Social Media is a powerful network of interactive platforms which enable users to share content, ideas and thoughts. You probably use apps and websites, like Facebook and Instagram, to communicate with your friends and keep up to date with the latest news and trends. But did you know that, across Social Media, there is a wide and diverse language teaching community?
We at Sanako have found that exploring this community is a great way to find new and creative language teaching ideas to improve efficiency and engagement. Being part of the social media’s language teaching community is also a great source of feedback and product development ideas for our development team. This is one way how we can ensure that all the features we build into our language teaching software tools are something that teachers really need and use in real-life.
Take a quick look at the following Social Media accounts. They are a great place to start discovering the online language teaching community. Neither patronising nor competitive, they simply exist to offer advice and resources in order to support your teaching practices.
Language teaching groups in Facebook
The MFL Classroom Facebook group is an open and non-judgmental space to share and receive advice, resources and lesson plans for MFL teaching.
TEFL, TESOL & English Teachers: Resources and Jobs
This group is dedicated to supporting a large and diverse network of English teachers around the world. Their members are very active in sharing creative ideas and resources.
By joining this Facebook group, you will have access to thousands of MFL teaching resources and ideas. If you take a look at their recent files, you will find helpful guides for digital tools and ready-to-use activities.
Language teaching community in Instagram
Instagram is an image sharing platform with a vibrant language teaching community. By searching #languages, #mflteacher, or #englishteacher hashtags you can find a lot of interesting content which will help you craft some fantastic lessons. Take a look at these Instagram accounts created by language teachers:
https://www.instagram.com/worldlangcafe/
https://www.instagram.com/sonrieinspanish/
https://www.instagram.com/lapizele/
Language teaching community in Twitter
Every Monday from 20:30 to 21:00 (BST) @MFLChat host a discussion on MFL teaching. Each week they focus on a different topic, like ‘Culture and Connections in Covid times’, and ask thought-provoking questions to get teachers talking.
Ran by the British Council, @TeachingEnglish brings together a global community of language teachers and shares resources and invaluable advice to support your professional development.
Joe Dale is an MFL and technology consultant from the UK. He is very active on Twitter sharing a super helpful and diverse range of resources, ideas and advice.
Anything interesting for language teachers in Pinterest?
Pinterest is designed to be an interactive digital pin board through which you can share and save content. Many language teachers find this to be an indispensable tool in finding fresh language teaching ideas and resources. Check out the profiles for ideas and resources:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/languageclass/
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/tefllessonsonline/
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ldlanguages/
Podcasts for language teachers
The Language Revolution
(Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify)
Join Kate Hamilton and various guests in their discussions on new teaching approaches and MFL innovation.
The EdTech Podcast
(Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify)
Learn more about incorporating digital practices into your teaching with this excellent resource.
The TEFLology Podcast
(Available on Apple Podcasts)
A bi-weekly podcast about teaching English as a foreign language and applied linguistics. It is a light-hearted and easy listen which is as entertaining as it is educational.
Check out also our another article, the “Top Language Teaching Blogs by MFL Teachers” to find language teaching blogs that share valuable ideas and resources for fellow teachers.
This blog post was last updated 3 July, 2023.