Month: October 2011

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BRAVE Blog

Funny Advertising: 4 Best Language School Commercials

wow-thing
Jimmy finally understood the passive voice as shown on TV.

This was supposed to be a light-hearted, not-so-serious post just before the next week (expect GREAT things then!). But then I thought: these commercials are more than just pure fun. There’s something more to them. And as I watched each of them in turn, it dawned on me.

These adverts are designed to make you aware of a need. The needs are different, but they play into one thing: motivation. Find out which of these adverts speaks to you, and you’ll discover something important about your motivation. Watch these funny language school ads, and you’ll know what I mean…

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Getting Closer: How to Figure Out Your Integrative Motivation

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Photographer's mantra: "Come closer" - works for learning languages as well.

“So, where are you guys from?”

We had just finished a delicious paella and were settling the bill with a charming Spanish waiter. The city was British (well – Welsh), the restaurant – Spanish. All around us, people were easing into what promised to be a nice, sunny weekend – many languages, nationalities and styles. It felt right to be asked, and OK to be able to answer the way we did.

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Learn a Language, Lend a Hand: How to Learn Languages Through Charity

“It feels too good to be true.”

helping Haiti
Not everything must cost you money.

We had just come across an awesome idea, and were staring at the screen in disbelief. Somebody out there was actually doing things we had been dreaming of doing. And managing to change the world for the better at the same time.

The best thing is, we actually had three “Eureka” moments like this while searching the Web. They’re all described below, ranging from the very easy to the radical and bold. Whatever their difficulty level, these designs have one thing in common. They will let you learn a language and help people who need help – all this without having to pay a penny for your lessons.

Get in, and hold on tight.

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Moodle Ninja: How to Design an Awesome E-learning Course

Moodle Ninja: How to Design an Awesome E-learning Course

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Moodle means never getting your hands dirty with chalk.

Learning languages might be one of the least eco-friendly things you can do. Think about it: people fly across the globe to spend time collecting stacks of photocopies in well-lit and air-conditioned classrooms. Then they fly back home.

If you’re a course designer – in languages, or in anything people want to learn – at some point you will consider giving e-learning a go. And if you do your research, one name will show up over and over again:

Moodle.

Moodle can become the best thing that’s happened to your teaching. Or the worst. Here’s why it matters, and how to get good at it.

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BRAVE Blog

The Hardest Part of Learning Any Language – And How Not to Suck At It

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The piercing is there to help pronounce Hungarian words better. (Devastar / Flickr)

“Polish grammar is crazy, man. It’s got, like, seventeen cases.”

“I just don’t get how you can create these monster words in German that go on forever.”

“Why do I have to speak different Japanese to my boss, and to my colleagues???”

“Holy Alphabet, what are these squiggles?”

 

Ask any learner what they think is difficult about learning their language, and they will come up with a long list of things they dislike, struggle with or simply hate. But ask a little harder – for the absolutely hardest part – and the answer is likely to be the same, no matter what language they’re learning.

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6 Surprising Places to Learn a Language Faster

Louvre in Paris. What better way to learn French?

I’m fully aware that learning languages is not really a sexy business. That’s mainly because of the places usually associated with language courses: classrooms, language schools, university halls…yawn.

Today’s post is a desperate attempt to bring the sexy back! Get ready to visit six places where foreign languages are surprisingly present – and think about how you can use it in your language learning. Ready? Hop on then…

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