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While translation is a core element of language learning, translation is itself an art, not a means to an end. So where does translation fit into a language learning process which requires personalized, relevant, and meaningful instruction?
Educational Technology, Learning & Development
Implementing Technology Programs in Workforce Language Training [Webinar]
13
Apr
Apr
Workforce development is the ideal place to implement a task-based language training program as learners have clear, real-world goals and because language instruction can be incorporated into training for other skills. In this post, an in-depth webinar on developing a strategy, designing effective language instruction, and measuring learner and course outcomes.
Educational Technology, Learning & Development, Training Methodology
Personalized Learning and “Big Data”
05
Apr
Apr
Let’s talk about offering personalized instruction in a classroom environment. At first glance, the two topics seem at odds. How on earth do you teach a class of people while they all do different, personalized tasks?
28
Mar
Mar
Learning and development is only one of the many competing priorities that Human Resources (HR) managers face. Fortunately, though, there are some easy-to-follow guidelines that can help HR professionals assess the quality of their current English training programs and, if necessary, bring in more effective, efficient, and innovative tools to help their employees develop their language skills.
16
Feb
Feb
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and unfortunately for many non-native speakers, a foreign accent can sometimes get in the way. It’s one of the first things that people notice, and incomprehensible, heavily-accented English can be used to label and categorize, often wrongly. Language learners understandably want to minimize their accents, but they are rarely successful; let’s consider why.
09
Feb
Feb
By Dr. Katharine B. Nielson –Another question I get asked all the time is how long it takes to learn a language. And my answer–which no one likes–is “it depends.” But there are no easy answers to this question, because it really does depend on so many different things, from how much time you have …
02
Feb
Feb
By Dr. Katharine B. Nielson –As anyone who’s ever tried to learn a language can attest, it’s not easy. I don’t know how many times I’ve had people tell me that they are “bad” at learning languages, citing the fact that they’d spent four years of high school or college learning Spanish or French, with …
26
Jan
Jan
Last week, I wrote about what makes learning a language hard and pointed out that using data on word difficulty from the language learning application Duolingo is not particularly credible. Duolingo relies on gamification and translation to “teach” learners decontextualized words and sometimes useless phrases such as, and I am not making this up, “the …
18
Jan
Jan
By Dr. Katharine B. NielsonIt is hard to accurately write about scientific research for the mass market, and journalists regularly make mistakes. I don’t think, however, that explains what happened last month at Business Insider. Not only did Mark Abadi publish a factually-inaccurate piece about how hard it is to learn English, he relied on …