I recently wrote about a song to teach children the vowel sounds in Spanish. The song A,E,I,O,U is by Carolina Gómez, and she was kind enough to send me the CD. I always enjoy making connections with people who are creating quality Spanish-language materials for children. Hands on Spanish has 20 songs and comes with the Spanish lyrics and an English translation of all the tracks. The lyrics and the translations are printed in alternating [...]
This is a great set of online activities for introducing the body parts in Spanish or for focused practice with the vocabulary. The activities are from OnlineFreeSpanish. The first activity teaches the words and correct Spanish pronunciation and the second is a game. Click the titles to open the activities in a new window. Activity for learning the body parts in Spanish This activity for learning the body parts in Spanish has a photograph of [...]
¿Algo más? (Anything else?). Such a common, useful question! When I am choosing picture books to read with beginning Spanish learners, I am always happy to find a repeated phrase that we use commonly in conversation. ¿Algo más? is that phrase in the book Siesta, by Ginger Foglesong Guy. Siesta is a bilingual book with very simple text in Spanish and English. As two children collect objects, they ask each other ¿Algo más? with a [...]
These two Spanish poems for children are by Douglas Wright, a well-known poet, illustrator, and humorist from Argentina. In addition to being the author of many books, his work appears in magazines and newspapers in Argentina and other countries. Some of Douglas’ work is available from Amazon or in larger Spanish-language bookstores in the U.S. He recently published a book of Spanish poems for children called Rimando Ando which would be a wonderful resource for [...]
My son Andrew is 23 and he just got back from visiting my daughter, Kate, in Lima, Peru. He was telling me about being there and about arm wrestling with Kate’s boyfriend. Listening to him, for a moment I saw the eight-year-old Andrew, arm wrestling with his friends in Mexico, the whole group cheering and laughing. Those unexpected images that memory delivers are such gifts! Andrew still arm wrestles with the same friends in Mexico, [...]
In English, we associate learning vowel sounds with learning to read. However, children who are learning Spanish should learn the vowel sounds early and practice them often, focusing on the sound, not the association with the written letter. The vowel sounds are important for pronunciation first, and for reading later. It is never too early for children to learn to pronounce the Spanish vowels correctly! Ideally, a child is introduced to the sounds of Spanish [...]
Try speaking Spanish with your child by playing with the I Spy cards. The bright cards with their assortment of objects have a magical appeal. They are powerful language learning tools because the images are memorable and serve as a visual reference for vocabulary. When children associate a Spanish word with a striking image that they can recall in detail, they are much more likely to remember the word and its meaning. The I Spy [...]
The game Veo, Veo in Spanish is I Spy in English. In addition to the guessing game that children play, there are I Spy cards, books and games by Brairpatch in association with Scholastic. These wonderful visual materials are fascinating to kids and adults, and can be used in lots of Spanish language activities. There is also an online Veo veo activity where kids play online and learn letter sounds and vocabulary. You can read [...]
The game I Spy is Veo, veo in Spanish, and it begins with a simple rhyme – a question-answer exchange. This game and its many variations are wonderful activities for children learning Spanish. In addition to the traditional game of guessing an object, there are card games, online activities and books based on I Spy in English. This information is about the original guessing game, but I will write a post later this week about [...]
Children can draw on information they already know to understand new Spanish vocabulary and structures. When teachers and parents talk about familiar subjects in Spanish, children associate concepts they understand with the new language. This way, children learn Spanish vocabulary in context and applied to content, rather than as lists of vocabulary words which are often memorized and then quickly forgotten. In the early grades, children learn the basic facts of the solar system. When [...]
Using Spanish to talk about information that your child already knows is an effective way of exposing her to the language. If a child is familiar with certain information, she can draw on what she knows to understand Spanish. This is one way of providing comprehensible input, and comprehensible input is essential to language acquisition. School-age children are familiar with basic geography and maps. Doing geography activities in Spanish and reading Spanish picture books related [...]
One of the biggest challenges for Spanish teachers and parents teaching Spanish to their children is providing sufficient input at the appropriate level. Exposing a child to Spanish is not difficult, but exposing a child to Spanish at the right level and in a way that promotes learning is time consuming and a lot of work. Working with familiar information is one way to make the process easier. Children acquire language when there is comprehensible [...]