NOTE:  This is part 6 of an ongoing series of posts about focusing on the present subjunctive with a story-based approach and compelling, comprehensible input in a Spanish 3 class.

First Solution and Second Problem: 

Repeating the Structure in a Different Setting

Pobre Marcus no sabe qué hacer.   No sabe adónde quiere ir.

[Poor Marcus doesn’t know what to do.  He does not know where he wants to go.]

A él le caen bien las dos chicas, pero cada chica quiere que él vaya a diferente parte.

[He likes both girls, but each girl wants him to go to a different place.]

The class gets to come up with ideas to get Marcus out of the jam here.  Now it is Marcus’ time to shine.  The class gets to show how much they know about Marcus and the type of solution that he would come up with.  Marcus is the focus here and now he gets to accept or reject ideas that the class comes up with.  The class dreams up a compromise solution for him.  I discuss it with Marcus aloud in front of the class using the second person:

Marcus, ¿qué opinas de ésta idea?  ¿Te gusta, o no te gusta?  ¿Tienes otra idea? ¿Quieres invitar a Kylee a París?  Quieres que ella vaya contigo y con Haley?  Ella quiere ir con ustedes.  Dinos tu decisión, muchacho.  ¿Qué vas a hacer?

[Marcus, what is your opinion of this idea?  Do you like it or not?  Do you have another idea?  Do you want to invite Kylee to Paris?  Do you want her to go with you and with Haley?  She wants to go with you all.  Tell us your decision, young man.  What are you going to do?

Marcus has the spotlight and he has the power.  What he decides goes.  He decides that this idea is acceptable, so I announce it to the class (even though the class just came up with it and they have also just heard me discussing it with Marcus right in front of them!):

Por fin, Marcus piensa en una solución: ¡Va a invitar a Kylee a ir a París con él y Haley!

[Finally, Marcus thinks of a solution:  He is going to invite Kylee to go to Paris with him and Haley!]

Remember that whenever I write with an exclamation mark here it indicates the enthusiasm in my voice that cues the students to over-emote with an enthusiastic “Oh!”  This helps to keep the class lively by giving the “audience” something to do.

¡Buena idea, Marcus! Muy amigable.

[Good idea, Marcus!  Very nice of you.

We make Marcus look like a hero here.  He actually IS a really nice kid that would probably have come up an inclusive compromise solution like this on his own.  We underscore that admirable personality trait and applaud his generosity of spirit.

Marcus habla con Kylee y le dice,  –Kylee, quiero que vengas a París conmigo y con Haley.

[Marcus talks with Kylee and says to her, “Kylee, I want you to come to Paris with me and with Haley.”]

I throw in another instance of the subjunctive with querer [to want] here.  This is more modeling to help them to begin to acquire the subjunctive.  No long grammatical explanations.  We just want them to understand that one sentence for now—no long explanations, no worksheets.  I simply ask, “What did I just say?” or, “What does quiere que venga mean?”  When it is in context almost everybody gets it.  The subjunctive is easy to understand, but hard to produce consistently and reliably.

Now we turn again to Kylee.  I ask the class if they think that Kylee will agree or not.

¿Qué les parece, clase?  ¿Kylee está de acuerdo con la idea de Marcus, o no está de acuerdo?

[What do you think, class?  Does Kylee agree with Marcus’ idea, does she not agree?]

I ask the class and get their (usually highly vocal and rowdy at this point) input, but Kylee is the one that gets to make the decision whether she goes or not.  So after the shouting match dies down, I turn to Kylee…

¿Es una buena solución?  ¿Qué te parece, Kylee? 

[Is it a good solution?  What do you think, Kylee? 

¿Quieres ir a Paris con Marcus y Haley, o prefieres otra solución?  ¿Estás de acuerdo o no estás de acuerdo?

Do you want to go to Paris with Marcus and Haley, or do you prefer another solution?  Do you agree or do you disagree?]

Kylee has the control here.  She can choose if she likes Marcus’ idea or not.  She says yes.  So I announce it to the class as if this is really some big news, even though they are right there and have heard the whole thing.

Clase, ¡Kylee está de acuerdo!

[Class, Kylee agrees!]

The whole class cheers as if this is some great thing.  It is the teacher enthusiasm mixed with that of the students that gets them going.

Sí, Kylee está de acuerdo, así que los tres van a París.  Pero cuando llegan, ¡hay otro problema! 

[Yes, Kylee agrees, so the three of them go to Paris.  But when they arrive there is another problem!]

Todos tienen hambre. 

[Everyone is hungry.]

We need another problem once they get to Paris, so I throw in the “they are hungry” thing.