Teachers and parents teaching Spanish to their children should build Spanish into daily routines as much as possible. Repetition is essential to language learning, and if teachers and parents incorporate a song or a poem into daily activities, they are much more likely to be consistent and repeat the Spanish enough that children can process it and learn the words and structures at a deep level. This little song Te quiero (I love you) is [...]
It is going to be a little quieter on Spanish Playground for the next few weeks. As quite a few of you know, I am having double jaw surgery tomorrow. I don’t expect it to be much fun, but I am thrilled that my 25-year-old daughter is coming home from Lima, Peru to take care of me for three weeks! It occurs to me that teaching Spanish to children and recovering from jaw surgery are [...]
My kids learned a lot of Spanish through popular music. When they were small, we listened to music in Spanish in the car. They were patient with my musical taste most of the time, and as they got older, they started recommending artists and songs in Spanish that they liked. Now, they are my best source for new music in Spanish and English. In addition to exposing children to language, music reflects and communicates culture [...]
Valentine’s day in Spanish is Día del amor y la amistad (The day of love and friendship), Día de San Valentín or Día de los enamorados. Most Spanish-speaking countries celebrate on Feb. 14th, although in Colombia they celebrate on the third Saturday of September. Many countries also celebrate El día del amigo in June or July. Children love Día del amor y la amistad because it is chance to recognize how important their friends are [...]
Stories without words are useful tools for teaching Spanish to children. These wordless picture books engage children actively with the events on the page. Children interpret the drawings and follow the narrative by identifying characters, emotions, actions, and consequences. Simple phrases and questions in Spanish make the most of this connection and of the context created by the illustrations. In addition, teachers and parents can use Spanish at an appropriate level so that reading is [...]
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 [...]