*Terms and conditions:  Lessons to be paid for in advance and all lessons to be taken within 14 weeks of booking.  Book by 30 June 2013.

REFER A FRIEND/S FOR 1 HOUR OF FREE TUITION!**
Spread the word and reap the rewards!  Don’t forget that it is even more economical to share lessons with others.  Just tell your friend(s) to mention your name when they contact us. See price list for details http://www.babbleandspeak.com/home-tuition/

**Terms and conditions:  One hour of free tuition will be credited to your account once the person/group you have referred has had 2 hours of lessons with a Babble & Speak Ltd tutor.

Looking forward to adding to our happy band of Babble and Speak language learners!

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With the exams now just around the corner I thought it would be useful to post a resumé or all the revision techniques we’ve talked about in our revision workshops.

Thanks to all of you who added your ideas … they’re great!

Remember, the key to a good grade in your language exam is “little and often”. Try to do quarter of an hour’s practice per day – that will give your brain time to process the information. Try “mixing it up” – do some listening one day, some activities from a website another, learn some vocabulary on the third day, etc.

And of course, make sure you do plenty of PAST PAPERS – the more, the better. You’ll come across the same words again and again, and as we discussed, you need to learn a fact three times and forget before you’ve retained it. After that, you know it for good!

So, here are the ideas we came up with for learning vocabulary …

Work through past papers and make a glossary of any new words you come across. www.wordreference.com is a useful online dictionary.
Type lists of new words and delete the English definitions you know until all the definitions are deleted.
Write lists of words on post-its (5 per post-it is a good number). Stick them round the house – every time you see them, translate the words. Once you know them, change the post-its.
Record lists of words on your phone, leaving a short gap so that you can say what they mean in English.
Go online! Here’s a list of useful websites. Some are specifically for GCSE students, some are for any learners, but they’re all good and have fun activities which will help you to learn.

French
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/french
www.s-cool.co.uk
www.revisioncentre.co.uk/gcse/french
www.wildfrench.co.uk/GCSErevision.htm
www.gcse.com/french

http://zut.languageskills.co.uk/intermediate/year10.html

www.accesslanguages.com

German
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/german/
www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse/german.html
www.gcse.com/german

http://gut.languageskills.co.uk/intermediate/year11.html

Spanish

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/spanish/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

http://www.revisioncentre.co.uk/gcse/spanish/index.html

http://www.revisiontime.com/gCSESpan.htm

http://oye.languageskills.co.uk/index.html

Work with a friend – two heads are better than one! Make a pact that when you come across a new word you’ll text or tweet it to each other. Get together to revise the new words you’ve learned – you could play some of the memory games we played in our revision sessions, eg. Pass the bomb or Kim’s game.
If you get brain drain, watch a bit of TV, but in the language you’re studying. Put on a favourite film or box set but change the language to French, German or Spanish. You could put the subtitles on in French, German or Spanish – that way you’re practising reading as well as listening.

We really hope these techniques work for you.

Good luck in your exams! We’ll be thinking about you on exam day.

Katie, Chrissy, Ali and Michelle
Babble and Speak Ltd

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Thanks to Penelope of ilovefrenchmusic.com, and here’s that all-important link. I’ll definitely be using these songs with my classes very soon.

http://www.ilovefrenchmusic.com/2012/03/10-songs-to-help-you-learn-french.html

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Learning a language is a long process – extremely enjoyable and sometimes frustrating. In my 17 years of teaching French and German, and forays into learning Greek and Spanish, I’ve realized that there are some mental attitudes, and ways of learning, which the most successful language learners share.

So, what makes a successful language learner? Hopefully these 12 tips will help to make your experience of learning a foreign language more enjoyable and less frustrating!

• Learning a language is like juggling – listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary are all important and you need to keep all these balls in the air at the same time. Don’t try to focus too much on just one area at the expense of the others.

• Following on from this, it’s much better if you can do little and often rather than one big block of study once a week. Try to aim for fifteen minutes a day, and change the type of activity you do, eg. read a magazine one day, memorize vocabulary another, listen to the radio the next, speak to a native speaker (if you know one) the next.

• Use the web! There are some fantastic sites out there to help you learn and many of them are free of charge.

• Find your preferred learning style. Some people learn new words by listening to the spoken language, some can’t remember anything unless they’ve seen it written down. If you’re a kinesthetic learner who likes to learn through touch and movement, try making cards so you can match the foreign word to English, doing word searches etc.

• Learning one-to-one can be expensive, but think about having less frequent lessons and asking for lots of ideas for different homework to do between classes. This way the fact that you have a lesson in a couple of weeks will keep you motivated to work, but you won’t break the bank.

• Be realistic about your goals. Your end goal may be to be completely fluent, but it will take years to get to this point. Set yourself middle-term goals, eg. you’d like to be able to order the family’s food and drink next time you’re on holiday / you’d like to be able to ask for and understand directions when you’re visiting a new town. You’ll get an enormous boost from doing these things.

• The funny thing about learning a new language is that your end goal is total perfection and lack of errors, but you need to be able to give yourself credit for being able to make yourself understood, even when you don’t do so faultlessly. Just think about how you speak in English – if you’re anything like me, your conversation is peppered with half-finished sentences and sudden interjections which are often far from grammatical. Nobody minds or even notices, because this is part of the natural ebb and flow of conversation. So don’t let your quest for perfect pronunciation and grammar stop you from jumping in with both feet and being prepared to make mistakes. The more you practise, the fewer mistakes you will make.

• Don’t be put off when you plateau – this is totally normal. You’ll find you make big leaps in your level of language every so often and then don’t feel like you make any progress for a few weeks. Don’t be too hard on yourself; another big leap will be just around the corner.

• In my opinion it isn’t possible to reach a high level of the language without grammar, and it’s easiest if you start learning grammar early on. I’ve met some students who don’t understand why they need to learn grammar when they didn’t have to learn it in their native language; well, they were surrounded by their own language at all times from being born, and therefore absorbed the sounds and syntax of their native tongue before they could even speak. When you’re learning a second language this is unfortunately not the case. Choose a well-written grammar book with simple explanations, plenty of exercises for practice and the answers so you can check your work. Don’t be scared of grammar! It can actually be really satisfying and fun, a bit like doing a quiz or a crossword.

• Research shows that when you’re learning anything new, including a new language, you need to forget it and relearn it again three times before you can truly say you know it. So rather than berating yourself next time you look up a word you realize you once knew, congratulate yourself that you’re one step closer to knowing that word once and for all.

• When you’ve learned new vocabulary or a new grammar concept, try teaching it to someone else. This will really focus your mind and make you realize what you actually do and don’t understand.

• Try to get to the country whose language you’re studying as much as you can, and when you’re there, try to absorb as much as the language as possible. Avoid the built-up tourist areas where English is spoken and go a bit further off the beaten track where you’ll have to rely on your language skills.

The post What makes a successful language learner? appeared first on Babble & Speak.

Wow them this Christmas by getting them a Babble and Speak Ltd gift voucher. You can choose to buy any number of lessons from 2 upwards, and our friendly, experienced tutors will make every minute count. Tutors will come to your home, in person or via the internet, at a convenient time. It’s flexible, fun and fulfilling!

Just contact Katie Shipley on katie@babbleandspeak.com or 07960 768974 to buy one of the most original Christmas presents you’ll ever give.

The post Give a loved one the gift of the gab this Christmas! appeared first on Babble & Speak.

Sheffield sisters-in-law Katie Shipley and Katharine Wellings are enthusiastic about the benefits of language tuition and are literally spreading the word by expanding their successful language teaching agency, Babble and Speak Ltd, which was founded in Sheffield in 2004.

“We are so excited to be able to offer our fun and flexible service, not only in Sheffield and Nottingham but, from the New Year, in Leeds, Birmingham, Derby and Harrogate,” says Katharine.

Katie adds “I was thrilled when Katharine was able to run Babble and Speak Ltd for me while I was on maternity leave and I’m even happier that we are now joining forces in order to expand the business.”

Babble and Speak Ltd offers flexible home and business tuition in a wide range of foreign languages and English as a Foreign Language.

Babble and Speak Ltd is well established in Sheffield and Nottingham and will be looking for new tutors from 5th November in Leeds, Birmingham, Derby and Harrogate. The company will be ready for business in these areas from January 2013.

Katharine Wellings and Katie Shipley, Babble and Speak Ltd

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Are you a tutor of a foreign language or EFL who is looking for a flexible way of supplementing your income? If so, look no further!

Who are we?

Babble and Speak Ltd is an employment business which was established in Sheffield in 2004 and we now also operate in Nottingham. We are soon to be expanding into Leeds, Birmingham, Derby and Harrogate. Could you be the ideal person to join our team?

We offer languages tuition in a wide range of foreign languages plus EFL to individuals, groups and businesses, usually in our customers’ homes but also in schools and on business premises. We aim to make learning languages accessible and enjoyable no matter what the age, prior learning experience or learning needs of our customers.

What does working as a Babble and Speak Ltd tutor involve?

Working for Babble and Speak Ltd is a really flexible and enjoyable way to earn money. Our tutors can choose when to take on new work and are under no obligation to take on a minimum amount of hours.

Tutors are responsible for contacting new customers to discuss their learning needs. Based on what they learn in this discussion, tutors put together a programme of study which will help their students to reach their goals, and travel to their students’ homes to deliver this at a time which they arrange with their students. The work is independent and flexible.

We are in the early stages of putting together a tuition service via the internet using webcam. The advantage will be that tutors will not have to travel to lessons and that they will be able to teach customers all over the country. Please let us know if you are able and willing to provide this service.

What qualifications will you need?

As you can see, we rely totally on the professionalism and expertise of our tutors. This obviously means that we need a high calibre of tutor on our data base.

• If you are a native speaker, you will need to hold a university degree in any subject and to have prior teaching experience for which you can provide references.

• Non-native speakers will need to hold a degree in the language they wish to teach, plus Qualified Teacher Status. They will need to provide two professional references, ie. from their students, colleagues or PGCE/degree course lecturers.

PLEASE DON’T CONTACT US IF YOU DO NOT HOLD THE ABOVE QUALIFICATIONS, AS WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OFFER YOU WORK.

What to do next!

For further details of how we work, rates of pay and to register with us, please email a CV to Katharine Wellings at katharine@babbleandspeak.com.

The CV should list your education and employment history, give your full contact details and those (including email address) of two professional referees.

Katharine will contact you further to keep you up to date with the progress of your application.

Please note that we are extremely keen to take on tutors of as many foreign languages as possible. We cannot guarantee that we will find you work, but are hopeful that we will be able to, no matter how obscure the language you speak!

Please do spread the word to your language teaching friends and anyone you know who might be interested in the service we provide.

We will be advertising for customers from January 2013.

The post Babble and Speak Ltd are currently recruiting new language tutors appeared first on Babble & Speak.

From November, we are planning to establish ourselves in Leeds, Harrogate, Derby and Birmingham, hopefully advertising for customers from January 2013. We are now on the look-out for some talented, and experienced language tutors in these areas, as well as in Sheffield and Nottingham.

The company will be officially re-launched with fireworks across the country on 5th November! Customers and tutors will be hearing more about the changes in due course.

Watch this space for more details!

The post Remember remember the 5th November, the re-launch of Babble and Speak! appeared first on Babble & Speak.

Our hello song …

I’ve made up the tune to this – ask your kids how it goes!

Bonjour, ça va?

Hello, how are you?

Très bien merci, et toi?

Very well thanks, and you?

Ça va très bien, merci.

I’m very well thank you

Et (mon chien) aussi.

And (my dog) is too.
Each time we sing the song I ask the children to think of other people/animals/words we could add instead of saying “mon chien”. We sing them and pretend to be the new thing at the end of the song. We’ve had a lot of fun with this – one of the children wanted to say that “ma montgolfière” was well too (my hot air balloon). We had a good laugh pretending to be that one!

Our goodbye song …

The tune to this is the “Goodnight” tune which ends “Merrily we roll along … on our way to bed.”
Au revoir + name of someone in the group

Au revoir + someone else

Au revoir + a third person

À la semaine prochaine

See you next week.

Keep singing until you’ve said goodbye to everyone in the group (or if you’re singing this at home you could think of friends/family instead).

Then, to the “Merrily we roll along” part …

Au revoir à tout le monde, tout le monde, tout le monde

Goodbye to everyone, everyone, everyone

Au revoir à tout le monde,

Goodbye to everyone

À la semaine prochaine

See you next week

If you’re singing this at home about friends and family, you could sing “À la prochaine fois” (until next time we see each other) instead of “à la semaine prochaine” (see you next week).

I hope you enjoy singing these songs!

Bonnes vacances et à bientôt,

Katie

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You sing it to the tune of Camptown Races and it goes like this …

lundi, mardi, mercredi

doo dah, doo dah,

jeudi et vendredi,

doo dah doo dah day,

samedi et dimanche,

la semaine commence,

lundi, mardi, mercredi,

doo dah doo dah day

I tried it with the kids at my Saturday morning group and they loved it. At first I sang it and they joined in with the “doo dahs” and then we all sang it together. Try it at home!

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