Surround Yourself with Spanish

by Ann Abbott

 One of my students told me that she felt her Spanish was a little rusty and wondered what she could to get back into the swing of things.

I'm so glad she asked! Simply wanting to improve your Spanish is one of the most important parts of actually improving your Spanish.

Here are a few resources I suggest.

At the University of Illinois

  • Tutoring Room. If you have specific problems, you can go to the Spanish Tutoring Room on the 4th floor of FLB.
  • Mi Pueblo. This is one of the best resources because you can meet up with other people who are practicing their Spanish--and actually speak Spanish in conversations with real people. Nothing beats that.

Anywhere

  • MySpanishLab. In this particular course, my student has access to everything that is MySpanishLab. That includes grammar tutorials, verb charts, videos and sound files for everything that is in the book and workbook. There's no way we can cover everything in the book or in MySpanishLab, so taking advantage of all that extra content is just smart. Of course if you are using a different textbook, your online resources will be different, too.
  • SpanishPod101.com. You can join the site, and you can also simply go to the SpanishPod101 YouTube channel and listen to the videos. Go to "Playlists" and listen to a few in each level to see where you feel most comfortable, though a little challenged, too.
  • The Spanish Blog. This is another good online source. (There are too many to list here!) You can sign up, or you can use their many free videos.
  • Get hooked on a show. One of my friends said that Gran Hotel is a great show to watch on NetFlix.
  • Listen to music. So many of my students walk into class with their earbuds in, carrying their device in their hands. They're listening to something! It might be podcasts, but it's probably music. Why not just switch it up and make the music Spanish? Here's a comment that my colleague Florencia Henshaw left on my Facebook Page a while ago: Florencia Henshaw Listen to music in that language! But not just once or twice. Learn the lyrics and listen to those songs often. Sing along in your car or in the shower. Here's our SPAN 204 Spotify playlist to help you discovernew artists and songs in Spanish. 
There are many, many more resources. I've tried to include things that are specifically helpful to intermediate students, like my student who asked for suggestions.

Please add to the list!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vocabulary for Parent-Teacher Conferences

Image
I'm very happy that so many students responded to our community partner's need for help. Our students' language skills will help Central High School's Latino parents better communicate with the teachers during the parent-teacher conferences next week. Central's secretary will contact the students directly to schedule times with them. Here is some vocabulary help for students. Materias. School subjects are "materias" NOT "sujetos." You should remember subjects from your intro Spanish courses, but here are some reminders: historia, matemáticas, inglés, física, química, biología, educación física, etc. General vocabulary. Notas = grades; aprobar = to pass; suspender = to fail; conducta, comportamiento = behavior. Topics. Ms. Citraro offers the following advice: "The topics and vocabulary that would come up are about the subjects at school. For example: no ha entregado las tareas tiene que tomar el examen otra vez habla mucho en clase falta muc...
Read more

How to Correctly File Hispanic Names

Image
I know that community-based learning students don't like it when they are asked to file during their time in the community. However, their learning goals are to improve their Spanish and knowledge of Latino cultures. Filing information on clients with Hispanic names helps them with both. And imagine the impact of mis-filing for the organizations where our students work and and their clients. That's why I was unhappy to learn that many SPAN 232 students did not do well on their exam section asking them to put some Hispanic names in alphabetical order. I can imagine that some students feel that putting names into alphabetical order isn't important. It is! It is especially important in the organizations where they work because they are dealing with clients who may not have "accommodated" to the American system of using only one last name. And it is especially important for clients whose papers are so important for their legal status, medical information and oth...
Read more

Interview with Jessica Horn of ACCIÓN Chicago

Image
By Carolyn Kloecker , Span 232 student This past week I completed an assignment for my Business Communications class (SPCM 211) which was to interview someone in a field that I am interested in working for in the future. I asked her many questions about the organization, and lots of information can be found on their website www.accionchicago.org . This organization is a Community Partner with Spanish & Illinois, and has an extensive connection with the Spanish-speaking community in the Chicagoland area. Here are a few of the questions and answers from Jessica: Is ACCIÓN a fairly new organization? How did it begin? ACCIÓN Chicago started in 1994, but the parent organization, ACCIÓN was started in 1961. It is the largest micro-lending organization, and it began in Venezuela, and took root in the U.S. in 1991. How do loan officers communicate with clients? Mostly by phone, as people call in to the office to get a loan for their small business. The website is also a main form o...
Read more