Sanako UK director named Fellow of the Association for Language Learning

ALL award ceremony Cropped image

David Binns, Sanako UK’s Director, has joined the distinguished ranks of Fellows of the Association for Language Learning (ALL).

David, who has worked for the business for over 40 years, was recently elevated to the position of Fellow at a major national event celebrating language teaching. It’s a huge honour for David (and Sanako) and recognises the amazing work he does promoting language teaching and learning across the UK. Congratulations David!

David Binns speaking at the ALL awards 2022

Fellows of the association are awarded at the discretion of the Board of Trustees and follow a process of nominations by members. Usually only one new Fellow is appointed each year and the award recognises individual ALL members who have made a long-standing contribution to language learning in the UK. For consideration, their work must be “beyond the call of their professional role” and should reflect their support of the Association’s work over time. David has certainly done that! 

He’s been at the forefront of promoting the use of technology in language teaching throughout his professional career and freely shares his expertise with colleagues from across all sectors of education. He has also recently begun to deliver free talks to schools (over 100 done so far!) about the importance of language learning in building life skills and for future employability.

 

Language talks to schools

These talks aim to further the argument for increased take-up of modern languages (MFL) learning at grass roots, school level in the UK. They are therefore delivered directly to students, often at some of the UK’s most disadvantaged schools. Told from the employer’s perspective, David Binns highlights how having a second language can be a real advantage in finding work. He shows how it helps students stand out, but also that it demonstrates a range of key skills such as communication, creativity and team building. 

David Binns speaking about the importance of MFL for students-min

David’s work has received incredible feedback from teachers and students: “You have inspired so many students!”, “You really got the point across about the importance of languages for employability, while making it relevant and fun too!”

And as one teacher said on Twitter: “You’re a breath of fresh air for the language community in the UK.”

David was formally recognised at ALL’s Language World event which took place in Sheffield between 18 and 19 March 2022.  This is ALL’s flagship annual conference / CPD event that features speakers from across the languages sector, particularly from primary and secondary schools.

The Association for Language Learning (ALL) is the major subject association for everyone involved in teaching modern foreign languages at all levels across the UK. They exist to “represent and support language teachers and are committed to their ongoing professional development.” Both David and Sanako are proud to support their work as Platinum Corporate members of ALL. Moving forwards David, as a fellow, will also be able to contribute to the national advisory body for language teaching.

David’s award is special for everyone at Sanako as his work helping teachers to create and deliver the best language teaching lies at the very heart of our business. Our teacher-led language instruction products are specifically designed to support educators in creating compelling lessons and to best engage their learners. We constantly test products with teachers to ensure that they’re fit for the classroom. And we continue to listen to, and act on, our users’ feedback and suggestions to keep products improving. As a result, we now have education customers in 114 countries and installations in over 50,000 classrooms – all of whom recognise the invaluable contribution that our solutions make to creating a language-rich classroom environment.

 

If you are interested in learning more about how Sanako products support language teachers and students and would like to see how they could benefit your institution, book a FREE remote demo now to see them in action.

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