Singing the Basics Beginning Spanish - Mental Note Media

1Singing the Basics Beginning Spanish

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Singing the Basics Beginning SpanishTeacher Guide, Lyric and acTiviTy Book

Todd hawkins, ©1998, 2005

Introduction Teaching Through Music (Teacher Tips)

Lyrics, Days of the Week (Track 1)Teaching the “Single r” Sound (Teacher Tips)

Lyrics, The Weather Song (Track 2)Lyrics, The Cow Song (Track 3)Basic Sentence Types (Worksheet)Is/Are Translation (Worksheet)Ser and Estar: (Handout)

Lyrics, The Question Song (Track 4)The Question Word Game (Activity)

Lyrics, The Stress Song (Track 5)Spanish Pronunciation is Easy (Teacher Tips)Stress Rules, Accent Marks, and Exercises (Worksheet)Pronunciation Practice (Activity)

Lyrics, The Date Song (Track 7)Lyrics, LONERS (Track 8)Lyrics, Es La Una (Track 10)Impromptu Conversations (Teacher Tips)Example Conversation (Activity) “Exchange Student Dinner”

Lyrics, La Familia Tradicional (Track 11)Example Conversation (Activity) “Nuestras Mochilas”Possessives and Misc. Expressions (Worksheet)

Lyrics, -ar Verbs Song (Track 14)-ar Verb Conjugation (Worksheet)Passing Flash Cards (Teacher Tips)

Lyrics, Siete Días (Track 12)Lyrics, I Am Yo (Track 13)Lyrics, The Taco Song (Track 9)Is This An Easy Language? (Transparency or handout)Pronunciation Practice (Activity)

Lyrics, The Direct Object Song (Track 15)Teaching Object Pronouns (Teacher Tips)

conTenTs

Singing the Basics Beginning Spanish2

Singing the Basics Beginning Spanish

The PurPose of This Book

In this book, you’ll find the lyrics to the songs on the CD, ideas for how to use the songs, and some worksheets that I’ve used in conjunction with them. I also explain my approach to teaching various topics, some activities that have worked for me, and some of the experiences and philosophies that have guided the evolution of my teaching style.

TPrs/ci and sinGinG The Basics

Many of these songs were written to help students deal with the difficulties of learning Spanish in a grammar-based system. I subsequently found that students learn grammar (and achieve fluency) bet-ter in a comprehensible-input-based system. TPRS is a rapidly spreading (and evolving) methodology that works because it harnesses the power of comprehensible input, allowing students to acquire lan-guage in harmony with the way humans are wired. “CI” is “comprehensible input”: the understand-able language — aural and written—that induces practically effortless learning when students are im-mersed in it in a repetitive (but not repetitious), engaging way. Many teachers who were introduced to comprehensible input via the most important methodology based on it (TPRS) choose to identify their methodology as TPRS/CI in order to recognize the way that teachers, by starting with sound theory, can incorporate anything that works, to create a classroom environment in which principles of natural language acquisition are given the chance to work their magic.

Unless your students leave your class speaking with ease and placing high in your state on the Na-tional Exam, you owe it to them to learn about TPRS/CI. See my website (information below) for links and information on TPRS and comprehensible input-based instruction..

Anyway, from what I hear, Singing the Basics is useful for teachers irrespective of their approach.

ediT These PaGes!I understand that the odds are small that the worksheets in this booklet will mesh well with the

vocabulary presented in your curriculum. For this reason, I offer the written exercises as examples. I invite you, as a purchaser of this package, to e-mail me to request the book as a Microsoft Word attach-ment, which you may then edit to meet your needs.

downLoads for sTudenTs

Since you may not be able to devote as much time as you would like to singing in class, and because students often become big fans of the songs, you may want students purchase their own copies. Please refer students to my website: www. http://www.mentalnotemedia.com/purchase-mp3s/.

To coPy or noT To coPy

Feel free to copy anything from this book for use in your classroom. Please do not copy, or allow other teachers to copy, the book or the CD to avoid a purchase. You have permission as well to use any of these songs in a public setting—school programs, workshops, professional development meetings, etc. Please do not post or copy songs for students unless you feel that financial circumstances would prevent students from being able to afford a download.

visiT My weBsiTe!Browse to mentalnotemedia.com for free ideas for teachers, for links to information about TPRS/CI, for

the lyrics on PowerPoint, and for more quality educational products. Follow me on Twitter, @Mental-NoteTodd, for information about up-coming projects. I hope you and your students enjoy Singing the Basics Beginning Spanish. More importantly, I hope these songs enable you to teach more, faster, with better retention. Let me know how it goes!

Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, correction, or suggestions that you have. I value your opinions and ideas! My e-mail address is [email protected].


Teaching Through MusicA confession: I get nervous when I sing with a class for the first time, and each time I introduce a

song. As many times as my students have told me how much they enjoy my songs; no matter how many students have come back a year later and told me that they still use them to answer test ques-tions—I still dread introducing a new song to a class. I always feel like the new song has flopped. But the fact that I’ve felt that way every time I’ve taught a new song gives me confidence!

So I can imagine that if you are just starting with music in your classes, and you are not very confi-dent in your abilities, and you don’t know how students will react to the idea of singing, you may very well give up after your first attempt. DON’T GIVE UP! To help you stick with it, I offer you the follow-ing facts:1. Almost all classes will enjoy singing.2. Even if it seems like a class doesn’t enjoy it, several members of the class secretly do.3. If they don’t respond immediately to a song, seem bored by it, or ask you to play some Jay Z, that

means they’re normal.4. If they are normal, once a few of them feel comfortable with a song, they will begin begging to

sing it. Then those who were too embarrassed to ask to sing will be relieved that someone else asked.

5. Worst case scenario—even if they don’t enjoy it, they will learn from it.6. The key is having confidence, though not necessarily in your musical ability. You may sing very

badly. Luckily, that’s irrelevant! What you need to get you through is the belief that even though they’re looking funny at you now, in a week they’ll be requesting songs that you’ve taught them. I think it’s a law of nature. At first, they’re reticent, but soon they’re in the palm of your hand.

What is your role in facilitating this natural progression from reticence to requests?1. Sing only when it’s the best thing you could possibly do. If there is a better way to teach some-

thing, use it. The taxpayers are not paying you to entertain kids, but to teach them! But if you can do both at the same time, taxpayers are getting a bargain. Brain research indicates that some kids learn best through music. Common sense says that if kids are burnt out mentally, teaching through music allows them to use a part of their brains that is most likely fresh and anxious to prove itself. Pre-literate cultures (past and present) have proven the power of music by preserv-ing detailed oral histories in song. And just think of the volumes of useless information you have accumulated throughout the years through advertising jingles! You can put that power to work in your classroom, and your students will remember you and what you’ve taught them long after you’ve gone into full-time shuffleboard.

2. Let students know that fun activities are not free time. Your leadership is crucial, because some students will prefer to start doing their homework, others will decide to talk, others will start put-ting on makeup—because they think “we’re not doing anything anyway.” You need to let them know that you’re singing because there’s no better way to teach what you’re trying to teach. You’re trying to keep them from having to study so much. And if they’re not learning during song time, you have no intention to continue! Don’t insist that they sing—insist that they learn. If they don’t cooperate, maybe there’s a worksheet they’d find more interesting. Don’t bluff—if they’re not fo-cused on the music, quit immediately. The next time you try it, you’ll have their attention, because they really do want to sing!

3. Teach the song in chunks. When singing in the target language, it is important that they practice the lyrics separately from the music. Everyone can speak, but not everyone can sing. If you teach the rhythm of each line by having them repeat after you, they have a much better chance of being able to sing along. Because students usually pronounce every word separately (and therefore can’t understand how they’re supposed to cram all those syllables into one line), point out that the way words blend together in the song is the way the language is actually spoken. Students can sound very fluent by speaking the lyrics to a song in rhythm. In some students, something clicks, and they begin applying this to the way they speak.


4. Make it fun! It should be a refreshing, fun experience. Don’t expect musicality, just participation. 5. Whether you’re musically inclined or not, you really can use music in the classroom, and students

will remember it.

If you don’t think this could work for you, read these excerpts from an e-mail I received:...Last year, I started singing with my students. While I love music, I am not a good singer. I have always thought that classroom singing could be effec-

tive but I was afraid to try. When I was unable to get the phrase, “Lunes is Monday” out of my head, I knew that these CDs had potential.It was at this time that I found your website and read your advice. I encountered the initial resistance that you predicted. I continued with it trusting

that it would change. It never seemed to change. I caught a throat infection that made teaching difficult and singing impossible. As a result, I quit singing with my students. Two weeks later, I was doing physically better but just didn’t have the motivation to try again. That is when it happened. An individual student asked me, “Mrs. Stephenson, why did you quit singing with us?” The rest of the class very quickly voiced the same question and indicated that they enjoyed the helpful lyrics that were stuck in their heads. You could have knocked me down with a feather! The class members that were silent listened intently and seemed to reconsider their opposition. I began to sing with them again. Whenever we learned a new grammar point, they would ask if I had a song for it. My students from the previous year tracked me down between class changed and asked why we didn’t sing when they were my students. Singing was a success. It has been a really good teaching tool. Now that I feel much more confident about singing, I am planning on using more songs than I did last year.

In closing, I would like to tell you my two favorite singing stories from last year. My third block class is split with lunch in the middle. The teachers who have supervision duty reported that several of my students would sing to prepare for a test that was being given after lunch. I could not believe that they were singing in front of other students who were not in my class!

The other story is even more unbelievable. I teach a lot of football players throughout the day. One evening, returning home from a distant away game, my football students began to sing our songs. They say that it wasn’t a conscious decision and that it was something that they just wound up doing one evening to pass the time. I am still amazed by that...

Sincerely,K.S.Morristown, TN

The TyPes of sonGs on This cdThere are three types of songs on this CD. I began writing the songs after having taught Spanish II,

wondering why students didn’t know the stress rules, why they always wanted to use helping verbs, etc. The type of song that met my needs when I began teaching first year was the grammar song. These songs help students to remember useful rules that students typically forget. (Now that I have more experience, I’m not convinced that memorizing grammar rules is all that effective. See box at right for my current philosophy on grammar rules.)

The second type of song is the vocabulary song. The days of the week, months, weather, etc., are easily taught through songs.

The third type of song is the comprehensible input song. The term “comprehensible input” will be particularly fa-miliar to TPRS teachers. It is only through comprehen-sible input that most people are able to acquire language (vocabulary and grammar) in a way that sticks long-term, and can be accessed for fluent speech. Some of these songs are in Spanish, and are designed to model telling time, possessives, family vocabulary, etc.

Important CaveatStudents use helping verbs (and break other grammar rules) be-

cause they think in English, and translate following its grammar rules. I remember having professors who urged us not to “translate” when we spoke or wrote in Spanish. I was mystified by this advice, wondering what the alternative was; their method of teaching did not expose us to enough language to enable us to think in Spanish. The formula was rules+vocabulary=sentence.

Teaching through comprehensible input is the solution to that trap. Students who learn Spanish by hearing lots of understandable Span-ish never consider trying to use ser as a helping verb, for example, because they make decisions based not on rules, but on what “sounds right” in Spanish. When learning through comprehensible input, they have no choice but to think in Spanish. I hope you find the grammar songs useful, but I urge you to consider allowing students to acquire grammatical structures via a comprehensible-input-based approach (like TPRS) rather than through grammar songs.

Please follow the links on my web site at mentalnotemusic.com to learn more about TPRS.

©1998, Todd hawkins

MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

Days of the Week

lunes is Mondaymartes is Tuesdaymiércoles Wednesdayjueves Thursdayviernes is Fridaysábado Saturdaydomingo is Sunday

lunes, martesmiércoles, juevesviernes, sábado, domingo

lunes is Monday...(whole thing two more times)

hoy es...(current day)

Track 1

It’s not a typo! The days of the week (or the months or seasons) are not capitalized in Spanish. Nationalities are not capitalized either, but countries are. !!

in sPanish, you don’T say “on” a day of The week. you say el lunes,

and los sábados for “on Monday” or “on saturdays”.


Teaching the Spanish “Single r” Sound

The Days of the Week song presents the perfect opportunity to start your students off with a good Spanish single r sound.

It is a good investment of time to teach students to approximate this sound from the very begin-ning, rather than allowing them to get lots of practice doing it wrong. Fortunately, it is an easy sound to master, with a little effort. I introduce the sound when I teach the Days of the Week song. As I speak through the song to practice the rhythm of the words, I point out the correct pronunciation of the r sounds. I do not use the lyric overhead for this song, because I want students to follow my pronuncia-tion, not their own instincts in pronouncing the letter r that they see on the screen.

For each day of the week I use a different trick to help them pronounce the r.

For martes, I get students to repeat after me: “gotta” (several times) “gotta lotta” (several times) “motta” (several times)Then finally I have them say “motta, motta, motta-tes”.

For miércoles, I have students repeat: “getta” “getta job” “getta miata” “mietta”Then finally I have them say “mietta, mietta, mietta-coles”.

For viernes, students repeat after me: “getta” “getta life” “getta Jetta” “vietta”Then I have them say “vietta, vietta, vietta-nes”

Some students will actually switch back to an American r sound as soon as they combine mietta and coles (and the others). As you have the class repeat the days, use your hands like a conductor to force them to pause between the pronunciation trick and the end of the word.

I point out that these tricks don’t result in perfect pronunciation, but come very close. Most impor-tantly, they get students away from the American r sound. These tricks are useful approximations that allow students to experience how the r should feel on the tongue. They will refine the sound with experience.

Be sure to publicly compliment students who have good r sounds, or who are making good attempts. You’re not fighting against inability, but inhibition. Work on creating peer pressure to say it well, coun-terbalancing the existing peer pressure to be haphazard in pronunciation.


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The Weather Song

En invierno, hace fríodiciembre, enero, febrero

En primavera, hace vientomarzo, abril, y mayo

En verano, hace calorjunio, julio, agosto

En otoño, hace frescoseptiembre, octubre, noviembre

En invierno, hace fríoIn winter, it’s colddiciembre, enero, febreroDecember, January, FebruaryEn primavera, hace vientoIn Spring, it’s windymarzo, abril, y mayoMarch, April, and MayEn verano, hace calorIn Summer, it’s hotjunio, julio, agostoJune, July, and AugustEn otoño, hace frescoIn Autumn, it’s chillyseptiembre, octubre, noviembreSeptember, October, November

Track 2


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The Cow Song

Helping verbs don’t helpThey only get in the wayBefore you use soy, eres, es, somos, sonThink of what you’re trying to say!

Use ser for beingNot for doingUse it for “the cow is fat”,Not “the cow is mooing”!

Track

3


Name

Basic Sentence Types

1. Most of the sentences you see will be statements with a subject and a conjugated verb: Sara baila. Sara dances; Sara is dancing; or Sara does dance.

To make this type of statement negative, use no in front of the verb. Sara no baila. Sara doesn’t dance; or Sara isn’t dancing.2. To make a question, you can first make a statement, then switch the subject and verb and add ques-tion marks. “To make a question, just say them in reverse...!” DO NOT TRANSLATE IS, ARE, DO, DOES! ¿Baila Sara? Is Sara dancing?; or Does Sara dance? To make this type of statement negative, use no in front of the verb. ¿No baila Sara? Isn’t Sara dancing?; Doesn’t Sara dance?3. Sentences with gusta are a little different. They seem to follow their own rules. Remember that we are not really saying “I like to dance,” but “To dance is pleasing to me.” We do not yet know how to say anything but “to me” and “to you,” so we can’t say “Sara likes to dance” yet. Me gusta bailar. I like to dance. (To dance is pleasing to me.) Te gusta bailar. You like to dance. (To dance is pleasing to you.)4. To make these questions, just put question marks around them. ¿Me gusta bailar? Do I like to dance? ¿Te gusta bailar? Do you like to dance?5. Our new type of sentence adds a descriptive word, and uses a form of ser. Sara es de Cuba. Sara is from Cuba.

ONLY USE SER WITH DESCRIPTIVE WORDS. To say “Sara is dancing,” you still say “Sara baila.” You never say “Sara es baila.” (“Use ser for being, not for doing!”)

6. To make it a question, put the subject after the descriptive word(s) and add question marks. ¿Es de Cuba Sara? Is Sara from Cuba? 7. Using infinitives: Remember, use infinitives when you need to say “to (verb)”, and when you need to form infinitive formulas like acabar de + infinitive. Sara necesita bailar. Sara needs to dance. Sara desea bailar. Sara wants to dance. Sara quisiera bailar. Sara would like to dance. Sara acaba de bailar. Sara just danced. (Not logical, you have to memorize it!)

For each sentence, determine what type of sentence it is, and write the type number next to the sentence. Then translate the sentences.

6. Do you want a sweet roll, sir?

1. I am drinking a soft drink.

2. I am from Argentina.

3. We sing in the café.

4. Raúl would like to buy a cheese sandwich.

5. Merchi and I want to work sometimes.

7. They travel a lot.

8. We talk every day.

9. You like to sing.

10. Do you like to dance?

11. Are you dancing?

12. Are you from Cuba?


Name

1. Do you want sausage, ma’am?

2. No, I just ate sausage.

3. They need to listen.

4. They are listening.

5. They are dentists.

6. Do you want to play the piano?

7. Roberta is playing the piano.

8. Yes, but she plays very badly.

9. We are Puerto Rican.

10. We are practicing English.

11 They just bought peanuts.

12. I don’t like to talk.

13. I am from Panama. He is Mexican.

14. Do you like to swim?

15. No, but I like to watch.

16. I need to buy potatoes, bread, and butter.

18. Are you a lawyer?

19. No, I’m an engineer.

20. Are you (girls) cuban?

21. No, we’re Mexican.

22. Where are you all from?

23. We’re from Peru.

24. Yes, we’re traveling in the U.S.

25. Do you all play the piano?

26. No, but she plays the guitar.

27. Is my friend looking for cheese?

28. Yes, but he needs money.

29. The Canadians are accountants.

30. No, I don’t watch much.

31. I don’t listen much either.

32. Is Ricardo traveling?

33. No, he is working.

34. Is he a teacher?

35. No, he’s a nurse.

36. And you, sir, where are you from?

37. Do they earn much money?

38. Yes, (the) doctors earn a lot.

39. She is from Colombia.

40. Where are you from, sir?

Translate the following sentences. Be sure to make the plurals plural, and the feminines feminine!


Name

“Is/Are” Review Translation Worksheet

There are five types of sentences we know that can use “is” or “are” in English. Ask yourself three questions before translating each sentence:

1. Should I use a tener expression?2. Is the subject “being” or “doing”? If it’s doing, conjugate the verb, but do not use ser or estar! Helping verbs don’t help!3. If the subject is “being”, decide if it’s being a characteristic (ser) or a state (estar).

Do not think word-for-word. Instead, think how each complete thought is communicated in Spanish.

Translate the following sentences.

1. He is an engineer

2. We are going.

3. Eduardo is handsome.

4. Víctor is thirsty often.

5. My mother is a teacher.

6. Carmen is intelligent.

7. Susana is in the post office rarely.

8. Antonio is dancing.

9. Ana is tired.

10. Rocío is never here. (aquí)

11. Lilia is pretty.

12. María is nice, but she’s mad often.

13. Are you starting? (use stem-changer)

14. Are you all sick from time to time?

15. Is it far?

16. Are you fifty years old?

17. She is close to the museum.

18. We are tired.

19. You all are lawyers.

20. I am thinking.

21. She is 40 years old.

22. They are not here.

23. Are you mad?

24. Are they hungry?

25. Do you understand? (use stem-changer)

26. Am I smart?

27. Are you ready?

28. They are sixteen years old.

29. She is tall.

30. I am not talking.

31. Is she bored?

32. They are not well.


Ser and Estaruse a forM of ser for characTerisTics. in GeneraL? ser. use a forM of estar for sTaTes. aT The MoMenT? estar.

If you understand the difference between a state and a characteristic, most of the other rules are hardly necessary. A “state” is the way something is at a given instant. A “characteristic” is the way something generally is.

The words “temporary”, “permanent”, and “changeable”, cause confusion—don’t use them. In every instance, focus instead upon what the speaker is trying to express: a state or a characteristic. Except for number 3, the rules below the line will not usually be necessary. It is helpful to look them over, how-ever, to better understand the way the spanish-speaking mind deals with states and characteristics.

Estar (to be) is used to express the state of something. Notice that sta is used in estar and in state.Estar is used to:1. express a state of mind, state of health, current status of any kind. Estoy cansado. I am tired. Estamos ocupados. We are busy. Dolores está casada. Dolores is married. (Es casada is also acceptable.) Juan está muerto. Juan is dead. (Es muerto is also acceptable.)2. emphasize that the state of something is particularly good, bad, or different at the moment. La sopa está rica. The soup (I have at this moment) is good. ¡Estás muy alto! You are very tall! (Much taller than last time!) ¡María está muy bonita hoy! María is (especially) pretty today.3. express the location or position of an object (Where it is standing, even if it’s stationary.) El libro está en la mesa. The book is on the table. ¿Donde están los niños? Where are the children? San Francisco está en California. San Francisco is in California.

Ser (to be) expresses characteristics. If the speaker wishes to describe a basic quality or characteristics of the subject’s existence, ser is used. All of these reflect reality as the speaker sees it, with no empha-sis on change.Ser is used to express:1. Basic characteristics in a description. (The speaker does not wish to emphasize this moment.) La sopa es rica. Soup (in general) is good. Eres muy alto. You are very tall. (No change expressed) El señor Salas es rico. Mr. Salas is rich. Mi hermana es joven. My sister is young.2. origin or possession. (Just another general characteristic of something.) Las gafas son de Carmen. The glasses are Carmen’s. Ricardo es de Cuba. Richard is from Cuba. José es panameño. José is Panamanian3. location of events. (Events exist in a location, then cease to exist.) La fiesta es en mi casa. The party is in my house. El partido de fútbol es en Chicago. The soccer game is in Chicago.4. times and dates. (They change, but not as the result of any action.) Es la una. It is one o’clock. Es el tres de marzo. It is March 3.5. the link between a subject and a descriptive noun or pronoun. (Ser is an equal sign.) Alonso es mi amigo. Alonso is my friend. ¿Quién es la abogada? Who is the lawyer?


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

Track 4

The Question Song

To make a statement say the subject then the verb, To make a question, just say them in reverse. Flip a question mark for where the question begins, A right side up one always goes where it ends.

Por qué? asks why? Cuándo? asks when? Dónde? asks where? To find out Who?, ask Quién?

Qué? is what? Which? is Cuál? How? is Cómo? Put an accent on ‘em all!

?

Unless you like working harder than you have to, don’t memorize where the accents go on question words. Learn the stress rules, then place accent marks where they don’t change the pronunciation.

¿Cuánto/a? is also a question word, but it wouldn’t fit in the song. It means “how much?” ¿Cuántos/as? means “how many?” !! iT reMinds you

of The word “quanTiTy” in enGLish, ThouGh, riGhT???

?

??

?


The Question Word Game

This game is somewhat in the style of The Price is Right. I created it to build speed in students’ com-prehension of interrogatives. It is the only individual game that I use, but all students do get involved. I do not do more than two or three rounds of the game per period, which I feel keeps the game fresh and the students focused.

For this game you will need some removable glue stick, which basically converts anything you wish into a sticky note. It is available at office supply stores. Mine is made by Avery Denison, in case you have any trouble locating it.

Prepare a stack of flash cards with question words and common question phrases (like ¿A qué hora?, and ¿Con quién?) and dab the removable glue on the back of each card. Prepare another (much larger) stack of cards made up of possible answers and place a dab of the glue on the back of each.

Choose five (or so) answers and stick them to the board, or to a poster board suspended in front of the board. Without the student contestant looking, place six (or so) of the question words/phrases on the chalk tray.

At the starting signal, the student contestant must decide what question word could result in each answer, and place its card next to the proper answer. You may want to choose a time limit (30-45 sec-onds). I draw a large button on the board that the contestant is to “press” when he thinks he’s finished. I tell the student how many are correct, but not which ones.

I play a very lively merengue song during play, which increases excitement. I let audience members shout out answers like on The Price is Right, because it involves each member of the class—plus, with so many people shouting, it doesn’t really help the contestant!

You may choose to keep a record of the best time, and make the game a long-term contest. You could go through your class list forward, choosing two or three students per day until all students have par-ticipated as a practice round, then go through the list in reverse order for the actual contest.

I will gladly e-mail you a Microsoft Word attachment with the words and formatting I use to make the flash cards. Print them out, laminate them, chop them up, and you’re ready to go! Of course you can also customize the flash cards once you have them in your word processor. Just e-mail me at [email protected].


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

The Stress Song

Where’s the stress if a word ends in vowel, n, or s? Second to last, Second to last, Second to last! Where’s the stress if it ends in another consonant? On the last, on the last, on the last!

But if you see an accent That’s what you put the stress on They put a little mark there So you won’t say it wrong!

Where’s the stress if a word ends in vowel, n, or s? Second to last, Second to last, Second to last! Where’s the stess if it ends in another consonant? On the last, on the last, on the last!

But I and U are weak vowels You’ve gotta make a diphthong You smash ‘em with the next vowel ‘Cause they can’t stand alone!

(Repeat Chorus 2 times)

Track 5

A diphthong is when two vowels are considered one syllable

because one or both vowels is weak. !!

Make These ruLes a haBiT, and you won’T have To MeMorize accenT Marks!


Spanish Pronunciation Is Easy! The Taco sonG (Track 9) and The sTress sonG (Track 5)

These songs are subversive; they are meant to replace the time that Spanish teachers spend pro-nouncing words for repetition by the students. Spanish is phonetic, the pronunciation rules are consis-tent, and with very little instruction, students should be able to pronounce any word they see written in Spanish. Why spend time pronouncing words for the students (after all, it doesn’t work) when you can teach them to pronounce about 85% of Spanish words in about five minutes by teaching them a method for remembering the pronunciation of the vowels? Teach the vowels and the stress rules, then require correct (though not native-perfect) pronunciation from day one.

I tell students on the first day that 85% of what they need to know about Spanish pronunciation would fit on their thumbnails, and the other 15% would fit on an index card. I contrast this with Eng-lish, in which we have almost no reliable pronunciation rules. I demonstrate this with words like woman/women, in which we pronounce the changed syllable the same, but pronounce the unchanged syllable differently. (See also p. 38) Use similar examples with your students to illustrate a point that they may not have considered—reading and writing in English is much more difficult than reading and writing in Spanish.

After explaining that all of the vowel sounds are consistent, and are found in three words they al-ready know (taco, burrito, and Pepe, as in the song), I explain that every word can be sounded out by pronouncing it one syllable at a time, concentrating especially on the vowels. I then put the word im-permeabilizaciones on the board to demonstrate that in Spanish, even long words are easy to pronounce. On the first day, I give them confidence by dictating fairly long words (without difficult consonants) and asking them to spell them by thinking of the three guide words in the song. They do very well. I reassure the ones who struggle by telling them to focus on all the letters they got right, rather than upon the ones they missed. Remind them that they’ve only had five minutes of instruction, and assure them that with practice, they will be able to spell words by sounding them out. Throughout the year, you’ll have a few students who have a tough time sounding words out. Don’t accept “I can’t” I use a technique I learned from a colleague in Special Education.

Write out the word on the board in this way:impermeable

Have the student(s) then pronounce each syllable as you point to it.Less sTudyinG, BeTTer resuLTs

Students can study less and spell better by not memorizing spelling! I tell them: “pronounce every word correctly, get the sound in your head, and spell it like it sounds.” To prove this my point, I tell students about a change I made a few years ago: I used to teach the numbers through a combination of in-class repetition and a vocabulary list. Students had a terrible time spelling numbers, especially the many numbers with “ie” or “ei”. So one year, I decided not to let students see the numbers until they had them memorized orally. Meanwhile I worked with them in class on pronouncing words with diphthongs (see page 21). Once the students had memorized the numbers 1-30, I asked them to write them, without ever having seen them. Their spelling was practically flawless. The only vowel errors were from students who had learned the numbers in a previous class! In a logical language, logic is easier and more effective than memorization. If you learn pronunciation, you really can study less and get better results!

Similarly, students who make a habit of applying the stress (Track 5, page 15) rules will not have to memorize accent marks. Instead, they’ll put them where they “sound right”. Down the road, they


won’t have to struggle with adding or dropping accent marks when making words plural or making commands or participles. They will also benefit when learning preterites and subjunctives, because the orthographic changes that have to be made (except for the z to c) are made for reasons of pronun-ciation. Habitual application of the simple pronunciation rules starting now will make Spanish much simpler later. a casuaL, GraduaL, reaLisTic aPProach ThaT works (for sTudenTs who Try!)

Learning the entire alphabet is not an essential part of learning to pronounce. It’s too cumbersome to use as a pronunciation teaching tool. Can you remember 28 of anything in one day? Teach the five vowels, and expect them to pronounce them correctly from day one. When they mispronounce a vowel, don’t give (or allow others to give) the correct sound. Simply ask them to say the word again, but correctly. About 98% of the time they will. If not, bring up “taco, burrito, or Pepe”. This builds inde-pendence and confidence! (It’s not a lack of knowledge that keeps students from pronouncing well—it’s a lack of effort that comes from a lack of confidence, which itself comes from the helplessness they learned when learning to spell and pronounce English.) Improvement accelerates dramatically as they realize you really aren’t going to pronounce words for them!

You do not need a special pronunciation units—deal with the “other 15%” of pronunciation as new words are introduced. Expect correct vowel pronunciation, then, as words with difficult consonants are introduced, explain the pronunciation principles behind the consonants. For the traditionally dif-ficult sounds, mistakes are welcome—they give an opportunity to teach!, Always use the mistakes to review a pronunciation principle—don’t just give the correct pronunciation of the individual word.The oTher 15 PercenT: consonanT Tricks

• Use tortilla to help them realize they already know the ll sound. • jalapeño teaches the j and the ñ • tequila teaches the fact that qu is always pronounced “k” (teach them to see “qu” as one letter) and

never “kw”. • The silent “h” will need to be explained early. • I have to work on the z with a few students all year long, but most pick it up after I make a “z”

shape with my arm, then tell them it also looks like a hissing snake, and do the motion of a cobra striking. I make a spectacle of it, and it’s really embarrassing. It’s stupid, but effective!

• “i’s” and “e’s” soften “g’s” and “c’s”. Much easier than English—when a g or c is followed by an i or e, it is soft. I use this little rhyme every time someone is confused about one of these consonants. Students soon pick up the rhyme and even use it during “pronounce and ponder” (see below) to correct each other.

• When it comes up, teach them to see gu as one letter. When gu he is before i or e, the u only ap-pears to keep the g from going soft.

avoidinG MindLess rePeTiTion

Here are some techniques to force students to think about pronunciation rather than repeating after others:dicTaTion

Every year I make dictation harder and earlier in the year, and each year students prove that they are more capable than I would have believed. It builds their confidence when, after spending less than five minutes teaching them about “taco, burrito, and Pepe,” I pick out almost-random words from the dic-tionary (I screen out short ones, and the 15% of words with a consonant they’re not ready for) and have them spell them as I pronounce them repeatedly. Students generally do extremely well. In recent years, I have gotten to the point where I have them spell the longest word in the Spanish language on the first day. If you do this, you will have constant ammunition in your fight (and it is a tough fight to try to eliminate the bad habits gained from years of trying to learn an illogical language) to get students to make good pronunciation a habit. It’s great to be able to say “remember when I taught you about


Spanish vowels for three minutes, and then you spelled the longest word in the language? If you can do that, why would you want to mispronounce a word, then have to memorize its spelling separately? Pronounce it right, then spell it like it sounds.”

Okay here’s the word: desproporcionadisimamente.

Pronounce and Ponder

I use this activity each time we begin a new chapter. Students are placed in groups of four. One student pronounces the first word on the vocabulary list,

and all group members ponder the pronunciation of the word. If the word was pronounced correctly, the next student pronounces the next word, and so on. If not, students give hints for how the pronun-ciation could be improved.

There must be a minimum of five seconds’ ponder time between each word, for one cognitive and four sociological reasons: 1. Listeners need time to decide if the pronunciation is correct; 2. People are not comfortable with long silence, 3. The long silence applies pressure to speak out to correct when necessary; 4. If a minimum ponder time is not adhered to, students will accelerate the pace to shorten the silence; 5. As the pace accelerates, pressure increases not to interrupt the flow.

Encourage students not to correct by simply stating the correct answer. They need to give instruction on how not to mispronounce similar sounds in the future. I love walking around the room hearing students tell each other “i’s and e’s soften g’s and c’s”, and “pronounce the a as in taco”. This activity is very effective in building confidence and skill in pronunciation (and, by extension, spelling) when students understand its purpose and take the time to be helpful.

usinG The PronunciaTion TransParencies

I use the overheads on pages 21 and 39 to practice the basics of pronunciation with the entire class. Using two pieces of paper, I uncover one word at a time down a column, practicing one column per class period. (21st Century alert! I’ve made these into a PowerPoint that you can download at mental-notemedia.com.)

When using the overheads, you are like a conductor. Your job is to see that all students pronounce the words or syllables at the same time. Condition students to respond only after a three count. Then, speed up or slow down the count depending upon the difficulty of the word. With easy words, you can have students pronounce the entire word. For more difficult words, signal like a conductor to have students pronounce in unison, one syllable at a time. At times you may isolate a difficult syllable be-fore the word is pronounced. Other times, you may want to remind students consider the stress rules before pronouncing.

It is important to eliminate blurting—that is to say, in whatever situation in which you are working on pronunciation, you want the individual or the group to react to what is on the paper, not to what they overhear when the correct syllable is blurted out by a know-it-all student, or by someone pro-nouncing “out of time” with the class.

TeachinG PronunciaTion: an ouTLine

1. Start with vowels, using taco, burrito, and Pepe.2. Don’t allow vowel mistakes (the 85%). Teach the rest as you go.3.Teach the “r” sound tricks with the early vocabulary.4. Teach about syllables/diphthongs.5. Give detailed stress rules, which they memorize using the “Stress Song”.6. Show how accents break the rules.7. Use pronunciation overheads and Pronounce and Ponder to reinforce the simplicity of the system.


PronunciaTion ProMises i Make To sTudenTs:1. If they determine to pronounce every word they see correctly, in a month they won’t have to think about pronunciation anymore—they’ll pronounce well automatically. 2. If they do this, they won’t have to memorize spelling (with the exception of h, b/v, c/s) or accent marks. I present as evidence my number experiment, and prove it to them with dictation very early. I tell them: “Say the word correctly, get the sound in your head, and spell it like it sounds!”3. It is much less work to make good pronunciation a habit than it is to be successful in Spanish using your habits from English. You have the choice of graduating from pronunciation, spelling, and accent marks this year, or struggling with them as long as you take Spanish.4. The hardest thing about pronounciation and spelling in Spanish is remembering how easy it is!

The suBTLeTies

You may have noticed that I have made no mention of the subtle differences in consonants (the d, the t, etc.). We have much bigger fish to fry, and simply don’t have time to get students to sound that good. The good news is that if you model these things, the students with the will and the “ear” to perfect their pronunciation to that degree will pick them up from you. You may choose to give advanced tips on an individual basis to students who demonstrate excellent pronunciation.

TPrs/ci Teachers

The relationship between pronunciation and spelling is not a big emphasis in TPRS. Here’s why it should be: 1. Students who do not understand the phonetic system of Spanish do not hear words like

“ideal” as a cognate. Since comprehensible input relies heavily on cognates, teaching the phonetic sys-tem increases the comprehensibility of the language you use. 2. Your students’ subsequent teacher(s) may value the ability to spell. If you make spelling/pronunciation effortless for your students, that builds your credibility, and that of CI-based methodologies.


Name

Stress Rules, Accent Marks, and ExercisessTress ruLes

1. If a word ends in a Vowel, N, or S, stress the second-to-last syllable.2. If a word ends in a consonant besides N or S, stress the last syllable3. If the actual pronunciation breaks rules 1 or 2 the stressed syllable will have a written accent.4. Written accents are also used to distinguish between two different words spelled the same: él=he/el=the, sí=yes/si=if. There is no difference in pronunciation. Question words, which are sometimes used in statements, will have an accent mark where it DOES NOT affect the pronunciation when used in a question.

syLLaBLes

1. There are as many syllables in a Spanish word as there are vowels or diphthongs. ma-ri-na ca-no-a gra-no pa-ra-bri-sas de-se-a 2. A diphthong is a vowel combination of vowels in which a weak vowel (I and U are weak vowels) combines with the vowel(s) next to it to make one syllable. cau-sa quie-to fui-mos glo-ria fu-rio-so 3. A written accent makes a weak vowel strong enough to be its own syllable, and to carry the stress for the entire word. re-ír rí-o ha-cí-a judío período

1. paraíso2. enjuagar3. destino4. fotocopia

5. aeropuerto6. paracaidismo7. reciprocidad8. nausea

9. aislamiento10. cacahuetes11. grave12. hielo

13. hacia14. desvalijar15. tertulia16. mareaje

Draw lines to divide these words into syllables

1. octubre2. hoteles3. lápices4. él

5. tener6. verdad7. profesor8. cómo

9. cantan10. joven11. simpático12. alemán

13. hotel14. lápiz15. café16. profesores

17. el18. jóvenes19. como20. lápices

Circle the stressed vowel of each word

1. preparar2. persona3. régimen4. última

5. dibujan6. deportivo7. panamericano8. orden

9. planes10. oficial11. kilómetro12. libertad

13. isla14. escribe15. vista16. enamorarse

17. originalidad18. manera19. acuáticos20. Pilar

Circle the stressed vowel of each word

1. minima2. verdad3. karate4. lider

5. logicamente 6. pagina7. lapiz8. Dominguez

9. presentarle10. Canada 11. boligrafo12. calendario

13. cinta14. reloj15. Hernandez 16. Juanita

17. noticia18. Garcia19. muerte20. Jose

Listen to the pronunciation of the following words, and add an accent mark if needed.


These words feature vowel combinations you have to sound out:

baile aumento prefiero distraer

triangular Suárez Pereiro huellas

abierto puerta Diana huelga

peine fuerte gaitero cuota

diamante terapéutico Duero cuidado

gaita desierto euro ciudad

fuera hierro fue viudo

Europa pleito tuerta nervioso

sea bueno diálogo cualidades

buitre Raúl Jaime Palmeiro

viudo causa violencia automático

pie estación miedo estatua

hielo violación meiga triangular

reina oiga dieta impermeable

Diego oír rey viaje

riego aceite mayor vídeo

veinte fuimos habitual genial


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy?

¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy?Es el...de...¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy?Es el...de...Es el...de...Tra

ck 7


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

Track 8

LONERS

Most words that end in L, O, N, E, R, SFor one reason or otherAre known as masculineIn many other languages, there are two words for “the”el is “the” with masculine wordsfeminine is la.

All words that end in D, CIÓN, or SIÓNAnd many words that end in AAre known as feminineAnd as there are two words for “the”There are two words for “a”un is “a” with masculine wordsWith feminine, una

The Z is not a very reliable ending, but it’s feminine more often than not.

There are soMe coMPound words ThaT end in d ThaT are MascuLine.

Okay, there are actually four words for “the”. In the plural, you’ll use los or las instead of el or la. !

!

don’T confuse él, “he” wiTh el, “The”.


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

Track

10

Es la Una

Es la una (It’s one o’clock)Son las dos (It’s two o’clock)Son las tres (It’s three o’clock)Son las cuatro (It’s four o’clock)Estoy perezoso (I’m lazy)Este verano (This summer)Me gusta comer y ver la televisión (I like to eat and watch TV)

Me levanto (I get up)A las nueve (at nine)Me desayuno (I eat breakfast)A las diez (at ten)Yo me visto (I get dressed)A las once (at eleven)Al mediodía veo el Jerry Springer Show! (At noon I watch the Jerry Springer Show)

A las cinco (at five)O cinco y cuarto (or a quarter after five)Yo cocino (I cook)El arroz (the rice)A las cinco y media (At five-thirty)Cocino pollo (I cook chicken)A las seis menos cuarto (at a quarter ‘til six)Yo como los dos (I eat them both)

“At midnight” wouldn’t fit in the song. It’s a la medianoche.

your Teacher May or May noT wanT To exPLain whaT Me is for. iT is noT a rePLaceMenT for yo. !

!


In my first few years of teaching, I became dissatisfied with the way I approached oral skills. At one point I realized that what usually passes for oral work is actually artificially assembled written work which is memorized, then quickly forgotten. I saw no evidence that the oral assignments I gave increased students’ ability to speak, listen, or react as one needs to in the target language in the real world.

I settled upon a scenario-based activity to give authentic oral practice. I have included two such scenarios in this booklet: one dealing with possessives, and one dealing with telling time. These two skills are modeled in La Familia Tradicional (p.28), and Es La Una (p.24), respectively.

ConversationsThe Basics

Students are given a situation in which they are capable of conversing using their existing vocabu-lary. A very limited amount of new vocabulary can be added as students request, but the emphasis is on using the vocabulary they have already acquired, and upon acquiring reaction skills. Students practice with several different partners and roles within each practice session. On the day the conversation is graded, roles and partners are determined randomly. This makes it impossible to script the presentation, and makes the culminating activity a completely authentic conversation.

The conversations are graded based partially upon accuracy, and partially upon “realism”. Some aspects of an “realistic” conversation are: appropriate tone of voice, enthusiasm, lack of American ac-cent, and appropriate reactions to what the partner says. I try to keep artificial criteria, like “use three conjugated verbs” to a minimum. If you want three verbs used, your challenge is to create a situation in which three conjugated verbs will be used naturally in the scenario. It is also artificial to assign a length to the presentation. If a student asks “how long does this need to be”, you should be able to answer with a question; for example: “how long does it take to greet a friend on the street and ask him how to get to his house?”

evaLuaTion

My grading system is fairly simple. First, I emphasize the above criteria for a “realistic” conversa-tion. I then tell students some specifics regarding the level of accuracy needed to receive a score of 90: i.e., use appropriate formal and informal forms, make no agreement errors, etc. Grades above a 90 are given according to the degree to which the naturalness of their speech and reactions exceeds my minimal expectations. Stiff, but accurate, presentations receive an “A-”, and a higher degree of fluency is rewarded with a higher “A”.

Most students, because they have practiced the material so much (10-25 minutes a day, gradually increasing complexity, over a period of about three weeks), receive a score between 85 and 94.

Students whose presentation is very poor receive a grade between 70 and 80. I do not give lower grades because I feel that these students should be rewarded for their effort in practicing during class, since there is little that they can do to prepare for this conversation outside of class. Very few students fail to participate constructively, but those who do not take advantage of practice time do indeed de-serve a failing grade.

In my classes, there is one presentation per six-week grading period, and it is worth 15% of the stu-dents’ grade. The graded conversation is done during a test; I sit in the doorway, and call students up to present in the hallway. I sit in the doorway and grade the conversation and watch for cheaters on the test simultaneously. It’s a pain, but it works!

LoGisTics of PracTice

A horseshoe seating chart can facilitate practice, because it creates a large work space in the center of the classroom. I usually place students (sitting or standing) in four lines. Students in line A pair up with the students in line B, and C pairs up with D. When I want the students to have a new partner, I have the front students of lines B and C go to the back of the line, and the remaining students in those lines move forward one space. Within ten seconds, everyone in the room has a new partner and can begin a new conversation.


(The conversations included here happen to involve three and four, rather than two, students. Start in three or four lines to choose the groups, then have them sit in their groups on the floor. In these cases, it is easier to rotate roles within the groups than it is to move students to new groups. Of course, it’s not that difficult to move students from group to group, when you feel it’s appropriate. But it’s sure tough to explain it in writing, so I’ll leave those details up to you!)

The frequent re-pairing of students has the following advantages: 1. The idea is reinforced that you can have the same type of conversation with many different

people, but the conversation is never exactly the same. 2. Students have to respond flexibly within a comfortable structure with a limited vocabulary. The

most important words are reinforced by repetition, but (in all but the most basic levels) the conversa-tion itself does not become repetitive.

3. Students learn from each other. Teachers must therefore be aware of bad habits that may develop, and nip them in the bud. Make students aware of mistakes to avoid, then make sure that the stronger students correct the weaker students when mistakes are made.

4. These conversations allow students to meet everyone in the classroom, and exchange names, interests, opinions, hobbies. Entire friendships can develop in the target language. If you can occasion-ally find native speakers to place in a group, students will see that they can actually use these conver-sations in real life!

in a nuTsheLL

• There is no script—just as in real conversations—but a culturally agreed-upon format.• Partners and roles are not known in advance. Not knowing their roles in advance makes students

practice more speech without increasing the length of the conversation (less work for you!)• Roles should be roughly equal in difficulty and length.• Create scenarios around vocabulary and structures that they’ve already learned. Try to avoid add-

ing new vocabulary by encouraging students to use what they already know to get their point across.• If your scenario is designed well, your answer to most student questions will be “what would you

say/ask in real life?”• Grades are based on a set of minimum expectations to get them an A-. Higher As are awarded for

increased fluency, although there is no penalty for halting, less fluent speech. • Classroom management is easy during practice, since they’re doing all the work, and you’re ob-

serving. You must condition your students, however, to stop talking, face you, and listen (I give them three seconds, which I explain to them is about 2.5 seconds longer than it takes to stop talking) when you need to get the attention of the class to add additional detail, or to correct an error you hear being propagated.• Over the years I’ve realized that the thing that is most lacking in students’ speech is “follow-up”

skills. Even when they have the vocabulary and structures needed to do so, they tend not to follow-up on their own statements, or on those of their partners, with the logical statements or questions that keep real conversations flowing smoothly. Part of this is the need to learn good conversational skills in general (in their own language), and part is because of the inherent limitations of learning in a gram-mar-based environment.


Conversation: At an exchange student dinner

This conversation takes place outside a formal dinner for hispanic exchange students and their host families. To give the students a break from English, Spanish will be spoken throughout the evening.

Two friends (A: an exchange student and, B: his host brother/sister) arrive at the dinner, and see a friend of A, (C: another exchange student). A and C chat, and A introduces B to C. B and C chat (likes, dislikes). A may join in the conversation, commenting on what is said.

A fourth person (an adult host of the party, so be formal!) walks up and introduces himself, asking the names of the three students. Each of the students asks the host at what time certain activities start (“at what time to we dance” for example). The host consults the schedule and answers.

To GeT a 90 or hiGher on The PresenTaTion, you MusT:A, B, and C, must correctly use 3 conjugated verbs (easily done in your chat questions) and an adverbUse only formal forms in your chat with DD must correctly say “my name is” and “what’s your name” and address the group in the Uds. form,

and give the correct time of the event asked about.


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

La Familia TradicionalMi madre está casada con mi padreMi padre está casado con mi madreMis abuelos son los padres de mis padresY mis tíos son sus hermanos

La familia tradicional hispanaEs más que padres, hermanos, y hermanasHay primos, que son hijos de mis tíos,Y el hijo de mi hermano es mi sobrino

Nuestra familia es una familia unidaNuestra familia, familia queridaEs lo más importante de la vida

Mi madre está casada con mi padreMy mother is married with my fatherMi padre está casado con mi madreMy father is married with my motherMis abuelos son los padres de mis padresMy grandparents are the parents of my parentsY mis tíos son sus hermanosAnd my aunts and uncles are their brothers and sisters

La familia tradicional hispanaThe traditional hispanic familyEs más que padres, hermanos, y hermanasIs more than parents, brothers, and sistersHay primos, que son hijos de mis tíos,There are cousins, which are children of my aunts/unclesY el hijo de mi hermano es mi sobrinoAnd the child of my brother is my nephew/niece

Nuestra familia es una familia unidaOur family is a united (close) familyNuestra familia, familia queridaOur family, dear family,Es lo más importante de la vidaIs the most important (thing) in life

Track

11


Conversation: Nuestras mochilas

After the exchange student party, you and two friends left your backpacks. The host’s bratty kids got into them and mixed up all the contents. You and one of the friends go back to the house, find the host, introduce yourselves, and explain why you have come. The host explains that “mis niños mezclaron todo” (my kids mixed up everything). He/she then proceeds to ask: “de quién es el “, “de quién son los “, etc. The guests answer “es mi ”, “son mis “, “es de Antonio”, until the contents are all distributed into three backpacks—yours, your companion’s, and that of the friend (Antonio) who is not there.

To GeT a 90%:Host asks to whom six items belong.The other two must respond correctly. After the host gives out six items, the guests alternate taking

items, stating “son mis llaves”, “es de Antonio”, etc., until all items are distributed.Know the vocabulary: Besides school stuff, we’ll use CDs, tapes, wallets, a mini tape recorder, and

keys.

noTes for The Teacher

In this conversation, we use actual items (color-coded with stickers to indicate ownership of each item), and the host hands them out during the sorting process.

I usually leave “mis niños mezclaron todo” visible to be read, since we have not covered preterite by the time we do this presentation.

You need to decide how many vocabulary and possessive errors you will permit for a grade of 90 or above.


Name

Practice with Possessives here are The Possessive adjecTives:

Iyou

heshe you

yotúélellaUd.

myyourhisheryour

mi(s)tu(s)

su(s)

weyou all

theythey

you all

nosotrosvosotrosellosellasUds.

ouryourtheirtheiryour

nuestro/a(s)vuestro/a(s)

su(s)

ThinGs To reMeMBer:1. The possessive adjective agrees with the thing owned, not the owner. 2. The word su means “his”, “her”, “your”,and “their”. 3. All possessive adjectives agree in number with the thing owned, but the nosotros and vosotros forms also agree in gender. 4. Note the difference between tú, meaning “you”, and tu, meaning “your”.

Write these expressions in Spanish1. my halls

2. your living room

3. our kitchen

4. her floors

5. our patio

6. my attic

7. you guys’s typewriter (informal)

8. their ground floor

9. her clock radio

10. her chair

11. my pens

12. our briefcase

13. our notebooks

14. you all’s posters (formal)

15. her erasers

16. your pencils (informal)

17. your backpack (formal)

18. his room

19. your (formal plural) plants

20. his patio

Answer the following questions, saying that the following items belong to the people in parentheses. Then restate, replacing the names with possessive adjectives. 1. ¿De quién son las llaves? (Juanita)

2. ¿De quién es el coche? (Ana)

3. ¿De quién es el lápiz? (mi profesor)

4. ¿De quién son los pósters? (Pepa)

5. ¿ De quién es el libro? (Jorge)

6. ¿De quién son las cintas? (Merche)


Name

Do the following items in your house belong to you alone, or to the family as a group? Use mi(s), or nuestro/a(s) to answer the following questions.1. ¿Es tu coche?

2. ¿Es tu estéreo?

3. ¿Es tu mochila?

4. ¿Es tu mesa?

5. ¿Son tus cintas?

6. ¿Es tu casa?

Answer the following questions using the correct form of possessive adjectives. There is often more than one possible response. Use complete sentences. 1. ¿Llevas tu mochila a tus clases?

2. ¿Usas (from usar, “to use”) mucho mi sacapuntas?

3. ¿Deseas usar el libro de Anita?

4. ¿Cuántos libros hay en tu estante?

5. ¿Necesitas usar el radio despertador de tus padres (parents)?

6. ¿Te gusta nuestro jardín?

7. ¿Deseas usar las sillas de los Pérez?

8. ¿Deseas escuchar nuestros discos compactos?

9. ¿Hay una computadora en tu cuarto?

Answer the following questions using complete sentences.1. ¿Dónde vives (live) tú?

2. ¿Cómo te llamas?

3. ¿Cuántos bolígrafos hay en tu mochila?

4. ¿Qué llevas tú a la escuela?

5. En tu casa, ¿dónde hay una cama?

6. En tu casa, ¿dónde hay una mesa?

7. En tu casa, ¿cuántos dormitorios hay?

8. En tu casa, ¿hay un garaje?

9. En tu casa, ¿dónde hay un televisor?

10. En tu casa, ¿cuántos televisores hay?


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

-ar Verb Song

o, as, a, amos áis, ano, as, a, amos áis, ano, as, a, amos áis, anpresent tense -ar endings are...o, as, a, amos áis, an

The -ar ending’s infinitiveTo ask, to speak, to buy, to swimTake off the -ar, you get a stemPut these endings on the end...I ask, you speak, we buy, they swimTra

ck 14


Name

-ar Verb ConjugationConjugating a verb is simply making a verb match a subject, like in English saying “I am”, “you are”,

“he is”, etc. We can’t just use the same form for every subject; “I is”, “you is”, etc.

You need to know the following terms in order to talk about conjugating verbs:infiniTive: The -ar form of the verb. It means “to _________” in English. For example, hablar = “to speak.”sTeM: What’s left of the verb after the -ar is dropped off. Hablar is the infinitive, and habl is the stem.

To conjugate any of the verbs we know, “take off the -ar, you get a stem”, and add the appropriate endings according to the subject of the sentence.

suBjecT Pronouns and -ar endinGs: exaMPLe: Hablar

yotú

élellaUd.

o as

a

nosotrosvosotros

ellosellasUds.

amosáis

an

yotú

élellaUd.

hablohablas

habla

nosotrosvosotros

ellosellasUds.

hablamoshabláis

hablan

Don’t forget: Yo hablo means “I speak”, “I am speaking”, and “I do speak.” You do not need helping verbs in Spanish!

Translate the following:1. I work

2. They explain

3. We talk

4. He is singing

5. We are dancing

6. I want

7. You (inf.) are listening

8. She travels

9. They walk

10. You (formal) speak

11. She is teaching

12. We travel

13. You all (formal) work

14. They dance

15. I take

16. You all work

17. He is traveling

18. I want to eat


Passing Flash Cards: A Versatile Review Activity

The Procedure

This activity requires a seating chart that allows flash cards to be passed in a circular manner. I use a two-row horseshoe shape. Students in the front row pass to their left, and in the back row to their right. Students on the left end of the front row will quiz and pass to the person on the left end of the back row. At the other end of the back row, cards are passed to the right end of the front row.

Begin by handing a card to every other student. At the signal to begin, front-row students quiz the students to their left (back-row, to the right). Students being quizzed are given the card after giving the correct answer. They then turn to quiz the people to their left.

Ideally, students will be quizzing or being quizzed the entire time, with no down time. Usually, how-ever, slower or faster students cause cards to get “backed up”. The teacher must watch for this, keeping cards evenly distributed to keep everyone involved. Don’t worry, when there’s a backup, that means someone is getting individual instruction that they need! Just take any extra cards and look for some-one unoccupied “downstream” to give the card to.

versaTiLe, ¿no?The card passing activity works well with several different “drillable” types of content. I use it most

frequently with verb conjugation: The quizzing student shows an infinitive and gives a subject pro-noun in English. The partner responds with the Spanish pronoun and the correct verb form. While working with a new group of verbs, I use the above method, which I call “the easy way”. Quicker stu-dents, or the whole class, once they’re comfortable with the verbs, can pass the cards “the hard way”. Quizzers hide the cards, and give the subject and verb in English. The Quizzee gives the translation of subject and verb in Spanish.

With nouns, drill the possessive by passing actual (singular and plural) objects, with the quizzer pointing to the owner. With demonstratives, quizzers choose to either hold the object (“that pencil”, from the perspective of the person being quizzed), or give the object to the quizzee (“these books”, from the perspective of the quizzee).

This year, I’ve incorporated the card passing with great success into my comprehensible-input-based approach to teaching the object pronouns (see page 41). Passing actual objects, students can hold up an object and say ¿“Quieres (or ves, necesitas, oyes, etc.) el libro”? In response, the quizzee replies “Sí, lo quiero.” Or, using verb cards (selected for logical use with object pronouns) the quizzer can point twice—first to the subject, then to another student or an object in the room that serves as the object. For example, if the card says ver, and the quizzer points to himself, then to the quizzee, the quizzee would say “yo te veo”. If the quizzer points to another student twice, the answer would be “él se ve”.

TiPs

When using this method to practice verb conjugations, be sure to encourage quizzers to insist on cor-rect pronunciation of verbs—students tend to stress the endings of verbs instead of the second to last syllable. You need to nip that tendency in the bud.

Some classes love this activity; they ask to play the “game” with the cards. Most classes really like it, and recognize its value.

Most classes can do this for quite a long time before boredom or behavior issues set in. Still, it’s best to leave them wanting more, quitting just before you sense they want to.


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

Siete Días

Hay siete días en una semanaHay cuatro semanas en un mesHay doce meses en un añoCincuenta y dos semanas en un añoY yo trabajo de lunes a viernesViva el fin de semana¡Libertad! ¡Duermo tarde mañana!Viva el fin de semana¡Libertad! ¡Duermo tarde mañana!

Hay siete días en una semanaThere are seven days in a weekHay cuatro semanas en un mesThere are four weeks in a monthHay doce meses en un añoThere are twelve months in a yearCincuenta y dos semanas en un añoFifty-two weeks in a yearY yo trabajo de lunes a viernesAnd I work from Monday to FridayViva el fin de semanaLong live the weekend!¡Libertad! ¡Duermo tarde mañana!Freedom! I’m sleeping late tomorrow!Viva el fin de semana¡Libertad! ¡Duermo tarde mañana!

Track 12


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

I am Yo

I am yo, and you are túIf we’re not on a first-name basisSaying tú is rude

He is él, and she, ellaIf I’m speaking formallyI say usted to you

We are nosotrosAnd they are ellosIn a group without a guyellas means they too

“You all” are ustedesEverywhere but Spain

When they speak less formallyvosotros is “you all”Now get these into your brain!

Track

13


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

TACO SONG

If you know taco, and burritoAnd PepeYou know the vowels

There’s no exceptionsLike with English vowels

This is always how they sound!

Track 9

Spanish pronunciation is easy for the same reasons English is hard; English is inconsistent and illogical. Spanish is consistent and

logical. in enGLish, when we see a hard word, we have To Guess, ask soMeone,

or Give uP.In Spanish, you just have to use a few pronunciation rules—and

there are no hard words!

!!

no GuessinG, askinG, or GivinG uP!


English: Is this an easy language?

I take it you already knowof tough and bough and cough and dough?Others may stumble, but not youon trough, thorough, laugh, and throughWell done! And now you wish, perhaps, to learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful wordthat looks like beard and sounds like bird;and dead—it’s said like bed, not bead.For goodness’ sake, don’t call it “deed”!Watch out for meat and great and threat.(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.)

A moth is not a moth in mother,nor both in bother, broth in brother;and here is not a match for there,nor dear and fear for bear and pear.And then there’s dose and rose and lose—just look them up—and goose and chooseand cork and work and card and ward,and font and front and word and sword,and do and go and thwart and cart—You know, I’ve hardly made a start!

Author unknown


Be careful! These words look a lot like English, but they’re Spanish!

dice mate real bares

taller dame parasol motor

federal patio radical comer

civil tornado romper lean

Seat me melón planes

plan he integral grave

funeral pagan meter rodeo

once capital automóvil canal

Carolina Nevada Colorado Don Pablo

Sara Linda Dolores Daniel

Irene Elvira violencia alcohol

postal estación gasolina imposible

bicicleta violación legal triangular

católico fatal experiencia impermeable

natural honor teléfono millón

culpable posible impresionante vídeo

doctor documento televisión radio

gripe chocolate probable Hilda


MenTaLnoTeMusic.coM

Direct Object Song

You gotta know: what’s a direct object?Three things to know about the direct object...

1. You usually find ‘em after the verbAnswering who or what after the verb

I eat what?...cheese!You hear what?...bees!We see who?...Flea! (bass player for Red Hot Chili Peppers)

She loves who? Me!

2. You can replace ‘em with me, te, lo, laOr with nos, os, los, or lasIn the pre-verb spot

Yo lo comoTú me quieresÉl nos oye¿Quién te ve?

3. When there’s a person in the direct object spotAn untranslated personal “a” is often forgot

Yo veo a JuanÉl oye a ShawnTú quieres a TomExtraño a Mom

You gotta know…what’s a direct object?Three things to know about the direct object...

Track

15


A Comprehensible-Input-Based Approach to Teaching Object PronounsWhen I taught Spanish IV, I found that there were several topics that, though they had certainly been “covered” year after year in our highly regimented

(and successful) program, were not actually learned in any meaningful way. One example: though these top-notch students had “covered” object pronouns in at least three successive years, very few of them could actually use the word “it” in a sentence—except, of course, during the last few days leading up to the test. After their fourth-annual object pronoun test, they promptly proved in their speech and writing that they still were not capable of using object pronouns.

I felt that I needed to face the facts: identifying what type of object is being used, choosing the correct type of pronoun, using the correct gender, and remembering the pronoun’s proper placement—that’s just too much for most people to process. People who use these pronouns correctly and smoothly do so because they have acquired, through hearing and reading, the ability to produce (with little conscious effort) what “sounds right”. The human brain is simply not designed to construct sentences based on conscious application of memorized grammar rules.

Back in my Spanish I classes, feeling that there was nothing to lose, I began to experiment with a comprehensible-input-based approach to teaching the object pronouns. Well before we were scheduled to begin the object pronouns, I began demonstrating their use a few minutes a day, independent of what we were working through in the curriculum. Toward the end of the scheduled object pronoun chapter in each of the first few years of my experiment, I would say to myself “the comprehensible input really helped, but next year I’m going to start earlier”. Finally, last year (2004-2005) I began demonstrating object pronouns early enough (with three months of school left) that by year’s end I could declare the experiment an unqualified success. I was amazed by my students’ level of real-world fluency with the direct object pronouns and with verbs used reflexively. Given a fourth month, students could have become equally skilled with true reflexives (verbs like dormirse, which, unlike the “grooming” verbs, can not be made logical to English speakers), and with indirect object pronouns.

These activities are very hard to explain in writing, and I’m sure it makes for tedious reading. If you have any questions, or would like the written materials I use to teach object pronouns, e-mail me at [email protected]. Also, I still consider the activities to be an experiment that has not yet been perfected. Please feel free to share any enhancements you make to the ideas and activities presented here.

The aPProachTo teach object pronouns through comprehensible input, I begin with few minutes a day of an

interactive demonstration (explained below) of object pronoun usage. I gradually increase the complexity of the pronoun usage over several weeks until students are very comfortable with the pronouns and their order. Then I add a very effective and dynamic activity that allows students to practice using the pronouns in real time, with immediate feedback from a partner.

At each stage in the progression outlined below, the goal is to expose students to as many opportunities as possible to hear the object pronouns used in a comprehensible context. Of course, repetition can induce boredom. Do your best to keep things interesting, and quit working on object pronouns for the day if boredom starts to set in. Once you have introduced a new phase or activity, there is never any harm in going back to it, even months later. Occasionally start your demonstration from square one to keep them grounded in the basics.

You need to spend the majority of your object-pronoun time in the students’ comfort zone. At each stage, be careful not to add too much complexity at any one time. It is through lots of repetition in the “comfort zone” that more students each day will be able to determine “what sounds right”. The deMonsTraTion

To model the direct object pronouns, of course you’ll need to use verbs. Because we don’t want our students struggling with pronouns and verbs at the same time, you’ll want to limit the amount of verbs you use. I have found it effective to begin teaching direct object pronouns using only four verbs: ver, querer, oír, and tener. To begin my first demonstration, and as needed throughout, I put the forms we’ll need on the board for students to refer to, as seen on the right.

After a brief reminder about the meanings of the verbs and their forms, I pick up a classroom object (say, a stapler), and begin the following conversation with myself. You could use an accomplice instead, but students get a kick out of it this way!

“¿Ves la grapadora?” I ask in a low voice, facing the side as though I’m talking to someone else.

“Sí, la veo.” I respond in a ridiculously high voice, after turning to face the low-voiced me.

“¿La quieres?” I ask in the low voice. I continue alternating voices throughout.“Sí la quiero”.“¿La oyes?”“No, no la oigo.”

On The BoardVes VeoQuieres QuieroOyes OigoTienes Tengo


(Clicking the stapler) “¿La oyes?”“Sí, la oigo.”“¿La tienes?”“No, no la tengo.”“¿La quieres?”“Sí, la quiero.”(Handing it over) “¿La tienes?”“Sí, la tengo.”

Without explanation (after the laughter dies down), repeat this type of conversation using three or four ob-jects, alternating among singular and plural items, but excluding the masculine singular. (The masculine sin-gular is excluded because the pronoun is not the same as the article. Students will not be able to correctly guess lo as they will la, las, and los.) Soon you’ll be able to find a volunteer who thinks he can play the second part. As you continue to repeat the conversation with the quicker students who volunteer, the slower ones will begin to catch on, and you’ll get more volunteers. When the vol-unteering starts to die off, debrief the group by allowing students to explain what just occurred. It is not necessary, and it may be detrimental (unless a student brings it up), to mention “direct objects” or “pronouns”, or to dwell on the fact that the order is reversed. (It’s only “reversed” if you’re thinking in English, which is what we’re trying to avoid!) Just focus on clarifying what the conversation would have sounded like in English. It may also be helpful to ask why we use words like “it” and “them”, which is, of course, to shorten sentences.

This activity can be done with individuals, as above, or with the class as a whole. When working with the whole class, I continue to use the tú form, and explain that I’m talking to each of them indi-vidually. They don’t need the added difficulty of varying the verb endings of their answers, especially at first. TakinG iT farTher

The next class day, repeat and expand the above activity. After a couple of objects, explain and dem-onstrate that lo will be used (instead of el as they would have guessed) for masculine singular objects. Integrate this into the day’s practice of the above activity. Spend a few minutes a day at this level for a week or so.

When all of this becomes easy, add infinitives, but continue placing the pronouns before the conju-gated verb: “¿Lo quieres ver”? “¿La quieres oír”?, etc. I don’t put the pronoun on the end at this time, because they don’t have the capacity to deal with two verbs and a new word order at the same time. Infinitive phrases will be a big step outside the comfort zone for many, so don’t spend much time in any one day on this—spend much more time cementing the basics. They’ll pick the infinitive up after several days, if they maintain their confidence by rehashing the easy stuff.

Have fun with infinitives by making people hear things they say they don’t want to hear, hiding things they say they want to see, etc. With a stapler, ask the class “¿La quieres oír? Annoy them by saying “La quiero oír yo!” and gleefully clicking the stapler way too long. Jingling keys also gets under their skin for some good laughs. You can also bring in an old familiar verb or two for laughs: referring to the stapler, ask “¿La quieres comer?” or, “¿La puedes leer? (I bring in leer at some point after infini-tives become comfortable, to use with books and posters: “¿Lo quieres leer?” “¿Lo puedes leer?” etc.)

After the infinitives have entered the comfort zone, during a review, without warning, point to a person instead of an object. Ask “Lo ves?” Then, point to a girl, and ask “¿La ves?”. Point to a group of girls, a mixed group, a group of guys, etc. The goal here is to allow students to see that people and

Important Things to UnderstandDirect object pronouns are not too hard for first year students to master.

There is no written work over the pronouns for the first month or two. You’ll be working outside the structure of a chapter, using only in-class activities.

Students never see a chart (or sing the song) until after they already know how to use most of the pronouns in real time.

Reflexive pronouns are treated as direct objects, and reflexive and direct object pronouns are taught as one set of pronouns.

Because you’re starting early in second semester, you don’t have to spend lots of class time each day. The time you do invest will contribute to long-term retention and fluency, not just short-term memorization.

If you do this right, students will enjoy it!Getting too grammatical, or introducing written drills too soon will destroy any progress you’ve made. They have to go by what sounds right, or you’re back to “covering” instead of teaching.

Increasing the level of difficulty too quickly causes major setbacks.


objects have the same set of pronouns (since everything’s a “he” or “she” in Spanish). When using the pronouns with people becomes comfortable, bring back the infinitives. Point to a

good sport and ask the class “¿Lo oyes?” then, “¿Lo quieres oír”? If yes, make the victim say the pledge of allegiance, or sing the school song until you can find a student to answer “No, no lo quiero oír! Use your imagination and go for laughs. Point and ask “¿Lo quieres ver?” If no, send the student out of the room for a second, or cover the respondent’s eyes. Ask “¿Me quieres ver?” and have fun with their answers.

One day when things seem well under control, go back to basics, pointing to people. Then abruptly change from questions to statements, looking at individuals and saying “te veo.” Milking the strange-ness of this for laughs, continue around the room saying “te veo”, “te veo”, “te veo”. Then turn your head away and say “no te veo”. Then, pick a strong student and ask “¿me ves?” If no one can respond with “Sí, te veo” (you can change to the formal pronoun in a few days, if you’d like), model it a few more times as before. Allow “te veo” to become part of the comfort zone before adding any new de-tails.

One day, after asking “¿me ves?” repeatedly, hold a mirror up to the face of a strong student and ask “¿te ves?” “Sí, me veo” will be difficult for some students. To help, turn the mirror to yourself, and pro-claim, “me veo”. Allow several students to model “Sí, me veo” and “No, no me veo” using the mirror.

When “me veo” has become routine, point the mirror, ask a student “¿te ves?” and wait for the student’s affirmative answer. Then, state to the class “Clase, Elena se ve”. Model the statements “Elena se ve” and “Elena no se ve” around the room, showing and hiding the mirror with several individuals. Then, make it a question for the class, “Clase, ¿se ve Patricia?”. Alternate using and hiding the mirror, asking repeatedly “Se ve Patri-cia?” as students answer “Sí, Patricia se ve” or “No, Patricia no se ve”.

Dealing with se is difficult for some students, not because it’s tricky in Spanish, but because in English we make a dis-tinction between “myself” and “me”, etc., that is not made in Spanish. Once students realize that se is like the first two letters of “self”, they want to overuse it. You will have to give some grammatical explanation, emphasizing (but most im-portantly giving plenty of demonstration) that se is not used for “myself” “yourself” “ourselves”, etc. This is a good time to introduce students to a direct object pronoun chart (with se added to third person), because the visual layout helps them to understand how se is and is not used.PassinG cards

Once students are comfortable with the idea (in practice, even though you never had to explain it explicitly) that the pronoun is independent of the subject, we can get a little more grammatical, and introduce an important activity—the Point-Twice Card Pass. Refer to page 34 for an explanation of the basic card passing procedure. Choose verbs that will allow students to work with meaningful and fun sentences with direct object pronouns. See the above box for more suggestions.

Distribute the cards and explain as follows:“Every other person has a card with an action on it. When it’s your turn to quiz, show the card to your neighbor, and point twice—first to the person doing the action, then to the person the action is being done to. What do we call the person doing the action in a sentence? And what do we call the person the action is being done to? So the first person pointed to is the…? And the second person pointed to is the…? Good! Okay, when you quiz someone, you first point to anyone in the room, including yourself or the person you’re quizzing. That person is doing the action. For exam-

Choosing Verbs to PassThe verbs you choose for the cards need to be carefully

chosen for ease of use with direct objects. If you don’t mind some raciness, the “grooming” verbs are excellent to

use. Not only will you be seamlessly integrating reflexive pronouns with the object pronouns, but the embarrassing sentences they make (“Fernando me baña” is but one of the giggle-inducing possibilities) keep their interest high. Begin to introduce the concept of “reflexivity”, explaining

that a verb is used “reflexively” whenever you point to the same person twice—grammatically speaking, when the action reflects back on the doer; when the doer and

the done-to are the same; when the subject does an action to himself; etc. Of course, they’ll be doing reflexives

effortlessly whether you explain it to them or not. Don’t introduce true reflexives like quejarse, whose reflexivity is too abstract for our purposes here. That matter must

be postponed until the pronouns are no longer an issue, giving you the time to focus on the concept alone.


ple, if I hold up llamar, and point first to you, then to Emma, you think ‘I call’, or yo llamo. Then you think about the second person I pointed to: the direct object. What could take the place of Emma’s name in this sentence? Just like if I pointed to her and said ‘La ves?’, and you said ‘sí, (yo) la veo’, your answer is going to have a direct object pronoun in it, and it will have to come before the verb like you’re used to. So if I hold up llamar, and point to you, then Emma, you’d say ‘Yo la veo.’ If I point to Emma, then to Justin, you’d say ‘Emma lo ve’.”

Do a few examples using the same verb with different subjects and objects. When I start talking about grammar, I try to use every possible way to differentiate between the subject and object: call-ing them “subject and direct object”, “do-er and done-to”, “the person doing the action and the person receiving the action”; every time subject and object are mentioned. I also try to emphasize that we’ve always conjugated the verb according to the subject (the do-er, etc.), and that any direct object can there-fore be used with any verb ending. I illustrate this with Spanish and English examples

Don’t wait until everyone understands to begin the activity. It won’t happen. Show examples, start the activity, and let students explain it to each other. Re-group and restart when everybody’s got it.recycLinG and MovinG on

Okay, we’ve started passing cards, and it’s going great, but we’re never done with the demonstrations! Most days, you should still begin with a brief demonstration starting at square one to keep everybody grounded in the basics, and to build confidence.

When card passing and the decisions it entails become part of the comfort zone, return to demon-stration mode and introduce the other way to use pronouns with infinitives: i.e. “¿Quieres verte?” “Sí, quiero verme.” “¿Quieres verme? “No, no quiero verte.” Then, have students add “want”, “need”, “go-ing to” or “can” to the sentences they make in the Point-Twice Card Pass. At first, I have them do this 2/3 of the time, then I reduce it to 1/3.

Every day you’ll want to clarify se in the context of the card passing. Refer students to the chart, then point out that se is only when someone other than you or your partner is pointed to twice (when the subject is the object/when the do-er is the done-to/when the person doing the action…etc.). Have stu-dents use se 2/3 of the time to get used to it, then reduce it to 1/3 or leave it to the quizzers’ judgment.The TransiTion To wriTTen work

Think of any comprehensible-input-based teaching as planting a crop. There is nothing you can do to shorten the amount of time your plants need to ripen. You can’t fault corn for being unripe if you harvest it too soon! Fertilize, water, and keep the weeds out, and it will be ready when it’s ready.

If a typical written test is to be the eventual object pronoun assessment, the move from comprehen-sible input to written exercises is analogous to harvesting the crop. If the students aren’t ripe for the transition, all the watering, fertilizing, and weeding has been wasted. Also be mindful that you can only fertilize a crop so much before it starts to burn itself up. If you push students too far too fast, you lose the crop, and it’s your fault.

Though it seems strange to those of us whose language abilities have prompted us to teach Span-ish, being able to use the pronouns fluently and correctly in real-world situations does not necessarily mean that students will immediately be able to do written drills with ease. As impressed as I was last year with my students’ ability to use these complex pronouns in real-world situations, I had underesti-mated the preparation needed for the transition to the types of written exercises that they are expect-ed to do in Spanish II. Harping on the questions “where do you put the pronoun?” or, “should that be masculine or feminine?” was not the solution. All that was necessary was to remind students to ask themselves “what sounds right?” Students overwhelmingly confirmed for me (both by their instanta-neous corrections, and by their comments after-the-fact) that the mistakes they made in written exer-cises were generally the result of their neglecting to ask that question. They also respond well when I tell them to “picture card-passing” as they do written work.

Give comprehensible input a try and let me know how it turns out for you!

Documents

Singing the Basics Beginning Spanish - Mental Note Media