How to Advertise your Spanish Community Service Learning Course

My favorite ¨ficha.¨ I spend a lot of hours on Facebook, too.
by Ann Abbott

By using your students' own words!

Last week I passed out notecards to my "Spanish in the Community" students, put them in pairs, and asked them to do two things:
  1. Recognize one legitimate hesitation on students' part about signing up for "Spanish in the Community."
  2. Counter that hesitation with a valid reason why should they sign up for the class anyway.
Here are some of the responses I received and that I will use when I advertise the course for next semester.

Miedo
  • ¨Sabemos que tienes miedo de hablar en español con hispanohablantes, pero nunca vas a mejorar tu español si no los usas afuera de la clase y con hispanohablantes de la comunidad.¨
  • ¨Sabemos que estás nervioso-a sobre tu capacidad de hablar en español con los hispanohablates, pero las personas en la comunidad tendrán paciencia contigo.¨
Distancia
  • ¨Sabemos que ¨la distancia puede complicar nuestro servicio en la comunidad, pero hay muchas maneras de llegar a las organizaciones que esojamos, como en camión, bicicleta, a pie, e ir con otras personas.¨
Tiempo
  • ¨Sabemos que la falta de tiempo es un obstáculo para algunos estudiantes, pero en realidad no es mucho tiempo cada semana y es una oportunidad para mejorar su capacidad de hablar con hispanohablantes en la comunidad que no existe en otras clases.¨
  • ¨Sabemos que hay un compromiso de prestar servicio durante 28 horas del semestre, pero es una experiencia estructurada para un resume.¨
  • ¨Sabemos que la clase es solamente dos veces cada semana, pero necesitas dos horas de prestar servicio cada semana. Pero la persona puede esoger el tiempo [y lugar] de prestar servicio¨
  • ¨Sabemos que veintiocho horas es mucho y a veces no tenemos tiempo, pero el trabajo que hacemos vale la pena.¨

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