Lesson Plan: Polyglots

In your experience, what have been the best ways to learn English, or another language? How useful or interesting have you found the following?

1-1 classes	Graded readers	Podcasts	Flashcards
Living in another country	Watching movies / series	Playing video games	Listening to songs
Grammar books	English classes	Newspaper articles	Conversation practice

Video

1. Watch this video: 00.00-3.05. How did the following people learn the language: Benny from Ireland? Lucas from Brazil?

Watch again. Are the following true or false?

• Lýdia is learning her 8th language at the moment.
• Benny tries to be as accurate as possible when learning
• Lucas used facebook to learn languages
• Some polyglots prefer grammar to vocabulary.

Discussion: Do you think any of these methods sound interesting? Why? Why not? What are the pros and cons of these methods?

2. Watch 3.05 – 5.45 What did the poliglots have in common in their methods?

Match the the following sentence halves:

All these polyglots were talking about language learning	I was able to follow it almost without any problems.
I realised that	you can apply the method of self-talk.
By the end of the book	as if it was great fun
I kept on	this is how I learn languages myself.
After the second or third season	watching every day because it’s Friends.
if you are a more introverted person,	the dialogue started to make sense.

Discussion: Do you agree with what she says? How much have you enjoyed your language learning? What do you enjoy? What do you not enjoy?

3. Watch 5.45 – 8.33 What other effective principles does she talk about?

Match the following words with their definitions:

visible success, Anki, two months, good time to listen to podcasts, spaced repetition,place to find inspiration

1. A method to move words from your short-term to long-term memory.
2. An app for memorising vocabulary
3. Driving on the way to work
4. Polyglots on youtube
5. Time in which you can notice progress
6. A good way to motivate yourself

Discussion: Do you think these principles are relevant in your history of learning a language(s)?

4. Watch 8.33 – 10.44 What extra information does she convey about Lucas and Benny?

Use these words to complete the sentences:

as, themselves, for, so, easily, in, tracking, for , of

• Then he looked __________ his way ________ learning them
• Benny can __________ have a conversation ________ ten languages
• Lucas tried to learn English ________ ten years.
• _________ a language mentor, I help people learn languages by ____________.
• They start ___________ their learning, ______________that they can appreciate their progress.

Discussion: Do you know people like Lucas and Benny? How do you think language learning might be made more effective in schools and institutes, given this information?

Reading

Read the first five entries of this page:

https://www.summerlanguageacademy.com/blog/language-learning#:~:text=1)%20Practice%20new%20sounds%20early,and%20make%20your%20brain%20melt.

Which person mentioned the following things:

Simon Ager	Learn relevant phrases
Olly Richards	Know why you want to learn
Teddy Nee	Play is important
John Fotheringham	Don’t be afraid
Kris Broholm	Consistency

Which tips do you find useful?

Find words that mean the following:

• thinking about problems or fears (1)
• having or showing a lack of good sense or judgment (1)
• programme, make time for (2)
• speed, rhythm (3)
• put up with, deal with or accept (4)
•  to believe that someone or something is reliable, to have confidence in (5)

Discussion: What have you found useful up until now when learning a language?

Writing

Write your own tip(s) for learning a language. Explain why you find them useful.