10 Responsibilities of a Language Coach

Language teacher and language learner, those terms are usually easily understood. My guess is that if you’ve heard the term language coaching, however, you’ve not heard it used that often, or that you’ve seen differing definitions of the term. When I opened my language school (offering classes starting in summer of 2013), I realized that many of my students were struggling with staying motivated. Part of my role as a language teacher was to motivate them, of course, but when I added other languages to the school’s offerings, I still wanted to be a cheerleader and guide for learners of languages even if I don’t speak or teach those specific languages. The tools that I use to guide and empower my own students of Spanish can still be used for learners of other languages, and that’s why I decided to start using the title language coach.

To get a better idea of what I do, I’ve outlined the 10 main responsibilities of a language coach below. I’ll be expounding on each responsibility in upcoming blogposts, so if you have specific questions about each point, please add them to the comments!

10 RESPONSIBILITIES OF A LANGUAGE COACH 

1. Motivates you to create and stick to communicative goals
2. Provides resources and support
3. Trains you to teach yourself
4. Encourages consistent practice
5. Promotes collaboration
6. Identifies gaps in learning strategies
7. Understands current potential obstacles and provides methods to overcome them
8. Guides development of accountability and self-assessment systems
9. Empowers you to be your own guide
10. Encourages creative solutions to problems

All of these functions of a language coach ensure that you establish the essential habits to becoming a self-sufficient language learner. No more attending class after class, completing online program after program, without seeing results. You just need to tie everything together while keeping track of your goals and your successes, and with a language coaching program you can do just that.

Interested in learning more? Sign up for updates on the Language in Bloom coaching program below. I’ve got some exciting news to announce in the next couple of weeks (about free access to the language coaching program!), so you’ll want to make sure you’re on the list.