From story-telling to story-asking

I am reading TPRS with Chinese characteristics: making students fluent and literate through comprehensible input by Terry Waltz and I am learning a great deal! I definitely recommend this book if, like me, you want your learners to truly develop fluency and proficiency in another language and on the other hand you do not consider yourself advanced in TPRS and comprehensible input,

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acquire50 acquisition65 animals97 Ben Slavic2 ci145 circling5 complex2 comprehensible100 confidence92 confident8 content6 contribute1 contributing1 contribution1 creative13 creativity4 easy300 Education20 engage161 engaged149 finger1 fluency107 fluent57 ideas7 image4 input47 intent3 interest10 language45 learner228 learning15 one word image2 ownership2 proficiency12 proficient9 puppets1 simple15 story46 story asking15 story building8 story script6 storyasking15 storytelling39 target9 target language12 target structure20 Terry Waltz1 TPRS71 understand67 understanding22 word5

French game to recycle and repeat: Jean-Jacques Julier

I am back home after a big road trip which took my whole family all the way down to Portugal, then Spain and finally to La Bretagne in France. We got to discover beautiful places and meet amazing people and we also had the chance to reunite with family and old friends.

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acquiring18 acquisition65 activity13 brain break6 center3 challenge22 ci145 comprehensible100 curricula2 curriculum5 family164 focus36 French41 game21 ideas7 input47 learner228 learning15 lessons36 mantra2 Martina Bex11 memorize11 multitasking3 online38 personal13 power15 quick3 recycle2 recycling1 repeating70 repetition42 repetitive22 ressources40 retain1 retaining1 retention1 session3 share17 sharing6 simple15 starter11 story asking15 story building8 storytelling39 structures7 tenses2 TPRS71 vocabulary256 warm up36 yoga12

How can a children’s book be for everyone?

I am always on the look for interesting funny stories and at the same time stories which are comprehensible to my learners. A few months ago when I was busy breastfeeding, I was reading the TPRS bible “Fluency through TPR storytelling” by Blaine Ray and Contee Steel and one chapter entitled “Kindergarten Day”

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acquiring18 acquisition65 activities5 animal sounds1 animals97 bedtime3 children28 ci145 circle3 circling5 comprehensible100 comprehension261 connection116 engaging10 exercises1 funny256 high frequency217 home practice3 input47 interesting23 kindergarten day1 listening52 own pace2 parallel story3 practice33 present tense435 reading263 repetition42 repetitive22 story46 storytelling39 teacherspayteachers11 TPRS71 verb forms3 video351 vocabulary256

Total Physical Response in online teaching

It is amazing how time is flying and I have realized that it has been way over a month that I have written a new post! As it happened, I have been busy teaching students online face to face. It is a truly exciting time for me because I am experiencing teaching in another way than in a set classroom and because I help learners acquire different languages (French,

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acquistion1 beginner318 ci145 commands12 compelling39 comprehensible100 comprehension261 demo5 Education20 engaging10 face to face1 flashcards8 French41 input47 inspiring7 interaction47 intsructions1 listening52 memorize11 one to one1 online38 own pace2 physical response6 practice33 quizlet9 responding1 scenario1 Skype6 storytelling39 tpr19 TPRS71 understanding22 video351 vocabulary256 webcam1 youtube67

El día de los muertos and Halloween in Spanish

There are two great videos which are to be found on and which are great to talk about two major cultural events happening very soon!

The first one “La noche de brujas” is perfect for one lesson:

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article46 brain break6 celebration20 channel2 cultural10 day of the dead4 día de los muertos1 Education20 halloween6 key structure10 Mary Glasgow6 miscositas1 repetition42 ressources40 Spanish33 spanish cuentos1 story46 storytelling39 target language12 target structure20 thematic1 TPRS71 unit3 video351 vocabulary256 website1 youtube67

The Spanish alphabet

This is a simple activity to do with Spanish beginners when you are teaching the alphabet: students create their own alphabet page by looking for words which start with each letter of the Spanish alphabet. This is the first year in my teaching career that I do this activity and I have found out that my grade 6 students (11-12 years old) had a lot of fun doing this.

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activity13 alphabet1 beginner318 browse1 browsing1 culture246 dictionary3 enjoy48 find6 finding2 foreign language35 grade 68 language45 letter2 letters2 looking for1 reading263 research17 simple15 skills26 Spanish33 writing55

Spanish video: ¿Qué hiciste ayer?

The Spanish channel is a goldmine for comprehensible videos with vocabulary and structures related to the IGCSE course. My grade 9 students watched this video about a Saturday night which lead to a fun project!

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debate11 dejar salir1 grade 108 grade 98 grammar72 IGCSE12 independent4 learning15 listening52 NEEM11 opinions27 past tense214 project11 simple past24 skills26 Spanish33 speaking73 teenagers4 unidad 81 video351 weekend10 ¿Qué hiciste ayer?1