LEARNING
HOW TO LEARN

All our teachers and trainers are fully trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) which is a self-development technique developed in the 1970s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. Its purpose is to help individuals understand and take control of their thought processes and feelings and use them to bring about positive change in their lives.

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NLP is frequently used in business to help people build better relationships, develop leadership skills, and overcome thoughts that hamper professional development. In recent years, it has gained momentum in the sphere of education as it has proved effective in helping learners gain a better understanding of the way they learn.

We, at Experience Lingo, believe NLP can help when trying to understand the concept of learning, and answering basic questions such as ‘Why do we learn a new skill?' and 'How can we do it efficiently?’. One essential aspect of learning has to do with the motivation behind the learning of a new skill, which can be split in two categories:

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1. You are motivated by the outcome of learning, e.g. being able to speak a new language or move to another country

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Before starting to learn a new language, it is indeed important to be aware of the success criteria, in other words the expectations and ways to monitor the progress of learning a skill proficiently.

Learning a new language to 'survive' in another country is not the same as learning a language to do well in an exam.

With this in mind, you may ask yourself if the way of teaching foreign languages in the UK is ideal. After all, foreign languages are no longer compulsory at GCSE level since 2004, with a drop of more than 35% in the number of students taking French, Spanish and German GCSEs ten years after that.

So is the government really supporting language teachers in their mission to teach the subject? How can we possibly tell young people that learning a foreign language at school is important when most of them will cease their learning before being able to communicate effectively in the language? Are we keeping alive a misconception that learning a foreign language at school is difficult and therefore impossible as an adult?

Very few regions of the world are resolutely monolingual any longer, and estimates suggest that a majority of the world’s population is at least bilingual. There is one glaring exception though, and that is the English-speaking world. As the world’s lingua franca, most native English-speaking families tend not to stress the importance of building up a linguistic toolbox; after all, everyone learns a little bit of English anyway, right?

The irony is that these English-speaking areas are, for a variety of reasons, becoming increasingly diverse to the point where speaking multiple languages and understanding other cultures is a tremendous asset.

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2. You are motivated by the process of learning, i.e. enjoying studying or simply having fun while doing it

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As mentioned above, it is not always easy to find the right motivation to learn a new language, or just even keeping up with your own when leaving abroad.

However, our teachers and trainers have all engaged in a new way of teaching that considers the holistic life of learners, rather than just their ability to learn new vocabulary or understand grammar rules. We want you to enjoy the process of learning that new skill, whatever the reason why you are on this journey.

In order to help you achieve your language learning objectives, we have adopted the 'Less is More' approach. For instance, by designing basic resources such as grids of high-frequency words, as well as telling you about The Battle of Hastings and the fact that about half of the words in English come from Latin and Greek through French. This helps you to quickly develop understanding of French or Spanish words that sound like or look like English words i.e. cognates.

We also make sure to show you that learning a new language is about discovering and enjoying a different culture. Hence, our innovative approach to teaching and learning whereby we endeavour to introduce culture in your day-to-day life. Listening to songs, watching movies, and reading books can boost your language receptive skills (listening and reading) which will, in turn, reinforce the language productive skills (speaking and writing) you need to communicate well in the language. Hence we believe experiencing culture is a key aspect of learning a foreign language, bridging the two aims of learning i.e. achieving the outcome as well as enjoying the process.