Archived News

• Friday 14 June 2024 Teaching pronunciation: a practical guide for language educators For language educators and learners, pronunciation is one of the most important skills to master. It plays a pivotal role in helping students communicate effectively and its impact goes way beyond just speaking correctly. This blog post highlights and explores the best methods for teaching pronunciation, identifies why they work and provides practical examples that language teachers can use in their language classrooms to inspire and support students.
• Friday 14 June 2024 How to increase Students' Talking Time in language classes? In second language education, practice often makes perfect. A key to the mastery of any new language is the ability to actively engage in speaking and communication using the target language. Yet, in normal classroom environment, it’s often the teacher who dominates the conversation, inadvertently limiting the opportunities for students to express themselves verbally. Thus, arises the challenge for language educators: how can we increase students’ talking time in language classes?
• Sunday 9 June 2024 Increased Parental Engagement at all MFL levels with Sanako Connect We all know that the correct technology can really help engage language learners from Primary to GCSE, A-Level and beyond, but something which really helps, especially the younger learners, is parental engagement
• Monday 3 June 2024 Sanako Professional MFL Headsets - USBc Version Now Available Sanako UK is pleased to announce that the USBc connector is now available for our popular range of SLH-20 professional MFL headsets. This additional compliments our range of interchangeable leads for any or multiple devices
• Monday 13 May 2024 Sanako UK Technology in Language Teaching (TiLT) Days Return Welcome to Sanako UK Ltd, where we are excited to announce the return of our Technology in Language Teaching (TiLT) days. These events are designed to showcase how technology can enhance language learning for primary age children all the way up to A-Level
• Monday 29 April 2024 Sanako UK Director MFL Career Talks Have A Real Impact Hi David, Thank you for today's riveting presentation on the importance of language learning. We couldn't ask for better use of one hour with a cohort of year 9 students
• Friday 19 April 2024 Are you ready for the new MFL GCSE? Did you know that the new GCSE is significantly more accessible for students, especially at Foundation level. For all Sanako Connect users, Wendy Adeniji, an experienced MFL teacher, author of resources and school leader, can provide bespoke training and support for your department to help you to improve your MFL curriculum and its implementation at both KS3 and KS4.
• Tuesday 16 April 2024 A Sanako Connect example of teacher sharing work & students completing it online Due to the success of Sanako Connect online MFL centre many schools have been asking for a quick example of both how the system works and the GCSE content readily available for it.
• Thursday 11 April 2024 Best ESL/EAL and UWLP software for schools & Universities in 2024 In today’s globalized world, learning English as a second language (ESL) has become increasingly important for students of all ages. Educational technology tools like ESL software are valuable tools in making language learning programs more interesting and effective in schools
• Wednesday 3 April 2024 Sanako Connect activities to help students prepare for GCSE and A Level General Conversation speaking exams An important part of GCSE and A Level speaking exams, no matter what the specification, whether it is the old or new GCSE, are general conversation questions. Students need to be prepared carefully for success in these over the years, so that they can develop a core repertoire of, for example, opinion phrases, connectives and so on, which develop in complexity over time, and which they can use and apply to lots of different contexts.
• Friday 22 March 2024 Language teachers & students voice their opinions about Sanako Connect For GCSE, WJEC, Primary or A - Level language lessons in class or remotely
• Thursday 21 March 2024 Sanako UK collaborates with our Partner BUK to deliver state of the are interpreting technology to the University of Liverpool We are delighted to have recently completed an all-new install for the University of Liverpool. Working with our partner BUK, we are pleased to announce that the specialist Interpreter Training Facility (ITF) was completed earlier this month and as you can see from the pictures, it looks amazing at the University of Liverpool.
• Thursday 14 March 2024 One system, Many Uses - EAS Language Content Now Available for Sanako Connect One system, Many Uses - EAS Language Content Now Available for Sanako Connect. Following on from the huge success that Sanako Connect is having in enhancing the delivery of many different languages across the the educational spectrum, we are pleased to announce
• Thursday 22 February 2024 Sanako Connect, one MFL system with many cross curricular applications Sanako Connect incorporates the very latest MFL technology for live speaking & listening activities, in class, at home or remotely. Many forward thinking schools are now starting to use their technology on a cross curricular basis
• Friday 16 February 2024 Are you struggling to deliver A Level with less contact time? Sanako Connect online software allows you to prepare independent language learning activities for you’re A Level students, to give them additional learning time without being in front of a teacher.
• Monday 12 February 2024 How can Sanako Connect online enhance my MFL lessons? Sanako Connect is the very latest in MFL EdTech form one of the worlds leading educational systems, Finland. Watch the short video to discover
• Thursday 8 February 2024 Motivating MFL Students! I was recently reading a tweet from the excellent Pips Mccrea on motivation. Out brains use unconscious ‘rules of thumb’ (known as heuristics) to make decisions about where to invest our attention and effort. As teachers, we need to know about this as we’re always trying to attract that attention and effort to the subject or skill that we’re teaching
• Friday 2 February 2024 I am speaking at Language World 2024 I am really pleased to announce that I have been selected to deliver a talk at Language World 2024.
• Wednesday 31 January 2024 The ultimate in adaptive teaching for pupils with EAL I recently visited a school where over three quarters of pupils have EAL, many of whom do not speak English at home. Staff in the school work incredibly hard to support pupils to develop their spoken and written English through many techniques, to support vocabulary acquisition and accurate pronunciation.
• Tuesday 30 January 2024 Creating Parental Engagement with MFL Over the last couple of months our UK Director, David Binns, has seen a very unexpected yet positive change relating to the impact of his MFL careers talks. Parent have now started to openly engage with the relevance of MFL in the modern work place.
• Monday 15 January 2024 Setting online MFL homework - ideal for reducing teacher workload and motivating reluctant learners Homework is a valuable tool for reinforcing classroom learning and fostering academic growth. In secondary schools, it plays a crucial role in helping students make substantial progress
• Thursday 14 December 2023 Sanako teams up with Routes into Languages to help students prepare for the national spelling bee competition! Sanako teams up with Routes into Languages to help students prepare for the national spelling bee competition!
• Friday 1 December 2023 Top 4 MFL Speaking & Listening Activities for Sanako Connect Online Following a user survey of the most popular activities in the Sanako Connect online MFL system, we have come up with the top four activities designed to engage students, save the busy MFL teacher time and the school money.
• Wednesday 29 November 2023 Sanako MFL Career Talks Continue to Enthuse Students! David Binns, Director of Operations for Sanako UK & Ireland, has now delivered well in excess of 300 inspirational career talks to students stressing the importance of a second language skill in any chosen career and at initial interview stage. These talks are extremely well received by staff, students & parents with most schools asking for a return visit by him.
• Monday 27 November 2023 Spontaneous Speaking & Listening with the Sanako Group Talk Project Spontaneous Speaking & Listening with the Sanako Group Talk Project. Following on the success of the Sanako Hub school project in North Wales, Sanako UK is pleased to support the innovative Group Talk project in South Wales. Based upon the innovative and exciting MFL pedagogy of Greg Horton this method of getting students speaking and listening spontaneously has a proven track record.
• Saturday 21 October 2023 Sanako UK - Doing the right thing and supporting the local community The thumbnail has been assigned to the news item, and for convenience also added to the body here:
• Tuesday 17 October 2023 Phonics and Pronunciation can be fun! I was in a Ysgol Clywedog school in Wrexham a couple of weeks ago and watched the end of a Y9 lesson. The pupils were using the Pronounce feature of Sanako Connect to practise their pronunciation and get immediate feedback from the software and the chance to practise it again and improve it. Their teacher, Claire, told me that it’s the only time when the bell goes at the end of the day that they don’t want to pack up and go home, as they’re having so much fun with pronunciation.
• Thursday 12 October 2023 Sanako UK Autumn 2023 MFL Newsletter Welcome to the latest edition of the Sanako UK Autumn 2023 MFL Newsletter. Inside you will find many engaging articles about how the very latest MFL technology from Finland is having a very positive impact on the UK's language lessons.
• Thursday 21 September 2023 Sanako UK Introduces Live Online Conference Interpreter Training Whether you are looking to expand or enhance your existing interpreter training suite by adding online elements, giving the opportunity to provide consecutive or simultaneous activities online in both synchronous and asynchronous modes, or simply want a software only interpreting suite installed in an existing computer room. Sanako UK is sure to have technology to meet your needs from traditional hardware to cloud based solutions.
• Wednesday 13 September 2023 Sharing MFL Resources & Teacher Skills via Hub Schools Global Futures is a Welsh Government-funded programme and commitment to expand the teaching of International Languages in schools in Wales. It’s vision, which reflects that of the new Curriculum for Wales (September 2022), is that Wales becomes a truly multilingual nation and for learners to experience the range of benefits from learning International Languages as they develop into ambitious, capable learners ready to be citizens of Wales and the world.
• Tuesday 12 September 2023 Supporting language students with educational challenges to succeed One of the most significant themes to emerge in education during and after the Covid pandemic has been to recognise the importance of equal access to teaching and learning. Although usually focused on ensuring universal broadband and device provision, it’s also highly relevant for maintaining support to language students with educational challenges.
• Tuesday 18 July 2023 What do the students think of Sanako UK Director's MFL in Careers Talks? Our UK Director, David Binns, has now completed well over 300 MFL career talks for students, but is the message getting across Read on to find out what the pupils from Lampton School, Hounslow think.
• Thursday 6 July 2023 Enhancing Classroom Collaboration with Live Group Navigation Chat Enhancing Classroom Collaboration with Sanako Connect! Here's a tutorial video on how to create collaborative tasks for live student group/pair discussion using Sanako Connect. You can for example include interactive elements like video, text, presentations, pdfs and even Google Maps for role-playing a lost tourist or any other app that allows embedding.
• 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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