Learning to learn

Self-directed learning means defining your own objectives and the needs that arise from them. For example, if I want to improve my oral expression so that I can go and work as a waiter in Spain, I’ll need to master the vocabulary and expressions used in the catering industry. So I can take stock of what I already know and what I’m lacking. (Take stock of your knowledge)

Then I can define the activities to be carried out and decide how I want to organise and pace my work. In concrete terms, I start by making sure I know the vocabulary and expressions I’ll need to take on the role of waiter (by watching videos on YouTube, for example). It’s up to me to decide how often (1 or 2 times a week) and for how long.

So, in these tutorials, we’re going to look at how to get organised, how to do an initial self-assessment and how to self-assess. We’ll also look at interim and final assessments to measure the progress made since the initial assessment.

>> Download file “What is self-directed learning ?”

There are four important points to bear in mind: Firstly, you need to ask yourself what your objectives are: “Why am I learning this language?

Secondly, it is important to be aware of one’s own experience of the language: “What is my history with this language?

Finally, there is self-assessment, which has two components: self-assessment of language level and self-assessment of learner skills. (In other words, what is my level and how do I learn best?)

So, “Why am I learning this language? answering this question will enable you to define your objectives, which will then lead you to draw up a programme of activities.

Answering the question “What’s my history with this language? is an opportunity to take stock of your language learning experiences, including your educational background (what you learnt at school) and the opportunities you’ve had to practise the language (such as travel or unexpected encounters with foreigners).

As far as self-assessment of your language level is concerned, the aim is to highlight the areas where you need to improve. This will enable you to select resources and activities.

But, when it comes to self-assessment, it’s also important to be able to know your own learning skills: this means being able to define your objectives and manage your time. This way, you’ll be able to select the appropriate resources, taking into account the way you learn.

That’s why it’s so important to assess your learning and plan your work, while adopting a reflective attitude – in other words, becoming aware of your learning process.

>> Download the transcription file “Where do I start ?”

This tutorial is an introduction to help you build your language learning journey, in broad terms. It will also allow you to fully understand how the EDOlang platform works.

To begin, we advise you to diagnose your situation. This is an initial self-assessment which will help you identify your learner personality, your level, your needs and your skills.

Thanks to this assessment, you will be able to set learning objectives.

In order to achieve these objectives, EDOlang provides you with a set of services and resources:

• workshops on cultural, linguistic or methodological points ;
• thematic conversations in the language you are learning ;
• individual interviews with an advisor from one of the language; resource centers to support you in building your learning ;
• linguistic exchanges with a native speaker – also called tandems – ;
• a catalogue of digital resources
• and physical but also proposals for events that offer you the opportunity to practice a language outside the university.

To make the best use of these services and resources, we advise you to rely on a support tool throughout your learning: this is the logbook.

You are invited to note and analyze in your logbook all the activities you carry out to learn a language.

This ongoing self-assessment process helps you manage your learning by taking stock of your objectives, selecting the most relevant strategies for you or directing you to services and resources suited to your project.

Your teachers or an advisor are there to support you in this reflection if you wish.

Let’s now see how to implement this approach within the EDOlang platform.

As you have understood, the logbook plays a central role in your learning journey.

It is through him that you will go through to carry out your initial diagnosis and develop your project along the way.

Information and tools to support you in your initial self-assessment can be found in the “me and language learning” section.

If you would like to benefit from EDOlang services to work on your goals, click on “services to progress” on the home page. Log in to be able to register for the different services. You can either see the calendar corresponding to each type of service or have an overview of all the services in the overall calendar.

To discover the digital resources and physical resources accessible in the language resource centers, click on “resource catalogue” on the home page.

Once you have used a resource or service, we advise you to go to your logbook.

It is in the “my activities” section that you can record and analyze what you have done to work on your goals.

There are two tutorials specifically about the logbook, don’t hesitate to watch them!

After analyzing an activity, you can return to your objectives and continue your learning process.

That’s it, that’s it for this general presentation of the construction of your learning path on EDOlang!

>> Download transcription file “How do I build my learning path ?”

First, you can set priorities. So, everyone has their own priorities. So for example, if your priority is to be able to speak well, then you can very well set yourself small time slots where you really work on your expression. It could be workshop sessions at a Language Resource Center, conversation sessions or you could very well find friends to talk with. It’s completely personal, it depends on everyone.

Afterwards, it would be ideal for you to prepare a small program based on your availability.

If you know what time of the week you are available, you can set two or three slots that suit you well.

This brings us to the subject of regularity, which is a very important issue in language learning, so it would be good if you tried to really stick to your program and every week you said to yourself, today I’m going to work on my language and so it’s important to really focus on that.

Regarding the slots, you can very well choose slots of 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or even 1 hour, but we know today that it is preferable to choose 3 slots of 20 minutes, rather than one one hour block..

You can also ask yourself the question of taking notes. It is up to you to see if you will need other additional supports such as a notebook or your computer where you can write down the new vocabulary words you are learning or of course, any other support that seems appropriate to you.

https://cegepadistance.ca/soussite/En_route_vers_la_reussite/bloc1.html

>> Download transcription file “How do I organize myself and at what pace do I work ?“

In this tutorial, we will present the different “services to progress” offered within EDOlang and show you how you can use them.

The services, like the resources in the catalog, allow you to work on your learning objectives. You can see all the services offered by clicking on “services for progress” on the EDOlang home page: there are workshops, conversations, advice interviews, tandems and “going out to learn” events ”. We will detail these different services.

As specified in this description, the workshops are one-hour sessions in small groups and can focus on cultural, linguistic or methodological points. They may or may not relate to a specific language.

Conversations are one-hour small group sessions. They allow you to practice the language learned with a speaker of that language. A theme may or may not be proposed in advance.

Counseling meetings are 30-minute individual sessions. The advisor can support you at different points in your learning, to help you, for example, identify the most useful strategies for you, analyze the way you use learning resources, self-evaluate, etc.

There are schedules for workshops, conversations, and advisory interviews. You can either click on the specific calendars for each service and filter by language and resource center, or click on the global calendar and further filter by service type. You can also display services by list.

When you have found a service that interests you, you can click on it for additional information and register if there are places available or contact the provider if necessary. If you change your mind, consider unsubscribing to make room for someone else !

Services are generally posted several weeks in advance but registration is only possible 15 days before the date of the service offered.

Tandems, for their part, are linguistic and cultural exchanges between two people of different languages ​​where each learns the language of the other.

Finally, you also have the opportunity to practice languages ​​for free outside the university as part of events organized by the Erasmus Student Network association, during the Language Café or even English Pub Night evenings.

You will find all the useful information on this page as well as in the news on the EDOlang home page.  

That’s it, that’s it for the presentation of the services and their use! If you have any questions, you can find out at one of the language resource centers.

>> Download transcription file “How can I benefit from services to progress? ?“

The logbook is your language learning diary: you write down precisely and regularly what you do to learn one or more languages..

It is a personal tool, to which only you and your teachers have access.

You can use it within your lessons but also outside to manage your learning.

At the University of Lorraine, your logbook is digital and you access it via the EDOlang platform

Once on EDOlang, click on “my logbook” then “connect”. [break]

Your logbook includes 3 sections that we will present to you: “my activities”, “me and language learning” and “my profile”.

The aim is to help you reflect on your learning.
Broad topic !

To do this, we advise you to adopt the following approach :

• you can start by self-evaluating, that is, taking stock of your situation. [break]

This step corresponds to the “me and language learning” section in your logbook.

Then, you can fill out your profile by choosing the main language you will work on. This choice will be useful for selecting your learning resources from the EDOlang catalogue.

Now you are ready to embark on activities to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. You are free to do whatever you want! Use the services offered by language resource centers or work on resources from the catalog, the choice is yours! The idea is to comment on each of your activities in the “my activities” section of your logbook to evaluate their usefulness. If you are accompanied by a teacher, he will react to your comments in your logbook. To find out how to fill out your logbook, watch this tutorial.

Finally, we suggest that you take stock of your work. Did you achieve your goals? For what ? What was positive or negative? What are you going to do next?

To summarize, your logbook is your learning companion: it accompanies you from your initial self-assessment, for the definition of your difficulties and objectives, in the analysis of your learning activities and for your final assessment !

>> Download transcription file “What is the logbook and what is it for ?“

In this tutorial, we will first see how to add activities to your logbook and then, secondly, how to analyze your learning activities.

If, beforehand, you need to take stock of what the logbook is and what it is used for, watch this tutorial.

We advise you to regularly fill out your logbook to manage your learning journey.

There are two ways to add activities to your logbook: automatically or manually.

The activities added automatically once completed are: services in language resource centers (workshops, conversations or advice interviews), consultation of online resources via the EDOlang catalog, personal work and borrowing of documents in centers language resource.

For all your other learning activities, you can manually create an activity line by clicking on “new activity” and filling in the different fields.

You can thus create an activity for your initial self-assessment, to define your objectives or for your learning activities outside of EDOlang (film viewing, tandems, etc.). The activity created appears as a “free course”

Please note, you cannot delete a line in your logbook unless it is a “free course” activity without comment.

Why comment on your activities? To help you manage your learning by choosing the most appropriate activities and resources to achieve your goals. Your teacher can also support you by reacting to your comments in your logbook.

Write, yes, but what ?

The idea is to describe and analyze the activity you carried out.

An example: you want to write your CV in English to find an internship and you used the “how to write a CV” website from the EDOlang catalog: what did you do? have you read all the pages, why? did you look for vocabulary, why, how? have you compared your CV with the advice given? was this resource sufficient to achieve your objective, why?

It is not a question of detailing the content of the resource but rather of describing how you used it and to what extent this resource was useful to you in achieving your objective.

You can write your comment directly in the logbook or copy and paste from a text editor.

Here you see your comments and those of your teachers.

Now it’s your turn!

>> Download transcription file “How to fill out my logbook ?“

In this tutorial, we will introduce you to the EDOlang resource catalog and how it works

How to find resources ?

You access the catalog from the EDOlang home page.  Log in to have access to all features. 

You can start by choosing the language you want to work with.

The catalog offers you both physical resources, which can be consulted in one of the language resource centers, and digital resources.

Well, that’s no use, there are teachers for that !

You can search for resources in different ways :

• If you have information on the resource you are looking for, you can enter the title, author, etc. You can also do a keyword search.
• you can also do a simple search :
  • by skill: “write”, “speak”, “listen”, “read”. By clicking, you access the summary description of the resources. It is possible to filter these resources by type, medium, etc. When you click on the chosen resource, you access the detailed description ;
  • you can also search by type of resource: audio, video, literature, etc. “Reference tools” are common ones (dictionaries, grammars, etc.). The “learning sites” are all accessible from any computer station except subscription sites. To consult these sites, you must go to a language resource center. “Language methods” are books with CDs or DVDs, so they can only be consulted in language resource centers. The “build my learning” resources help you define your objectives and your organization ;
  • you can finally select bundles of resources: these are resources gathered by objectives.

if you want to cross several criteria, you can do it with the advanced search. You access domains in particular.

When you find a resource that interests you, you can add it to your favorites. You access all of your favorites on the catalog home page. 

There are plenty of ways to self-assess! It actually depends on what you want to evaluate yourself on. If you want to self-assess your written comprehension, you could for example choose a text, a book or an article, or even a conversation by SMS, it all depends on your objective. You would then try to estimate your comprehension rate as a percentage. And for oral or written expression, you could for example meet a native speaker, if you feel capable, at the language café or during tandems. And if your goal is to chat via text, you could try chats or apps, such as Hello Talk. You could also use a logbook online or on paper.

In any case, if you think you need it, you can always make an appointment with an advisor at a language center.

How to use catalog resources ? 

When you use a resource from the EDOlang catalog, an activity line is automatically created in your logbook.

For physical resources, this line appears once you have returned the document to the resource center.

For digital resources, you need to go to the detailed description of the resource and click on “launch”. When you’re finished, remember to click on “stop”: a line will be created in your logbook with the duration corresponding to your activity.

You can thus analyze the activity you have just carried out by adding a comment.

If the language is not the correct one because the resource is multilingual, you can modify it in the “action” column.

If you would like more information about the catalog and resources, you can follow a workshop on this topic or request information at a language resource center.

>> Download transcription file “ How to use the Resource Catalogue ?”

Hello there, budding learner! In all your knowledge and autonomy, do you happen to know what self-assessment is?

Well no, tell me, what is self-assessment ?

Sit down, I have to explain to you : Self-assessment is the fact of being able to evaluate one’s skills, one’s abilities to respect or not respect one’s objectives, which one has set for oneself !

 It’s comparing yourself with yourself and others. Thanks to self-assessment, you can observe the progress you have made and how you got there… or not.

Well, that’s no use, there are teachers for that !

Yes, it’s useful for something !

Self-assessment is part of the empowerment system. It is used to know yourself better and to review your goals if they are too high, too vague or unrealistic, for example. In addition, you can observe your progress and direct your learning based on it.

Oh yeah, not bad ! And so, what can I do ?

There are plenty of ways to self-assess! It actually depends on what you want to evaluate yourself on. If you want to self-assess your written comprehension, you could for example choose a text, a book or an article, or even a conversation by SMS, it all depends on your objective. You would then try to estimate your comprehension rate as a percentage. And for oral or written expression, you could for example meet a native speaker, if you feel capable, at the language café or during tandems. And if your goal is to chat via text, you could try chats or apps, such as Hello Talk. You could also use a logbook online or on paper.

In any case, if you think you need it, you can always make an appointment with an advisor at a language center.

Whoa, but it’s all complicated! Where do I start ?

 Perhaps you can start by asking yourself these kinds of questions: Where am I in my learning? What is my main goal? What should I do to achieve it? How will I know I have achieved my goal? Am I spending enough time on my learning? Or should I give it more time?

Oh yeah, not stupid, not stupid! I’ll think about that next time!

THANKS ! In the meantime, you can always take a look at our short questionnaire, which will allow you to better self-assess yourself.

Goodbye, see you again, have a good trip, arrivederci, sayonara!

>> Download transcription file “How to self-evaluate your learning of a foreign language ?“