How to Get the Most Out of Busy Students?

Time. Putting in the time.

The biggest issue for language learners, however, is the lack of time! This is the overwhelming reason why students give up studying a language (based on a 5-year survey of customers that have left our service).

To make the most of a conversation class, a student should prepare from 2 to 6 times the length of the conversation class (e.g., for a 30 minute class, it's recommended to study 1 hour to 3 hours the length of the class)

This is a significant commitment! And needless to say, most students are unable to put in the recommended study time/

Based on our experience, we categorize students into:

1. Serious Student (2-3 hours' preparation for 30-minute session)
2. Ambitious Student (1-2 hours' preparation for 30-minute session)
3. Busy Student (15-60 minutes' preparation for 30-minute lesson

The reality is that most of students fall into category 3. Life moves fast, and many people have much less time than they think they will when they start studying a language.

So how do you overcome this "time constraint"?

1. Make content easy to access and use.
2. Fight for more of their time with engaging content and fast results, and
3. Maximize results with intelligent learning tools and technology.

InnovativeLanguage.com courses were designed and developed to achieve these 3 things.

1. Make Content Easy to Access and Use
Our flagship product consists of award-winning audio lessons hosted by a professional teacher and accomplished student in the target language. Together they teach vocabulary, key phrases, grammar, and cultural insight based on dialogues recorded by professional voice actors. Students can listen to the audio lesson by streaming it over the Internet or downloading the lesson and listening on a computer, tablet, handheld devices, or multiple other options. Students can study anywhere and anytime, and the lessons fit into the student's busy day.

Simply press play, and listen to an intimate language lesson that will have the student speaking in the target language by the end of the lesson.

2. Fight for More of Their Time with Engaging Content and Fast Results
Make no mistake: you're fighting for your student's attention. Learners have many choices regarding their free time. So in a sense, you're competing for their time.

So how do you win their attention?

Our answer:

Edutainment – combine educational material with elements of the entertainment industry to make the lessons fun and effective!

Using this motto as our driving philosophy, our lessons are designed to be fun and engaging so that the student chooses to listen to our lessons with their free time.

Fun – lessons are story-based, so listeners relate to the characters and are curious about plot developments. The hosts present the lessons in a fun and educational manner providing insight you won't find in textbooks. The dialogues include professional voice actors who act out the scenes. And the audio undergoes post-production where background noises are added to bring the dialogues to life. In addition, humor is another element incorporated into the learning material.

Effective – while the content is entertaining, the pedagogy is sound. Lessons are based on a structured curriculum introducing grammar points, key phrases and key vocabulary, which are seamlessly intertwined into the storyline. Several keys to our methodology are:

Individual Lesson

• Dialogue is based on grammar or key phrase so each lesson the student masters a key concept
• Slows the language down so the students can "tune" their ears to it while maximizing lesson time in the target language,
• Syllable breakdown of vocabulary words,
• Explanations from both the host teacher and host learner to provide multiple approaches to mastering the target language
• Introduces cultural insight and current vocabulary and topics to provide interesting talking points when speaking with native speakers
• Speak-aloud drills to encourage students to speak

Many students are surprised at the amount of language learned simply by listening to the lessons.

The result...by simply listening to the audio lesson (10-15 min), students experience a fun and effective language lesson(simply listen with the option of reading along).

**The audio lessons are the only feature of our system that language learners ALWAYS complete before their conversation class.

Here is some of the common feedback we hear from InnovativeLanguage.com course users:

• "Native speakers were shocked that I knew such colloquial and nature expressions and vocabulary. They wanted to know where I learned that."
• "Listening to the shows is so much fun! Not like studying at all."
• "Language learners listen at home, during commutes, at work, at school, among other locations."
• "I love the teacher, but often I can relate to the techniques of the the non-native speaker, who learned the language. Both sides are great."
• "The language you use is so up-to-date, I was explaining the term "Twitter" to my language learning class and my teacher!"

3. Maximize Results with Intelligent Learning Tools and Technology
Using intelligent learning tools and technology, you have the following features at your fingertips. The following suite of tools guarantees that you will get the most out of any time invested in learning your desired language.

My Word Bank – centralizes collected key vocabulary and phrases important to the student
My Notes – centralize notes and thoughts from lessons and studies
Intelligent flashcards – uses spaced repetition to allow for faster memorization of vocabulary
2000 Core Word List – collection of the most frequently encountered words in the target language by a language learner
Line-by-Line audio with voice recording tool to improve pronunciation – master listening comprehension and practice pronunciation
Audio Practice Lesson – speak aloud with audio track designed for speaking practice
Quizzes to reinforce what students learn Reference Material Section – grammar explanations, helpful hints and basics on the target language
Mobile Website – access audio lessons and learning tools with a mobile device

The Results for the Students
By combining fun with effective content, students learn fast and become engaged. The more time spent studying outside the conversation class, the better the results in conversation class. Time in the conversation class can be spent speaking longer in the target language and on more interesting topics. This further increases confidence and motivation to learn the language with a teacher/tutor.

The Benefits for the Teacher/Tutor
The teacher/tutor will benefit from longer retention of the student, improved lessons as students progress faster, centralization and easier organization of lessons using our site, and less time spent researching and preparing content (less time preparing will occur after an initial time investment to learn our material)

Continue to Introduction to InnovativeLanguage.com Audio Courses