Cool Conversation

Work into Spanish — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:40:57 +0000

¿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.

Grammar Goodness

Work into Spanish — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:39:22 +0000

Past tense verb practice: It’s time to get out those workplace-verb flash cards again. You and a partner can test each other to improve your past tense verb conjugation. Hold up an ar, er, or ir verb. Then choose a present tense form which your partner must match in the past tense. Take turns giving each other verb forms.

For example, let’s say you choose the verb vender (to sell). You say, “vende” - the third person singular form of the verb. Your partner should respond with the past tense equivalent “vendió.” Next, it’s your partner’s turn. Your partner says “terminan,” the third person plural form of the verb terminar. You respond with “terminaron.”

Work together for about 10 minutes. See how many verbs you can get through. Which team of partners in the class covered the most verbs? (See Work into Spanish for a great list of the most commonly used work-related verbs.)

Side Splitters

Work into Spanish — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:38:37 +0000

Take this cultural quiz
Newsweek magazine gave 1,000 Americans the U.S. Citizenship Test- What percent failed? (from http://news.yahoo.com)

a. 18%
b. 28%
c. 38%
d. 48%

Ans. C.

Cool Conversation

Work into Spanish — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:15:44 +0000

¡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)

Grammar Goodness

Work into Spanish — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 18:48:44 +0000

Practicing adjectives: Hold up an object in front of the class. Let’s say, a water bottle. You say,“ una botella.” Students call out adjectives to describe it. For example:

Una botella llena
una botella llena de agua
una botella llena de agua fría
Una botella plástica
Una botella clara
Una botella pequeña

or – a coffee cup

Una taza
Una taza blanca, grande, bonita, vieja etc…

Side Splitters

Work into Spanish — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 18:46:59 +0000

Sing-a-long!

“Me Gustas Tú” by Manu Chao

“Me Gustas Tú” with lyrics

Cool Conversation

Work into Spanish — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:23:12 +0000

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

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

Grammar Goodness

Work into Spanish — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:21:27 +0000

To get along easier with Spanish commands, use “Favor de + infinitive verb form” as in “Favor de llenar esta forma /Please fill out this form.” It even works with negative commands as in “Favor de no llenar esta parte/Please don’t fill out this part.” Suggested by Joyce Lewis, Randolph Community College. Good one, Joyce!

Side Splitters

Work into Spanish — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:13:02 +0000

Can you recite the Spanish alphabet from memory in less than 15 seconds?

Cool Conversation

Work into Spanish — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:32:36 +0000

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!