further emphasise their use and placement within a sentence.

Recommended Program: B1.4
The use of advanced vocabulary should be encouraged, followed by tips and tricks on how to avoid using basic vocabulary. In general, all areas could be improved, and reading/listening to certain media types, such as: articles, journals, e-books etc., would help to improve that.

Fluency
xxxxxxx is a confident speaker and is proficient at using the target language. He is talkative and can 'hold his own' during a conversation. He tries to answer in as much detail as possible, although he could be more informative. The conversation often fell short, with just a few short-phrase answers or awkward silences, between topics. There were some issues when linking sentences to each other, such as his heavy usage of 'and' and 'but' without using other linking words. Passive forms were also ok, but when posed to ask a question in the passive form he had some difficulty. Despite making a few mistakes here and there he tried his best to keep the conversation going and he did not let his mistakes ruin the flow of the conversation. He has limited knowledge on certain topics such as education, law and history in terms of vocabulary and his lack of knowledge in these subjects was quite noticeable.

Grammar
xxxxxxx showed a great use of grammatical rules and construction. He has a very good grasp of certain tenses, such as simple present / past perfect and past continuous tenses. He made a few mistakes with the past perfect simple / continuous, as he sometimes misused them. He also had some issues with the future continuous tense, not always using it when it was appropriate to do so. In general, he used passive structures correctly and also used inquisitive tags and phrasal verbs properly. In some cases, he did put the pronoun after the verb but once the structure was explained he was always quick to self-correct.

Pronunciation
His pronunciations were great overall; however, it should be mentioned that he has a strong accent and this does sometimes affect the clarity of his speech. Even though this was the case, it was not always so noticeable and he did not make many mistakes. The biggest issues are with certain advanced vocabulary related to certain themes and with adjectives such as 'reputable', 'overshadowed', etc. He also had several issues with the pronunciation of the past simple tense, especially with the (t) sound.

Vocabulary
He exhibited a great command of a broad range of vocabulary and its use during a variety of topics. He used extensive words and absolute adjectives, although he would more often than not use more simple vocabulary. The use of advanced adverbs was a little sparse, and words like 'very' and 'a lot' were used to replace them.

Writing
His writing skills are very good although, as with his speaking assessment, similar mistakes were made. In general, tense use was ok, but he was unable to use more advanced tenses in writing or speaking. He therefore didn't use them to their full potential and ended up using more basic tenses instead. The third and second conditional were not used to their full effect, especially considering the essay topic was about where he sees himself in the future.

Suggestions:
Xxxxxxx has a great grasp of the English Language; however, there is definitely room for improvement. Specifically, in terms of grammar, some tenses need a brush-up to further emphasise their use and placement within a sentence. In general, all areas could be improved, and reading/listening to certain media types, such as articles, journals, e-books etc., would help to improve that. The use of advanced vocabulary should be encouraged, followed by tips and tricks on how to avoid using basic vocabulary.

4 Skills Assessment Spoken & Writing Listening & Reading
Name of participant	ID No.	Date	Overall Grade	Oral Score	Written Score	Listening Score	Reading Score	Comments
			A2.2	A2.2	B1.1	A2.1	A2.2	Fluency is good. Accuracy is good. Tenses are OK. Does not use past tense. Vocabulary is OK. Understands questions asked, but struggles a little to speak due to lack of confidence.
			A2.2	A2.1	A2.2	A2.2	A2.2	Good sentence structure and good knowledge of the language. Fluency and accuracy are good. Speaks clearly. Some grammar gaps.
			A1.2	A1.1	A1.2	A1	A1.2	Has basic English skills. Sentence structure is OK. Fluency and accuracy are not very good. Bad habits from home language, does not use past tense (simple)
			A1.2	A1.2	A1.2	A1.2	A1.2	Has good fluency. Gets their point across easily. Tends to stick to the basics only. Lots of bad habits. e.g. continuous tense for everything.
			B1.1	B1.1	B1.2	B1.1	A2.2	Has good, clear sentence structure. Wide range of vocabulary. Has done English courses before.
			A1.1	A1.1	A1.2	A1.1	A1.1	Has some basic knowledge. Tends to use simple structure. No complex grammar. Their writing seems to be a bit better than their spoken.
			B1.3	B1.3	B1.3	A2.2	B2.1	Has very good fluency and OK accuracy. Tends to use continuous tense form for more structures. Bad habits and grammar gaps.
			B1.2	B1.2	B1.3	B1.1	B1.2	Shy, has good fluency. Wide range of vocabulary. Uses simple present and past tenses and sometimes past participles.
			A1.1	A2.2	A2.1	A1.2	A1.2	Spanish accent. Speaks very well. Sentence structure is good but not accurate, some grammar gaps and bad habits. Very chatty.
			A1.2	A1.1	A1.2	A1.2	A1.1	Speaks with an Ethiopian accent. Has good knowledge of the language. Sentence structure is good, has both good habits and grammar gaps.

2 Skills Assessment Spoken & Writing
Name of participant	ID No.	Date	Overall Grade	Oral Score	Speaking	Comments
			B2.2	B2.2	B2.2	Excellent language range. Some minor bad habits due to limited exposure and practice. This is also confirmed in their writing.
			B2.1	B2.2	B2.4	Very good language range and ability. Some minor bad habits. Writing skills are somewhat weaker than speaking skills.
			B1.4	B1.4	B1.4	Is very fluent when speaking. Has very good range and accuracy. Has just returned from the USA after completing studies. Writing is very good.
			B1.2	B1.2	B1.2	Very good fluency and understanding of the language. Has travelled to Scotland, UK and USA. Uses present perfect tense and past simple tense very comfortably.
			B1.2	B1.2	B1.1	Has very good fluency and range. Some grammar gaps due to limited exposures. Not always totally confident.
			A2.2	A2.2	A2.2	Good fluency and range. Has lost some accuracy and confidence due to limited exposure to the target language.
			A2.1	A2.1	A1.2	Has good language ability and knowledge but does not always use it unless prompted. Tends to stick to simple and familiar language structures and grammar. Writing skills are somewhat weak.
			A1.2	A2.1	A1.2	Has good fluency and range. Struggles with using more complex grammar and structure. Writing skills are somewhat weak.
			A1.2	A1.2	A1.2	Has good fluency and range. Does not use correct structure or grammar and tends to translate mentally from Arabic before speaking. Writing and comprehension are weak.

Spoken Assessment
Name of participant	ID No.	Date	Overall Grade	Speaking	Comments
			B1.4	B1.4	Is relatively fluent in their speaking and can relay their message across clearly. However, they lack the professional ambience.
			B1.4	B1.4	Two main weaknesses: pronunciation, and the need to learn to use short, precise, direct sentences which sound professional and accurate, rather than casual and inefficient. Also tends to speak quickly and thus articulate poorly because they want to show a strong command of the language, which is unfortunately reflecting negatively on their speaking abilities.
			B1.2	B1.2	Has an elementary background of the target language. However, they need to practice more grammatical skills in order to strengthen verb tense and sentence structure knowledge in order to use the correct grammar in spoken language.
			B1.2	B1.2	Has a sound basic background in communicating using the English language, but needs to be prompted to interact more frequently. Has not had much exposure to English whilst in Turkey,
			A2.1	A2.1	Has good fluency and range, but structure and accuracy is weak. Tends to translate from Arabic to English.
			A2.1	A2.1	Has good fluency and is able to get the point across very well. Lacking in range and structure. Has a lot of grammar gaps and bad habits.

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