Take a deserved short break from learning a new language and check out these awesome facts about different languages of the world that you probably never knew about:

1. There are about 7000 languages in the world. In Europe there are 260 languages spoken which is only 3% of the world’s total. The largest number of the world’s languages are spoken in Asia and Africa. There are about 2,200 languages in Asia and more than 1000 different languages are spoken in Africa.
2. In many isolated communities due to factors such as geographic or political isolation, new languages have been developed. For instance, in Papua New Guinea alone there is an astonishing number of 832 different languages!
3. There are about 200 constructed languages (conlangs) that have been developed since the 17th century. At first they were created by the great minds of the time, but later on these languages’ goal became simpler international communication but they are also used for commercial and business reasons.
4. The most popular conlang of present time is Esperanto, which is spoken by 2 million people and also got featured in a lot of movies. It was invented in 1887 by the Polish doctor Ludwig Zamenhof, and got him the nickname Dr. Esperanto. He wanted to provide all people with a common language, therefore he came up with Esperanto, a simple language to learn and a politically neutral one.
5. “Esperanto literally means” “one who hopes”. Esperanto sounds a bit like Latin because the majority of its vocabulary is based mostly on Latin, but it also has elements taken from English, Polish, German and modern Romance languages.
6. Bilingualism and multilingualism bring with them great benefits. Multilinguals and bilinguals grasp other languages easier, their thinking process is enhanced and they have economic advantages as well, as more jobs are available to people who speak more than one language.
7. Euskara language is the language of the Basque people which has about 720 000 native speakers. It doesn’t belong to any language family and doesn’t even have any resemblance at all to any other language.
8. There was a word in the English dictionary from 1932 to 1940 which didn’t have a meaning. The word was “Dord” and it got there because of a printing error. It was known as the ghost word.
9. “Pronunciation” is the most mispronounced word in the English language! Oh the irony!
10. English as a Flying Language: All pilots on international flights communicate in English. In order to lower the number of misunderstandings that lead to accidents the English language was adopted as an international civil aviation language.
11. There are 50,000 characters in the Chinese language. You’ll need to know about 2,000 for only reading a newspaper!
12. The reason why computer keyboards are set the way the are instead of in alphabetical order dates back to the time when typewriters were used. To prevent the mechanical rods from clashing with each other, the keys were arranged in a way so that the most used letters got placed further away from each other.
13. Mandarin, Malay, Indonesian have no tenses. The time of the action is determined mostly by the adverbs in the sentence.
14. Language endangerment is the risk of a language not being spoken anymore. There are about 2400 endangered languages in the world, as 231 are already completely extinct. It is estimated that 1 language dies every two weeks, while the Northwest Pacific Plateau of North America, Siberia, and Northern Australia are the areas where the most endangered languages are spoken.
15. In the Irish language, like in other Gaelic languages, words for “Yes” and “No” do not exist. This is how Irish speakers answer to “yes or no” questions:

Q: An éisteann Kieran lena mháthair riamh? (Does Kieran listen to his mother?)

A: Éisteann (meaning: Listens) or Éisteann sé (meaning: Doesn’t listen)

Hope you enjoyed this article. Don’t hesitate to comment if you have anything to add!

The post 15 Interesting Facts About Languages appeared first on Le Tutor.

Happening now, is the French Film Week in FilmBar. The Film Week began on March 15 and will be open until March 22. This was made possible by a joint partnership between FilmBar and Phoenix Sister Cities Grenoble Committee, a total of eight French films are set to be revealed in the big screen. Grenoble is a city in France and is nicknamed as the Capital of Alps due to its nearness to the Alp Mountains. The city is famous for research in physics and mathematics, and its architectural wonders.

The Film Week opener was “Shoot the Piano Player” (Tirez sur le pianiste), a movie from the ‘60’s, initially released as “Don’t Shoot the Piano Player”. The movie is based on the novel Down There by David Goodis. The story is about a classical pianist whose wife committed suicide, and plays the piano in a dive bar.

The closing film to be shown, coming 8th in line, to conclude the whole festival will be “Jules and Jim” (Jules et Jim). A classic of the French cinematography, the movie tells the story of two friends, Jules and Jim, who fall in love with one woman, creating a love triangle, often referred to as a tragic love triangle, due to the nature of the story. Since it release in 1962, when it became a hit, the film remains a hit and is hailed as one of the best films to date.

Don’t miss this huge event at FilmBar at any cost.

For more information about the event, click here: http://www.thefilmbarphx.com/

The post Cinema Paradis – French Film Week at FilmBar appeared first on Le Tutor.

The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar. It now only serves for traditional purposes, to define dates of festivals and for horoscopes. The Chinese horoscope is based on a twelve year cycle, where each year is associated to an animal sign. According to the Chinese calendar the new year would fall on 19th of February, and the zodiac sign from the Chinese horoscope associated to it will be the ram. So this will be the year of the ram. Although, professor Isaac Yue from the University of Hong Kong declared : “The Chinese character yang can be translated as all of these animals — even the gazelle is called yang in Chinese”, referring to ram, sheep and goat.

Since 1989 there was a growing interest from the Chinese community in Phoenix for celebrating the Chinese New Year. Thanks to Clarence Teng, a member of the Phoenix Sister Cities Commission, the first  festival took place at Patriots Park in Downtown Phoenix in January 1991, where it went on for 7 years. In 1998, the Phoenix Chinese Week, a non-profit organisation since 1996, held the festival at the Chinese Cultural Centre, for the first time.

Knowing that Phoenix is a sister city of Taipei this event was widely applauded and became an annual event since its first festival.

The 2015 Phoenix Chinese Week Festival

So this year we have the year of the ram. Unlike previous years, this year the festival will be held at Margaret T. Hance Park. Yesterday in the news conference we had the announcement of this years organisation. The conference began with a demonstration of the Lion Dance from Wushu Dynamic, which is one of the most important performances of the festival. Later on the Phoenix councilwoman, Thelda Williams got her speech. She regarded the Chinese Week Festival as “one of the most fun of all the programs we have in this city”. She noted that this year also marks the 36th anniversary of the cooperation between Phoenix and Taipei, as one of the oldest sister city agreements of Phoenix.

The entire event is free of charge, and open for all interested parts.

The event

The Chinese Week Festival will hold from 13th to 15th February. The venue, Margaret T. Hance Park will host a lot of activities that will take place including traditional Chinese activities. There will be meals, exhibits, dance performances and tournaments. Guests will have chance to see the Giant Golden Panda statue, a gift from the Republic of China to honor the sister city relationship with Phoenix. Another donation from Taipei, the Dragon Boat will be displayed in this festival too.

Chinese Cultural Village and a lot of photo exhibits will be there, to portray over 5000 years of Chinese culture. The event will also feature works of children, in the Children’s Pavilion, who contributed to this event with their cultural projects as Chinese paper foldings, paper crafts, demonstrations of Chinese calligraphy and many other traditional Chinese arts.

Majong, the old Chinese game, that we all love to play. Guests will have the chance to see the art of Mahjong tiles, and you will be able to play it too. A bunch of tournaments such as the Taiji Tournament and Weiqi Open will be included in the festival. They are open for anyone who wants to participate.

The Chinese cuisine surely cannot miss the festival. In the Food Pavilions there will be Chinese food, which is so dearly loved by everyone in Phoenix.

The festival will end on Sunday, when the Chinese New Year banquet will take place. To attend you will need to make a reservation at a 45$ price tag. This will be the grand conclusion of the whole festival. An event that cannot be missed, surely. It marks the good relationship between all communities in Phoenix, particularly the value that the Chinese culture gives to our city.

For more information about the festival, please visit: http://www.phoenixchineseweek.org/2015-festival/2014-festival-details/

and the brochure: http://www.phoenixchineseweek.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/PCW-2015-Festival-Brochure.pdf

The post Phoenix Chinese Week Festival 2015 appeared first on Le Tutor.

Everyone might have noticed that English is the most widely spoken language. That’s why information in English is more likely to spread quicker and reach more people.  Shahar Ronen recently conducted a study and his method which helped to easily identify the most influential languages that can be used to disseminate information around the world.

Shahar Ronen wanted to measure the global influence of a language by using different factors, instead of using the wealth and the population of its speakers as a factor. He focused on “who spoke the language” and what their connections to other people are. That is because the wealth and the population of a certain language’s speakers impact the local influence of the language rather than its global influence, although they are an approximating factor in global rankings.

To prove the superiority of his proposed factors, he used the example of the Latin language in Medieval Europe. Latin was the language of scholars, teachers, literature, science and the Catholic Church, despite the fact that Latin was not  a native language of any of the European countries at the time. Being a language used by elites to exchange ideas and communicate, Latin became a global language in Medieval Europe having gained such influence.

Ronen’s method

To determine the global influence of a language, Ronen identified global languages as languages that connect international elites, by mapping their networks of multilingual co-expressions. Book translations, multilingual edits in Wikipedia and Tweets in multiple languages are multilingual co-expressions used in this study.

Book Translations

A total of 2.2 million book translations were looked, and each translation formed a connection or a link between languages.

Wikipedia edits

The users  who made edits to articles on Wikipedia (experts on that particular field) in more than one language were counted in, and the connections were formed in this way.

Tweets

Similarly, two languages formed a connection when a user was seen posting in those two particular languages.

In his study posted in http://www.pnas.org/, Ronen used this example to explain how languages are connected, and how some languages can act as indirect connections to a specific language, in most cases to English language:

“For example, it is easy for an idea conceived by a Spaniard to reach an Englishman through bilingual speakers of English and Spanish. An idea conceived by a Vietnamese speaker, however, might only reach a Mapudungun speaker in south-central Chile through a circuitous path that connects bilingual speakers of Vietnamese and English, English and Spanish, and Spanish and Mapudungun.”

Two languages need an indirect connection, or an intermediary, when the direct connection is not possible due to the lack of speakers of both those two languages. In this case Spanish and Mapudungun are the indirect connections between Vietnamese and English, because of the lack of people who speak both Vietnamese and English.

The higher the number of connections to a language, the more influential the language is. So, higher influential languages in the global language network should affect the visibility of information among the speakers of different languages. Global languages are said to be those with the highest number of connections, consequently those with the most influence in the global language network. Some languages don’t have any connection with some particular languages at all. They are said to be isolated languages. A lot of languages went extinct due to their isolation from other languages, and modern languages took their place.

What does this study tell us?

In this study English resulted as the most influential language in the world, since it had the highest number of connections and had connections with the most number of languages, therefore it took a central position in the map of the global language network. Surprisingly, Spanish language came second, leaving behind the likes of German, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, Hindu and French. Russian turned out to be quite isolated since it had no connections with many languages. Russian language took a parallel central position in book translations, but the results from Twitter and Wikipedia suggested that Russian is not such a popular language among non-Russian native speakers.

Since English and Spanish turned out to be the most influential languages, a person who speaks both of them, automatically have more access to information. Access to information is key for being successful in life, and it also characterizes most developed societies. One of the main goals of all nations is to have a well informed population, in order to be as competitive as possible with other countries.

The best languages to speak?

Visualization of Ronen’s study result

Since multilingualism seems to be a massive contributor in being able to access more information, never stop learning at least one other language beside your native one. For non-English speakers, the choice of English as second or third language is an obvious one. For English speakers, the study suggests it would be more advantageous to choose Spanish over Mandarin. As an English speaker, the obvious choice for learning a second language should be the likes Spanish, German or French, as most influential languages, instead of Hindu or Mandarin. But obviously, the more languages you speak the better.

The post Which languages spread information more efficiently? appeared first on Le Tutor.

August Bournonville

What is the story behind this piece?

Regarded as “one that best celebrates this world, real life, vitality and joy,” by the New York Times, Napoli tells the story of a poor fisherman, Gennaro and his love, Teresina. One day, while sailing together, a storm washes Teresina into the sea, so Gennaro sets out to save her. Teresina gets captured by sea spirits, who take her to the a cave called the blue grotto, the home of Golfo, who is an evil sea spirit. Golfo transforms Teresina into a Naiad, a Fairy of the Sea, but later on, through faith she gets returned to her old self, and at the end of the ballet she and Gennaro get married.

The happy ending of this story is a manifestation of the Romanticism era tradition, where light prevails over darkness, good over bad and love over all. The fact the ballet will also be performed on valentines day makes it a perfect as the story suits very much the day that it will be performed.

Ib Andersen the great director in charge of Ballet Arizona

Ib Andersen is the director of Ballet Arizona and one of two only performers with the required expertise to perform this piece. He is a regular when it comes to Bournonville’s works and can be considered an expert into mastering the tricky moves and footwork that characterize Bournonville’s ballets. Ib made his debut at the age of 7, and Napoli was his first stage performance. He joined the Royal Danish Ballet at the age of 16 and became a principal of it at 20, thus becoming the youngest principal in the company’s history. During 2012 his work with Ballet Arizona was highly rated by many, and the performance at at the Joyce Theatre in New York City received praises The New York Times, Financial Times and The New York Post. He will be directing the show in Phoenix in February.

A special event that will remain in the memories of ballet lovers

With Ib Andersen in charge, directing such a masterpiece as Napoli, will make  prove Phoenix to be a decent competitor for other cultural centers such as New York or San Francisco. As one of the most remarkable events in Phoenix’s cultural history, Napoli is expected to raise interest among citizens. The ticket prices will vary, the cheapest ones being 15$. There will be, of course, a discount for the elderly, military, students and groups coming together.

For more information about the performance of Napoli, visit: http://balletaz.org/performance/napoli-2015/

The post Ballet Arizona performs Napoli at the Symphony Hall in February appeared first on Le Tutor.

Jalapeño Inferno is a family owned Mexican restaurant, founded by Terry and Laura Craig in Pinnacle Peak, North Scottsdale. Being in business for for 15 years they have produced award winning specialities, who have been customer favorites for years. Extra fluffy flour and corn tortilla chips & salsa and their creative margaritas remain on the top of their customers wish-lists since the founding of the restaurant.

Recently, they have decided to expand their business and open it to a new location, also in North Scottsdale, but now on Market Street in DC Ranch. The Market Street Jalapeño Inferno offers the same menu as the original restaurant. But, the expansion of the business also involved the expansion of the menus. The chefs are being engaged in cooking healthy meals such as grilled fish tacos and fresh fruit salsas, which give the consumers plenty of options in choosing their favourite dish. For more information on Jalapeño Inferno menus:

http://jalapenoinferno.com/catering-menus/ (Catering Menus)

http://jalapenoinferno.com/market-street/ (Market Street location menu)

http://jalapenoinferno.com/pinnacle-peak-menu/ (Pinnacle Peak location menu)

A former restaurant employee, who is now an architect, Elizabeth Reiter is in charge of the interior design at the new location. The Mexican patterns will still be in the focus of the restaurant.

At Jalapeño Inferno, there is a special Anejo tequila that you cannot find at any other restaurant in the world except for Jalapeño Inferno. This beverage comes from the partnership of the Market Street Branch of Jalapeño Inferno with Patron Tequila, who produces it exclusively for the restaurant.

The co-owner Laura Craig, has declared herself extremely happy and excited for being now part of the Market Street community, and has hailed the new location as “a great location to expand our base of customers and friends”.

But this is not all from Jalapeño Inferno. There is an upcoming event on December 14 in their Market Street location. For more information: http://jalapenoinferno.com/event/jingle-and-mingle/

The post Jalapeno Inferno gets a branch in Market Street appeared first on Le Tutor.

– La Voz – Spanish Language Newspaper in the Valley.

– Monitor Hispano – Spanish Foreign Language Newspaper in Phoenix.

– TV Y Mas – Spanish Language Newspaper in the Valley.

– Prensa Hispana – Spanish Language Newspaper in Phoenix.

Spanish Newspapers

– ABC – National Spanish Language Newspaper from Spain.

Argentinean Newspapers

– La Nacion – National Spanish Language Newspaper from Argentina.

Venezuelan Newspapers

– El Nacional – National Spanish Language Newspaper from Venezuela.

Mexican Newspapers

– Pulso – National Spanish Language Newspaper from Mexico.

– El Universal – National Spanish Language Newspaper from Mexico.

Free Spanish Radio Stations in Phoenix

– La Network Campesina 88.3 – Free Spanish Language FM Radio Station in Phoenix, Arizona.

– KMRR 100.3 – Free Spanish Language FM Radio in Globe, Arizona.

– KLNZ 103.5 – Free Spanish Language FM Radio in Glendale, Arizona.

– KHOT 105.9 – Free Spanish Language FM Radio in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

– KSUN 1400am – Free Spanish Language AM Radio in Phoenix, Arizona.

Listen to Spanish language radio stations from Spain here!

Free Spanish Language Television Stations in Phoenix

– KTVW Channel 33 Univision – Free Spanish language television in Phoenix, Arizona.

– KFPH Channel 35 Telefutura – Free Spanish language programming in Phoenix, Arizona.

– KTAZ Channel 39 NBC Universal – Spanish speaking station on Phoenix television for free.

– KPDF Channel 41 Azteca America – Spanish language speakers on Phoenix television for free.

We’re offering a free trial class to all new students who want to learn Spanish at Le Tutor Language School.

The post Spanish Newspapers, Television, and Radio Stations in Phoenix, Arizona appeared first on Le Tutor.

I often get asked by adult students if it is too late for them to learn a foreign language. My response is always that anyone can learn a foreign language. You may learn faster or slower than the next person but if you work hard you will learn the language.

Adults are not at a disadvantage to children in our ability to learn. Except that Adults have this intellectual and emotional baggage that tells them that they can’ not do something or that it is too difficult and not worth trying. Although, children can learn new things very quickly it definitely is not a walk in the park for kids. Children just do it without self doubt and realizing how hard it is just because it is part of the process of growing up.  They do get frustrated though and have a hard time expressing themselves just like adults do when learning language.

Do you have kids, grand-children, or have friends with kids.  They often get upset and frustrated because they cannot express their feelings or wants.  They know exactly what they want but are unable to find the words or have fluency to express the words even though they know them. This process is natural when learning our own native language but adults feel like they shouldn’t have to experience this process.  Adult learners actually have advantages that children don’t have when learning and can learn as fast or faster if given proper instruction, sincere effort, and interaction with native speakers.

Lets examine some of the pros and cons of learning a foreign language as an Adult versus as a Child.

Kids

Pros

• Children learning multiple languages share neural pathways instead of creating new pathways for a foreign language.

• Accent and pronunciation are often native like.

• They learn observation and social interaction.

Cons

• If not maintained children can completely forget a learned foreign language. There are many stories of adults who spoke a foreign language fluently with their parents or grandparents when growing up but have completely forgot the language in adulthood.

• They cannot learn complex grammar concepts through textbooks or instruction.  This often takes place much later during their formal education.

• In order to become fluent they needs years of reinforcement. Although, they may be conversationally fluent 5-6 they are still developing and learning for years.

Adults

Pros

• Can memorize and retain large volumes of vocabulary in short periods of time.

• Can learn grammar concepts with basic instruction.

• Are able to use reason to apply grammar concepts and build sentences.

Cons

• Develop new neural pathways for foreign languages. This means that the language fluency is not as natural and fluency not as high as children.  However, this has been proven to be overcome through intense study.  The research shows intense study and immersion create overlapping neural pathways which allow for more natural language fluency.

• Often do not have the time to dedicate to learning a foreign language.  Adults have professional and personal responsibilities where children are learning languages full time without those same responsibilities.

• Adults need more formal instruction in order to learn a foreign language.

I’ do not believe that it is any easier for young children to learn a foreign language but it does seem that the end result is a more fluid and natural speaker of the 2nd language. Adults can achieve the same results but it takes time and hard work. Work that children just see as part of life and happens “naturally” for them in through their daily activities.

For adults it is a task that must be added to our other daily activities and requires time, lots of time. The emotional frustration is what stops most adult learners from becoming fluent or even conversational in a foreign language.  Adults are completely aware of how hard a task is and are not used to having to push ourselves this hard to learn new concepts.

The reason that adults think children learn languages more easily is because they do not remember how hard it was.. Do you remember being three or four years old and language being hard for you to grasp? Of course not. However, adults remember and agonize over every failure.  Adults build up language learning too much in our minds as something hard and give up once they confirm our suspicions or  the reverse and adults think it will be easy and then get discouraged when they don’t speak fluently in 30 days.

It takes kids 7-8 years before they speak their native language extremely well. Even then they will be learning it for another 8-10 years depending on their education. Adults learning a foreign language think it is hard because they are more conscious of the effort they are exerting in order to gain this new skill and knowledge. Additionally, adults have become accustomed to learning new things quickly with their increased intelligence and experience.

Summary

Learning a foreign language can have a humbling effect but should take less time to learn as an adult than it does as a child.  Think that it is easier for children to learn a foreign language than adults. NO! Adults are just more aware of all of the hard work it takes to learn a language. Enjoy the process, be committed for the long haul, and always look for learning opportunities and you will become successful in learning a second or third foreign language.

Sources: 

White matter structure changes as adults learn a second language.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22571459

Second Language Acquisition and brain plasticity.
http://neurowiki2012.wikispaces.com/Second+Language+Acquisition

The post Kids vs Adults Learning a Foreign Language appeared first on Le Tutor.

What does Faire la bise mean?  It simply means to give a kiss.  In France it refers to the cultural practice of cheek kissing as a greeting or goodbye.

Alright if you are travelling to France you are bound to see people giving each other kisses on the cheek and possible you will be giving and receiving them as well.  In French it’s called “faire la bise”.  When you greet someone you know or are meeting someone new for the first time you will “faire la bise typically exchange kisses on the cheek”.  This sounds rather simple but it’s rather complex and even the French don’’t always know how many times the other will kiss them on the cheek. So don’’t feel embarrassed if you get it wrong.  Let’’s cover the basics.

Faire la bise 101

Who

Men: Men faire la bise with women they are friends, acquaintances, or close male family members like your father or brother.  There are exceptions for this like when having reunion with very close friends or emotional situations like a marriage or funeral. However, even if male friends who are close will not usually faire la bise / kiss cheeks.

Women:  Women faire la bise with male and female friends, acquaintances, and family. They will even exchange bises with those whom they vousvoient. Using vous does not always imply a formal relationship.

Kids and Teenagers: Adults will often faire la bise with kids and youth that they are close with but not acquaintances anyone they are just meeting.  Typically, they will shake their hand.  Between youth it is common for both sexes to faire la bise even teenage boys. Not all boys do this but it is common.

Boys: It is more common for teenage boys to kiss cheeks than men.  Typical it is just one kiss and is similar to a bro hug in the US and Canada.  Young men will clasp hands, side hug, and kiss on one side of the cheek. Laura Lawless of About.com’s French section has coined the term “Bro Bise” which I think is great.

Notes:

1. If a woman does not feel comfortable kissing cheeks with a man she can politely offer her hand for a handshake.

2. If you are in a group of people and a new person arrives it is normal for everyone to stop and greet the new person.  The new person will faire la bise and or shake hands with every person.  This will happen even in business meetings. It is impolite not to acknowledge everyone. As a customer your interaction with an employee will even get interrupted by kisses and short conversation by co workers arriving or leaving.

3.  With point number two above you should also consider this for men.  Even if they do not faire la bise with everyone they will shake hands with everyone.

4. In formal situations where you would vousvoient (use Vous to address someone formally) it is still okay to kiss cheeks.  It is sometimes just as a sign of respect and not one of distance.

When:

It is common to exchange kisses or handshakes upon arriving, leaving, and when congratulating or thanking someone.

How:

When you faire la bise you do not actually kiss the other persons cheek but simply touch cheeks lightly and kiss the air.  It is usually done very fast.  Depending on the region you are in determines the # of times you will touch cheeks.  The most common is 2 times but can reach as many as 5.  See the image below that shows how many kisses one should expect by region.  Results will vary by person as there are no hard rules.

Cultural Notes: Although for non Europeans it may seem odd to be kissing cheeks with another person’s spouse or significant other but it is a perfectly normal and harmless greeting in France and other European countries.  However, make sure you don’’t linger too long or it may taken the wrong way.

The best thing you can do is just watch what the others are doing and go along.  You’ will catch on quickly and don’’t feel bad if you mess it up. When in doubt let Les Francais lead.

Phone conversations: The bises is so prevalent in French culture that phone conversations are often ended with “Bisous” or “Kiss” to say goodbye.

Texting: “Bise” and “Bisous” are both used to say goodbye when texting or sms.

Europe: It is also common practice among most Eastern and Western European countries. Practices vary but the general rules will be similar.  Especially in Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, and Romania.

Let me know your experiences.

Also remember that we offer a free trial at our school for new students who want to learn French. Check our French classes page for more.

The post How to Faire la bise appeared first on Le Tutor.

First of all there are many different dimensions to language learning and depending on your goals for learning a foreign language you will want to look for different qualities in your teacher. I will cover the general characteristics that all language teachers should exude and the skills they should have depending on your needs and goals.

There are 7 qualities that all language teachers should have. Depending on your goals and needs some may be more or less important but generally these are the 7 principal attributes you should look for in a teacher of any kind.

1. Goals

It is important to know your own goals before choosing a teacher or joining a class.  If you do not know your goals you cannot compare the strengths or weaknesses of a program or your teacher in relation to what you want to achieve. Do you want to prepare for a trip and learn basic survival phrases, become fluent, or if you just want to read and write in the language.  These objectives determine the type of teacher and length of the course you need to follow.

2. Knowledge

The teacher does not have to be an expert in the language but does need to have a significant understanding of the core concepts and ideas needed to help you progress and learn the language yourself. In order for someone to elevate you to a higher place they themselves must be in a higher place. Expect that your teacher be able to explain concepts simply and to be able to organize the concepts they teach in order of priority.  If they are scattered or allow lessons to wander your progress will be slow.

3. Experience

Knowledge is essential however if the teacher has no practical experience that knowledge is useless. It’s like a basketball coach who has read all the books but has never played the game. The coach will never be able to make a successful basketball team. The same is for languages. If your teacher cannot say that they have spent a significant amount of time living, speaking, or working with the people that speak the language there is no way they will have the cultural insight to teach you any real life language skills.  However, if your pursuit is solely academic this may not be a large issue and I will discuss why later.

4. Communication

You need to be able to relate and feel comfortable with your teacher socially. Languages are a social experience and if your teacher is shy, distant, or not invested then it will make your lessons very tedious and ineffective. You teacher needs to be constantly asking you questions, encouraging, and conversational. Most important is your teachers ability to explain language concepts and grammar.

5. Enthusiasm

Who wants a boring teacher? Nobody wants to learn a foreign language to be boring. If you teacher is not positive, friendly, and interested in the language and you as a student then they will most likely not give you 100% and will not require 100% from you.  That doesn’t mean you teacher needs to have a big personality.  It just needs they need to be excited by the language and enjoy teaching.

6. Vision

The most important aspect is that the teacher understands your goals and needs. In order for any teacher to build lessons that will achieve your goals they must understand your reasons for learning the language. If a teacher tells you that you have to learn a certain way because that’ is the way it is and is not interested in focusing on your interests then you should consider whether or not you are receiving effective language lessons. However sometimes teachers will need to tell you that it is not time to learn a certain subject or to tell you that a question will be answered at a later time because it is not time.

Saying that we will come back to a subject at a later time is different than completely ignoring your goals. You should feel comfortable asking your teacher what their plan of action is and how they plan to help you achieve your goals in the language.

Pretend that your teacher is a guide and has been to your destination many times.  They know the map and the best ways to get to your goal.  If they are taking you to a destination that is not yours that are not a skilled guide.  A great guide also knows when to push you, when to let you have fun, and when to rest.  Seeing the map or the big picture and how to get there is one of the most important skills.

7. Fluency

At Le tutor we only hire fluent teachers.  That may not always be necessary but we believe that in order to achieve fluency you must have a teacher who is fluent so that you can practice speaking and listening.  However, for someone who is wanting to learn to read and write a teacher is can’t speak the language may be more than sufficient.  Or a student who is just starting out and wants to just build a foundation in vocabulary or someone who is just wanting to learn survival phrases. As you progress you may outgrow your teacher’s abilities and what they are able to teach you. You will know when it is time to seek out more challenging options.

This is not an exhaustive list of everything a foreign language teacher should do or know.  Your teacher should always be willing to give you a free trial class before you commit to any lessons.  During your trial if you think about these 7 skills while you meet with your teacher it will help you to choose the best teacher to fit for your personality and your language goals.

The post Choosing The Perfect Foreign Language Teacher appeared first on Le Tutor.