“How can I help my child
be successful in Spanish?”
There are several things that you can do to help ensure your child is on the right track to
excel to their potential in Spanish. Spanish is unlike other classes because it builds on top of
previous information. For example: imagine you are building a house and your contractor
was not on top of his game the day the foundation was poured. Now the rest of the house is
built on top of this concrete foundation. There are cracks in the foundation which makes the
rest of the house unstable. To help avoid these cracks, I recommend the following:
1. Homework – I give homework almost every night. There are several purposes to
homework: 1) It is an extension activity to what we learned in class, 2) it allows our student to
process what we have learned on their own in their own environment, and 3) sometimes I will
“flip” the classroom – meaning, that our student is responsible for downloading or writing the
notes by listening to a video or lecture that I have posted online. Then, we will work on the
“homework” activities in class so that there is the support of not only me, but their “family” as
well. This is a very successful technique, but only if the student actually does the work prior to
coming to class. How can you help?
- Ensure that the student has completed the homework. It will always be posted
online in Canvas so that you can check to see that it is done.
2. Practice – Students generally think that one day they will wake up and be fluent.
Unfortunately, this is not true. In order to speak the language, they must practice every day
knowing that they will make mistakes. I cannot stress this enough. How can you help? Ask
them how to say things in Spanish. Tell them to speak to you only in Spanish for a few
minutes. Pick up a Spanish language newspaper for free outside of most grocery stores and
ask your child to tell you what the “gist” of the article is.
3. Speaking – Urge your child to speak in Spanish at home, even if they say they don’t know
how to say what it is they want to say. Remember, two year olds can still get their point
across by mumbling a few broken words or even sentences. As your child does this, their
fear of speaking will begin to diminish and their ease with thinking in Spanish will increase.
This is where real progress is made.
4. Learning vocabulary – Each theme or chapter introduces an average of 60 new
vocabulary words. That’s 540 new words this year! What are some ways to learn efficiently?
I like the use of flashcards. I suggest that they print out the vocabulary sheets from the
Canvas website and paste the picture on one side and write the Spanish word on the other.
I discourage the use of English vs Spanish when it can be avoided.
- Ensure they are not being a “flash card cheater”! This just means that they should be
able to think of what the word means prior to flipping the card over.
- Chunk the vocabulary – learn 10 - 15 new words per day. Be sure to incorporate the
previously learned vocabulary in with the next day’s list.
- Say the word out loud – It is NOT good enough to just “think” the word or read it
silently. Our student should be physically using the word audibly. This helps to process the
word in their brain and to practice pronunciation at the same time.
- Use the word in a sentence – the true test of understanding.
5. Websites and apps.
Verbling.com offers free classes that cover conversation, reading, grammar, pronunciation.
The great thing is that a native teacher is leading the class and therefore it is great listening
practice.
Duolingo (app) – is an app that leads you through levels of Spanish vocabulary and
grammar. It also sends you reminders.
Quizlet.com is a website that allows students to create their own flashcards. With these they
can play games to help improve their acquisition of Spanish.
Conjuguemos.com is a great website that works with verb conjugations in all tenses.
All grammar topics practice at http://personal.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/
Students who are successful in Spanish:
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Spend time every day working with
the language in some capacity.
Speak even though that mistakes will
be made.
Understand that Spanish is not
translated English.
Are engaged in the class activities
Complete assignments carefully
Practice listening and speaking
outside the classroom
Listen well and pay attention
Are engaged in the bellwork activity
Demonstrate a positive attitude,
enthusiasm and a willingness to try.
Volunteer with free responses in class
Ask questions when they do not
understand a concept, assignment,
etc…
Chunk vocabulary
Seek out websites and apps that help
hone their skills.
Students who struggle in Spanish:
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Never or seldom volunteer
Wait until the night before an
assessment to cram.
Studying = “looking over” the
information
Copy homework from others just to
get the grade
Go through the motions during class
activities
Are not active participants in class
activities
Work on homework for other classes
Copies answers to the bellwork
Are frequently off task
Make no effort to use Spanish to
express themselves
Demonstrate an apathetic attitude
Work with the language only
sporadically
May decide to put forth effort but at
a point that it is too late