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Introduction   If you’ve ever found yourself frantically finishing an assignment, report, proposal, essay or other piece of work minutes before the deadline, you’ve experienced the subtle power of Parkinson’s Law.   This principle, which states that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion”. holds particular significance for those embarking on self-directed distance learning journeys like that experience by learners on The Distance Cert IBET. In this blog, we’ll explore the potential effects of Parkinson’s Law on self-paced education and offer strategies to overcome its challenges.   Understanding Parkinson’s Law   British historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson first coined Parkinson’s Law in 1955, observing that tasks tend to take up the amount of time allotted to them. This phenomenon can result in procrastination, inefficiencies and a continuous cycle of stress and last-minute rushes. For self-directed learners, who often set their own schedules and deadlines, Parkinson’s Law can become a significant obstacle to productive and effective studying characterised by a mad rush fuelled by enthusiasm at the start of a course and then significant slowing and delays.   The Unique Challenges of Self-Directed Distance Learning   Self-directed distance learning offers unparalleled flexibility and freedom. However, without the structure and accountability of traditional classrooms, students may struggle to manage their time effectively. Here are some ways Parkinson’s Law might affect self-directed learners: 1. Procrastination: Without immediate deadlines or instructor oversight, students might delay starting assignments, believing they have plenty of time. This can lead to a frantic, last-minute scramble to complete tasks, often resulting in lower quality work. 2. Extended task duration:  Tasks that could be completed in a shorter timeframe might take much longer due to a lack of urgency. This can impede progress and reduce overall productivity. 3. Inconsistent study habits:  The flexibility of self-directed learning can lead to inconsistent study patterns. Without a fixed schedule, students may find it challenging to maintain a steady pace, leading to periods of intense work followed by lulls of inactivity. 4. Increased stress:  Constantly working against self-imposed deadlines can create a cycle of stress and anxiety. The pressure to complete tasks on time can become overwhelming, affecting both mental health and academic performance.   Strategies to Combat Parkinson’s Law   To mitigate the effects of Parkinson’s Law and enhance the effectiveness of self-directed distance learning, trainees need to be disciplined with themselves and take proactive steps to monitor their own work and progress.   Some positive strategies would be: 1. Set clear goals and deadlines:  Establish specific, achievable goals and deadlines for each task. 2. Learning chunks: Break your course tasks into smaller, manageable segments with their own deadlines to maintain a steady pace. 3. Create a structured schedule:  Develop a daily, weekly or monthly study schedule that includes dedicated time for your course. Stick to this schedule as closely as possible to build consistency! 4. Use time management techniques:  Techniques such as the “Pomodoro Technique” (working in focused intervals with short breaks) can help maintain concentration and therefore productivity. 5. Seek accountability:  Share your goals and deadlines with a friend, family member, learning mentor, manager or colleague as relevant. They should check on you regularly and you should report your progress to them. 6. Avoid multitasking:  Focus on one task at a time to ensure it receives your full attention. Multitasking can lead to distractions and decreased efficiency. Conclusion While Parkinson’s Law presents a significant challenge to self-directed distance learners, understanding its influence and implementing effective time management strategies can help you navigate the pitfalls. By setting clear goals, creating a structured schedule, dividing work as needed and seeking accountability, you can harness the flexibility of self-directed learning while maintaining productivity and achieving success in your CPD.

A few weeks ago, while rummaging through some drawers on the hunt for an adaptor for a work trip, I came across something I long since forgotten I had - that classic TEFL tool, Cuisenaire Rods. This got me thinking about what uses this tool actually has and, since then, have been periodically playing around with my rediscovered teaching aid. What are Cuisenaire Rods?   Cuisenaire Rods are a set of coloured rods created by Belgian primary school teacher Georges Cuisenaire from which they derive their name. The typical range includes the following rods:   These were originally used in the teaching of mathematics and entered language teaching through the work of “Silent Way” creator Caleb Gattegno. A typical set of Cuisenaire Rods includes a selection of rods of differing colours and lengths such as: Rods only vary by colour and length and not width. Wood is the typical material for a set.   The Uses of Cuisenaire Rods in Language Teaching   There are many potential uses to Cuisenaire Rods. These can link to grammar, syntax and more.   Numbers and Counting   Cuisenaire Rods can be used to teach numbers and counting using the small 1cm cubes one on top of another or the increasing sizes.     Tokens and Props in Roleplays   With some imagination, Cuisenaire Rods can represent items or act as tokens in roleplays such as negotiations in which they could act as items for sale, commodities and more. Clockface and Telling the Time   Cuisenaire Rods can be arranged as a clock face with other rods for the hands of the clock:   Places and Maps   Cuisenaire Rods can be laid out on a table to form a map with different colours and sizes representing different features of a map such as roads, rivers, bridges, buildings and so on: This can also a way of teaching prepositions of place (“the school is next to the hotel” and so on).   Direction and Movement   Through moving a Cuisenaire Rod on a map, we can also teach items such as directions:     This is also an opportunity to teach a range of tenses such as the present continuous (“the car is turning left” and so on).   Word Order, Syntax and Parts of Speech   Using a different rod to represent a different word in a sentence, we can teach parts of speech (what is the noun, verb and so on) and word order (such as subject, verb, object)   Cuisenaire Rods can also be used as a form of error correction in the case that a student omits a word in sentence.   Prefixes and Suffixes and Forms of Tenses   If we wish to teach prefixes and suffixes, we can use Cuisenaire Rods to represent these different elements.   In this example, we see 1 cm represent one letter in the word “disorganised”:       “dis”                          “organise”                   “d”   Word Stress, Sentence Stress and Shifting the Word Stress   Look at this sentence and think how stressing different words could change the meaning:   “I know what you mean about Ben”   Shifting word stress - and therefore changes in meaning - in this sentence can be depicted on a board using stress bubbles or similar; however, Cuisenaire Rods could be used with, for example, small rods representing unstressed words and a different, longer rod to represent the stressed word.   Stressing the pronoun “I” would, if represented using Cuisenaire Rods look like this:     Stressing the verb “know” would look like this:     Stressing “you” would look like this:     Stressing the name “Ben” would look like this:     The same can be done with syllables in individual words.   Colours   Each Cuisenaire Rod is a different colour and although the selection is limited, there is some possibility to teach or revise colours using the rods.   Adjectives and Order of Adjectives   When more than one adjective is used to describe features such as size, colour, material and so on, these must be placed in the right order: 1. Determiner (“the”, “one”, “these”, “some”, “a” and so on) 2. Observation (“special”, “strong”, “better” and so on) 3. Size (“large”, “small”, “thick” and so on) 4. Shape (“cylindrical”, “spiral”, “square” and so on) 5. Age (“old”, “new”, “modern” and so on) 6. Colour (“red”, “silver”, “black” and so on) 7. Origin (“Chinese”, “British”, “European” and so on) 8. Material (“metal”, “plastic”, “stone” and so on) 9. Type / purpose (“testing”, “paving”, “painting” and so on) 10. Noun (“cable”, “machine”, “engine” and so on)   Using Cuisenaire Rods, we can place these adjectives in the right order (or correct wrong order) with each rod representing a different adjective.   Comparatives and Superlatives   With rods being of different lengths, there is the potential to teach comparatives and superlatives: · “The red rod is shorter than the yellow rod.” · “The orange rod is the longest.”   CLIL and Maths Teaching   Going back to the original envisaged use of Cuisenaire Rods and their most common use in educational contexts, we can use Cuisenaire Rods for the teaching of anything maths-related; this might include: · Fractions: using Cuisenaire Rods as fractions of a greater amount · Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division: using the Cuisenaire Rods as numbers · Dimensions: arranging the rods to teach length, height and so on · Shapes: arranging the rods into different shapes to elicit or teach such vocabulary   This could be part of a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) class in which both language and subject content, in this case maths, are taught. Telling Stories (Places, People)   We have mentioned how Cuisenaire Rods can be used for representing places on a map. If we wish to tell a story as part of a lesson, different Cuisenaire Rods can also represent different people and characters as well as places:     Military English   In a similar way to how Cuisenaire Rods can be used for maps and telling stories, Cuisenaire Rods can be used in Military English.   This might include a battle or theatre of operations in a historical context or plan.   Graphs and Charts   Cuisenaire Rods can be a way to display graphs and charts to, for example, present features of these graphs or charts and movement or trends in the data:                    The Advantages and Disadvantages of Cuisenaire Rods   The use of Cuisenaire Rods does have advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are: • Help to focus on the form • Visually appealing with bright colours. • Kinaesthetic (tactile) • Visual • Useful for explain a situation when words are lacking • Lightweight and easy to transport • No major preparation needed • Can be used anywhere at any time without any special equipment • May be considered novel or different in a world of high-tech teaching • Encourages teacher creativity • Uses limited only by imagination • Dynamic and entertaining • Great for young learners but useful in any situation • Simplicity is an advantage, non-distracting • Can be used to bring people around in an interaction group Some disadvantages are: • Many teachers have no idea how to use them and being given a set if not enough to begin using them • Teachers often intimidated by the rods and the concept may seem more complex than it is • May not be suitable for certain age groups or personalities • Perception of “playing” that instead of learning grammar they are playing with coloured blocks • May seem old-fashioned and even childish to some (including teenagers) • Must not over-use as novelty can wear off! • Requires ability to think in an abstract way for teachers and students • Requires creativity • May be said to appeal to only certain learning styles or preferences • Only works with small groups that can "gather round" unless a set is distributed to smaller groups for tasks Cuisenaire rods are a great addition to any teacher's repertoire of tools and have fantastic potential for different tasks types. How have you used the rods in your training? What ideas do you have? Please let us know.

In this guest blog from a current TDCI participant, Amil expands on something he wrote about as part of one the unit submissions which caught our attention. Could it be truly the case that some business English learners see no relevance in practising interpersonal communication skills? Apparently, yes! A big thanks to Amil for taking the time to share his thoughts here. The "I Don't Need Communication Skills" mindset and How to Address It A few years ago, I received a reply to one of my DMs and it read “I don’t need communication skills, bro”. I had reached out to an IT professional offering some educational content I was sharing on LinkedIn. I’ve also spoken with many professionals who don’t believe that we should learn or improve soft skills to get things done. One of my best friends, a Team Leader, mentioned, “Communication skills don’t work. If you need to get the job done, sometimes we have to yell and shout. It’s part of the job.” So, where are these misconceptions coming from? I have a few ideas: Maybe they are just doing what was done to them. As they started their careers, they probably had to toughen it out in toxic environments. Perhaps they are extremely confident in their technical skills which have pushed their careers so far, making the idea of learning communication skills not so appealing. Or maybe they just don’t understand the difference between English proficiency and communication skills. As BE trainers, it is our responsibility to address this attitude and emphasise the undeniable value of effective communication skills. Firstly, we must highlight the importance of good communication skills. How can it help a professional succeed? Talk about how great communication skills could improve team collaboration, boost productivity, keep customers happy, persuade the management and sell your ideas, negotiate for more time or money and so on. Presenting real-life examples, challenges and case studies where poor communication skills could potentially lead to misunderstandings or business failures can exhibit the practical impacts of effective communication. Furthermore, we must nurture a learning environment where the importance of communication is continuously reinforced. Before we teach a topic, ask them why that topic is relevant and elicit how it can help them get the results they want. Questions like “Why are we learning this?” or “How does this connect to real-world situations?” can help the trainees see the purpose behind the content. Encourage self-reflection and feedback to help the trainees understand their communication strengths and areas for improvement. Keep them in mind when building a programme or a lesson. By creating opportunities to practise and refine these skills, we can address the “I don’t need communication skills” mindset but also provide them the tools to stand out in their professional field. Have you come across the “I don’t need communication skills” mindset? How do you deal with it? Let us know in the comments.

Ben and I have talking for some time now with Michelle Kremser and the ELTAS gang about offering The Distance Cert IBET to members in Stuttgart. Now we can announce a package has been put together that should be it affordable for fellow English language professionals to access top quality, certified CPD - continuous professional development. Download the flyer from here to read in your own time about how it will work : As a quick overview, these are key elements of the hybrid version of TDCI to note: The first 3 units will be completed in the launch event on Saturday 14th September in Stuttgart (registration details will be available on the ELTAS homepage shortly). There will be the opportunity for online group coaching sessions along the way. In March 2025, we plan to hold a second in-person event focused on preparing for the final assignment which is assessed by Language Cert who then confirms that you can be awarded the CertIBET by English UK. Both in-person events will have the option for online participation. All German ELTA members can sign up and take advantage of the discounted cost. Registration is via the ELTAS website: www.eltas.de up until 8th September You can attend the event as a regular ELTAS Saturday workshop participant if you want. (If you then decide to sign up for TDCI, we will deduct the workshop fee from your course payment). Contact us at info@the-distance-cert-ibet.com with any questions, queries or concerns.

Birte started her talk asking who has used scavenger hunts before. In response, several of us raised our hands. Birte also highlighted the importance of developing employability skills and their links to current issues in society - essentially, these are what is often referred to as Critical Success Factors (CFSs) for a modern organisation and include things such as digital skills, creativity, critical thinking, teamwork and so on. It was these CFSs that Birte aimed to develop. Birte went on to describe and detail a project that she designed and utilised; however, this was no ordinary scavenger hunt but instead used students' expertise in their academic subject areas (such as finding a car number plate using ASCII) and integrated numerous clue types (riddles, codes,puzzles and more). Birte has designed and used an extremely sophisticated project with multifaceted elements. Birte's talk provided a fantastic case study of gamification done very well - the project she created clearly meets the criteria for a gamified task of being both fun and having a clear learning purpose. This was not to keep people busy or entertained but to apply, develop and reflect on a range of competences required for the scavenger hunt in an innovative and engaging way. I

I attended this forum for the primary reason that I know little about EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) and wanted to know more. Happily, I was not disappointed and came away with my knowledge much expanded and a greater sense of clarity about the meaning, purpose, reactions to and uses of EMI. The forum featured three great speakers who know their subject extremely well: 1. Frances Amrani who focused on essential definitions and concepts: 2. Dr Michelle Hunter who reported on the results of her academic research into the use of EMI: 3. Dr Evangelia Xirofotou who desscribed how EMI is used at her university in Greece: I took away a lot from this forum in terms of my knowledge: EMI is about teaching technical language and subject concepts to others in English; while it may help develop competences in English, this is not the primary focus (unlike CLIL). EMI is not only about translating lectures (indeed, EMI is used in lectures but also seminars, MOOCs and other settings) and high proficiency in a language does not necessarily equate to the capability to use EMI. EMI involves asking questions as well as telling. EMI may when research has not been conducted in a particular language and can be for status and marketing purposes as well as in internationalisation efforts; it may also serve as a lingua franca and facilitate international collaboration. Everyone needs EMI competences in an academic environment, including native speakers of a language (for example, how to write up research). Emi creates a discourse community based on special language of a field and provides access to this community in an academic environment. EMI can be implemented through familiarisation with jargon, development of understanding of context, remembering content and subject objectives, training instructors how to not only use language but also do things like ask questions, provide feedback and so on, and standardisation across departments with working structures to support students. This was a well-structured forum with great speakers and a coherent and cohesive structure. There was a largely seemless flow from the initial discussions about definitions and purpose with Frances to reflections on research and data with Michelle and finally what served as a case study of the application of EMI in the setting of a Greek University with Evangelia.

Sarah Plochl is someone I have frequently bumped into at IATEFL and BESIG conferences and someone I always learn from in some way. It was Sarah who assisted me in overcoming my biases against (and lack of expertise in) various social media platforms at last year's IATEFL conference in Harrogate and I have since had the benefit of her expertise at BESIG's 2023 conference and elsewhere. As such, I was interested to see Sarah's talk as my first post-plenary session of IATEFL's 2024 Annual Conference. Her title was "English for Artists" and she began by asking us for our associations with the word "artist" which immediately generated interesting responses and engaged the audience - this set a lovely tone for the rest of the workshop. Sarah stated that: "An artist is someone who is trying to make sense of the chaos of their experience of the world by bringing their feelings into an outside form that other people can perceive and (perhaps) understand." Sarah explained how she works with creative individuals including artists, amongst others, as her coachees A primary concern for these individuals is how to get their vision across. The artist as a language learner struggles between “control” (poetic function of language, exact use of words, complex expressions and meanings, being uncontroversial is not a priority) and “flow” (get the message across, intercultural communication). This gave us a lot to reflect on in our own teaching and training. Sarah shared some wonderful case studies of situations she has acted as a coach in relating to creatives and asked the audience, in small groups, to put forward ideas for what could be done to support each individual with their diverse objectives and unique barriers to development. This might link to questions and a coaching approach, input, discussion and more. Sarah also invited us to consider which "boxes" we can use in our training based on approaches she has used. These included: Coaching approaches Neuroscience Actors' methods Design thinking Polyglot methods Creative writing Outdated materials (and using them in a different way to what they were intended for) Dance The first word that comes to mind when listening to Sarah speak is "authenticity"; this is a teacher and coach with a true interest in helping and supporting others and a person with that rare ability to genuinely listen and who balances accomplishment and ideas with modesty . These are, in my view, rare traits in a field requiring self-promotion and dominated by a sales-like approach to their own ideas. Truly, a highly recommended speaker and brilliant professional! Visit Sarah's website here - https://www.edgycoaching.de/about

Pondering on two different panel discussions at IATEFL Annual Conference - Brighton 2018 and Brighton 2024 At this year's IATFEL annual conference in Brighton, I shall be one of three panelists in the 'Forum on EMI in EAP settings: Perceptions and Practices' (Wednesday 17th at 10:20-11:35, Meeting Room 1A - Brighton Centre). Along with Frances Amrani and Evi Xirofotou, we shall be exploring how EMI and EAP intersect and inform each other's fields and practices. The last time I attended IATEFL in Brighton in 2018, I had been in the audience for a panel discussion focused on EMI, mostly because one of the authors of the paper that had inspired my PhD study was speaking - Prof. Carol Griffiths. It was such an exciting moment to talk to Carol and share the impact her research had had on me just months before embarking on what turned out to be a nearly 6 year PhD journey. Now, returning to the same venue I have the results of that journey to share in a similar setting. I'm looking forward to making an impression with my contribution to the field of EMI as well as seeing if we - myself and fellow forum presenters - can contribute in some way to what is increasingly being seen as potential for collaborative support and development between EMI content teachers and EAP practitioners. Between Carol's talk in Brighton 2018 and mine in 2024, the need for open discussion about collaboration across fields and disciplines is more pressing than ever. EMI is a topic that has become increasingly relevant in world of internationalized Higher Education. It is equally becoming more and more relevant for us in the business of teaching English for specific purposes - in particular EAP. But I think most experienced, research-informed ESP professionals have something to contribute where our content teaching colleagues are called upon to shift their teaching approaches and methods to meet the needs of multinational, multilingual student groups. Ben and I are working on ideas for how we can support ESP professionals who are keen to leverage the potential in this upcoming area of collaborative opportunities. When you are next at an ELT / ESP / EAP / teaching in HE conference, listen out to how much attention is given to the subject. You'll too see we're on the cusp of exciting times. For now, I offer the handout to go with my panel presentation here. Feel free to peruse the pages there and do reach out with any comments, ideas or questions. Or even better, if you're are at IATEFL this month, come along to the forum on 17th April at the Brighton Center, meeting room 1A at 10:20am.

This was one of those conference talks in which you are so engrossed by the speaker and their content that your notes (or in this case, your company blog) end up being neglected. This was easily THE standout talk of the conference for me that resonated with me on the professional level with truly innovative, applied and practical ideas while engaging me with the speaker's style and approach. This was all the more impressive when Konstantin revealed this was his first conference talk. Konstantin defined "media training" which, ostensibly, relates to public speaking and self-presentation skills required for media appearances that appear credible and competent - we need to think about situations that c-suite leaders will find themselves in such as public apologies, statements and TV interviews. Konstantin showcased work produced by his students in circumstances such as delivering public apologies and more as well as how he achieves this in practical terms. He also showed how he trains prosody by annotating scripts with elements such as word stress, pausing and more. I challenged Konstantin on one element of his talk when he quoted figures from Albert Mehrabian about how messages are communicated (an example of a theory being shared as remembered in the collective memory rather that as it was) and his response to me was excellent - no hesitation, listening and a clear and positive reaction when he could have easily become flustered. This was clearly a speaker who practises what they preach (unlike many in this business). I'll greatly look forward to seeing this speaker in future events and would urge anyone and everyone to choose Konstantin's talk next time you see his name on a conference programme.

The 36th annual IATEFL BESIG conference in Stuttgart over the first weekend in November was full of innovative and creative ideas from a multitude of brilliant business English teaching and training professionals. What a buzz there was. In this blog post, I share not only a little bit from our talk, but also some of my impressions and takeaways from the truly intelligent (as opposed to "artificially" intelligent) friends and colleagues I spent the conference with. Saturday afternoon Ben and I were scheduled in the same slot as some brilliant speakers. If we'd not have been presenting, I would have been at one of those talks too!! But as a wise trainer once shared with me, "those who are meant to be there, will be there." And so, with a small intimate group, we enjoyed 30 minutes together looking at the concept of innovation. As tends to be the case with people coming to our talks, they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience. The exchange and sharing which ensues is always enriching. We covered what innovation entails, how it is typically defined and measured, what might prevent innovative thinking, and what tools from industry could we integrate into our own teaching contexts. Having a clear definition became useful towards the end of the session when exploring how to differentiate creativity from innovation. On the surface, it could be tricky, but Ben directed us towards an earlier slide with a helpful list of what is included in the slide "Our View of Innovation" On Sunday, Ridha Mejri talked about his innovative and creative approach to designing a business communication course at his university. He offered a blend word which captures the inter-connectedness of creation and innovation: "creovative"! Thanks for that Ridha. Rachel Paling epitomizes being "creovative". As a pioneer of integrating knowledge from neuroscience into language teaching, and founding Efficient Language Coaching and Neurolanguage Coaching®, Rachel is a beacon for creative and innovative minds. In her talk, she got us thinking at a metacognitive level about how we can make friends with our brain. Understanding how the brain works can enhance self-regulated learning and increase a sense of psychological safety within our learners. Rachel invited us in pairs, to be creovative and practice how we might hold a dialogue with students in need of some learning strategy coaching. Another example of creovativeness came in John Hughes' presentation of how to train language teachers in the art of materials writing. He got us thinking about how we had previously learned to write materials. Most people seem to go with the learning-by-doing approach and integrating what we pick up from published materials along the way. Luckily, John, along with co-developer Kath Bilsborough, have a course teachers can sign up for. We can learn what to (not) do when creating materials far more efficiently from two experienced writers. As a teacher with many years' experience, I found Rob Howard's talk on giving intelligent instructions less innovative, and wonderfully creative. His opening gambit with the rope-tying was an impactful example of some pitfalls around instruction-giving. And his slides, with the short video clips peppered throughout, added that touch of interactive, interchangeable creativity that captures an audience's attention. Rob's talk served as a reminder - even to old hands - the importance of slowing down and allowing more time to think in our classes. The second half of our whirlwind workshop saw the group divided into 3, each with a different tool for measuring growth and innovation. They evaluated and discussed the tool in view of their own context. We encouraged 2 layers of meta-level thinking: how could the tool be used with a particular set of learners, and how innovative was your thinking around your approach to doing that: I have to say, whether we describe people as being creovative or truly innovative (in the full sense of the meaning), the bottom-line is BESIG is a group of people who are committed to doing the best they can for their learners while striving to grow, develop and flourish themselves. The fact of attending and contributing to this - and all the other - conferences is proof of that. Feel free to grab a copy of our workshop handout here: Send us an email if you want to talk more about becoming a certified international business English trainer: info@the-distance-cert-ibet.com And if you are already fully certified and / or qualified, think about becoming an associate trainer with us. Email ben@distance-cert.com or michelle@distance-cert.com

Following on from my resolution at this year’s IATEFL conference to attend conference talks on themes that I would normally avoid, I decided to attend Wilim’s talk on AI - something I know little about beyond the names of a few commonly-used tools. Wilim started off with a balanced statement about the dangers and “wonders” of AI and the lack of preparedness in people’s minds for the impact this will have. Wilim posed the question of what AI is and offered his definition linked to processes and systems and introduced three terms that were new to me: 1. Narrow AI – AI able to do one job 2. AGI (artificial general intelligence) - AI doing more jobs and understanding context) 3. Superintelligence - AI exceeds human intelligence in a way only imaginable in science fiction. Wilim asked us to get past sensationalism linked to AI and said there will always be gaps in AI and that, when we receive an answers from AI, we must be cautious of any bias we have in the answers we received and the extent to which we immediately take these answers as accurate. AI generates responses based on patterns but fails to understand content or context. Wilim provides the example of Chat GPT as generative AI. This was a hugely interesting talk in which I learned a great deal about a subject I have traditionally avoided. It’s up to us now to think about how to use this.

The focus of this talk was the economic benefits of bilingualism. Bilingualism is a subject that I am always keen to hear about as it resonates with me on a personal level; raising a child in an Anglo-Chinese / Sino-British home, this has been something my wife and I have been very keen to develop in our son. Indeed, one of the first gifts we received when expecting our little one was a copy of Barbara Zurer Pearson’s Raising a Bilingual Child from fellow Distance Cert director Michelle Hunter. Peter Started his talk with some interesting definitions of bilingualism as can be seen here: Peter continued to talk about some true or false statements: - Bilingualism helps you learn other languages - Bilingualism has (Positive) health consequences - Bilingual people are more open-minded and flexible All of which, according to what I know, are true. Peter highlighted the following benefits that can be seen here: Peter went on to highlight the economic benefits that bilingualism brings such as: · Enhanced employability · Higher salaries · Higher job security · International trade options increasing between countries with one common language I felt Peter gave a wonderful single sentence summary - "as a company you will always trade more but as an individual you will always earn more". At a company and individual level, there is always a guaranteed return on investment. The more a person learns, the more productive we will be. This was a great talk that spoke to me on a person level but was also hugely interesting on the professional level.