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. :)
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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.
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