A few days ago, I saw for the umpteenth time a TED Talk by Ken Robinson where he assured that those attendees who had two or more children would admit that those children were different from each other. That's true, of course. No matter how much they look alike, there can always be small or large differences between them.

Similarly, imagine if two students, one from each corner of the world, with different mother tongues or ages, are not separate from different cultures. And yet, we want to find the perfect teaching method that works for everyone. I read many essay examples on the topic of foreign language learning and applied them in practice. Therefore, in this article, I describe some of these methods.

A few days ago, I saw for the umpteenth time a TED Talk by Ken Robinson where he assured that those attendees who had two or more children would admit that those children were different from each other. That's true, of course. No matter how much they look alike, there can always be small or large differences between them.

Similarly, imagine if two students, one from each corner of the world, with different mother tongues or ages, are not separate from different cultures. And yet, we want to find the perfect teaching method that works for everyone. I read many essay examples on the topic of foreign language learning and applied them in practice. Therefore, in this article, I describe some of these methods.

What we are looking for, sometimes without realizing it, is the perfect method for ourselves: the teachers. With the minimum effort, the one allows us to prepare the same class for dozens of students who may have opposite learning ways. And this cannot end well in any way.

If we insist on using the same methodology for each student, what we will achieve is, in the best of cases, that a majority will manage to acquire the language quickly and that a minority will not manage to do so so easily or will abandon their studies.

Many teachers have learned to teach languages in educational centers where the methodology was imposed by the management or with books of similar appearance and a very similar way of being used. It, in itself, is not necessarily bad. Sometimes, it is better to have only one well-acquired method than to know many methodologies that will cause that. We do not know much about any of them, and therefore, we do not manage to apply them efficiently.

However, if we are apprehensive about receiving an income and that the student learns the language, we will have to be very attentive to how they have to learn things.

There are several methods used historically to teach languages. Each one has had its time, and they can be better or worse for each type of student. Let's look at a few methods:

Grammar and translation method. It has traditionally been the method used to learn the classical languages (Latin and Greek). It consists of learning the grammatical rules of the language and translating texts. Nowadays, it is not customary to use it to teach modern language. However, it is similar to the method chosen, without knowing it, by some people who learn a language only by listening to songs and translating their lyrics.

Direct or natural method. It is one where learning is done through direct oral communication. If you think about it, we use it when we are children to learn our mother tongue. We speak, listen, make mistakes, repeat. We do not know grammar, but we intuit or deduce it, and in the end, we end up speaking the language correctly.

Audio-lingual method. It is based on the repetition of words, phrases, or dialogues. In this way, the student learns to speak and listen, leaving for when the knowledge is acquired, the skills of reading or writing. Grammar is not studied since it is assumed that it is learned naturally.

Communicative approach. More than a methodology, it is a way of seeing learning. It starts from the idea that language is used, basically, for communication between people, and the objective is, therefore, to improve all the aspects included in this communication. The importance is given to all skills, and grammar also has a place in the teaching process. It is a method that emphasizes interaction and the use of language in real situations.

Although the most used method today is the communicative approach, no system can be discarded, as each one can be good for learning different concepts or even other languages. Also, each student can feel more comfortable with one or another way of learning. It is not the same, for example, to teach Spanish vocabulary to an Italian student than to a Chinese one. The former can learn it only by listening to the teacher to speak, almost without studying. Simultaneously, the latter needs time to understand the spelling of the word, the correct pronunciation, and repeat a thousand times what he wants to learn.

On the other hand, many times, the student himself knows how to learn things better. For me, for example, it is impossible as a language student to learn with songs. If the piece is terrible, I don't pay attention. If the music is good, I pay more attention to the melody than to the lyrics. Students sometimes know well what they can and cannot do.

In conclusion, it is not wrong to specialize in one method, but without forgetting that each student and situation is different. My solid advice is to know the other techniques you can use and then forget them to focus on each student's particular characteristics.