- Good morning, welcome to another video
from Coffee Break Languages.
My name is Mark, I am the Founder of Coffee Break,
and I thought I would spend this Monday morning
having a coffee with you,
and talking a little about language learning.
So how are you this morning?
(speaking in foreign languages)
Whichever language you're learning,
I hope that you are well,
and getting lots of opportunities to practise that language
on a regular basis.
Now, it is back to school time here in the U.K.,
and, indeed, in many places around the world,
and this got me thinking a little
about the role that teachers play
in the language learning process.
Now I'm sure, like me,
you have had many interesting teachers throughout your life,
and finding the right teacher is so important,
and a key element in the process
of making progress with whatever it is you're learning,
be that a language, or be that something else.
I was thinking a little
about my own experience at school and university,
and the many teachers who have played a part
in my language learning,
and I thought I'd tell you a little about them,
and, indeed, my own language learning experience
in today's video.
I studied French at secondary school,
and a little Italian in my final year,
and I've got very many memories
of inspiring teachers at school,
and through university onwards.
First of all, Mr. Rogan.
Mr. Rogan, and his many stories,
as a 12-year-old, or a 13-year-old,
listening to Mr. Rogan's stories,
I wanted to know more.
It seemed that he had so many experiences,
because he was able to speak French.
He also spoke some Russian,
and I wanted to have those same experiences.
I wanted to learn more about French, and other languages,
and I owe a lot of gratitude to Mr. Rogan
for that first experience of language learning
in secondary school.
Later on in secondary school, it was Mrs. McArthur,
Mary McArthur, and she had such a passion for French.
She taught me so much about French grammar.
I can still see the table on the board
where she explained the order of French pronouns,
where me, te, se, nous, vous,
comes before le, la, les,
and that comes before lui, leur,
and that comes before y and before en.
And I can see that so clearly.
And that was, oh, many, many years ago.
I continued with my language studies at university
and I studied French, Italian and Spanish,
and then later some Portuguese, too.
And I remember going into my first Italian class
in first year and we were going to be studying
l'Inferno by Dante.
Now this was a daunting prospect.
I had only been doing Italian for a little while
but this prospect of studying
the father of the Italian language, Dante,
it was made enjoyable
by the passion of Dottoressa Millar, Eileen Millar,
who enthused us all about Dante
and about the wonders of the Italian language.
My French language tutor throughout university
was Renée Birks.
And I have very fond memories
of lots of conversations in her office
about the process of language learning.
And I learned a huge amount from Renee.
Later in university,
I did some postgraduate studies in dialectology,
and it was Peter Davies who had an encyclopaedic knowledge
about the varieties of French.
And I did some work on sociolinguistics in dialectology
and looking at the language of the south of France.
And Peter was able to convey all this enthusiasm
about Provençal about Occitan
and all the local varieties of French
and other languages spoken in those areas.
I wonder if you have memories of your teachers
of languages or other subjects.
And I wonder what you think it is
that makes a good teacher.
Here at Coffee Break, we strive to bring you
the best learning experiences possible
by working with knowledgeable, inspirational teachers
who are passionate
about the language that they are teaching.
And we hope that that comes across in every podcast,
in every video or lesson that we post on social media.
So as learners return to classrooms and schools,
colleges and universities around the world,
let's look at this time as an opportunity
to renew our own interest in and excitement about
the language that we are learning.
Of course, our team of Coffee Break teachers
will be with you every step of the way.
And you know just where to find us.
Visit coffeebreaklanguages.com,
which should be linked to up here
for all the information you need.
One of my favourite quotations is by William Arthur Ward,
who was an American motivational writer,
and he said, "The mediocre teacher tells,
the good teacher explains,
the superior teacher demonstrates,
and the great teacher inspires."
I am lucky to have been inspired by many teachers
and I hope that you have, too.
And I hope very much that we inspire you
to move forward with your learning.
I'd love to know about your experience of learning
and of your experience with teachers.
Did you have an inspirational teacher of languages
or another subject at school
or indeed in later life,
give them a name check in the comments.
Who knows, they may be reading.
I hope that some of my own teachers know the extent
to which they played an important role
in my passion for language learning.
That's it for today.
I wish you a productive week of language learning.
Let me know about your experience of teachers
in the comments.
And of course, as ever, happy Coffee Breaking.