Tuesday, September 1, 2020

How We Learn a Language

Hello! At the beginning of the school year I like to talk a little about why we do what we do in our Spanish classes. This year I've made video explanations and included them in this blog post so it can easily be shared with parents and reviewed at any time. 

In this class, students don't learn about the language. Students will acquire the language naturally through input.  The videos below will go into detail about what I mean by this. I've broken the presentation into short videos (between 2-4 minutes) to chunk the information. I've also included a reflection question after each video to help you process the ideas of the video.


In This Class We Learn to Speak From the Heart
Reflect: What does it mean to "speak from the heart"?


What is "Input" and Why Is It Important?
Reflect: How do people develop the ability to speak a language?


The Right Kind of Input to Speak From the Heart
Reflect: What skill(s) did you develop through practicing?


The World Needs People That Speak From the Heart
Reflect: Given that our planet faces many serious problems, why is it important to be able to connect with people around the world?


I hope the videos above give you an idea of the WHY and HOW of our Spanish class. I also wan students and families to know that language learners will understand much more than they will be able to produce, and that's OK! The image below is a nice visual representation of this idea.


I'm excited to start another year! Feel free to reach out with any questions! 


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