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,

[read more…]

acquistion1 beginner318 ci145 commands12 compelling39 comprehensible100 comprehension286 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:

[read more…]

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.

[read more…]

activity13 alphabet1 beginner318 browse1 browsing1 culture246 dictionary3 enjoy48 find6 finding2 foreign language35 grade 68 language45 letter2 letters2 looking for1 reading288 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!

[read more…]

debate11 dejar salir1 grade 108 grade 98 grammar86 IGCSE12 independent4 learning15 listening52 NEEM11 opinions27 past tense214 project11 simple past24 skills26 Spanish33 speaking73 teenagers4 unidad 81 video351 weekend10 ¿Qué hiciste ayer?1

How to practice and review the general conversation for the IGCSE oral exam?

My students in grade 10 have a speaking examination in 5 weeks time and I believe this is the most stressful part of their IGCSEs. In order to prepare them well for the general conversation (which consists of asking a series of linked questions on two or three topics which students have covered in grade 9 and 10) I asked my students to get in pairs,

[read more…]

answers24 audio55 audioboo3 conversation311 engage186 grade 108 grade 98 IGCSE12 listening52 oral12 personal13 practice33 preparing5 questions74 review26 revision2 share17 social life8 Spanish33 speaking73 topics19

A fun way to describe a family in Spanish

I think I have already mentioned a few times that I really dislike going trough the boring topics of the IGCSE examinations! I am therefore trying to find new ways of reviewing some of the topics students have already learned such as describing people, and particularly describing family members.

[read more…]

Blogging1 book95 creative13 describe37 description96 examination5 exams3 family164 grade 98 IGCSE12 mini-book2 oral12 pocket book1 present565 presentation140 presenting102 Spanish33 speaking73 topics19

Spanish story script number 4: Lo siento.

Here is another story script which follows the last story about little Pedro losing his notebook. This story has lots of repetitions to focus on “lo siento” and “no sé qué hacer“. I am telling those stories using wooden ice cream sticks which the students love.

[read more…]

acquire50 acquisition65 acting1 ci145 comprehend52 comprehension286 comprenhensible1 drama28 engage186 engaging10 fluency107 fluent57 funny256 high frequency217 high interest7 input47 interest10 interesting23 intonation2 key2 listening52 motivate187 motivated179 motivating1 motivation237 practice33 proficiency12 proficient9 pronunciation11 reading288 repetition42 repetitive22 retell3 retelling4 script201 second language44 skills26 Spanish33 story46 storytelling39 structure10 target9 target language12 target structure20 TPRS71 vocabulary256 words18