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BRAVE Blog

Five Strange Directions Language Learning Won’t Take (Or Will It?)

15108534663_54eb461586_bTwo things are true at once: 1) language teaching and learning methods are still not innovative enough, and 2) any predictions about “the next big thing” for polyglots have, so far, been shaky at best. So the idea for this post is simple: I will try to write down some crazy, strange, big ideas for the future of language learning – almost too big to come true. This is one of those posts you want to come back to in ten years’ time…

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BRAVE Blog

Unlikely Language Learners Ideal: The Taxi Driver

taxi driver language learning

I pass a London taxi drivers’ school every time I walk back from the office. It’s a stuff of legends (see below for concrete reasons), but until now, I had no idea how helpful their experience could be to future polyglots. Is there anything you can learn from taxi drivers to help your foreign language study? I think there is.

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BRAVE Blog

Pleasure in Language Learning: Account for Your Kicks

Creative Commons License Geoffrey Fairchild via Compfight

This is a rant for now, but I will probably expand this a lot in the future. It started with a quote I learned from one well-known coursebook author, and quickly grew into a liberating – albeit disturbing – idea about foreign language learning. Read on, mull over all this – and tell me if I’m wrong in the comments.

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BRAVE Blog

Two kinds of free: the price(s) of free language learning

free language learningFree foreign language learning is either a worthy ideal or a cheap trick played on customers – depending on who you ask. But isn’t there another way of looking at language learners – and at the notion of “free”? Once again, answers can be found in some unexpected places.

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BRAVE Blog

Makers are the new learners: language learning and the makers movement

 

If your idea of learning a language involves staring at whiteboards and wading through grammar books, here’s a different approach. By focusing on doing things – rather than learning about and around them – your foreign language skills can develop in a fast and meaningful way. Are you ready for the maker-oriented language learning future?

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BRAVE Blog

Research vs. response: 2 language learning modes & how to use them better

Don’t let the title put you off. This post is actually about something that happens every day for every language learner. And getting some answers to the questions listed here will improve the way you teach, learn or use foreign languages. Let’s get started: it all begins in a portrait gallery.