What Works

The question here might not be “what works” but rather “why it works.”  In the field of second and foreign language acquisition, interaction in the classroom has long been considered a critical part of language learning. In an interactive classroom, adult learners are not only ready and willing to work together, they tend to learn better. They focus more on what they are saying rather than how they are saying it, thereby alleviating any self-consciousness or inhibitions that might otherwise keep them mute. Far more learning happens in a cooperative language environment in which learners manage meaningful context and language tasks that allow them to practice learned vocabulary and apply grammar concepts. They make choices! They generate their own sentences to convey the meaning they want - and ultimately with great success! Look below for tips and techniques from Work into Spanish that will help you create your interactive classroom.

Cool Conversation

¡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

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

Sing-a-long!

 

“Me Gustas Tú” by Manu Chao

 

 

 

“Me Gustas Tú” with lyrics

 


What they are saying..
“The textbook is user-friendly, perfectly tailored to a person with very little or no knowledge of Spanish; a great tool for jump-starting. The class activities were fun, perfectly organized so that everyone would contribute to everybody’s learning. Recommend to everybody who is a dummy in Spanish, but has passion for it and is living a busy life.

The book and the instructor did help me personally a lot to prime my Spanish: I immediately felt a positive change in attitude of the Spanish-speaking people with whom I interact at my work. ¡Muchísimas gracias!”

Sergey Konyavko, CQE | Procurement Quality Engineer | Crane Aerospace & Electronics
Work into Spanish
Buy Work into Spanish through our website. Companion audio CD also available.