If we are not embarrassed about our failure to speak languages maybe we should be.... "One of the great cringe-making sights is when you're abroad and you see cross British tourists bellowing "you don't speak English?" in some locals face."
Dr Anthony Seldon, Head of Wellington College, argues that our collective weakness in speaking foreign languages is turning us into a "Little Britain". Pulling no punches, he argues that we are becoming deeply insular, expecting all foreigners to speak English. He goes on to say ""Our record in language learning is uniquely bad in the developed world. We cannot simply assume the rest of the world will learn English to accommodate us. We cannot lose the plot at a time when other countries are expanding their language teaching. We desperately need to shift that culture and dramatically expand the teaching [...]
Power learning with educational games At last some reality when it comes to language learning. Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has stated he wants from five. There is an excellent article on the BBC website . But if you just want the nuggets here they are: Every child should learn a language from the age of 5. Almost every other advanced nation teaches a foreign language from that age. He criticizes Brits for taking a "perverse pride" in not speaking another language. The number of pupils taking a language at GCSE has plummeted from 444,000 in 1998 to 273,000 in [...]
The Best Board in Britain teaches foreign languages! KLOO - BEST BOARD OR CARD GAME We are very proud to say that KLOO has been recognised by ToyTalk as Britain's Best Board or Card game. This is great news for the language learning community. It means that language teachers have a resource that happens to be the best in category against all comers - not just language games. To win top prize, KLOO had to beat off stiff competition from the giants of the games industry including the likes of Raveneberger's "Labyrinth", Gibsons [...]
When you're lost in a game, learning a language comes easy ToyTalk 2011 "UK's Best Board Game" KLOO Many students fall into two camps when being taught. There are those that enjoy the subject and are incentivised to learn. These are a teacher's dream and unsurprisingly they make more of an effort - and achieve better results. Alas in many, if not most classrooms, there are also the polar opposite students. Those that don't enjoy the subject, have no wish to learn and possibly would rather be anywhere else. These are a teacher's challenge. It's [...]
SECRET TO A FREE HOLIDAY UPGRADE – EVEN IF YOU’RE BOOKED - SPEAK THE LANGUAGE Learn the language for a better holiday Holiday season is nearly upon us – kids have just weeks to go before the Summer break and if you’re like me, you are now frantically scrabbling around for a last minute deal. If you are not like me (ie you are organised), your holiday has been booked for months – I must try this. HOLIDAY UPGRADE Whichever camp you fall into, there is a simple and remarkable effective way to [...]
Language Games prove their value KLOO's Race to Madrid to learn Spanish A well designed game can simulate real life. Monopoly simulates the property market while flight simulators let pilots play at flying a plane before they are let loose on a real one. There are even war games. Countries don't want to gain experience of war by going to war - so they simulate it. Simulation is a fancy word for "make believe" (as my children call it). It's an elaborate game. Turning language into a game I have worked with games [...]
Playing MFL Games and learning a second language Jack Lonergan - Language Professor I was fortunate to have a coffee with Professor Jack Lonergan in a hotel near St Albans. Jack is amongst other things a Director of LTL Training, author, media producer and Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics. As an author of over twenty books on language and language learning, he is an undisputed expert in this field. He was kind enough to cast his eye over a KLOO language Games prototype and give me feedback. I took great interest, therefore, when the [...]
Good Games improve your performance. Best Games motivate you to do better Lurking inside us is a hidden warrior. He's the guy or gal who doesn't like to be beat. Kids let him out all the time. Have you ever seen kids playing? They will compete at anything: "How many times can you say the alphabet in one breath? First one to touch the car door wins! I bet I can throw this stone farther than you?" As we get older we like to think that we leave the competitive streak behind and we become [...]
Family Board Games and why they're still important Mum : "How about a game of Monopoly or KLOO after dinner tonight? Daughter: "But isn't 'X-Factor' on the box at 8 pm?" TV v Traditional Family Board Game - that's a complete mismatch, right? It's a David v Goliath struggle - that Goliath wins hands down in nearly every household. We have more channels that we can possibly watch. We have PVRs in case we miss something. There is video gaming too. Not to mention the Internet. And what about Smartphones?...... It seems that, without really noticing or understanding [...]
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