Reading Quote #35: Stop Reading!
If solid SLA research principles don’t work to get all of your students reading, try some reverse psychology...
Reading Quote #33: More Fairy Tales = More Intelligent
Fairy tales from the target language culture are a valuable tool we too often have overlooked in world language teaching. Traditional stories teach both culture and language at the same time. .
Reading Quote #32: Acquiring Advanced Grammar
All of our best tricks to get students to pick up the subjunctive pale compared to simple free voluntary reading. Think about using novels more. Fiction written from an omniscient narrator's perspective with plenty of scheming characters (like the Harry Potter series) works particularly well. Get unique novels by [...]
Reading Quote #31: Grammar Development
Producing the language by speaking or writing doesn't help students internalize grammar. There are benefits to production, but acquiring grammar isn't one of them. Reading and listening can do it though—and reading is the most differentiated because self-selected reading can reach each student at their own unique level.
Reading Quote #30: 50 Function Words
Languages use the same words over and over. Be sure you are using the most important function words so that your students will know and be able to use them. You can find a set of Spanish function words here. They are about the same in every language, so [...]