TEACHER CASE STUDIES

Listen & Learn: Hey, Liliana! It’s lovely to take this chance to speak with you today about your teaching career and your time with Listen & Learn. Let’s start with the former. Why did you choose a career in teaching and what experience do you have?
Liliana: I chose teaching because I enjoy getting to know the students and appreciate their enthusiasm for my home country, Italy. So, I teach Italian, and I have done voice recordings, freelance translations, and taught Italian conversation.

Listen & Learn: And how did you find yourself working with Listen & Learn?
Liliana: Listen & Learn was an attractive choice for my teaching career as it gives me the option of teaching students online, which is becoming more and more popular. Even before Covid-19, my goal was to increase my online projects, so Listen & Learn provides me with that flexibility. I can teach no matter where I am in the world if I am traveling or living in different countries. However, my favorite aspect of working with Listen & Learn has been getting to know the staff members. If I need any support, for example, with the online platform, a member of staff is readily available to answer my questions. Everyone is kind and efficient and pleasant to deal with.

Listen & Learn: That’s very kind of you to say! We certainly try to make everyone’s language learning experiences the company as delightful and enjoyable as possible, including teacher. Can you describe any other memorable instances with Listen & Learn?
Liliana: While I have only been teaching with Listen & Learn for a few months, most of my memorable experiences have come from building a relationship with my student and seeing her progress.

Listen & Learn: That’s very nice! Besides this potential to form a friendship, what else do you look for in a student?
Liliana: I mostly look for genuine effort and commitment. I have just finished a contract with a stellar student, a flight attendant from Brazil. She was so enthusiastic about learning Italian and adding that to the repertoire of several languages she already speaks and uses in her job.

Listen & Learn: And you? What can students expect from you on their Italian course?
Liliana: Certainly, I love to tailor the course to their end goal. So, for example, with the student I mentioned, we clarified from the very beginning that her goal was to focus on preparing to learn the Italian vocabulary she would need for her flight attendant work; so, we focused on that. I also enjoy using different methodologies, from audio-visual materials to reading current news articles, and depending on the level of the student, using creative tools, such as songs, movies, cooking blogs, etc. to have fun while learning.

Listen & Learn: That flexibility is a huge part of our mantra here at Listen & Learn, well done! How else would you convince students to enroll in a course with us?
Liliana: As teachers, Listen & Learn gives all the didactic tools to support our students in their learning process. So, students can be assured that the material they use is the most advanced available.