opportunist | beginner-intermediate-advanced
The Old Folks’ Home Technique is a great anarchic and artistic language learning technique as it allows the language learner to work while they are learning the language. This multi-tasking makes it perhaps one of the most efficient techniques on offer at the Institute. While its name bases itself on a very specific work-context, fear not, this technique is very flexible/toepasselijk, based on a few different concepts
BACKGROUND: The Old Folks’ Home Technique was only recently plucked from the anals of Ahilan Ratnamohan’s language learning experiences and added to the Institute. It is based on his experience with German in Freilassing, where he took up a part-time job at an Old Folks Home (Retirement Village), instead of the McDonalds job offered to him by his football club, going off the idea that old people speak slowly and have many stories to tell. Ahilan went onto have jobs at prestigious German institutions such as the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD) and the Goethe Institut, without ever having studied at a school or higher learning institute, and never having passed an A1 exam.
More recently the institute has seen examples, such as Juliet, originally from China, learning Dutch in Leeuwarden, who also used a similar methodology, hers being more concentrated on her parents-in-law. ENRICA?!??!
HOW: The old folks work is based on finding the right combination of circumstances and trying to make these align to create something sustainable whereby one is getting paid, or rewarded in a some other way, for learning the language.
WORK - finding a job which will involve communication, what type of communication will suit your language context/situation. Jobs in the care industry are great entry-level positions, as one is not obliged to speak so much in order to get the job done, but if one can communicate with the patients it is appreciated. Thus the language-learner has a chance to slowly speak more and more as they feel more comfortable.
OTHER JOBS WHICH ARE SUITABLE