Blog Review

I had a love-hate relationship with this blog. I felt stressed about it most of the time because we had to have 4 entries of each type; I sometimes felt like I would never come up with enough ideas. However, my classmates all had this fear, so we discussed it in class pretty often. This turned out to be pretty great because we all gave each other new ideas, and that was pretty exciting. I don't practice Spanish outside of class like I should, and this blog really helped with that.

Near the end of the semester, I had an amazing "Ah-ha!" moment when reading one of our assigned articles. It said something about students needing to make connections to the language they are learning in class to the real world, and this blog forced us to do just that. I never realized how much I encountered Spanish and could practice it, even in my own home.

I believe that this blog was a good idea, but it felt overwhelming at times. I mostly enjoyed the conversations that it sparked in class. It forced us to compare ideas and strategies. I plan on doing something similar to this with my students in the future, but I'm not quite sure how I would change it yet.

All in all, I can look back on this blog and appreciate the time and effort that I put into it. I feel that it helped me get over a little of my anxiety because I had to think outside of the box and do things that I normally wouldn't have (like attending international hour). I guess you could say that the love-hate relationship eventually transformed into a thankful love. :)

Sopa

Speaking is Spanish is the most difficult part of using the language--at least for me. I decided that in order to practice, I would find a recipe and relay what it said to a friend. I was hoping for brownies or cake, but I didn't find any with Spanish instructions. However, I found some fairly cheap soup and decided to try it. Although Megan is learning Spanish, she said that she is pretty unfamiliar with cooking terms because she skipped straight to Spanish 3 in college. I had to use lots of motions and pointing to get her to understand what I wanted. This task also allowed both of us to review commands. I thought back, once again, to the first week of class in which we discussed different theories. I thought of the one that said that exaggeration is necessary, and this is very true. I know that the more I practice this, the more comfortable I will be acting ridiculous.

My New Favorite Website

 I know this will give me more blogs than necessary, but I just had to share this website that I found. It's Duolingo and it is absolutely amazing. It's a free website to help you learn a new language. It gives you pictures and you have to type the target language translation. It gives sentences in both English and the TL and you have to translate to the other language. There are also questions in which it gives a word in the TL with multiple definitions below and you have to check all that apply. Sometimes it reads it to you, sometimes you have to listen with no reading, and sometimes you have to read with no audio accompaniment. When you first sign up, it lets you test yourself if you think you are above the lower-level lessons. It gives you three hearts, and if you miss three questions, then you must start all over. I can tell that I will be using this a lot because it is super easy to use and is pretty fun and challenging.

Making a List

Well, it's May...that means that in less than a month, I'll be on a plane and headed for Spain. I could not be more excited or terrified.One of the most difficult things for me (prior to the trip) will be packing. I tend to overpack, and I know that I can't do this because I'm going to want to buy all kinds of treasures while I'm abroad. I realized that there are some things that I should just buy once I arrive. Everyone tells me to buy a hair dryer overseas and just leave it there...then I realized that I had no idea how to say that, which would cause problems in locating one in a store. I decided that it was time to make a list, and it made sense to make the list in Spanish since that's how things will be labeled in Spain. I had to consult wordreference.com for a few of these things, but I did know most of them. My next project is to see if I can research how stores are set up overseas in comparison to the ones here. This is my list so far, but I'm sure I will think of more to add to it as the time gets closer.

Celular

Secador de pelo

Sello/estampilla

Champú

Acondicionador

Jabón

Medicina

I realized that this would be a good pretend project for my students when studying travel. I would also have them research the different types of products available; they may always use Tresamme shampoo, but is that available in their target country? I feel like this could grow into something quite large, so I'm going to stop while I'm ahead. :)

Opportunities Abound at Wal*Mart

When I went home this weekend, I, as usual, talked my mother into buying a few things for me to take back to school. When we were in the pharmacy section of Wal*Mart, I spied a machine I hadn't seen in any of the other ones. It measured blood pressure, but also BMI and eyesight. I love new toys and technologies, so I ran right for it. I set it to Spanish just to take advantage of the available practice. This machine was pretty fantastic. I had to listen, read, and type in information. The reading part was the easiest, but the typing is what I really focused on because I rarely get to practice writing in Spanish. It was fun to tell my mother and brother what the machine was asking and what my responses were. It was also interesting to see them pick up on words that they didn't previously know. Because they know I'm as blind as a bat, they could pick out words from my vision results that they probably wouldn't have been able to figure out before. This let me know how important context clues and prior knowledge can be. While using this machine, I also thought about my thematic unit because it talked about daily health and eating routines. I may try to make a website or "game" that requires students to use the same skills that I had to when using this device.

E-mails and Spell Check

Because I'm a teacher's kid, I always kind of blurred lines between teachers and students. I was never under the impression that they pulled a cot from under their desks to sleep when students left for the day. My afternoons and summers were spent at school, whether it was the Lower Elementary at which my mother taught, or the school in which one of my friend's parents taught. Teachers' kids were all friends, and we roamed the schools once everyone else left. Because the lines were always a little blurry, I treated my teachers like actual human beings. Now that I've gone all around the world, let me make my point. Most people move on after graduation and have to try their hardest to remember their 9th grade geometry teacher's name, but that isn't the case with me. My constant connection to the school environment allows me to keep a constant connection with my teachers of the past. One of my favorite teachers was my high school Spanish teacher. He was the best teacher I've ever had and when people ask why I'm going to teach Spanish instead of English (which I would excel at), I simply tell them that I want to create more people like me. That may sound pompous, but what I mean by that is that Señor Ramirez made me absolutely love learning. He showed how fun and useful languages can be and made me feel so accomplished and proud when I mastered something new. If taught correctly, new languages can change a person. Again, I'm rambling. Sorry!
Because I keep in touch with my teachers, I decided to practice my writing by emailing Señor in Spanish. He has not yet responded, but I know he eventually will and will add corrections and tips. If he allows me to do so, I will probably email him while I am studying in Spain. I started out my language-learning journey with him, so I'm very comfortable with writing to him. Speaking, however, is a different story--he knows exactly where I started and where I should be.

Anyway, here is what I sent him. Although I just said that I was comfortable writing to him, I'm still a perfectionist and hate to mess up, so I felt a bit self-conscious when writing this.

Hola Señor!

Voy a intentar escribir este e-email en Español, pero es un poco (o muy) difícil. :) Estudiaré en España el junio. Voy a vivir en Alcalá. Está cerca de Madrid. ¿Tienes consejos para mi? Mis examenes son el primer semana de mayo, etonces voy a ir a Destin con mi novio. Después de vacacion, visitaré tú en PHS y prepar para mi viaje a España. No puedo pensar más para escribir. Mi cerebro no funciona antes de mediodía.

Hasta pronto

Looking back on my email, I see that it's very rigid. At this point, my writing should be more conversational. This is something that I definitely plan to work on, both in writing and speaking. I would encourage my future students to write to people they actually know. It makes the conversation more realistic, whereas if I told them to write an email to a made-up person, they may feel a bit lost. This class, as well as this blog, has taught me the value of real conversations, and I know that real conversations are easier to have with people you have known for a while.

ESPN Deportes

When waiting to eat at La Terazza last weekend, we were seated at the bar area. Like every other bar, they had the sports channel on. However, unlike most bars, the channel of choice was ESPN Deportes. This immediately caught my attention and I began to watch and listen. They were just going over highlights of a few wrestling matches, which I do not keep up with at all. However, apparently there was a little controversy  bout one of the fighters, so the discussion was pretty heated. In addition to two news anchors, they called in several other people. Because they did this, I got to hear a few different voices and dialects. I understood most of what they were saying because it was pretty repetitive, but there were also subtitles and statistics to help me out. Having to wait and just happening upon this station made me realize just how accessible Spanish could be in my own home. I could easily turn on the TV or radio as I do chores or homework and just listen to it in the background. This would not only help me with my listening skills and teach me new words, but it would also help me learn to listen while doing other tasks like I do in English.