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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acquire28 acquisition33 adults1 children8 ci16 comics1 communicate5 communication7 communicative7 compelling10 comprehend10 comprehensible41 comprehensible input6 comprehension31 content5 culture22 describe4 describing1 description5 Education8 engaging9 foreign language5 France4 French20 fun13 game8 guess who1 high interest5 input39 interest9 interesting9 language26 language learning1 learner8 learners2 message2 online7 physical2 play7 playing3 reading36 story34 story asking9 story building3 TPRS34 tutor2 tutoring1 unconscious3 unconsciously3 understand7 understanding8 write5 writing17

How to build up to a story in French?

https://goo.gl/photos/SS2Rj3NohBzovV58A

My online learners are acquiring French at a fast and steady pace and it is amazing to watch them progress naturally. Unlike last school year when I was trying to use TPRS along with my other resources, I have decided to give it a full go following each of the three steps...

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How can a children's book be for everyone?

I am always on the look for interesting funny stories and at the same time stories which are comprehensible to my learners. A few months ago when I was busy breastfeeding, I was reading the TPRS bible "Fluency through TPR storytelling" by Blaine Ray and Contee Steel and one chapter entitled "Kindergarten Day" caught my eyes.

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acquiring5 acquisition33 activities5 animal sounds1 animals2 bedtime2 children8 ci16 circle3 circling5 comprehensible41 comprehension31 connection3 engaging9 exercises1 fun13 funny2 home practice1 input39 interesting9 kindergarten day1 listening29 own pace2 parallel story2 practice17 present tense1 reading36 repetition11 repetitive5 story34 storytelling28 teacherspayteachers11 TPRS34 verb forms1 video32 vocabulary18

Storytelling: arranging to go out

I am using stories more and more often in my lessons as I believe my students greatly benefit from listening to them as well as reading them and writing new ones. Apart from inventing my own stories, my favorite source is The Comprehensible Classroom which has a wealth of fantastic resources and story scripts.

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arranging to go out1 comprehensible41 comprehension31 create5 creative12 creativity3 film7 free time2 go out1 hobbies4 key structures7 listening29 output10 project10 Spanish27 speaking37 story34 storytelling28 TPRS34 video32 writing17 youtube17

Spanish story script number 4: Lo siento.

Here is another story script which follows the last story about little Pedro losing his notebook. This story has lots of repetitions to focus on "lo siento" and "no sé qué hacer". I am telling those stories using wooden ice cream sticks which the students love.

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acquire28 acquisition33 acting1 ci16 comprehend10 comprehension31 comprenhensible1 drama1 engage14 engaging9 fluency15 fluent12 fun13 funny2 high interest5 input39 interest9 interesting9 intonation1 key1 listening29 motivate7 motivated1 motivating1 motivation6 practice17 proficiency8 proficient6 pronunciation2 reading36 repetition11 repetitive5 retell2 retelling3 script10 second language4 skills24 Spanish27 story34 storytelling28 structure10 target8 target language12 target structure10 TPRS34 vocabulary18 words2

Story script in Spanish

I am huge fan of the Michel Thomas method. The only thing that is bothering me is that it hugely relies on translation. I was trained to use the target language as much as possible in the classroom and my mentor taught me a few tricks to get the students to understand me in the target language like using lots of cognates.

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Mary Glasgow magazines

 

Some time ago I wrote a post about the Mary Glasgow website and how I used its free Spanish articles and audio versions. Last week I received several French sample magazines and the "Bonjour" one aimed at pre-intermediate learners caught my eye.

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acquire28 acquisition33 advanced3 articles1 beginner10 benefits3 Canada2 ci16 compelling10 comprehensible41 comprehension31 confidence4 confident4 culture22 Education8 engaging9 flow3 fluent12 France4 francophone1 free voluntary reading1 French20 fuency1 fvr2 high interest5 independent learning1 input39 interest9 interesting9 intermediate5 languagelearning5 languages5 learners2 magazine3 Mary Glasgow4 proficiency8 proficient6 québec1 readers1 reading36 self confidence1 self confident1 target8 target language12 target structure10 texts1 TPRS34 vocabulary18