Making Languages Fun!

There’s a growing tour de force in town and it’s out to… teach your kids!

For the past school year, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with LCF Fun Languages. LCF stands for Le Club Français, as French is their most highly demanded language. Working with this organization was truly a wonderful experience. I taught preschool, in school, and after school courses to amazing children who soaked up the language like sponges.

Indeed, childhood has been proven to be the best time for a person to learn a second language – in addition to being one of the easiest times to simply learn another language, studies show that it actually enhances mental development (i.e.: it makes you smarter!) I can attest to that – it was staggering sometimes to observe the rate with which the children were picking up French. It was simply phenomenal, and a joy to watch unfold as their teacher.

The goal of LCF is to teach language through having fun. I learned very early on in my studies of pedagogy that having fun in a language classroom is extremely important.

Through the magic of games, songs, worksheets, art projects, and role-playing, children discover just how much fun learning a language can be. The atmosphere is relaxed and the lesson plans are absolutely magnificent – well thought out, easy to execute, comprehensive, and a delight for both the teacher and the children.

LCF Fun Languages may be a global franchise, but the clubs are all locally owned, and the program is now growing by leaps and bounds in Australia and New Zealand. The program’s director and owner, Nickie Race-Jones, is an amazing and inspiring woman.

She believes firmly in the importance of learning language, especially in the early developmental years. In 2006, Nickie introduced LCF to Australia, and already there are 27 franchises across five states, and the business is always continuing to expand.

If I sound a bit moonstruck by this company, it is with good reason. I truly believe in LCF Fun Languages and its goals. Teaching children language is so unbelievably important for so many and various reasons. I have taught numerous language courses over the past decade, but LCF certainly stands out among those classes – it is just an amazing program that really teaches children language in a fun, new and exciting way and the students respond extremely well to the methodology. I loved being in class and the children loved coming to class – an amazing feat in and of itself!

How can you get involved?

Enrol your child – LCF Fun Languages has several courses for children.

These include:

• Preschool, which prove that it’s never too early to start learning language.
• In school classes, perhaps you might think to enroll your children in a school that’s already supporting LCF Fun Languages.
• After school classes, which are for younger and older children (LCF Fun Languages has amazing resources for both age groups, both online and in the classroom.)
• Holiday programs, which are offered during school holidays and are super fun.

If you’d like to enroll your child or even check out a free demonstration, click here.

Apply to be a teacher with LCF!

• LCF teaches courses in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin and English. If you are fluent in one of these languages and would like to work for LCF, click here. I highly recommend it!

Start your own franchise!

• LCF clubs are locally owned and operated, so if you think you’d like to start a low-risk venture with a great business model, contact LCF right away at: www.teachinglanguages.com.au.

Attend a workshop!

• LCF holds several workshops per year that offer advice and support for language teachers. The workshops are excellent- I myself have attended two already and I enjoyed both of them immensely. I’ve been studying teaching methodology for years, but I left each of the workshops with numerous new ideas and tactics for how to teach children. Information about workshops can be found here.

Join an adult learner class!

• That’s right- LCF Fun Languages also offers adult courses in the Melbourne area: www.lcfclubs.com.au.

Check out LCF’s Facebook page here.