Rebecca Thering Last updated: July 23, 2022

How to Get Started Using FluentU with Foreign Language Classes

You’re ready for language learning like you’ve never seen before.

You know FluentU’s authentic, entertaining video content will completely captivate your students.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language lessons.

Plus, its unique “learn mode” will greatly advance their language abilities.

You’re anxious to introduce it to your classes, so how can you get started?

This quick guide will get you acquainted with FluentU’s user-friendly platform, beginning with setting up your classes.

By the end of the post, you’ll know how to assign content to your students and track their progress—all with just a few simple clicks.

Let’s see how you can make FluentU the TA you didn’t even know you needed!

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How to Create a FluentU Teacher Account

The first thing you’ll have to do is head to the FluentU Schools page. From there, you can request a free trial by filling out a brief questionnaire.

The free trial will give you access to every part of the FluentU program for teachers and students, including individual logins for your students and the ability to assign homework, set goals and monitor each individual student’s performance and activity.

How to Adjust Language and Level Settings

If you’d like to adjust the language or level settings at any point, you can easily change your original settings.

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner, to the right of your name.

2. Select “Settings” from the pull-down menu.

3. Click “Study Settings” on the left side of the white screen (underneath “General Settings”).

4. Select the language you’re teaching for “Now Learning,” and select your students’ level for “Your Language Level.”

5. Click the green “Save Changes” button.

If you regularly switch between different languages, here’s a quicker way to do so. Let’s say you want to switch from Spanish to French. Here’s what you’d do:

1. Highlight “spanish” in your current URL. For example: https://www.fluentu.com/spanish/home/#all

2. Type “french” to replace “spanish” in the URL, like this: https://www.fluentu.com/french/home/#all

3. Press enter.

Whatever FluentU page you were previously on will now load the French version. So to quickly change FluentU to one of our other languages (i.e. German, Chinese, Japanese or English), just replace the current language in the URL with the name of the language you’d like to use and hit enter.

How to Add a Class

To keep your students nicely organized by class, you’ll want to create “classes” in FluentU by following these steps:

1. Select “Classes” from the left-hand panel.

2. Click the green “+ New Class” button to add a class.

3. Enter the name of the class, select the language you’ll be teaching and select the level of the class. Click “Okay.”

If you’re not sure which level to pick, not to worry—you’ll still have access to view and assign videos at any level, no matter which level you select here. This initial level selection will merely help make recommendations more accurate for you and your students from the start.

Notice that there’s a “Class Code” column next to this class.

This code is important in our next step, for students to add themselves into your class.

How to Add Students to a Class on FluentU

Now that you have your first class, you’ll want to start adding students. You’ll be happy to know that you don’t need to manually add students yourself; students can easily add themselves to your class!

All you need to do is tell them the correct class code, and each student can create his or her own “Student” account using that code. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

How students can join your class on FluentU with the class code

1. Students go to the FluentU Schools home page and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page.

2. Here, they need to click on “Signup for students,” or simply follow this link.

3. Students enter the class code, their first and last name, and then create a username and password.

Once students start joining your class, you’ll be able to see their names by selecting “Students” from your left-hand menu. From the “Classes” view, you’ll also see how many total students have signed up for each of your classes.

It’s not uncommon for a student to forget his or her password at some point, so here’s how to handle that situation smoothly.

How to Reset a Student’s Password

If your student can’t log in, here’s how you can reset their password:

1. Click “Students” on the left-hand menu.

2. Select the correct class from the pull-down menu.

3. Select the white box to the left of the student’s name, which will put a blue checkmark in the box.

4. Click the “Actions” pull-down menu and select “Reset password.”

This will send an automatic email to the student with a temporary password. Your student should then log in to FluentU using the temporary password.

He or she will be prompted with a screen that says “Your temporary password needs to be updated before you can use FluentU.” Your student then needs to enter a new password in the Password fields, and then they’ll enter the site. That’s it—the password has been reset!

Now that your classes and students are all set up and ready to go, let’s get on to the language learning, shall we?

While students can use FluentU all they want outside of class, you can also assign particular videos, audios and/or flashcard sets to classes.

How to Assign FluentU Videos to Classes

FluentU has tons of engaging content—from music videos, commercials and inspiring speeches to video blogs and movie trailers. If you want to assign a particular FluentU video to one of your classes, follow these steps:

1. In the browse section, click on a video that you want to assign.

2. On the next page, click the “Add to Assignments” link just under the video title.

3. In the small pop-up screen, select the correct class from the pull-down menu, and select a due date. Click “OK.”

You’ve now assigned that video to your class!

View all assignments by clicking “Assignments” on the left-hand menu. Use the pull-down at the top (in blue) to select the class you wish to view, and there you’ll be able to see all assigned content.

FluentU audio and flashcards can be assigned in the exact same way. Under the “Browse” menu in the left-hand panel, select either “Audios” or “Flashcards.” When you have content you’d like to assign, click on the audio or flashcards and then select “Add to Assignments,” just like we did above.

If you find a great video but don’t want to assign it just yet, add it to your favorites! Click “Add to Favorites” next to the heart icon instead of “Add to Assignments,” and it’ll be stored down in your favorites under the “My Content” part of the left-hand menu.

Once you’ve assigned any type of content to a class, FluentU’s Progress feature lets you see how your students are doing with the new material.

How to View Student/Class Progress

Not only can you view progress on videos you’ve assigned, but you can see your students’ progress on any videos they’ve watched or learned. To view this information:

1. Click “Progress” in the left-hand menu.

2. Select the correct class from the pull-down menu.

3. Select a student from the second pull-down menu.

For each student, FluentU will track:

When the student last logged in (viewable in “Students”)
The total number of visits (viewable in “Students”)
What content they watched or learned
Their progress in learning the content
Total number of questions answered and their accuracy

And in case you were wondering, all of these wonderful features are available in your free trial.

Now that you’re all set up, your students can start devouring FluentU’s captivating content and improving their language skills today. Enjoy!