Archived News

• Tuesday 20 June 2023 How investing in language education boosts national and regional economies In an earlier blog post, we explored how language learning was the ultimate 21st Century skill. We identified how language skills could increase opportunities for learners and support their economic and skill development.
• Tuesday 20 June 2023 CCQs and ICQs: how to ask great questions in your MFL classroom One of the characteristics of a great teacher is their ability to ask brilliant questions. This includes those questions that form part of their lesson content but also those which might, to an untrained ear, seem simple and straight-forward.
• Friday 16 June 2023 Create language lesson plans using AI tools like ChatGPT In recent years, technology has transformed language education in many ways. We at Sanako do predict that there will be even more radical changes in the very near future with artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT taking even a bigger role in how language teachers will teach and their students will learn languages.
• Thursday 8 June 2023 Using Sanako Connect Online for Interpreting & Translation Whether you are just staring on your interpreting journey or already experienced, Sanako Connect online gives you the ability to deliver translation, simultaneous & consecutive lessons in any location & on any device
• Thursday 1 June 2023 How to build your students' active listening skills? Some things just go together. Whether that’s Lennon & McCartney, Laurel & Hardy or Batman & Robin – one without the other just doesn’t work. It’s the same with building speaking and listening skills when learning new language
• Wednesday 17 May 2023 The number one weakness in teaching and how to address it Probably like many of you, I read lots of blogs about teaching and learning, both generic and MFL-specific. If you’ve not yet come across Tom Sherrington, of Walkthrus fame, then I highly recommend taking a look at it here:
• Saturday 6 May 2023 Sanako UK MFL Career Talks Continue To Have A Positive Impact With well in excess of 300 talks delivered to schools all over the country, these inspiring talks, from an unorthodox but effective position, continue to have a very positive impact on the number of students selecting a language at options time.
• Wednesday 5 April 2023 Sanako AI Pronunciation Testing for MFL - Primary, GCSE & A Level Ever wanted students to be able to perfect their pronunciation Add automatic assessment and instant feedback Watch this video to see it being used by GCSE & A Level students to learn more
• Tuesday 4 April 2023 Primary Languages Transition Project Sanako UK is involved in an innovative primary languages project using the extremely versatile Sanako Connect online system!
• Friday 31 March 2023 GCSE & WJEC Content FREE for all Sanako Connect UK Users Sanako UK is constantly supporting its customer base, whether that be the free of charge pronunciation testing system, oral assessment technology or, as in this case, free to download and use GCSE & WJEC content
• Monday 27 March 2023 Language World 2023 - Competition Winner Announced The winner of the competition, with 112 entries in total, is Ivana Stanley from Melbourn Village College. She will receive a free 12 month subscription to Sanako Connect, 30cc licences including all the advanced MFL facilities and French, Spanish & German content
• Monday 27 March 2023 Training students to speak spontaneously, read aloud & transcribe. Webinar Hosted by Wendy Adeniji Training students to speak spontaneously, read aloud and transcribe. Webinar recording and presentation
• Thursday 23 March 2023 Our Latest MFL webinar really strikes a chord with linguists! Sanako UK recently hosted a free to attend very successful webinar hosted by the fantastic Wendy Adeniji. Wendy spoke about the new GCSE examination and practical solutions to save the everyday MFL teacher both time and money.
• Thursday 23 March 2023 Sanako UK Success at Language World 2023 Sanako UK was really pleased to sponsor the prestigious Language World 2023 in Sheffield. Delegates got to use the latest modern languages technology from Finland and interact with real world teachers. Sanako Connect, Pronunciation Tool & readymade GCSE content was very well received by all
• Monday 6 March 2023 Sanako UK launches new Connect resources in Welsh! One of the fantastic things about Sanako Connect is how easy it is to create bespoke resources in (almost) any language. This means that minority languages, for which it’s often not cost-effective for publisher to create resources, can have very professional-looking resources....
• Monday 27 February 2023 Spontaneous Speaking in the new MFL Curriculum Recently I went to a really interesting session led by Rachel Hawkes at ALL Yorkshire hosted by the amazing Eva Lamb at King Edward VII School in Sheffield. I wanted to share some key takeaways and some thoughts and ideas that sprung from conversations I had over coffee with MFL colleagues and my own thinking afterwards.
• Wednesday 22 February 2023 How do we make time to assess the skill of speaking? Whenever I run training for MFL teachers on how to develop students’ speaking skills, one of their biggest concerns is how to assess the skill of speaking, which is, and will continue to be with the new 2024 GCSE, worth 25% of the final marks.
• Tuesday 14 February 2023 Sanako, constantly evolving. Constantly supporting our customers The thumbnail has been assigned to the news item, and for convenience also added to the body here:
• Monday 13 February 2023 Modern foreign language teaching in Finland's world-leading education system. Learn from the best! Our previous blog posts have demonstrated how Sanako has built our language teaching technology business on globally-renowned Finnish learning models. Finland’s approach to language teaching is similarly innovative and offers some invaluable insights for language teachers globally.
• Thursday 9 February 2023 Technology in Language Teaching (TiLT) Event Wednesday 22 March 2023 - 4.00 -6.00pm We would like to invite you to this in this in person event, kindly hosted by Mr Karsten Stephan of Alderman White School, Wendy will cover the following MFL topics • Phonics and teaching accurate pronunciation • Group Talk to develop spontaneous speech • How to assess students‘ speaking skills quickly and accurately
• Wednesday 18 January 2023 Training Students to Speak Spontaneously, Read aloud & Transcribe. A webinar by Wendy Adeniji Aims of this webinar session: Teaching phonics effectively, Practising applying phonic knowledge and receiving feedback, both immediate and by the teacher. Teaching students to speak spontaneously using ‘Group Talk’ methodology. Assessing students’ speaking skills efficiently
• Wednesday 18 January 2023 New Sanako Pronounce Tool I’m delighted to let you know that Sanako has now integrated its previously separate Pronounce tool into Sanako Connect, so you can select it as one of the task options, as below. This will go live in January 2023 and will be completely FREE to all Sanako Connect subscribers.
• Tuesday 10 January 2023 Sanako UK - Proud Sponsor of Language World 2023 As a long term supporter of the Association for Language Learning, Sanako UK is proud to be the major sponsor of the prestigious Language World 2023 Conference in Sheffield. To celebrate the conference we will be showcasing the very latest in advanced MFL technology from Finland, a country where multilingualism is considered the norm. In our Languages Technology Learning Zone at the event you will be able to speak to experienced languages teachers and play with the technology such as the very popular & intuitive Sanako Connect Online
• Tuesday 10 January 2023 4 activities to build your students' spontaneous speaking skills When most students think about learning a new language, it’s the ability to speak coherently and fluently that defines their success. Whether that’s conducting a business negotiation in São Paulo, ordering a coffee in Turin or booking theatre tickets in London, the ability to hold your own in a conversation with a native speaker is the main ambition for most learners. In order to achieve this, students need to develop their spontaneous speaking skills so that they have the confidence and competence to fully participate in such unscripted situations.
• Thursday 5 January 2023 How to Locate your FREE French, Spanish & German exercises within Sanako Connect
• Wednesday 21 December 2022 Building independent language learners Over the last couple of years many language learners have had to work on developing their language skills outside of the classroom and without having their teachers on hand. The move to full or partial online learning has therefore meant that students have been forced to take control of their own learning and to become more autonomous and independent language learners.
• Tuesday 20 December 2022 Why are flashcards so popular in language teaching? Every educator has their own go-to language teaching resources and teaching methods. This could be that there to get you out of a tricky situation” lesson plan or stimulus that you can always rely on when something goes wrong or when you just haven’t had time to plan or prepare something new and exciting. And for many language teachers, a set of flashcards will often fit the bill!
• Thursday 1 December 2022 Language Skills Are Key to UK's Export Success A fascinating and engaging article written by Professor Neil Bermel of the University of Sheffield, published in the Yorkshire Evening Post newspaper. It really highlights how valuable MFL skills are to UK industry.
• Thursday 17 November 2022 Autumn 2022 edition newsletter for MFL teachers & lecturers Read all about the exciting and engaging developments in the world of MFL teaching & Interpreting
• Friday 28 October 2022 How Can Technology Motivate Language Learners? One of the most common arguments for using educational technology in the classroom is that it is uniquely able to motivate and inspire students to engage in learning. The prevailing wisdom goes that students are already using technology in their leisure time and that as digital natives” they will therefore get more from a lesson which makes use of such tools. One of the most common arguments for using educational technology in the classroom is that it is uniquely able to motivate and inspire students to engage in learning. The prevailing wisdom goes that students are already using technology in their leisure time and that as digital natives” they will therefore get more from a lesson which makes use of such tools. One of the most common arguments for using educational technology in the classroom is that it is uniquely able to motivate and inspire students to engage in learning. The prevailing wisdom goes that students are already using technology in their leisure time an
• Wednesday 12 October 2022 Get ready for the 2024 MFL GCSE Practical ways to improve your students' speaking and listening skills Speaking is the holy grail of effective language teaching and learning, and is going to be assessed in the MFL GCSEs using the phonics methodology as well as through listening and speaking activities. Find out how you can improve your students' speaking and listening skills and understand better what the demands of the new GCSE will be.
• Tuesday 4 October 2022 New GCSE draft specifications are out! What do I need to do? Last week AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas published their new draft specifications for French, Spanish and German for first examination in 2026. This means that current Y8 and Y7 students will take the new exam. Many MFL teachers will have breathed a sigh of relief looking at the new sample assessment materials (SAMs) as they look very similar to what we currently do; we still have the 90 or 80-90 word and 150 or 130-150 word questions on the writing paper with clear bullet points (this time in English, hurray!) and in the speaking exam a role play and photo card activity which we’re very familiar with, again with the rubric in English, a cause for celebration.

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