The following article is sponsored by our partners at Mondly, the language learning app loved by millions of people worldwide.
Young minds are probably tech’s most enthusiastic supporters. There’s nothing as fascinating as bringing the magic of virtual reality into the classroom or the fun of taking a quiz on a tablet instead of a piece of paper. Every subject becomes automatically interesting when you use tech to explore it – and languages are no exception. Students love to learn using tech and we, as teachers, should play to their strengths.
Teach and learn through play using tech
If you’ve been a teacher for long enough, you probably already know how effective learning through play is for children. But why? How does this work?
As it turns out, children’s brains have a less developed prefrontal cortex which increases their tendency to use their imagination (much more than we do). Unlike adults who have a fixed perspective and see things exactly as they are, children make unexpected connections that help them learn faster.
And this is where tech comes in to take their learning to the next level. Although some parents don’t agree with exposing kids to mobile devices from a young age, some learning apps can prove extremely useful both at home and in the classroom. For example, many children have so much fun ‘playing’ Mondly that they forget they are learning a new language. They swipe up and down, select the correct answer, arrange words into sentences and earn points for every completed lesson. It’s very similar to a game and they love playing it!
How to bring language lessons to life
So far, we’ve settled that students love learning using tech and that tech, in turn, helps them learn faster. It’s a win-win situation.
Now let’s see how we can use tech to bring language lessons to life. If you’re new to including technology in your language learning curriculum, don’t worry. We have some ideas that will make you your students’ favourite teacher.
1. Use a language learning app
These days, language learning apps are becoming more and more popular. While they are usually regarded as a self-study solution, you can also use them in the classroom to aid your teaching. For instance, the Mondly app offers hands-on, interactive lessons on various topics that can help your students build practical language skills for real life. The lessons are short, super fun and a great way to show your students you can also speak their language – the language of innovation – fluently.
In addition, the app’s curriculum closely matches what you are actively teaching and the lessons can be accessed on any device – PCs, smartphones and tablets.
For some extra fun, you can use the MondlyWORKS solution to add your students to a dashboard, track their progress and organize competitions to award exciting prizes to all the champions.
2. Take your students on virtual reality field trips
These days, language learning apps are becoming more and more popular. While they are usually regarded as a self-study solution, you can also use them in the classroom to aid your teaching. For instance, the Mondly app offers hands-on, interactive lessons on various topics that can help your students build practical language skills for real life. The lessons are short, super fun and a great way to show your students you can also speak their language – the language of innovation – fluently.
You’ll think: “Is this even possible? How will it improve my language lessons?”. Yes, it definitely is. As you know, immersion is an integral part of learning a new language. But let’s be honest: you can’t afford a weekly trip to France with all your students.
Instead, you can introduce them to Mondly VR, the most advanced way to practice languages and experience immersion in virtual reality. With Mondly VR, your students can practice small-talk on a train to Paris, book a hotel room in Barcelona, or order food in a restaurant in Rome – all from the safety of your classroom.
By being so futuristic, this experience is guaranteed to mesmerize your students. Why read about Paris and try to imagine what’s it like when you can walk its streets and talk to its people? Because yes, your students will enjoy dynamic conversations with virtual characters and boost their conversational confidence in real-life scenarios.
If you have this ace up your sleeve, learning a new language will never be a drudgery ever again for any student.
3. Make vocabulary lessons fun with Mondly AR
What is the best way to catch and secure your students’ interest and attention? In an era that shakes hands with artificial intelligence, it’s hard to do it the traditional way. Being a teacher has never been as challenging as it is today. However, tech can be used to your own advantage.
Another captivating solution from Mondly is Mondly AR, a fun and easy-to-use experience that harnesses the power of augmented reality to help learners expand their vocabulary in a fun way.
Many people like to picture the things they are learning about with the eyes of their minds. But what would your students say if those things were ‘brought to life’? Having a life-sized elephant in your classroom would surely make an impression, wouldn’t it? From Saturn to the Sun or animals from the savannah, Mondly AR makes learning possible outside the books – quite literally.
Bring Mondly to your school
As you can see, you only need one solution – Mondly – to innovate the way you’re teaching languages. If you want to bring Mondly to your school, you can find out more at mondly.com/business.
Mondly is an official provider to the Israeli Ministry of Education in a project that will involve over 500,000 students. The solution is part of the Ministry’s teaching curriculum for English, Hebrew, and Arabic.
Freshly acquired by Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, Mondly enables people to learn 41 languages through 1200+ language pairs. Thanks to its focus on gamification, top-notch user engagement, advanced teacher dashboard and science-backed content that matches the national curriculums, Mondly is the most trusted choice for empowering teachers worldwide. By offering fun and interactive language lessons, Mondly aims to change the way language learning is perceived across the world.
