How to develop fluency for an oral examination?

The speaking examination for the IGCSEs can be a stressful experience for our students as they are having to speak in the target language for 15 minutes and they are being recorded. It is therefore best to practice this experience often during class time. In the past I have used Audioboo so that my students could practice and review the general questions (which are a series of linked questions on two or three topics which students have covered in grade 9 and 10).

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acquire50 acquisition65 answers24 convey1 develop2 Education20 exam4 examination5 fluency107 fluent57 GCSE1 grade 108 IGCSE12 information7 list4 oral12 personal13 personalized16 PQA8 practice33 questions74 set2 Spanish33 speaking73 speaking skills8 teacherspayteachers11 tenses2 TPRS71

Reflection on Comprehensible Input

I haven’t updated my blog for a while now, and as I am taking a break due to my fourth baby coming at the end of September, I wanted to reflect on my last school year. I was teaching Spanish from grade 6 to 12 and I decided to turn to comprehensible input and TPRS since I was never fully satisfied with the traditional way to teach languages.

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6th graders2 acquisition65 comments3 comprehensible100 Education20 encourage2 feedback41 fluency107 fluent57 grade 108 grade 74 grade 85 IGCSE12 input47 inspire13 languages13 listening52 Martina Bex11 middle school3 motivate151 motivation201 personalized16 reading252 review26 song29 Spanish33 story46 story asking15 storytelling39 TPRS71

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 fun413 grade 108 grammar66 IGCSE12 independent4 learning15 listening52 NEEM11 opinions27 past tense214 project11 simple past24 skills26 Spanish33 speaking73 teenagers4 unidad 81 video350 weekend10 ¿Qué hiciste ayer?1

Spanish curriculum: scope and sequence

It has been a challenging school year in terms of timetabling and workload but the one thing which I am very pleased with is that I have managed to write all the scope and sequence documents for all grades and levels (yeah!), which means I more or less know which topics and structures I am going to cover with my classes over the years!

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ab initio2 curricula2 curriculum5 Education20 foreign language35 grade 108 grade 111 grade 123 grade 68 grade 74 grade 85 IB9 IGCSE12 language B4 programm2 ressources40 scope1 sequences1 Spanish33 wiki5

How to get students to talk about a sport in Spanish for one minute or two?

When reviewing the topic of free time with my grade 9 students (14-15 years old), I decided to spice it up a bit with “different” kind of sports and hobbies such as “el futbolchapas”:

without subtitles

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comprehension250 examination5 exams3 free time7 futbolchapas1 grade 108 hobbies8 IGCSE12 listening52 oral12 ping-pong de puerta1 presentation140 questions74 reading252 skills26 Spanish33 speaking73 sport9 subtitles5 video350

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,

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answers24 audio55 audioboo3 conversation311 engage150 fun413 grade 108 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.

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Blogging1 book95 creative13 describe37 description96 examination5 exams3 family164 fun413 IGCSE12 mini-book2 oral12 pocket book1 present565 presentation140 presenting102 Spanish33 speaking73 topics19