Total Physical Response in online teaching

It is amazing how time is flying and I have realized that it has been way over a month that I have written a new post! As it happened, I have been busy teaching students online face to face. It is a truly exciting time for me because I am experiencing teaching in another way than in a set classroom and because I help learners acquire different languages (French,

[read more…]

acquistion1 beginner10 ci16 commands2 compelling10 comprehensible41 demo3 Education8 engaging9 face to face1 flashcards4 French20 fun13 input39 inspiring3 interaction1 intsructions1 listening29 memorize5 one to one1 online7 own pace2 physical response1 practice17 quizlet5 responding1 scenario1 Skype4 storytelling28 tpr2 TPRS34 understanding8 video32 vocabulary18 webcam1 youtube17

French story and poem: un amour qui finit mal !

My French students are now learning the passé composé in class and I am looking for ways to help them acquire this new tense without doing the traditional grammar approach.

The first text which came to my mind was Le déjeuner du matin which is actually a poem widely taught in French classes because the language is quite simple and repetitive.

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 breakfast2 comprehensible41 cultural5 culture22 déjeuner du matin1 Education8 food13 French20 guidelines2 literature2 love1 Martina Bex10 meal4 miming1 MovieTalk3 passé-composé2 perfect tense2 poem4 poet1 Prévert1 questions19 reading36 repetition11 script10 story34 storytelling28 target language12 target structure10 teacherspayteachers11 TPRS34 youtube17

Personalized questions in French: l'étoile du jour.

https://goo.gl/photos/QtQ95BFaxjMXP18X8

This morning, I was reading the Active learner blog post about "Café y conversación" and it inspired me to share about an authentic conversation I had last week with my French students. As mentioned in the post: "When we have authentic conversation about topics that students want to talk about,

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 answers8 authentic1 beginner10 Blogging2 compelling10 comprehensible41 conditional2 Education8 French20 if clauses1 IGCSE12 oral11 output10 personalized13 PQA5 practice17 questions19 repetition11 repetitive5 speaking37 story34

Reading activity for French learners (beginner level).

Yeah!!! I am back to blogging! I had a very good excuse though for not posting for such a while: I had my fourth boy on the 24th of September. His name is Antoine and he is a lovely baby boy doing well :-)

Whilst recovering from the birth and taking care of my precious little boy,

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 beginner10 blog6 Blogging2 ci16 comprehensible41 confidence4 confident4 content5 creative12 Education8 engaging9 French20 grammar6 input39 key structures7 languages5 Martina Bex10 meaning3 meaningful4 parallel story2 practice17 prepare2 printable1 reading36 story34 storytelling28 teacherspayteachers11 TPRS34 vocabulary18 worksheet2 writing17

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!

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 activity13 answers8 article5 communicate5 communication7 communicative7 compelling10 comprehend10 comprehensible41 conversation12 culture22 debate3 edmodo3 Education8 esl2 fluency15 input39 interesting9 language26 learner8 learning14 meaning3 meaningful4 personal8 personalized13 practise2 questions19 reading36 teacherspayteachers11 theme3 topic8

Resources for English learners: superstitions.

Although I am taking a break from my school and "formal" teaching, I have not really quit and I have now started to teach online (via Google hangout or Skype) private lessons to Spanish students who want to improve their English. It is actually very different from teaching a whole class and my students have a good level of English but they are not confident enough.

[read more…]

activity13 comprehensible41 conversation12 culture22 Education8 engage14 fluency15 fluent12 language26 learning14 personal8 practice17 questions19 reading36 teacherspayteachers11

How to use a mini story in a Spanish beginner class

I have become a fan of TPRS because I do believe it is the most efficient way so far to help students develop both fluency and accuracy in Spanish. However, I am new to the techniques and although I read the Big Green Book: Fluency through TPR Storytelling,

[read more…]

6th graders2 accuracy3 activity13 beginner10 circle3 circling5 comprehensible41 Education8 fluency15 grade 68 input39 key structures7 language26 leaning1 mastery1 method3 noresource1 output10 proficiency8 reading36 repeat3 repeating3 Spanish27 speaking37 story34 storytelling28 structures6 TPRS34