Learning a language (or getting better at a language) is like playing a sport or a musical instrument,it takes practice, practice, practice.

Aprender un idioma (o mejorar un idioma) es parecido a hacer deporte o tocar un instrumento musical, se requiere práctica, muchísima práctica.

Here on this page are many opportunities to do so. Be careful, you might just have fun at the same time!

Aquí en esta página hay muchas oportunidades para hacerlo, pero ten cuidado que podría disfrutarlo!

A school year behind us, the summer is here.

It's a great time to practice English or Spanish. Find some movies, or television shows, with subtitles. A book or two wouldn't hurt, and let's be honest, books travel a whole lot better to the beach since sand in even the smallest DVD player is a drag.

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Side by Side Bilingual Books:

Stories from Latin America
by Genevieve Barlow

Stories From Mexico
by Genevieve Barlow

Stories from Spain
by Genevieve Barlow

Semester II / Semestre Dos

Think Globally, that's the theme for Semester 2. Our Spanish class will be composing a newsletter in order to better understand the point of view of Spanish speakers and also to connect with the Spanish speakers in our school, especially those who don't yet understand English. We are also thinking Globally in honor of Haiti - stay tuned for student thoughts on how to lend our support, financially and emotionally to our neighbor.

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Language Acquisition / Adquisición de un Idioma

Whether you're in my Spanish or English as a Second Language class you are experiencing the challenges of learning a new language, or improving a language, as in the case of the native speakers or those who excelled in Spanish I. I have added new websites, and you can receive credit toward the homework portion of your grade if you hand in an explanation of what site or sites you visited and what you learned or practiced while visiting your site.

Look what we made!

The second grade students in my Spanish as a foreign language group made these beautiful masks with papier mache horns. The masks are worn at Carnival which coincides with Mardi Gras and combines Caribbean and African cultures. Vejigantes, the Spanish name for the masks, date back hundreds of years. Our designs were inspired from those made famous in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Too bad we couldn't make a field trip out of it!

*Read more about Carnival traditions and mask making in the links I have added to the list on the right hand side of this page.