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 book10 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 understand7 voluntary1

Another story script in Spanish: ¡No es aceptable!

Following my first story script in Spanish to practice classroom instructions, I have just finished creating another one which reinforces classroom intructions and which introduces one important question word: ¿Por qué?. It also introduces other key phrases from the Michel Thomas method such as es así and lo.

[read more…]

classroom8 commands2 demo3 Education8 game8 instructions3 key structure10 Martina Bex10 method3 Michel Thomas2 play7 questions19 script10 Simon says1 Spanish27 story34 storytelling28 video32 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.

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 circle3 circling5 classroom8 cognate1 command1 connection3 customized2 Education8 high frequency7 instruction2 items1 key structure10 language26 Martina Bex10 method3 Michel Thomas2 moods1 personalized13 PQA5 proficiency8 proficient6 questions19 read7 reading36 script10 Spanish27 story34 storytelling28 structure10 target8 target language12 target structure10 translate2 translation2 verbs2

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 book10 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

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.

[read more…]

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 frequency7 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 vocabulary18

How to learn a language when watching a movie?

 

The thought of watching a Spanish or French movie with my classes has always appealed to me. It develops listening and comprehension skills which are keys to then improve pronunciation and speaking skills. By watching a moving in the target language you can acquire a lot of vocabulary and you can also learn so much about the culture,

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 blog6 ci16 comprehensible41 comprehension31 Education8 film7 foreign language5 input39 language26 languages5 listen6 listening29 movie3 MovieTalk3 repetition11 resource4 second language4 skills24 storytelling28 teach3 teaching8 understand7 understanding8