In this article, you'll learn how to use your audial students' strengths to assist them in absorbing a foreign language.
Getting Started - Audial learners do a great job listening, but they also have to speak to truly absorb! Be sure that everything they read, they read aloud, and every song they hear, the sing along. Writing is a good method too, but be sure they are speaking as they write. Any time the target language is encountered, be sure to ask, "What words did you hear?" After listening to a song, be sure to ask your student to perform it (if that's something they enjoy.)
Moving Forward - As your student picks up more songs, and vocabulary from songs and listening to CD's, watching DVD's, and listening to books, add in activities like reading aloud, or describing a picture or landscape. Be sure to pick a picture that has vocabulary from a recent lesson - or have your student draw a picture, and then describe it to you. For older students using texts, simply have them answer questions in Spanish, German, or French. Scripted conversations are a great way to begin, and then the student will be able to add and personalize answers by changing a few words, but the basic grammar structure will stay the same.
Keep on Keeping On - After a year of study or more, your student will be retaining as much as he or she is practicing. Add in movies in the target language (withOUT subtitles! No crutches please!) Begin with familiar movies, even ones they basically have memorized in English. Choose the target language in the DVD language menu, and have him tell you at least three or four words or phrases they learned. They may need to keep a log as they watch. Watch a second time and they can repeat the word as soon as they hear it. Be sure to only tackle a "chapter" at a time. Too much truly taxes the brain and causes us to tune out the foreign words, a habit we NEVER want to begin.
Any time you feel you've hit a wall, or feel like you're in a rut, play the opposite game - or a matching game, or twenty questions in the car! Scale it back a notch by CHOOSING the words you'd like to use in a game. Spend twenty minutes reading them, and then see, how many do you have in your short term memory. Audial learners usually have a skill for picking up languages, so harness this talent and gift, and be sure to not squelch by requiring too much written work. Be ready to LISTEN!
If you're looking... for something to facilitate your student's foreign language study, be sure to post a comment, and I'll give you suggestions for your age range, or a review if I've already tried out something that you're thinking of.
Suzanne Gose (known by her students as Señora Gose) is a homeschooling mother of almost five children - baby number five is due this July. A former public school teacher, she currently teaches over 80 homeschooling students in weekly Spanish classes at Key Curriculum in Bryan, Texas. She is also the author of the Flip Flop Spanish Workbooks and other language teaching tools. You can see them at www.flipfloplearning.com and in the Schoolhouse Store.
Thank you so much for offering to give advice. I've been hoping you would. Here's my situation: My daughter is 61/2. She is all about words (talking clearly at nine months). Taught herself to read at 31/2 and now reads at a 6th grade level. She is FASCINATED by words and seeks out vocabulary just for the fun of it! This is not bragging on my part as she is doing it all on her own. I've been wanting to do a foreign language with her, but I am at a loss having no foreign language myself. I homeschool her. In the fall, I will be homeschooling my 9th grade niece as well who will need to start a foreign language. My niece is a reader, but does not have good writing or thinking skills. She's one of those types of learners that does everything the teacher says but doesn't necessarily absorb and learn her assignments, you know what I mean? Anyway...
We cannot afford to buy two different foreign language programs for each girl. Do you recommend one that would feed each of the different needs we have here?
We've heard good things about Rosetta Stone, Learnables, and EasyFrench or EasySpanish, but I am skeptical. I have looked at SO MANY different programs that my mind is spinning. I truly do want to hear the cons of these three different programs...what makes one better than the other, etc? Which will work for us? Or, do you recommend a different program?
Thank you much for taking the time to look this over and assist me.
Many Blessings,
Holly@aiminghigh
isaacandholly @ comcast . net (minus the spaces)
Well, the cons are not too many for Rosetta Stone - it's a fun program, that is pretty good for visual learners. Just be vigilant that they are actually speaking. I'm a bit against computer programs for language learning, though, other than for introduction. I just had a little discussion about this on www.the homeschoollounge.com - just search for the Spanish discussion, and you'll see other moms in your boat.
-Main con for Rosetta stone - it's light on grammar. Your daughter sounds like she would really like to know WHY things work the way they do, so I'd stay away from that - except for a nice intro. The other issue, of course, is cost. It's pretty high for sitting in front of a computer. I like Berlitz a bit better, and to me, flash cards in many ways can do a lot of what Rosetta Stone does, but with more interaction, which is what language is all about!
-Learnables.... as a supplement, it's okay - I found it pretty darn slow, and pretty boring. Maybe ages 5 and under would like it, but I found myself yawning even in a group of ten enthusiastic Spanish students. We turned it off after our first try and didn't do it again. But SOME students might really like how straight-forward and simple it is. Good for audial learners - no words, just pictures and listening. Kind of light and easy. Also, pretty inexpensive!
- I don't know about EasySpanish, and couldn't find exactly where it was - send me a website, and I'll be happy to check it out.
- To get your feet wet, check out the Spanish Fun Activity Calendar (yes, I'm biased) http://www.flipfloplearning.com/spanish_activity_calendar/
for your daughter. She'll have the phonetic spelling at her finger tips, color and label, and also learn some sentences along the way. It's only one word a day, but the glossary (over 250+ words) is in the back, and great for making more flash cards and new sentences. The Flip Flop Spanish ages 6-9 is coming soon too, but for your 9th grade niece, might be too young - however, it sometimes boosts confidence and motivation to do something aimed toward a younger crowd - the idea "Hey this is EASY!" is much better to have than "How in the world can I learn all those WORDS?" from a high school text.
Keep motivation high and choose simplicity over thorough for this first attempt - then you'll have a better idea of what to try. You DON'T have to spend a fortune to learn a language. What flash cards have you tried so far?
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