"Never, say never!"
When one day, he expressed an interest and so, I started to search for method for my partner to make up with languages. For whoever is in this situation, I recommand to have a look at exam and official certification. It gives a sense of purpose for learning, a clear deadline when to pass the exam, and a set of linguistical tools, which have be known for the exam.
DESTINATION... FRENCH: If you are in the same situation as mine, in other words, if your partner is in a full time position in business, I recommand the DFP: Diplôme de français professionnel (See the following link: http://www.fda.ccip.fr/examens). You can also download a "jeu témoin" here for each level. There are different levels corresponding to the CEFR (See the following grid from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages ). I also found the following website very interesting and full of good comments (See: http://www.appuifle.net/diplomes/dfp_a2.html)
... MANDARIN: I will put more information online. However, the HSK certification is inescapable (See the official website: http://www.hsk.org.cn/english/default.aspx).
PLAN:
My partner is not a fan of languages and one has to say that after a long day at work, I can understand that he does not wait for sitting again on a chair to learn a language. Therefore after some time off, we opened some nice juice and I arranged a "lesson" (in the house) about numbers in French using the following plan:
1- My partner wrote 3 motivating sentences about the reasons why he had decided to learn French. They are now somewhere easily visible to remember them.
2- We discussed the conditions of the exam and decided which level to go for and why. I showed him one exam paper (DFP A2).
3- I introduced the topic of the "lesson": the numbers in French.
4- My partner had to complete listen to the music and complete the following exercise.
http://platea.pntic.mec.es/cvera/hotpot/etmoi_etmoi.htm
5- We checked the answers together. I gave him a list of English words to find in French in the text.
For example: "Comment dit-on "Chinese" en français?"
6- We revised the numbers in French (from 1- 1 miliard) and I introduced the dates.
7- Then my partner read the following quizz and gave the answers in French.
http://www.quizz.biz/quizz-100120.html
8- I had planned to finish with a competition to see who is the best at Maths? However, this is not like teaching in a classroom... We had to stop there, but I will use this exercise for the next time as a starter.
http://www.gomaths.ch/cr_multi.php
9 - Summarize what has been seen and introduce what we will see next week.
It seemed to be enough to last about an hour and he seems to have enjoyed it...
