Platform
The Newsletter of SANAKO UK www.sanako.co.uk
AUTUMN 2013 CONTENTS:
•“Football’s a funny old game” - played in every language.
•The future of language learning has arrived at Sidcot
•To memorise or not to memorise
•Take your teaching across continents
•Show and Share
•News in Brief
•Events
Jalkapallo
Fußball
Fótbolti
Futbalo
Fotbal
“Football’s a funny old game”
- played in every language.
By Brian Deane, Manager, Sarpsborg 08, Norway
T
he famous quote by Jimmy
Greaves has never been truer
and this was brought home to
me almost one year ago when I was
approached to become the manager of
Sarpsborg 08 here in Norway. I had
known for a long time that football
was a universal language. Simply
mention the names Bobby Charlton
or George Best to any taxi driver
anywhere in the world and they will
talk about them. Somehow we can
understand each other when it comes
to football even though we don’t
often share a common language?!
D
uring my career I was very
fortunate to be able to travel the
world and even played abroad in
Portugal for Benfica. However, that
was as a player and we do say that
‘players do their talking on the field’.
Now, as a manager, I need to be able
to communicate with my players both
technically and also (perhaps just as
importantly) emotionally. Hence, I
have gone back to school and have
begun to learn Norwegian from the
very basics. I know that this will take
time but every word I learn is a step
forward. As a young boy growing
up in Leeds all I wanted to do was
to kick a ball but, and I know it’s a
common regret, I wish that I had
studied harder at learning a language.
I am sure that if I had I would find
learning another one much easier?!
However, like most boys growing up,
the dream is simply to play football
and what use is a language? One
of the most famous and eloquent of
modern footballers said,
"As the world gets
smaller, there's
never been a better
opportunity to get into
languages."
A
nd that footballer was Gary
Lineker. This is 100% true!
Prior to taking up my present job I
formed the International Academy of
Football Education (IAFE) based in
Leeds. The purpose of the IAFE is to
provide young players professional
training whilst continuing their
degree education in a full-time
environment in order to give them
as many options as possible for
their future. We have players from
Norway, Switzerland and India for
example that come and mix with the
young British players to create a truly
international environment. Many of
the students have already had trials
and coaching work in many countries
and I know that many speak several
languages. Who knows where their
future lies but one thing for sure
is that many young British players
(both male and female) may need to
look abroad to further their career.
Learning a language whilst at school
is important even if you want to be a
footballer.
Brian Deane played for England, Leeds
United, Sheffield United, Benfica,
Middlesbrough, Doncaster Rovers, Leicester
City, and West Ham United
Platform
The future of digital language
teaching has arrived at Sidcot
By Alison Bell , Head of Modern Languages
Thin client is the next
evolutionary step in
developing state of
the art technology for
the MFL teachers of
today.
A
t Sidcot we are looking to utilise
the latest technology to benefit
both staff and, more importantly,
students. The Modern Languages
Department is no exception to this rule
and we have recently become the first
school in the UK to install and use the
very latest Thin Client version of the
popular Sanako Study 1200 Language
Centre. Whilst there are many Study
1200 language centre installations at
various schools in the UK, Sidcot was
the very first to install this system on
a thin client Citix platform. Sanako
UK, Director, Mr David Binns, says
“Sidcot School MFL department have
shown true commitment and enterprise
to multimedia language teaching.
Installation on a thin client platform
makes them unique in the UK and at
the leading edge of technology”.
We are very fortunate and extremely
grateful to have acquired this cutting
edge system as part of our departmental
resources. We hope that it will assist us
in delivering state of the art language
lessons to inspire our students.
To memorise or not to memorise
By Marie O'Sullivan
expected to be familiar (as laid out in
the relevant examination specifications),
it’s very difficult to ensure that each and
every word has been introduced, taught
and reinforced during lessons, and
therefore setting vocabulary learning as
homework makes sense.
he merits (or not!) of insisting that
pupils learn vocabulary off by heart
were often the subject of discussion in
my previous departmental meetings.
However, given the lists of items with
which GCSE and A level pupils are
http://thelanguagepoint.com/english_
collections/show/Study Vocabulary
Files
and lists which you can download for
pupils to learn from are here:
T
On the one hand, learning lists of
isolated words, even in the context
of a specific topic, might be seen
as irrelevant, and certainly doesn’t
develop the skill of manipulating words
and phrases in grammatically correct
sentences.
Over at The LanguagePoint, we’re
building a collection of vocabulary lists
and tests which can be used to support
pupils’ learning. The vocabulary tests,
which can be used with Sanako’s Study
1200 software, can be found here:
http://thelanguagepoint.com/english_
collections/show/Vocabulary lists
While there’s no doubt that this is a task
which proves easier for some learners
than others, there was never any doubt
in my mind that those who made an
effort with memorising vocabulary
were at an advantage, particularly
when it came to reading and listening
assessments.
We’re always on the lookout for more
lists in any language, so please let us
know if you have any!
Platform
Take your teaching across continents
By Cecilia Goria
The University of Nottingham
has expanded its distance
learning provision with a
new professional development
programme for language
teachers.
I
n September 2013, the Language
Centre, School of Cultures, Languages
and Area Studies, launched the new
Masters Degree in Digital Technologies
for Language Teaching.
which the students are guided through
core readings and activities that
promote a healthy balance between
practice and theory as well as reflections
on their learning trajectory.
Digital technologies have revolutionised
the ways in which we teach and
learn languages by opening a
wealth of opportunities to interact
with people and resources in the
target language. Our Masters is an
innovative programme for trained and
experienced language teachers who are
seeking professional development in
the pedagogical and practical aspects
of learning technologies. The course
equips our students with a theoretical
insight as well as practical experience
into the use of a variety of technologies
for language teaching.
The session on CALL applications
takes place in Week 3 once the students
have acquired familiarity with the
learning content, the technology that
supports their participation and the
creation of a learning community. For
this session our students are required to
gain practical experience on the use of
applications and software and produce
a usability evaluation. The focus rests
on experiencing the potentials of the
Sanako software for language teaching
inside as well as outside the language
classroom.
The MA in Digital Technologies for
Language Teaching is taught part-time
over two years and is delivered entirely
online, providing the students with a
first-hand experience on topics which
are central to their studies. These are
amongst other: the use of games for
learning and teaching, technology
aided translation practices, technologysupported creative writing to enrich
advanced language learning, second
language acquisitions and technologyintegrated course design.
The degree begins with the compulsory
module Introduction to Digital
Technologies for Language Teaching
which introduces the students to several
commonly used digital tools and places
them within the context of language
education. The following topics are
covered in the module:
•CALL applications
•Digital wisdom
•Virtual learning environments
•Web 2.0 applications
•Virtual worlds
•Virtual identities and digital presence
This module develops over one
University term of 12 weeks, during
Teachers and students of the The
Language Centre have benefited from
using Sanako products for several years.
In particular, tools such as pairing, voice
insert and subtitling have provided
invaluable support to our teaching and
learning.
Following our initial investment in
the Sanako Lab 300 in 2004, we have
now expanded our facilities to include
11 cutting edge Sanako Language
Labs running Sanako Study 1200.
The benefits are on-going and allow
the Language Centre to continue to
improve the quality of the language
learning experience of its students.
The Language Centre wishes to
provide its distant learners with the
same experience as our resident staff
and students and is offering remote
access to Sanako Study Solo as part
of the Degree in Digital Technologies
for Language Teaching. Students from
different parts of the world will be able
to download Study Solo, explore its
features and reflect on their affordances
and limitations, by creating real
teaching content to be used in their own
language classrooms.
This is a unique and unprecedented
opportunity that will enrich the
learning path of our students.
Sanako have created the Show and Share
Group to allow Sanako language lab users to
share practical ideas and activities to get the
most out of the language lab.
The first meeting was held on October
1st at Cheadle Hulme School for our
customers in the North West and was
a great success! Delegates were able
to show examples of how they use
their language labs with the rest of the
group and share new ideas for creating
resources.
and inspiration for how to use their
Study 1200 and 700 language labs more
effectively.
Perhaps the greatest thing about the
Show and Share meeting was that
delegates who were feeling shy or
were new to the software, were able
to come along and absorb new ideas
If you are interested in hosting a Show
and Share event at your School, College
or University, please contact Marie
O’Sullivan for more information:
The informal evening was a fantastic
event and we are now expanding the
concept across the UK.
[email protected]
News in brief
Platform
We are thrilled to announce the release
of Study 1200 V7.00 for autumn 2013.
certified compatible with Microsoft
Windows 8 operating system
environments.
Study Primary – Language Lab and
Content for KS2
Contact [email protected] for
more information on upgrading and
remember, if you are Support Contract
holder with Software Maintenance,
you can receive this upgrade for FREE!
This latest version takes a major step
in bringing together language learning
systems and digital learning content.
We are pleased to announce the launch
of Study Primary; a new Language Lab
and content package for KS2 specifically
designed for little linguists. Sanako
supports early language learning and
we believe our Primary offering will
be an excellent tool for teachers to
encourage a love of languages in young
children. With easy to use, interactive
software and content packages,
language lessons can be fun and
engaging. Our overall aim is to make
language acquisition easier for children
with the hope that they will continue to
learn them at GCSE and A level.
Study Primary is currently available for
French and Spanish.
The new Content Exercise activity
allows users to launch Sanako produced
digital content files directly to students.
Study v. 7.00 will also make the lives of
teachers and IT staff even easier with
automatic attendance reporting and
a separate Admin Tool that allows for
remote monitoring and maintenance of
Study classrooms.
If you would like further information
regarding Study Primary, please
contact [email protected]
Events
Additionally, we remain on pace with
the latest technological developments
as the new version of software has been
SSAT National Languages Conference
8th November 2013, Aston University,
Birmingham
The SSAT Languages Conference
will focus on maximising progress in
languages through innovation, sharing
leading practice in languages and
giving delegates practical classroom
support and strategies to create
outstanding teaching and learning.
Sanako look forward to exhibiting again
this year.
Technology in Language Teaching
Show (TILT)
13th November 2013, The Ashcombe
School
BETT 2014
Our next TILT show is set to be our
most exciting yet! Hosted by Helen
Myers at The Ashcombe School, the day
will focus on using IT to maximise the
effectiveness of your language lessons.
After feedback from our previous
events indicated that the ‘Hands-on’
sessions were the most popular aspect
of the TILT shows, we have increased
the amount of ‘Hands-On’ activity
throughout the day. We are looking
forward to another great event!
We will be exhibiting at the 29th
annual BETT show at the ExCel
London. This year will see 35,000
visitors from the UK and around the
world exploring how technology can
power learning.
22nd January – 25th January, ExCel,
London
To be kept updated check www.sanako.com or email [email protected]
Sanako UK Ltd
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