Don't get discouraged! When learning a second language, the authentic input you hear will sound like static for a while.... (about six weeks)
But as you learn more vocabulary, and begin stringing together your OWN sentences and thoughts, you'll begin to "dial it in!"
How?
-Watching your favorite scene from a DVD you own (15 minutes) in Spanish...
-Listening to the Bible App in Spanish (5-10 minutes)
-Finding a talk radio station in Spanish (the Christian ones are the best - they speak more slowly and enunciate more than the political/celebrity/news stations.)
-Type in your favorite children's book title in Spanish on YouTube and you may just find someone reading it! (I have several choices from Mo Willems to the Very Hungry Caterpillar over on SpanishGeniuses.com)
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Here's a blog from a few years back about using something as simple as BINGO to help with reducing the static and keeping things simple and light!
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I love creating new products and am working on more Spanish Bingo games as the holidays come around. Valentine's Day is one we didn't have a game for yet, so I'm enjoying feeling all lovey-dovey and sweet as I draw and choose the words to make sentences for your young students.
The best thing about Bingo Games in Spanish is that it hits all the important highlights of learning a language, of making it truly absorptive, as well as all the highlights of making it do-able in the Real Life Homeschool World. (Not the "my house is a magazine world and my kids' faces are never sticky", but the "momma-trenches" world.)
Language Learning Needs:
FIRST: X+1 - This theory, X+1, teaches that your goal should be pushing you one step past where you are, but shouldn't be too far to reach. The Flip Flop Bingo games introduce 20 words at a time. One word resides in its own little box with a simple drawing to color. Twenty slips of paper, easily manageable, touchable, and maneuverable, unlike other bingo games that have the words already static, filled in on the grid. That leads us to the second necessary item.
SECOND: Ownership. If a student doesn't "own" the word - meaning he has no need for it, and does not care about it, he will NOT absorb it; not long term, anyway. With Flip Flop Spanish bingo, the student gets to choose 16 of the 20 words, decide where they go, how he will (or won't) color them, and can even lay out sentences, using them to say whatever he wants with the words he chooses.
THIRD: Accessibility. Learning a language requires review. When the words are stated, written, and then put away, there is little chance for review. With the bingo cards, you can play multiple times, make literally hundreds of original sentences, and even change the game up into "Memory," "Charades" and "Pictionary," in addition to bingo. That brings us to the last necessity when absorbing a language.
FOURTH: Atmosphere. The learning atmosphere must be a relaxed one for true absorption. Playing bingo automatically removes the focus from learning, but the motivation remains. It's a true "accidental" absorption.
As this blog is already longer than I like them to be, I'll discuss the homeschooling side of using bingo (in ALL your subjects) in tomorrow's blog. Also, stay tuned for a video on how to enjoy Flip Flop Spanish bingo for Valentines' Day, featuring one of our own little Spanish learners.