Archive for the ‘Cool Conversation’ Category

¿Verdadero o falso? Separate into small groups of 3-4 people. You have roughly 3 minutes to prepare two statements about yourself in Spanish to introduce to your group - one true; one false. (Make it difficult to determine which statement is true and which is false.) Pause after each statement to let your group guess which is which.

¡Me gusta/no me gusta! From a stack of index cards, each with a printed topic, choose one and tell your group why you like or don’t like what’s on the card. Give as much information as you can.

For a card that says “aire acondicionado” (air-conditioning), you might say, “No me gusta el aire acondicionado. Me gusta (o prefiero) más el aire fresco. Abro la ventana en la oficina todos los días. Es mejor que el aire acondicionado…”

For a card that says “viajes de negocios” (business trips), you might say, “No me gusta viajar por negocios porque me siento solo. No me gustan los hoteles. No duermo bien. La última vez, pasé muchas horas en el aeropuerto…”

Other card examples: llamadas telefónicas (telephone calls), los emails, fiestas de la oficina (office parties), reuniones de negocios (business meetings), gente en los ascensores (people in elevators), el español (Spanish), empleados nuevos (new employees), hora pico (rush hour), chismes (gossip), toma de decisiones (decision-making), pausa para el café (coffee breaks), viernes casual (casual Fridays)

Conversation practice for breaks between classes!   Here are some student tasks to keep the momentum going.  Try one per week.

1. Order a meal completely in Spanish.
2. Watch one episode of “Betty La Fea.”
3. Send an email to someone in Spanish.
4. Read an article from a Spanish newspaper (online or buy) and write one sentence about its contents.
5. Have a three-minute conversation with a Spanish-speaking employee about his/her plans for the holiday/summer/spring break - completely in Spanish!
6. Write your to-do list for one day in Spanish.
7. Find one Spanish grammar website on the Internet, and complete a free online practice.
8. Visit a bookstore.  While you’re there, read a Spanish children’s book.
9. Listen to a Spanish CD.
10. Write a three-line poem in Spanish.

The 45-second conversation. Imagine a blank bingo card with only the outer-rim boxes. Assign a work-related topic to each empty box. Example topics - Mi Oficina, Mi Día Más Favorito, El Almuerzo, Mi Horario. Divide into groups of 3-4 people and label yourselves Student 1, 2, 3… Each student has 45 seconds to speak non-stop about the topic in a particular box.
Students find this board game in Work into Spanish tremendous fun and great practice!

What’s in your pocket? Take out all the items from your pockets. Tell your partner about them. Use the present/past tense to explain. For example, with a set of keys you could say, “Traigo las llaves todo los días. Tengo muchas llaves que uso en mi trabajo. Esta llave es para mi oficina.” Let your partner ask you any questions about the object you are describing. When you have said enough, choose another object to describe. Take turns describing your objects.