The Kate Languages Podcast

I really enjoyed this conversation with the amazing Helen Myers and I really hope you will, too! We discussed how important it is to connect with other teachers through organisations such as ALL, Facebook groups and of course, the Kate Languages Buy Everything community! Connect with Helen on X (she’s @HelenMyers on there) or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-myers-6111148/ To find out mo...

Season 7 is here! As always, the first episode of the series is a Q&A episode. I had some amazing questions for this season and I really hope you’ll find my answers helpful! Let me know if you agree or disagree with what I’ve said for any of them - get in touch on my social media (I’m Kate Languages on Facebook and Instagram) or through my website https://katelanguages.co.uk/ In this episode,...

CW: This episode contains discussion of panic attacks and stress at work. This was my third ever live podcast recording and it was such a great conversation! Bex is a fellow ex-MFL teacher, who is now working as the MFL Subject Adviser for Pearson Edexcel, and we discussed everything from what made us want to quit the classroom to what we are doing now. We also gave some (hopefully helpful!) advic...

In the penultimate episode of season 6 of the Kate Languages Podcast, I’m talking all about checking for understanding in MFL lessons. More precisely, I’m telling you what NOT to do… and then giving you my thoughts on what you should be doing instead. For example, you shouldn’t be explaining a grammar point or task and then asking “OK, any questions?” and then expecting students to just get on wit...

In today’s episode of the Kate Languages Podcast, I describe my ideas for how to stretch and challenge your students in MFL lessons. If you’re hoping for an episode on differentiation and creating lots of different worksheets for individual learners, I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place! I really believe that stretch and challenge is for everyone, and in the episode, I explain why. I also outline...

CW: This episode contains discussions about mental health and thoughts of self harm. In this episode of the podcast, I outline five warning signs that might mean it’s time to think about quitting or changing/reducing your work. From feeling physically ill, to constantly procrastinating and daydreaming, to feeling out of alignment with your values, these are my own red flags when it comes to knowin...

This was such a great conversation with the brilliant Emily Armstrong about real teacher well-being. And I’ll give you a clue… it’s not about cakes in the staffroom or mandatory yoga sessions after school! In this episode, we discussed strategies to actually improve teacher well-being. Whether it’s genuine workload management (meaning working how and when it suits you best), or learning to be asse...

Season 6 is here! As always, the first episode of the series is a Q&A episode. I think you’ll agree that there were some really good questions this time, including a couple of fun ones at the start! Find out my thoughts about why students struggle with instructions, my preferred exam board, why MFL GCSEs and A Levels are getting less popular, whether languages should be compulsory and whether...

In this special BONUS episode of the Kate Languages Podcast, I spoke to the incredible Crista Hazell about creativity in MFL. Drama, music and film are such wonderful (and possibly under-utilised?) tools that we can use in our teaching and Crista has so many wonderful ideas about how to fully exploit them! Find Crista on Twitter (X) @cristahazell and read her excellent book entitled MFL: How to ma...

In this final episode of season 5, I talk about teaching phonics in MFL. Namely, what teaching phonics is NOT! I talk you through 3 misconceptions about teaching phonics in MFL and explain my ideas about what it actually is. To dive deeper into all things teaching phonics in MFL, head to https://katelanguages.co.uk/product/teaching-phonics-in-mfl-online-cpd/ to access my online workshop on this ex...

This week’s podcast episode (the penultimate one in this series!) is all about teaching with family, featuring the wonderful Claire and Jen. We recorded the episode with a live “audience” on Zoom back in September and it was such a great conversation 😃 It was both hilarious and inspiring, and I can’t wait for you all to hear it too! Joe Dale is my podcast editor and producer. Music is by Coma Med...

In this episode, I'm talking about money! More specifically, how you can make a bit of extra cash on the side as an MFL teacher. From private tuition, to selling resources and monetising your other skills and hobbies, this is a rundown of my top 5 ways of making yourself some extra income. My podcast producer is Joe Dale and the music is by Coma Media from Pixabay.

In this episode, I walk you through how to exploit one text in lots of different ways in an MFL lesson. From listening, to reading and translation, grammar, speaking and writing, I talk about how to cover every skill with just one text, instead of trying to find a different text for each skill. If you would like to dive deeper into this, I am running a 2-hour workshop on 3rd February 2024. For mor...

In this episode, I interviewed the very fabulous Joe Dale about all things AI and ChatGPT for MFL teachers. We had a fascinating chat about what AI and ChatGPT actually are, plus how to use them effectively in your lesson planning and teaching. Joe needs little introduction to the majority of MFL teachers, particularly in the UK, but to those who don't know him, he is an independent ICT/MFL consul...

Season 5 is here! And I think you'll agree, sounding better than ever, thanks to my new podcast producer, Joe Dale! As always, I'm kicking off the season with a Q&A episode, with questions taken from a survey I did with my email list a couple of months ago. Find out my thoughts on teacher resilience, reading as an MFL teacher to keep your languages fresh, finding authentic texts and differenti...

Just a quick episode to let you know that season 5 is on its way! Make sure you've subscribed to get episode 1 straight onto your device on Monday 18th September 2023! I'm kicking off with a Q&A episode as always, then we have a fab interview with Joe Dale (who is also my podcast producer now!), a couple of episodes with just me, plus a live podcast recording about teaching with a family. Hope...

Welcome to my summer 2023 replay series! This summer, I'm re-releasing some of my favourite ever podcast episodes that I think are well worth a re-listen. In this episode, which was the last episode of series 4, I discussed the changes that are coming with the new GCSE and my thoughts and opinions of it. At the time of recording, only the French Specifications and SAMs had been released, so I was...

Welcome to my summer 2023 replay series! This summer, I'm re-releasing some of my favourite ever podcast episodes that I think are well worth a re-listen. In this episode, which was first released way back in October 2021 as episode 4 of the first season of the podcast, I talked about the fascinating book 'The Danish Way of Parenting' by Jessica Joelle Alexander and Iben Dissing Sandhal. In the ep...

Welcome to my summer 2023 replay series! This summer, I'm re-releasing some of my favourite ever podcast episodes that I think are well worth a re-listen. This episode, which was originally released back in February 2022, was the 10th episode in my (longer than subsequent seasons) first season! In the episode, I talked about how I came to be a teaching resources writer - from setting up my website...

Welcome to my summer 2023 replay series! This summer, I'm re-releasing some of my favourite ever podcast episodes that I think are well worth a re-listen. In this episode, I had a fascinating chat with Elizabeth Swan (@Elizabeth_swan_uk on Instagram or https://elizabethswan.co.uk ) about teaching MFL to people with ADHD and autism. Elizabeth Swan is a teacher, coach and consultant, who draws upon...

Welcome to my summer 2023 replay series! This summer, I'm re-releasing some of my favourite ever podcast episodes that I think are well worth a re-listen. This was my 3rd ever episode and in it, I gave a few ideas on how to maintain and/or improve your language skills as an MFL teacher. It seemed like an ideal time to re-release this episode as it's the start of the summer holidays for lots of peo...

Welcome to my summer 2023 replay series! This summer, I'm re-releasing some of my favourite ever podcast episodes that I think are well worth a re-listen. The 7th episode of the summer replay series was the last episode in season 3, when I spoke to the very lovely Janina Klimas ( @reallifelanguage on Instagram) about reading to learn languages. It was such an interesting chat and we covered so man...

Welcome to my Summer 2023 replay series! This was episode 5 of season 1 of the podcast, released back in November 2021. In this episode, I talked about the things you need to bear in mind when designing an MFL curriculum (particularly at KS3). I discussed starting from the end and ensuring that every task, lesson and unit feeds into the 'big picture' i.e. what you want pupils to know and to be abl...

Welcome to my Summer 2023 Replay Series! This summer, I'm re-releasing some of my favourite ever podcast episodes that I think are well worth a re-listen. In this episode, which was originally released as Episode 2 of Season 3 in September 2022, I chatted to the wonderful Julie (@teachingplanninglanguages on Instagram) about how to plan your lessons in the most efficient way possible. We talked ab...

Welcome to my Summer 2023 Replay series! This was my first ever podcast episode! In the episode I talked about the pros and cons of using GCSE-style activities at KS3. I think this is particularly relevant as we turn our focus towards the next new GCSE (first teaching 2024) and how we can adapt our KS3 and KS4 lessons to ensure we're covering the requirements of the new GCSE. For more information...