Episode 10 of the #mfltwitterati podcast, the long awaited Mandarin Chinese special is finally out! A bumper edition showcasing a variety of voices involved in the Mandarin Excellence Programme as well as schools celebrating Chinese culture including Chinese New Year and the Willow Pattern Story. We also hear from US Language Teacher of 2018, Ying Jin on her thoughts on non-native teachers teaching Mandarin.

Noah and I share some useful tools for the languages classroom too namely Certifyem and Charlala in this episode. We'd love to receive some audio feedback about these for inclusion in a forthcoming episode. We also announce an exciting new French A' Level resource from our sponsor, Linguascope and give a shout out to The Language Show and ACTFL too.

Our TechTalk interview for this episode features the inspirational Suzi Bewell who describes the challenge of learning Chinese from scratch in China and then going on to teach it back in England along with her other languages.

Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP10

You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple’s Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast – Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

Episode 9 of the #mfltwitterati podcast focuses on the power of international collaboration for promoting language learning and widening students' horizons. You'll hear a range of inspirational voices from the language teaching community at both primary and secondary levels showcasing many amazing examples of how global connections can make language learning more real and purposeful. Mentions of British Council programmes such as eTwinning, Connecting Classrooms and Erasmus Plus feature heavily throughout the episode and we sincerely thank all those kind teachers who have shared their reflections so generously.

If you've ever been curious about how to find a partner school and set up some international collaboration opportunities for your students, this episode should provide you with plenty of food for thought on how to get started!

Our TechTalk interview for this episode is a case in point and features Florentina Popescu and Marina Pozo who share many ways they have incorporated global connections into their classrooms. Through Skype calls, penpal letters, an adventurous teddy, a web tv show and a face to face visit, they have achieved real impact on their children's attitudes to the value of language learning and being connected with international peers.

Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP9

You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple’s Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast – Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

We begin episode 8 with a heartfelt tribute to a fellow podcaster and edtech enthusiast who sadly passed away earlier this month followed by recommendations on digital planners to help listeners get organised for the new academic year. Noah announces the exciting free online World Language Teacher Summit conference (#WLTS19) starting next month including over 30 presentations from the US and beyond. 

Next we hear an inspiring story from a languages teacher who wanted to see what impact taking a GCSE in Spanish from scratch would have on him as a language learner and his department's pedagogical approach. Noah highlights some more of Meredith White's innovative practice in using authentic resources and Flipgrid for promoting speaking.

For the Show and Tell section of this episode, we explore the use of mysteries and escape rooms in the languages classroom and showcase a range of examples from practitioners which have proved to be successfully challenging and purposeful.

Our TechTalk interview follows the same theme and features self-proclaimed escape room nerd Graham Stanley from the British Council who shares some fascinating insights based on his recent research and experimentations. A must listen for anyone interested in trying out escape rooms in their classrooms.

Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP8

You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple’s Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast – Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

In episode 7, we take a deep dive into the power of music and song in the languages classroom and showcase lots of great ideas from the community. We announce the winner of our Linguascope competition too and share some sweet ideas on using Skittles as a language learning tool. 

Noah gives a shoutout to the flexible wheelofnames site and I champion the inspiring ConnectLingo Windows app made by a group of sixth formers designed to help students revise for their French and German speaking exams.

Our TechTalk interview is with Paco Fernández, a passionate languages teacher and lead practitioner currently working at the CAM Academy Trust. Paco passes on many helpful tips that he finds to be successful in his classroom about learning grammar in context and being active amongst other topics.

Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP7

You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple's Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast - Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

 

For episode 6 of the #mfltwitterati podcast, we've gone football crazy, with nearly a full match's worth of content exploring how the beautiful game can be exploited in the languages classroom. There are also two competitions for you to take part in, a discount offer from Linguascope and two exclusive contributions from the BBC no less!

We have some lovely feedback to play you too in this episode. Thank you so much as always for all your tweets, 5* iTunes reviews and SpeakPipes.  We really appreciate your support.

For this episode's TechTalk interview, Noah and I chat with Vincent Everett, Head of Languages at Northgate High School in Norfolk. Vincent describes how he has been flipping his classroom to help students prepare for their GCSE examinations. He gives a shout out to the Association for Language Learning's suite of wikis which are full of free and useful resources made by teachers for teachers. Finally he demos live a technique he employs for extending speaking through chunking and reducing cognitive load live with Noah. My favourite part of the interview!

Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP6

You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple's Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast - Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

Episode 5 of the #mfltwitterati podcast is jam-packed full of amazing ideas around the use of mnemonics in the languages classroom. We also hear about the recent #mfltwitterati conference and forthcoming Badge Summit and explore how Wakelet could be a useful tool for collecting resources, enabling collaboration and sharing podcasts with a cool Spotify hack! Noah champions the #HighlightREAL hashtag and I give the new Real Lives exam a nice plug too as well as describe the impact that little changes to our software can have on our daily lives.

Our tech talk interview for this episode is with Daren White who explains many useful ways language teachers can use Google tools in the classroom including giving feedback with gifs with Keep and Docs, creating One Stop Animation with Slides, enabling Voice Typing in Docs to create dictations, running Auto translate with Sheets and using the Explore feature in Docs and Sheets.

Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP5

You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple's Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast - Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

Unsurprisingly Noah and I are big podcast listeners and in Episode 4 of the #mfltwitterati podcast, we recommend some of our current favourites from the UK and the US. We start with ones produced by language teachers, of course and then move on to ones with an edtech focus. We share tips on how to find new podcasts to check out from podcast friendly hashtags to episode specific keyword searches and we give a shout out to a brand new social network aimed at connecting like-minded podcast fans! How cool does that sound!   If this wasn't exciting enough we also hear about a time saving hack to create vocabulary sheets using Google Translate and a great opportunity to take part in a global e-zine for learners of Spanish. Next, we get creative with the Language Stones initiative before diving into some great tech and non-tech revision ideas to help students prepare for their upcoming GCSE exams.   Our TechTalk interview for this episode features a lovely chat with Head of Modern Languages, Jane Basnett about her edtech journey in recent years and her reflections on the power of technology in the languages classroom.   Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP4   You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple's Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast - Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

  Hi everyone and welcome to Episode 3 of the #mfltwitterati podcast. In this episode, we hear about ways in which you can harness the power of social media and in particular Instagram and Snapchat to turn authentic resources into starter activities and make learning visible. We'll find out what impact language ambassadors can have on a school's ethos. There are also lots of ideas on how to integrate short films and drama into the languages classroom including flipping the classroom, green screening, digital storytelling, the benefits of attending a BFI Study Day and running a Film Club at your school.   Our TechTalk interview for this episode features an exclusive chat with Graham Wilson from @Class_QR about his revolutionary app loved by many language teachers which enables users to give audio feedback as well as promote listening and speaking skills in and out of the classroom.   Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP3   You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple's Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast - Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

  Wow! Well what a response to episode 1! Thank you all so much for your feedback and for spreading the word. We hope you like Episode 2 as much which looks at useful Facebook Groups for language teachers, purposeful virtual and augmented reality activities for bringing language learning to life and a whole host of ideas on integrating translation into the languages classroom.   For our TechTalk interview we speak to David Shanks (@HFLanguages) about different ways he uses research to inform his language lessons including spaced repetition, low stakes testing, creating speaking homeworks and the power of an audience.   Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP2

You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple's Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast - Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

After months of planning and preparation, we are delighted to launch the first episode proper of the #mfltwitterati podcast and we can't wait to hear your feedback! In this episode, Joe and Noah discuss the #mflchat, Flipgrid, the power of the #mfltwitterati community, pronunciation practice and different ways #mfltwitterati celebrated European Day of Languages.   For our TechTalk interview we speak to Rachel Smith (@lancslassrach) about different creative ways she uses iPads in her language lessons.   Full show notes with clickable timestamps can be found at: https://mfltwitteratipodcast.com/EP1

You can follow Joe (@joedale) and Noah (@SenorG) on Twitter, and follow the hashtag #mfltwitteratipodcast for more info. You can also email us with questions or ideas, [email protected] and subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated about the latest episode.

If you've enjoyed this episode of the #mfltwitterati podcast, please rate and review us on Apple's Podcasts app so more language teachers can find us. You can subscribe to the #mfltwitterati podcast on the Apple Podcasts app, Google podcasts, Spotify, Overcast or Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information and links, go to our podcast site mfltwitteratipodcast.com where there are lots of references to this episode content and all the previous episodes too!

The #mfltwitterati podcast - Celebrating the voices of the modern language teaching community!

Thank you for listening!

Joe and Noah

Are you the type of language teacher who likes to be inspired by new ideas to enhance your classroom practice? Are you a pro-active sort of person who likes to seek out your own professional development from like-minded virtual colleagues? Do you like being part of a supportive online community who love to promote language learning in all its facets? If yes, then the #mfltwitterati podcast, might be a great resource for you. Every month you’ll hear from innovative classroom practitioners sharing their ideas with you, their tips and tricks and new tools and apps for you to try out in your own classroom. Sounds good? Then go to mfltwitteratipodcast.com to find out more.