Are you a paid school administrator, program coordinator, or language instructor with a “regular teaching job?”  Do you sometimes find yourself in a situation of wanting to help others—perhaps newcomers to your native or second language, relatives or friends, or your own parents or children—improve their communication or other useful language skills?  Or do you simply want to increase your own language power—your proficiency in your first, second, or another language in spoken and/or written form? 

In any of these or other life circumstances, it’s likely that knowing more about—and being able to do more with—language in general, as well as the specific language(s) you are hearing, reading, or expressing yourself in, will help.  And there are many, many ways, ranging from the formally structured to the casually intuitive, to learn not only about language(s) but also how to acquire proficiency in as well as to teach them.   

Here are some “academic” definitions to start with: 

 “Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language, as well as to produce and use words to communicate. The capacity to successfully use language requires one to pick up a range of tools including syntax, phonetics, and an extensive vocabulary. . . .” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language acquisition)

“Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teacher_education) 

And here are a few generic suggestions for what to do or where to go to further your knowledge about and ability to use language.  These ideas are, of course, limited in scope; they are also endlessly adaptable to individual circumstances.

• Enroll in a language or teacher-training program or course at a public or private school or community site with a physical location.  Attend class sessions regularly.  Participate fully—including getting your questions answered and requesting what you need.  Do the assigned tasks and homework, study the available materials, and use the related (hard copy and online) resources effectively.  Stick with your commitment until the end of the course of study.  Then collect your “extrinsic rewards” (pay, academic credits, grades, certificates of completion, etc.) to use for betterment in your career and life.  Regard the “intrinsic remunerations” of satisfaction, achievement, growth, and empowerment as tools for learning and teaching language with even more ease and enjoyment.  

• Buy or borrow established textbooks or series or more experimental materials, preferably with audio, visual, video, and/or online ancillaries.  [a] Try making use of them as advised, probably step by step; notice how the suggested procedures “feel” or work for you and others.  [b] Alternatively, devise your own methods or techniques for presentation, comprehension checks, logistics, individual and interactive practice, communicative expression, and assessment of progress or mastery.  [c] Cover the essentials, either at optimal speed for everyone involved or at a customized pace for each person or group.  [d] Use other elements of the curriculum and material to keep everyone engaged, motivated, and moving forward virtually all of the time.  [e] Value face-to-face or other learning time or energy; resist wasting them with procedural trivialities.  [f] Observe and remember, perhaps with notes, how each “learning experiment” works.  Improve gradually or quickly, enjoying the process and its results to the max. 

• Download and make effective use of free or low-cost Internet language curricula and material from one or a variety of sources. The possibilities seem endless: [a] informational articles and “how-to” advice; [b] comprehensive, sequenced courses at specified levels of difficulty; [c] self-contained skills lessons; [d] visual worksheets to print out, copy, and distribute; [e] audio segments accompanied by pictures/text; [f] streaming video episodes with story lines; [g]  hands-on, multi-media or interactive activities; [h] instructional aids like vocabulary lists or talking glossaries; [i] puzzles to solve and games to play; [j] reference lists of language items to teach or learn; and [k] much, much more.  These may be samples or demos of commercial programs, archived collections from public-domain or government sites, originally televised public broadcasting serials, freebie language-learning content and tools; and so on.  Try out some suggested links, too.  Each time you learn to do something pedagogical or technological with ease or with results that go beyond your expectations, you can feel gratified, connected, and proud.  Continue the upward spiral.

•  Interact with others that have the same or complementary educational goals.  [a] Hire a tutor or mentor, if you can afford it monetarily, or exchange expertise, knowledge, skills, and services.  [b] Join—or drop in and out of—real-world and/or virtual meet-up sites that engage speakers, teachers, and/or learners of your targeted language(s).  If you get to know participants that live or work nearby or in locations you travel to—or if they turn up locally, you may even form real friendships, increasing your emotional attachment to language-related goals.  [c] Learn more language—and learn more about language and language ed—by relating to people that (want to) use it for mutually advantageous  purposes.  [d] Relax, focus, and enjoy the relevant processes and their benefits.     

• Follow well-researched or well-proven advice about how to best learn and teach language. Here are some of the  recommendations that come up again and again in the most valued language-education websites. [a] Find and stick to the most productive mindsets about language; avoid using fear and other perceived limitations (age, embarrassment, lack of money or time or energy, etc.) as excuses.  Acquire attitudes about language that benefit you and those you interact with.  [b] Spend the time and energy to acquire and improve your use of language, immersing yourself in listening, reading, understanding, and connecting with others linguistically.  [c] Stay mindful of (pay focused attention to) the features of language when it is being used effectively. Acquire its pronunciation, sentence structure, vocabulary (phrasing), and other elements not only from directed study but also from what you see, hear, read, and otherwise perceive consciously. Check out what you (think you) have learned with “those that know.”  [d] Don’t rely on others to force you to learn, meet your obligations, or “achieve.” Instead, take responsibility for your own language growth by choosing content of interest to yourself and others and by engaging in it with enthusiasm.  [e] Relax and enjoy yourself.  Get optimal benefit from your own innate motivation or passion; use it to connect with and give to or help out others as well.