Happy Thursday everyone! Let’s talk about feedback today.

First, let’s define the word. Feedback is a noun that refers to the response one receives from a task or performance. It is usually analyzed to improve performance in the future. If you want to see feedback’s other meanings, check them out here.

When learning a language, feedback is essential for improving. You need to know what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and most importantly, WHY.

So today I thought I’d take you through my process for providing feedback from the lessons I teach on italki.

First of all, I take notes from the moment class begins until the moment it ends, so if you see me looking down and being quiet, that’s why. I am paying attention to your every word. In my language learning experience, I have always found interruption to be more negative than positive. When people interrupt me to correct my pronunciation or grammar, I usually lose my train of thought, or I feel self-conscious and not eager to continue speaking. That’s why I prefer to write it down during class, and then I’ll update your personal Google Document afterward.

As you can see in the image below, there is a lot of personalized information in your feedback document. I evaluate your level based on our first lesson, and then I want to know what your goal is and how you are currently practicing to achieve that goal. Also, I like to include the ‘Interests/Hobbies’ section so that I can tailor material to what matters to you. In the ‘Content Covered’ section, I will keep notes on what we cover in each lesson. Anytime I share an article or website with you, I’ll include the link here. That way, you can refer back to it later.

Then, there’s a list of my favorite podcasts. Hearing your target language spoken in regular conversation is essential to improving your listening skills, that’s why I LOVE podcasts. You can listen to them on your computer, phone, or any other mobile device. You can oftentimes read along with the episode’s transcript, or if you just want to have it as background noise while you wash the dishes, you are still consuming the language. And if you don’t like one podcast, there are plenty to choose from. Find something that’s interesting and isn’t a chore to listen to regularly.

Now let’s move on to the ‘Suggestions/Tips’ section. As I mentioned before, I take notes during the entire lesson. So if you say something like, “I call sister’s girlfriend,” I write it down and then correct it as shown in the image below. Then I’ll write a note in the Google Document explaining why. 

Below the corrections table, there is a list of words you mispronounced during the class. Maybe you were telling me a story or were reading an article. I’ll make note of that and add it to the list. In the next class, we’ll review to make sure you’ve got it.

The very last list is the new vocabulary we cover. Maybe you can’t think of the word for ‘apple’ in English. If I tell you the word, it goes on the list. Also, we do a lot of reading in my classes, which is an excellent way to broaden your vocabulary. Usually, I instruct you to read the text out loud, paragraph by paragraph. At the end of each paragraph, I’ll provide you with the meaning of any new words or phrases. All of these go onto the list! This way, you can review everything you’ve learned.

If you’d like to see me in action while I update your feedback, check out my Instagram stories. Thanks for reading, and have a lovely Thursday.