My student yesterday: ''I feel bad, Caroline. I didn't have time to do anything since our last lesson.'' Me: ''Life happens. Some weeks you do more, some less, because you have a lot on at work, or you're tired, or your children are ill, or you have an elderly parent who needs looking after. The main thing is to not judge yourself. Let's do some practice and get you back into it, so you can enjoy using the language you're learning.'' Instead of judgement, students need, and deserve, to focus...

As with every tool you use to learn a language, you should choose your podcasts carefully.

Is living in the country the only way to learn a language?