Language game to provide more comprehensible input: Guess Who?

https://goo.gl/photos/JPio26rjA9UosKXR7

As I mentioned in my previous post about story listening, I am part of an amazing group on Facebook called "CI Liftoff'' where educators around the world are discussing about how to use pure comprehensible input in the language acquisition process.

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How to find out about your learners interests in a compelling way?

https://goo.gl/photos/Lv9KJs14RiDxpNb16

I have started teaching French to a group of 3 girls aged 10 years old. They are native German but they have been attending a primary school where they were taught French intensively, it was like an immersion type of school so their level is very good.

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10 years old1 5 a day1 acquire28 acquisition33 answers8 approach1 asking1 Ben Slavic2 brain break5 chinese portrait1 chinois1 cognates3 communicate5 communication7 compell1 compelling10 comprehend10 comprehensible41 dance2 dancing1 dig up1 disco1 dislikes1 Education8 engage14 engaging9 establish1 establishing1 find out1 fit3 fitness3 foreign language5 fun13 get to know1 girls1 group3 information5 input39 interest9 interesting9 language26 learner8 level2 likes1 meaning3 natural3 naturally3 near cognates1 one word image2 party2 personalized13 portrait1 questions19 repeat3 repeating3 repetition11 repetitive5 second language4 session2 story34 story asking9 storyasking3 target language12 target structure10 TPRS34 try out1 video32 vocabulary18 youtube17

French culture: celebrating la Chandeleur !

Candlemas is around the corner and I have prepared some fun activities to do in the French class to celebrate this special event. In fact as the activities are mainly centered around crepes and how to make them, you could also use them to celebrate Mardi Gras (which is on the 9th of February this year) or if you are teaching a topic on food.

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acquisition33 activities5 bundle1 celebrate4 celebration5 comprehensible41 cultural5 culture22 Education8 food13 French20 grammar6 infinitive1 input39 logic1 logical2 numeracy1 passé-composé2 past5 perfect tense2 recipe12 song10 story34 storytelling28 teacherspayteachers11 TPRS34 tradition1

Communicative activity for French learners (beginner level).

As well as teaching online private English lessons to Spanish students, I help some French students at beginner level. As you may already know, I am a big fan of Martina Bex and I decided to use her storytelling unit for French 1: Dit.

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activity13 adjective1 beginner10 cognates3 comprehensible41 dit1 Education8 endings1 French20 game8 grammar6 guidelines2 ideas7 input39 instructions3 intermediate5 key structures7 Martina Bex10 oral11 repetition11 speaking37 story34 story asking9 storytelling28 TPRS34 unit3

Resources for English learners: shopping and the issue of being a shopaholic.

Last week, I was writing about my new "job" which is to teach online private lessons to Spanish students who want to improve their English. (via Google hangout or Skype). For now, it is going very well and I am receiving positive feedback from my students which is always good!

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acquire28 acquisition33 activity13 answers8 article5 communicate5 communication7 compelling10 comprehend10 comprehensible41 comprehension31 conversation12 culture22 debate3 edmodo3 Education8 esl2 fluency15 input39 interesting9 language26 learner8 learning14 meaning3 meaningful4 personalized13 practise2 questions19 reading36 teacherspayteachers11 theme3 topic8

Speaking activity: giving opinions about TV programs and films.

This is a fantastic idea from one of my emails from the mflresources@yahoogroups.com: "I show the students some clips (2-3 mins each) from YouTube and they play the role of critic - after each clip they get 30 seconds to write their opinion of each clip and then a further 30 seconds to share their opinion with their neighbor.

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channel2 clip1 communication7 comprehensible41 comprehension31 debating1 films1 flashcards4 fluency15 fluent12 forum1 group3 group work5 ideas7 input39 listening29 mfl1 movies1 opinions2 playlist2 programs1 quizlet5 series3 sharing3 skills24 speak2 speaking37 television2 trailer1 vocabulary18 youtube17

Civilization project to use the past tense in Spanish

I have covered the past tense in Spanish with my grade 8 students (13-14 years old) this term and I want them to be able to describe past events confidently and accurately. Over my teaching experience I have found out that doing the traditional grammar exercises such as filling in the gaps with the correct verb forms does not really work with students.

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acquire28 acquired3 acquisition33 civilization1 collaboration work1 collaborative2 communication7 comprehend10 comprehensible41 culture22 Education8 fluency15 grade 85 group work5 history5 imperfect2 incas1 independent3 information5 informative1 innate1 input39 internalize1 invented1 language26 language skills1 listening29 mayas1 oral11 output10 pair work2 past5 poster2 presentation10 proficiency8 project10 simple past4 skills24 speaking37 storylistening2 video32