What makes an inspiring language teacher?
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- Опубліковано 4 вер 2022
- What is it that makes for an inspirational language teacher? Join Coffee Break Languages founder and CEO Mark for a chat about his own inspirational teachers through school and university.
Find out more about Coffee Break Languages at
coffeebreaklanguages.com
Congratulations to all the Coffee Break team. Hope you feel better soon, Mark!
I was lucky enough to have been exposed to four languages simultaneously since birth, so I didn't really learn them, rather I absorbed them! Later, in French high school, I had lots of good teachers in a variety of subjects who whetted my appetite for their subjects (geometry, geology), and an excellent French and Latin teacher who awakened my interest in etymology - an abiding interest to this day. Unfortunately also a teacher in ancient Greek who left with me with....grammar, while my self-taught mother would go into raptures over the beauty of the Homeric language!! Half-way through life I became a translator, and now I am delighted to have discovered Coffee Break, which I am enjoying so much!! Thank you, Mark, and Coffee Break teams!
My passion is learning Spanish.However, while I was earning my degree in ESL I had an instructor who taught a class titled Language and Culture.She was a very experienced teacher who had a real grasp and passion for the journey in learning a second language.She was especially involved in helping refugees assimilate into a new society. What I liked most about her class was that she pointed out that culture and language are inseparable. And while I do focus mainly on Spanish these days I have an appreciation for all languages and how they are learned. She was a very good teacher and she has helped a lot of immigrants and refugees etc. in the Nashville Tennessee area.
Great to hear!
I had the opposite experience with a very boring french teacher. My german teacher was good but I was terrified of him, so I chose to do french A level and dropped it part way through. However, since then I took up french studies and now Italian as an adult (now aged) learner, and found some great teachers, and am loving Coffee Break, which keeps me interested and motivated.
Glad you've returned to language learning and found some great teachers!
Bonjour Mark, comme vous, j'étudiais la langue française au lycée pendent 4 ans et après a l'université pendent plusieurs semestres. Mon professeur au lycée, Madame Nielsen, était merveilleuse. Elle a voyagé souvent en France et elle nous a dit beaucoup d'histories de ses experiences étranger. Je me suis dévouée à apprendre le français et à voyager en France pour le parler. En plus, madame Nielsen avait un très bon accent français et elle nous l'a bien enseigné. Mais, il y avait 10 ans sans aucun français entre mon diplôme universitaire et mon premier voyage en France. Quelle surprise à moi...je me souvenais beaucoup de la langue en ce temps. Après des décennies d'absence d'etude de la langue, mes compétences ont vraiment souffert. Maintenant, depuis ma retraite de 6 ans, j'étudie constamment, avec Coffee Break French, Duolingo, Comme Une française et plus. J'ai deux amies avec qui je parle chaque semaine. Actuellement, J'ai une tutrice qui habite à Saint Rémy en Provence. J'ai étudié avec elle pendent mon séjour la-bas dans l'été 2019. Ces jours-ci, nous parlons ensemble une fois par semaine sur ligne en révisant mes devoirs. Et j'adore Coffee Break French podcasts quand je me promène...toujours. Après tout ce temps, je peux enfin voir mes progrès😀 Oh la la...quel effort énorme mais aussi quelle récompense! Et un grand MERCI à Google Translate et L' Arousse😍Salut!
Merci ! Bonne continuation !
Dear Mark, it is great coincidence that you talked about your inspirational teachers on Teacher's day of India. We in India celebrate 5th September as 'Teachers' Day, it marks the birthday of country's second President, a scholar, philosopher, a highly respected teacher and prolific statesman- Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.
India has the world's fourth highest number of languages (447) out of these 23 languages are recognised by constitution of India.
Normaly in India we learn 2- 3 languages in our school days, English, Hindi & one regional language. So I learned English, Hindi, Marathi (regional language of Indian State Maharahstra) & Sanskrit in my school days. I love learning languages, so after my schooling, I learned Bengali, Urdu and Kannada from dedicated language teachers. I remember my teachers, Mrs. Sen (Bengali), Mr. Mukhtar (Urdu) & Mr. Hegde & Shetty (Kannada), It was their passion to promote their mother tounges, so it was a great experience.
At present 'Ich lerne deutsch' I am taking help from Duolingo + yourgermanteacher + Easy German + German.net and offcourse now Coffee Break German. I realy enjoy your style of teaching german in the form of chatting with Thomas and additional inputs from Julia and Grammar Kirsten. It helped me in understanding some concepts especially regarding grammar.
Vielen Dank
Thank you for sharing such an enlightening and inspirational journey of your languages! I was inspired and had a wonderful expressive arts teacher that guided me in understanding my creativity and love for dance within. Mrs Bilgora you know you will always be my high school mum :) As for language learning I had a french teacher that always encouraged me to believe in myself as my french was good even if I didn't think or feel so. I wish we had the option of Italian at school and CBL in school. Grazie per tutto CBL !!! Buon lunedí a tutti !!!! Xx
Grazie Nicole!
My best teacher was a professor in my engineering program in undergrad. He implemented a flipped classroom. He recorded all of his lectures and example based lessons, academic seminars, and workshops. When we come to class, we are expected to have watched the relevant lessons, and discuss the content in class, doing design problems and applying our skills in situations that mimic the real world. Our grades were based around individual and group projects rather than exams. Not only did I do better in that class than most, I also felt like I learned the subject better, and developed a real passion for the field.
Sounds like a great way to learn!
I am fortunate to have had teachers who influenced me along the way from elementary school to graduate school. My high school English teacher Mr. Shen, a middle-aged Chinese man, was the one who helped me build a solid foundation in the English language and proved to us in his teaching that humor was perhaps the highest level of mastering a language. Later, I got my TESOL training in the UK, and graduate studies in the US. I also found that the best teachers often had a great sense of humor, apart from being the most humble and approachable, in comparison to the mediocre ones. I am equally inspired by some of the world's greatest comedians, actors, musicians, artists and writers who could stimulate our brains in a highly intelligent, inspiring, yet the most relaxing way.
Thanks Jessie!
Vous et votre équipe son phénoménal….et vraiment un inspiration un inspiration. Merci beaucoup
Merci Jennifer !
My husband and I have been with Coffee Break Italian from the beginning and we are just thrilled with this course and the staff. Mark you are the inspiration for all of us as well as your staff Im sure. Yes, this is truly what makes a great teacher - you inspire us all. Love these Monday coffee breaks with you for encouragement to continue another week of learning. Happy Monday, Labor Day in the US
Thank you for your kind comments Paula!
Hi Mark
Sadly my secondary school did not teach languages in Liverpool in the 1960s , and we were mainly expected to work in the docks or join the Merchant Navy - of which I did both. So no inspiration there , but while I was at sea I met many people in ports all over the world and later whilst working overseas in various ports as a Marine Operations Manager and it never ceased to amaze me how they all spoke English with varying degrees of success, but they all spoke it , that inspired me to one day get to grips with another language so I managed a bit of Spanish whilst attending ships in Tarragona, which was a great help.. listening to some of your podcasts with Francesca gave me the inspiration to take your courses 1&2 in Italian , and now I have restarted coffee break German which is a bit tough but I keep going. Thank you Mark , Francesca and Tomas and all your team , ciao, e danke .
Thanks for your comments and we hope you keep going with your Italian and German!
What a terrific look back at your own language-learning journey, Mark! I had inspirational teachers in other subjects too, but always kept coming back to languages in the end. Funny you ended with a quote by a Mr Ward, because my formal instruction in German began with a formidable Scotswoman whom the class knew as Frau Ward. For Spanish, lessons didn't start or end with Maribel Hamilton, but she was certainly the teacher who made the most memorable impact on me. As for French, I'd nominate my first teacher, Jean Sanders, who is now happily retired and last I heard could still be seen walking her dog on the beach every night in my home town, or at the local tennis club. Lastly, an honourable mention to another Scot, Jonathan Ervine, who explored the research niches of French football, video games and humour during my time at university.
Thanks Oliver! Sounds like you've had some great teachers!
Mark you attended the same secondary school as me. I am incredibly proud of your successes in language and teaching. Miss McCourt inspired me to learn and speak French. I furthered my studies in French, and I visit Paris annually. I have taught my children French.
Just finished a german a1 course teacher was sylvia fischer, she's an excellent teacher and is passionate about german
Well Marck to be honest i have never had an inspiring language teacher,until i discovered coffe break italian and you are my only inspiring teacher in my life..these days i start coffe break German and i really need you to give me motivation because i think its a difficult language and i dont know how to plan for study both italian and german, my university's lessons and job...im so confused.
Thank you again Marck you are my best language teacher in my life.
Thank you for your kind words Saba!
It’s good to hear others share their experiences of language learning at school. I did French and Latin to A level (with Maths) and Spanish and Greek to O level. I was mostly self-motivated as I cannot recall any particularly inspiring teachers in my girls’ school. My best teacher was living in France for three years as a student when I decided not to complete a linguistics course at uni. (I had no idea what I was letting myself in for there.). Now long retired, my love of the French language and love of French culture are unabated. I have enjoyed Coffeebreak Italian very much and agree with others that you and your team have been the motivation for following the Podcasts through the seasons. Thank you.
The order of French pronouns is ingrained in me too. We were taught to look at it in the context of a football team formation! I suppose “en” must have been the coach!
Perhaps my most inspirational teacher was Mr Turpin at primary school. Languages were not part of the curriculum, but he introduced us to French (as well as heraldry, and teaching us to swim!). My enthusiasm for language learning started there, and was reinforced by summer holidays visiting France, Germany and Austria with parents, brothers and a caravan…
Raye Garrett taught me German in my last two years of high school (what we in the UK called 6th form) and went above and beyond in encouraging our interest in language and literature.
Great to hear about your inspiring teachers Jenny!
And now it is your turn to influence our learning journey in such a positive and inspirational way 👏👏👏👏
Absolutely agree with this!
Thank you!
I would love to hear about what you know about sociolinguistics and French in particular. I speak French at an upper intermediate level, but since secondary school, I've mostly spoken and used it in Switzerland and the Middle East. Speakers of metropolitan French/Parisiens give me such a hard time about not speaking "properly" and being "a complete beginner", even though I used French for work for several years... it's seriously given me an aversion to speaking French in the northern half of France (with exception of Alsace/Lorraine, since I'm German and most locals there speak German the way I speak French and are lovely about it;)) I also speak Japanese, Spanish (prepping for DELE C1) and European Portuguese and never have experienced such overt classicism and obsession with "the one right way" in any language. It's completel, killed my love for the French language.
Sorry to hear you've had a challenging time! Mark's sociolinguistics studies focused more on dialectology and language maintenance rather than the area you mention. Hopefully you'll get further opportunities to practise all your languages!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, and you are indeed an inspirational teacher, Mark. I am utmost grateful to you and the rest of the team at Coffee Break for making my language-learning journey so fulfilling.
Our pleasure! Thanks Gayathri!
I really enjoyed your video! I laughed when you mentioned French pronouns simply because I can still remember the same lesson - 58 years ago!! I had three French teachers; all different and only one inspired - Hugh Richardson who taught me in my sixth year. And yet my latin teacher loved his language and although he put the fear of God into us all he was quite inspirational and to this day I can still recall a host of latin stuff! Times have moved on with the media tools available now helping to bring language learning alive. Your team has a role to play in this so thanks for all you do.
Thanks for your kind comments George!