A friend recently wrote asking, "What resources would you recommend for someone who is trying to learn Spanish? My barista's boyfriend's family speaks exclusively Spanish and she's trying to fit in. She's using Duolingo currently." Here is my response: In my opinion Duolingo is not the best resource for [...]
These are some good questions that Alex, the lead teacher of a school I am working with, has asked: What habits have you observed in excellent Spanish programs? This is what has worked for me and what I have observed: • Routines. Regular, well though-out routines and rituals. - [...]
This is an excerpt from my book Hi-Impact Reading Strategies Ping Pong Reading (AKA Volleyball Reading) This is a reading and oral interpreting exercise that you can do every so often as a review. I would not do this every day, maybe not even every week, because so much L1 [...]
An expanded version of this lesson is available here. This is an activity that can be done as a follow-up to a short story between week 2 and 3 of a Spanish 1 class. The Bell Ringer/Do Now assignment, called the Repasito, is displayed below. In the example, the Repasito [...]
Ojalá que llueva café is a classic—an oldie, but a goodie. There are many ways this song is helpful for Spanish teachers. Here is a complete lesson, an example of how to teach and use music in Spanish class. My Spanish students have always enjoyed this song because it's [...]
Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same from left to right and from right to left. They are an ancient and impressive form of word play and occur in most languages. Palindromes are fun brain teasers for language students. My students like them because they are both [...]