September...
Here’s wishing all of you a happy and exciting month of professional development,
after hopefully re-charging and resourcing over the summer period.
This really is my favourite month, with its changing moods and liminal qualities, and this month’s photo on our ‘Welcome’ page is one I took myself, yesterday evening, after I arrived here – in the middle of nowhere –
on the Plateau de Millevaches, in the heart of France, after driving up from the Mediterranean coast.
Deliberately choosing not to be around for the hustle and bustle of “la rentrée“, I’m continuing my road trip, which is taking me through the Ardèche and the Rhône valley, the Côte d’Améthyste on the Méditerranean, up and over the Massif Central, through the Médieval town of Provins,
before finally heading home to Picardy.
It’s an opportunity to link up, not just with family and friends, but also with ‘old’ clients, and even new ones…
Meeting distant clients I’ve only ever seen through ‘Teams’ or ‘Zoom’ sessions, and writing training offers for new prospects I’ve met on the way, gives new meaning to the ideas behind a ‘nomadic’ way of working and – here in the middle of nowhere – the very notion of ‘remote’ working…
You couldn’t get much more ‘remote’ than the place where I’m writing and publishing these words!
Even the route I’m taking for this road trip was inspired by conversations with one of my English learners, describing his own professional travels, and – bar a few shaky moments of poor sound or picture quality – I’ve been able to maintain working contact with clients who’ve remained at their posts over the summer, and who wish to continue learning with me.
Love it or hate it, ‘connectivity’ in the ethereal, virtual sense is very much here with us, and there is no reason for it to steal from the ‘connectedness’ of our contact with people around us, be they colleagues, clients, friends, or family.
Likewise, ‘disconnecting’ is something we can all do, as and when we wish:
it’s just a question of taking control of our professional and private lives, and how we wish to live and share them.
I sincerely wish you all another great season of fulfilment, discovery, and achievement.
Above all, I wish you a quality of ‘connectedness’ that brings you a wealth of opportunities and enriching experiences.
From near and far,
Kind regards,
ian
(your humble webmaster)
Simply click on the button to go to the Language Network community,
either by signing up (if you haven’t already done so)
or by logging in (the community is a password-protected environment for members of the Language Network).
Here on the main website, you’ll still be able to read the latest news update on this ‘Welcome’ page, and also some articles,
as these are longer and packed with more information than would be possible on a community post.
If you’d like to write an article to contribute to this section please contact me at webmaster@thelanguagenetwork.online and I’ll be happy to publish it for you.
From now on, the Language Network community is where most of the online activity of the Language Network is happening,
so it’s well worth your while signing up for it by clicking on the blue button!
Please note that for the moment, signing up for the online Language Network community is not linked to paid-up membership of the Language Network,
so even if you haven’t yet got round to paying your subscription (which will become due for the upcoming AGM),
you can still join the online community and see what it has to offer before committing yourself to fully paid-up membership of the Language Network.
Obviously, once the subscriptions call and the AGM is over, we’ll ask all members of the online community to be paid-up subscribers of the Language Network
if they wish to continue being part of our online community.
So please make the most of this opportunity to have a look around the new online Language Network community
and what it’s preparing for members of the Language Network…
Also on the online Language Network community, you’ll be able to join the poll for the dates of upcoming meetings,
and read reports and view the recordings of meetings you missed, or want to see again.
That way, you’ll be able to keep abreast of the activities and discussions of the Watchdogs group, and the Qualiopi Mutual Support group
…not to mention all the other features, such as job postings, discussion groups, and a members’ chat tool.