After teaching Spanish for many years, I have come to believe that games are a fabulous way to learn new material. Games should not be saved for special days, but rather integrated regularly into language classes. As we know, learners need repeated contact with the target language and culture to ultimately become proficient in the… Read More Spanish Teaching: 10 Instant Games for ANY Language Classes
Learn Spanish (or any) Vocabulary through Shopping Activities that simulate shopping are a super-valuable way to learn beginning Spanish (or any) language. They recycle lots of vocabulary, are interactive and allow for movement and creativity. Here are some of my favorites. Shopping Beginner/A. Simple lists of vocabulary. Put them in teams, give them the list… Read More Learn Spanish (or any) Vocabulary through Shopping
Teach Languages: Italki in Your Classroom I love to teach languages. It is fun, rewarding and allows for so much growth in short amounts of time at the novice level. Students can get comfortable speaking to you and each other, but ultimately need to engage with native speakers. Do you know about italki? If you… Read More Teach Languages: Italki in Your Classroom
Language Teaching with Drama I absolutely love language teaching with drama. I love it not only because I graduated with my BA in Theater Arts and Foreign Languages, but it also gets people moving, and talking, and being silly, and having fun, and learning so much. I wanted to share some different activities that you… Read More Language Teaching with Drama: 16 Activities
Language Class: Things We Teach NOT to Do in School that We MUST Do Language classes are unique. If you teach languages, you know that things are just different in our classes. So many of the things that traditionally we’re conditioned to do in school are the exact opposite of what we want people… Read More Language Class: Things We Teach NOT to Do in School that We MUST Do
Post it Notes for French (or any language) lessons Post it notes are one of my favorite resources for French (or any language) lesson. They are flexible, adaptable and can be used in so many ways. Check out some of my favorite ways to use Post it notes in my language classes: Label vocabulary: Have… Read More Post It Notes for French (or any language) Lessons
Distance Learning: Language Teaching We all know that learning languages involves a lot of interaction and community. This can be hard to adapt language teaching in distance learning. If you are teaching remotely, you are probably using Google Meet, Zoom or Microsoft Teams. You can run your entire class out of your Google drive. It’s… Read More Distance Learning: Teaching Languages
Learn Spanish Vocabulary for Letters through Pen Pals Writing is one of my favorite ways to practice languages. It’s free and can be done anywhere. Check out this Spanish vocabulary for letters with your class or on your own. This activity is a great one. There are many places to find pen pals from other… Read More Pen Pal Activity: Spanish Vocabulary for Letters
Reading: The Best Way to Learn a Language Regular reading is one of the best ways to learn a language. Dr. Stephen Krashen wrote a paper in 2017 on two hyperpolyglots. The subjects of his study each spoke more than 15 languages. They both cite extensive reading as a major factor in their success. Many… Read More Reading: The Best Way to Learn a Language