Watch this video or read the blog post underneath.
If you want to request a quote, fill out this Google Form. Languages offered at this time are: English, French, Spanish, Gujarati, Mandarin, Russian, Galician.
If you are new to my work…
My name is Azren, owner of the Calgary Language Nerds. I love learning languages! I speak English, French, Spanish, Mandarin, and Gujarati. I’ve dabbled in many others and even had the privilege of studying Cree and Blackfoot (two indigenous languages) while engaged in a language revitalization project. My goal is to be fluent in at least 8 languages in my life.
The Calgary Language Nerds
I founded the Calgary Language Nerds in 2016. This was to blend my love of languages and passion for business. I’m fuelled by the difference I can make in people’s lives through language acquisition. I love being a part of that transformational journey toward multilingualism 😊
Follow my social media for language learning advice and a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going on at my business. I try to post at least a few times a week.
What to expect in today’s blog post
I will cover two things:
The specific methodology that my team and I use in our 1-1 language classes
Who learns best with this methodology based on the data that I’ve looked at behind the scenes.
Let’s dive right in!
Part 1: Core Traits of Our Students
Immersiveness + structure
The primary trait that I see in common with Calgary Language Nerds students is the desire for a highly structured and immersive learning environment. This shows up in a number of ways. I talked to a lady the other day, for instance, who had just retired. She told me she wants to work hard at learning languages, the same way she used to work hard in her career.
Fast-paced, analytical, and intellectual minds
Another trait is the propensity for my clients to work in fast-paced, intellectually demanding fields such as law, tech, engineering, or healthcare.
Not everyone works in these fields, of course, but they do share the desire for a mental challenge; a desire to bring focus and intensity to their studies.
The ADHD connection
A noticeable percentage of students eventually share with me they have ADHD. When I noticed this, I began researching and pondering why that would be.
I think it’s due to the fact that, from what I’ve read, many ADHD brains derive energy from high-demand, challenging situations, provided they are interested in the topic of study. All this aligns well with my method.
Part 2: The Heart of My Method
Prioritizing depth
Modern language education is flooded with gamified apps and short-term challenges. I prefer a deeper approach. My team and I intentionally build our courses to be thorough, sequential, and immersive.
I view teaching like a long train ride where you can get off whenever you hit your target proficiency, or ride it to the very end to truly master the language.
Strict student limits
Most busy language tutors will carry a roster of about 15 students. Often more. I’ve changed that model by creating stricter limits on how many students each tutor has. By scaling back the numbers, we can pour 100% of their mental capacity into a small handful of people, creating a significantly more positive experience.
“An Audience of One”
Most people learn using mass-market textbooks, worksheets, and videos designed to fit the general population. We are actively shifting away from that model to test a system of hyper-personalization. While our team still creates and uses mass-market resources in lessons, we are moving more and more toward building custom materials optimized for an audience of one.
Data-driven approach.
I want to save you time. Therefore, my tutors and I measure progress quantifiably in an innovative manner that I personally developed. We adjust your program based on what the data shows. This is the most unique aspect of my method.
Here are screenshots from the our student dashboard. The student dashboard functions as a visual hub for our students. There are built-in tools tailored to each student’s learning journey:
Goal Setting: Drop-down menus to select your target proficiency level and input exactly how much you want to study per day.
Progress Tracking: How many hours you’ve studied so far and an automatic calculation of roughly how much time you’ll need to reach your goals.
Study Hour Summary: See exactly where you spent your study time.
Daily Log: A dropdown menu to log your daily study activities.
Progress Summary: A bar graph to show your level across the different aspects of fluency we measure.
It may look a little overwhelming, but don’t worry: my tutors and I always provide students with a simplified, actionable summary 😊
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Staying on the cutting-edge
I have run this business for 10 years now, but it is just as exhilarating today as it was on day one. It is so fun to try staying on the cutting edge and take real risks.
Consistency is hard.
I am placing a bet on myself and my tutors that we will continue to stay on the cutting edge. Having worked in this space for a decade, I feel that we can, but running a business is always a bit of a jungle. You never take tomorrow for granted, and that inherent challenge is exactly what makes it both exciting and scary.
Thank you so much for reading and for giving this your attention. I really appreciate you being here.
Azren
Calgary Language Nerds owner
https://azrenthelanguagenerd.com
If you want to request a quote for lessons, fill out this Google Form. Languages offered at this time are: English, French, Spanish, Gujarati, Mandarin, Russian, Galician.