Let's celebrate success!

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Today as we enter the month of September and we slowly start to wave goodbye to summer, let the sun shine and let me share a success story using TPRS and comprehensible input online!

Back in April an ex Spanish student of mine contacted me because he wanted to learn French.

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acquire28 acquisition33 advanced course1 answer1 answering1 celebrate4 celebration5 ci16 circling5 comprehend10 comprehensible41 comprehension31 customized2 edmodo3 Education8 fluency15 fluent12 free writing1 immerse1 immersion1 improve3 input39 languages5 listen6 listening29 Martina Bex10 online7 personalized13 PQA5 proficiency8 proficient6 progress2 reading36 share8 Skype4 story34 storyasking3 storytelling28 success2 successful1 teaching8 understand7 understanding8

French game to recycle and repeat: Jean-Jacques Julier

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I am back home after a big road trip which took my whole family all the way down to Portugal, then Spain and finally to La Bretagne in France. We got to discover beautiful places and meet amazing people and we also had the chance to reunite with family and old friends.

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acquiring5 acquisition33 activity13 brain break5 center3 challenge5 ci16 comprehensible41 curricula2 curriculum5 family16 focus6 French20 fun13 game8 ideas7 input39 learner8 learning14 lessons1 mantra2 Martina Bex10 memorize5 multitasking3 online7 personal8 power1 quick1 recycle2 recycling1 repeating3 repetition11 repetitive5 retain1 retaining1 retention1 session2 share8 sharing3 simple7 starter2 story asking9 story building3 storytelling28 structures6 tenses2 TPRS34 vocabulary18 warm up2 yoga7

The many benefits of online teaching

I must confess that since teaching students via Skype or Google hangout, I am having a lot of fun! I have also noticed the many benefits of online instruction.

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First of all, the learner is in the comfort of his home which helps lowering the affective filter.

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acquiring5 acquisition33 advantages1 affective2 affirming1 article5 benefits3 comprehensible41 conversation12 edmodo3 Education8 filter2 flexible1 google hangout1 hearing1 high fraquency1 input39 intensive1 interest9 listening29 news1 online7 personalized13 practice17 productive4 relaxed1 repetition11 risk-taking1 safe1 Skype4 structure10 teaching8 technology2 video32

El día de los muertos and Halloween in Spanish

There are two great videos which are to be found on and which are great to talk about two major cultural events happening very soon!

The first one "La noche de brujas" is perfect for one lesson:

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article5 brain break5 celebration5 channel2 cultural5 day of the dead1 día de los muertos1 Education8 fun13 halloween1 key structure10 Mary Glasgow4 miscositas1 repetition11 Spanish27 spanish cuentos1 story34 storytelling28 target language12 target structure10 thematic1 TPRS34 unit3 video32 vocabulary18 website1 youtube17

IB Spanish students: La casa de Bernarda Alba

I am teaching Spanish language B IB higher level and my students have to read two works of literature. Since I have a group of only girls, I have chosen La casa de Bernarda Alba which is written by the famous poet Federico García Lorca.

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biography2 book10 free4 higher level1 IB6 La casa de Bernarda Alba. teacherspayteachers1 language B4 literature2 Lorca2 play7 presentation10 read7 reading36 slideshow2 Spanish27

Reading activity: una televisión para los perros

I believe reading in the target language is crucial because it promotes fluent reading skills which then leads to fluency in the other language skills such as speaking and writing. Fluent reading means reading without a dictionary, which can be challenging if students read an authentic text or a book.

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acquire28 acquisition33 article5 ci16 collaborative2 communicate5 communication7 comprehensible41 comprehension31 connection3 dictionary3 discussion3 Education8 group work5 input39 interest9 listening29 magazine3 Mary Glasgow4 media2 reading36 skill4 skills24 Spanish27 speaking37 story34 storytelling28 television2 text4 TPRS34 understand7 understanding8

Spanish curriculum: scope and sequence

It has been a challenging school year in terms of timetabling and workload but the one thing which I am very pleased with is that I have managed to write all the scope and sequence documents for all grades and levels (yeah!), which means I more or less know which topics and structures I am going to cover with my classes over the years!

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ab initio2 curricula2 curriculum5 Education8 foreign language5 grade 108 grade 111 grade 122 grade 68 grade 74 grade 85 grade 98 IB6 IGCSE12 language B4 programm1 scope1 sequences1 Spanish27 wiki5