Lessons learned by being a student

As many may know, I moved to Norway last year and I’ve been learning to speak Norwegian. Before moving, I spent about 5 years learning Norwegian using Duolingo which got me to a beginning intermediate level class when I started classes last year. Since then, I’ve had three different teachers who have supported me in my language learning journey, and they’ve all been quite different.

My experience as a student has underscored some things I know about teaching and training, and it’s reminded me of some important elements that I’ve gotten lazy with myself as a trainer.  Here they are a collection of experiences and lessons learned.

Enthusiasm is so helpful!  

I currently have a very enthusiastic and engaging teacher, after having suffered in a class with one who followed a plan but didn’t seem very inspired or, dare I say, interested.

LESSON: If you can’t be enthusiastic about what you are teaching, maybe you’re in the wrong place, or you’re a bit too tired or stressed. Loving your subject helps students love it also. Allow yourself some passion, it is contagious.

Students need to feel cared about.

My current teacher blows me away with how much she knows about each individual student and how she tracks their progress, always making comments in context with that person’s progress. It’s remarkable.

LESSON: Everyone is different, know something about what they know already and what they’re ready for next. Students will feel seen and cared about and that just increases their motivation for learning.

Repetition is critical,

(along with a large dose of patience). I could feel impatience in a couple of teachers, one much more than the other and the third is honest when she feels it but then uses it to make a point to the class. I’ve had friends tell me that they had had a teacher who was extremely impatient with mistakes.

LESSON: No one learns everything in a first attempt. So be generous when repeating and don’t say, “I already told you that” or “we’ve been over this already!”. Check yourself and your ability to be patient.

Gamification works.

I was resistant to all the gamification that Duolingo used but then I realised it was so powerful. Points, leaderboards, competition, rewards, progress to different levels, partnering with friends to collaborate on goals, celebrations from friends, celebrating other friends, seeing others’ achievements and being inspired to do the same. Wow. I was often spending 30 minutes/day learning and it paid off! That would not have happened without the gamification.

LESSON: Perhaps a little competition may support learning, but it’s got to stay positive. Some students might be motivated by others who are better than them in a class, but direct comparison or ranking people in a class will lead to disengagement as will celebrating only a few individuals regularly. Everyone needs encouragement.

Deadlines are useful. 

My current teacher is somewhat demanding, and she reminds us regularly that if we are to learn, we need to do the homework – which is around THREE HOURS/WEEK!  She gives us pre-work (an article, podcast or video) before a class. She assumes we’ve done pre-work and gives us exercises to do in class based on that. It’s only us who suffers if we don’t do it b/c we’re lost and confused, and we let other students down in our conversations together. There’s also writing homework with deadlines each week. After submitting those on time, she will review and gives valuable feedback.

LESSON:  Create deadlines and accountability that matter but doesn’t punish. Let people choose, but also reinforce why it’s important to follow through and give a deadline. The combination of choosing and meeting a deadline is powerful.

Feedback is so helpful! 

One of those teachers was exceptionally kind. Which meant feedback didn’t happen much. I could hear others making what I thought was a mistake, but it wasn’t corrected, so I wasn’t sure what really was right or not. I also had no idea what mistakes I was making that were being left uncorrected. There was an exercise I turned in and it came back with no marks of any sort on it. I had to ask a native speaker to review it – and there were indeed two mistakes I hadn’t been aware of.

LESSON: Correcting mistakes without blame or punishment is a special skill and so necessary for learning. Of course, learners make mistakes but if they are never corrected, they’ll never know what is correct or not. So, redirect people when they make a mistake, with calm clarity along with an attitude of appreciation for their attempts. Shaming people for mistakes never helps.

Those are the lessons that stand out for me and that I’ve been mulling over in the last year. I hope you find them helpful for yourself whether you are a trainer, a leader, a parent or even a coach.

…and life goes on