Have you ever tried to learn a language outside of a classroom setting? It’s an ongoing challenge in my life. I lived, volunteered, and taught in a Spanish-speaking country for 18 months right after college. I acquired language through a natural approach of understanding, speaking, reading and then writing. When I came home, I was conversationally fluent, but still wanted to learn more. About a year ago, I discovered the Duolingo App on my phone and loved it for learning or refreshing certain skills I had either missed by learning without formal means or acquired incorrectly.
Now is the time of year when two things language related are happening. One, we are due for an Army move which could potentially send us overseas and two, I am busy preparing to facilitate a world language session for new PBL teachers. The latter usually involves one component facilitated in a target language other than that known by most of the participants. Enter the problem: I speak Spanish and most of the teachers speak Spanish. Eek!