Reading to promote language acquisition

A few weeks ago, I was asking you for suggestions to order Spanish books for my school library. Over my teaching career, I have found that reading is a key skill, if not the main skill to learn a language. By reading texts and books, language "acquisition" happens.

[read more…]

achieve2 achievement1 acquire28 acquisition33 children8 ci16 comprehend10 comprehensible41 comprehension31 Education8 engaged4 engaging9 exciting2 fluency15 fluent12 free4 fvr2 input39 interest9 interested1 interesting9 language26 learning14 library3 novel4 read7 reading36 silent1 skill4 Spanish27 ssr1 Stephen Krashen1 succeed1 success2 sustained1 text4 TPRS34 understand7 voluntary1

Helen Keller: an inspiring story

When I was a child, I read The Story of My Life by Helen Keller. I read this book over a few days and it stuck in my mind. It is an incredible story of a courageous individual who overcame tremendous odds with the help of a tremendous teacher,

[read more…]

Anne Sullivan1 blind1 coach1 communicate5 courageous1 deaf1 Education8 express1 footage1 guide4 Helen Keller1 help3 inspired1 inspiring3 learn5 lesson4 life3 mentor1 perserverance1 personal8 real1 story34 talk4 teacher2 tutor2 video32 vintage1

French resources about the Epihany

To share the Epiphany tradition with your French students, here are some ideas:

Explain the tradition worldwide
The Mary Glasgow website published an article La Galette des Rois which explains the different traditions in France, California, Mexico, Spain and Portugal with its audio version to download (all for free).

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 activity13 bake5 celebrate4 celebration5 compelling10 comprehensible41 comprehensible input6 comprehension31 cook13 Cooking17 cultural5 culture22 Education8 epiphany1 France4 franchculture1 French20 frenchfood1 game8 ideas7 input39 listening29 Mary Glasgow4 pastry3 play7 playing3 recipe12 shareandbake1 singing1 song10 storylistening2 storytelling28 TPRS34