Language learning tip: get feedback

When you speak a foreign language, you are often unaware of the mistakes you are making. People you talk to or write to, such as friends or colleagues, often won't correct you. They may be happy you're trying to speak their language, and don't want to discourage you. But that means your mistakes persist.

A sign that you may not be communicating quite properly is when someone asks if you can repeat something or explain it in a different way. This could mean that your sentence wasn't clear or that you said something different from what you thought you were saying.

Ways to get feedback

Luckily, there are ways to make sure you get good feedback:

• Ask a colleague or friend explicitly to correct you if you don't say something right. After such a clear request, that person knows that you appreciate being corrected. After a correction, thank the person and possibly make a note.
• Find a language buddy. This is someone with whom you can practice the language regularly and who can help you with your mistakes.
• Use a digital tool like ChatGPT. For example, you can write a text and have it checked. The tool can tell you where the mistakes are and why something is wrong.
• Choose a professional language trainer. He or she can identify the most significant mistakes, explain why they are mistakes and how it should be done and then practice with you.

Feedback motivates

Feedback is not just about correcting mistakes. The best kind of feedback is when you get a compliment, such as: "Wow, how well you speak French!" That feedback is also useful. It gives you more self-confidence and motivates you to continue learning.

Regina Coeli's language trainers are highly skilled in both forms of feedback. Naturally we do everything we can to teach you the language as well as possible, but we think it is just as important that you enjoy the language and dare to use it. That is why we are not stingy with our compliments.