What if languages were taught the way students actually learn?

Music. Story. Emotion. A human-centric approach grounded in cognitive science.
Designed by a classroom teacher to tackle engagement, retention and planning overload.

Invited speaker at Linguascope, ALL & SIG

Why traditional language teaching is losing students - and what actually works instead.

WHY ATTENTION, MEMORY AND MOTIVATION LOOK DIFFERENT

Students haven't changed. The world has.

  • Students process information differently in a high-stimulation environment (TikTok, Netflix, Spotify).
  • Passive input now competes with highly produced media.
  • Memory is strengthened by emotion, pattern and repetition.
  • Language teaching hasn't adapted at the same pace.

Cognitive principles underpinning
the method


Research shows that learning is strongest when language is emotionally encoded, patterned, and revisited through story and sound.

Emotion

Students remember what they feel, not what they repeat.

Story

Narrative creates meaning, anticipation, and memory hooks.

Music

Rythm and melody reduce cognitive load and increase recall.

Repetition with purpose

Patterns return naturally through characters (Leo & Marie) and themes.

This is the foundation behind the French Made Simple Method.

The FMS Human-Centric Method


French Made Simple is not a collection of activities or worksheets.
It is a human-centric method designed around how students actually learn - emotionally, cognitively, and socially.

Instead of starting with abstract rules, the method places meaning, story, and emotion first. Language is experienced before it is analysed. Grammar emerges naturally through context rather than being imposed in isolation.

At the heart of the method is a simple idea: student engage, remember, and progress when they feel safe, curious, and emotionally connected.

That is why French Made Simple combines:
  • storytelling with recurring characters (Leo & Marie)
  • music as a memory and confidence-building tool
  • clear visual support
  • structured repetition without monotony
    • The result is a learning experience that feels natural rather than forced, and creative rather than overwhelming - for both students and teachers.

    Why this matters

    Language teaching is facing an attention and engagement crisis - not because teachers are failing, but because the classroom has changed faster than the currirulum.

    Students live in a world of story, sound, rythm, and visual meaning. Too often, language learning still asks them to work through fragmented units, abstract rules, and delayed meaning - creating a neurological mismatch between how the brain acquires language and how it is taught.

    The result?
    Surface participation, fragile retention, and students who "perform" without truly acquiring.

    French Made Simple was built as a response to this gap - aligning language teaching with how learners actually process, retain, and enjoy language.

    This isn't about adding more. It's about teaching in a way that finally works with the brain, not against it.

    In teachers' words ...

    Love your resources and approach - songs adapted to KS3 really boost engagement.
    - Secondary French teacher
    I can testify that these resources are superb to get students to have fun translanguaging and making up new content recycling the vocab on the sheets and songs!
    - LECTURER IN TEACHER EDUCATION (PGCE LANGUAGES)
    I love the songs, the translanguaging, the resources and of course your passion.
    - Education consultant
    Students were deeply engaged without feeling they were "doing work". The narrative made the language meaningful and memorable.
    - Secondary French teacher

    Designed for Real Classrooms
    Not ideal ones

    FMS lessons slot into existing schemes of work, reduce planning time, and meet curriculum requirements
    - without reinventing your curriculum.

    Impact in the classroom
    • Students stay focused for longer stretches of the lesson
    • Reluctant speakers participate with confidence
    • Vocabulary sticks without repetitive drilling
    • Grammar feels intuitive because it's always contextualised

    • Impact for teachers
    • Planning time drops significantly
    • Confidence is restored - for students and teachers
    • Behaviour improves as cognitive overload is reduced
    • Curriculum coherence develops over time

    This is a method designed to support real teachers, in real classrooms, every lesson.

    Trusted by the Language Teaching Community

    French Made Simple is not a commercial shortcut or a packaged scheme created outside the classroom.

    It is a teacher-designed method, developed through real lessons, refined with real students, and shaped by the everyday realities of language teaching.

    The approach has been invited for presentation and discussion by leading language-teaching organisations, including:
              - Linguascope
              - ALL (Association for Language Learning)
              - Secondary PGCE / Subject SIG networks

    These invitations reflect a growing professional interest in story-driven, music-supported, cognitively informed approaches to language learning - particularly in response to engagement, retention, and workload pressures.

    French Made Simple is built by a practising classroom teacher, for teachers, with a clear goal:

    to help language departments teach in ways that are engaging, sustainable, and grounded in how students actually learn.

    Created in the classroom. Refined through practice. Shared with the profession.

    Who French Made Simple Is For

    French Made Simple is designed for real language teachers, working in real classrooms, with real constraints.

    It is for you if you are:
    • Teaching KS3-KS4 (and beyond) and want students to remember language, not just complete tasks
    • Tired of fighting for attention in a high stimulation world
    • Looking for ways to reduce planning time without lowering expectations
    • Wanting grammar to feel intuitive and meaninful, not abstract
    • Interested in approaches grounded in learning science, not trends
    • Keen to build curriculum coherence across lessons, and years

    French Made Simple supports departments that want consistency without uniformity - structure without rigidity.

    And it may not work if ...
    • You are looking for a one-off activity rather than a coherent method
    • You want a fully scripted scheme that replaces professional judgement
    • You are not interested in music, story, or emotional engagement as learning tools.

    French Made Simple works best when teachers are curious, reflective, and open to teaching with students' brains - not against them.

    This is not about reinventing language teaching. It's about aligning it with how learning actually happens.

    What happens next?

    French Made Simple is built to be explored thoughtfully -  just like good teaching.

    If this approach resonates, the next step is simple:
    • Explore how the FMS Human-Centric Method works in practice
    • See how lessons are structured and reused over time
    • Understand how the approach can fit into your existing curriculum

    There is no expectation to adopt everything at once. 
    French Made Simple is designed to be integrated gradually if needed, with professional judgement at the centre.
    Built by a classroom teacher. Shaped by learning science.
    Designed for real classrooms.
    Created with