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Posts Tagged ‘
Learn Spanish ’
Monday, November 7th, 2011
There are tons of people who want to start speaking Spanish now. There’s one problem…They don’t know where to begin. If you fit in this group, you are probably planning on taking lessons – however, you may want to teach yourself how to speak Spanish without lessons!
In order to learn Spanish, you have to overcome your second language learning anxiety! This is an emotional problem that hampers the abilities of many potential Spanish speakers around the world! Becoming motivated and overcoming this can, in fact, be the first step for you to be a fluent Spanish speaker!
Many believe that the older you get, the harder to learn a language – There is a common belief that advancement in age may actually hamper the ability to learn Spanish. There is no doubt that you may have to adjust when learning a different language – however, adults are actually more than capable of learning a language.
The reason why children are believed to be better at learning languages is the simple fact that they haven’t developed any mono-language habits. Their minds are open, so they are open to change. However, you can easily break these habits and learn the language you need to!
People do not believe they are capable – When people do something such as trying to learn Spanish, they have to envision themselves doing it, otherwise, they’ll be absolutely discouraged.
The simple fact is; most people simply do not believe that they are mentally capable of learning a second language. If people simply believe in themselves – they’ll be well on their way to learning how to speak fluent Spanish!
Tags: Learn Spanish, Learn Spanish now;, spanish classes
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Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
Tags: Fun Spanish, kids Spanish, Learn Spanish, Preschool Spanish, spanish classes, Spanish for kids, Spanish for kids in Cleveland, Spanish in Cleveland for children, Spanish lessons, Viva Spanish
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Monday, July 11th, 2011
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Three tactics that are valid for all kinds of parents and all kinds of kids of all ages and level of Spanish………
1. Passive Listening: Everyone should keep the Spanish radio on as much as possible. Keep the radio or TV on while the child is doing other things. It has to be the sea of sound that they swim in while they are beginning their study of Spanish. The child doesn’t have to concentrate on it; they will not be listening to try to understand. After a while they won’t even hear the radio but it will be affecting them. Little by little they will begin to anticipate the rhythm of the language, even before they understand they words. They will also begin to recognize certain words.
2. Pattern Response Drills: Those parents who know some Spanish can try to run through all the permutations of the new expressions that the child learns. For example, suppose your child just learned to say: “Pedro tiene cuatro años” rather than translating from the English incorrectly, “Pedro es cuatro”. Now to make this new element of the language stick, you should go on substituting different ages and the names of different people. The child will soon be able to say comfortably, “María tiene cuatro años.” “Juan tiene ocho años.” “Yo tengo tres años.” “¿Cuántos años tienes tú?” There are many examples of these drills in most language courses but the parent can generate them herself.
3. Encouragement: Don’t correct their Spanish when they speak. Don’t interrupt the flow of their conversation. Don’t make their speaking Spanish to be another homework assignment. It should be something special, even something “secret” in your family. Kids like the mystery and intrigue of having something special of their own. Their speaking Spanish should be a joyful, non-threatening experience. If they make mistakes in their grammar, correct their errors by using the same expression correctly a few minutes after. Don’t come right back at them with the correct form or they will begin to feel conscious of their expression and choke off their freedom of expression.
You will be surprised how quickly even the youngest respond.
Tags: kids Spanish, Learn Spanish, Spanish parents, teach Spanish, Viva Spanish
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Monday, July 11th, 2011
Although most of us agree that it is a good thing for our kids to speak Spanish, most kids in the US whose parents were born in Latin American countries do not speak Spanish well. Even if both parents speak Spanish at home, quite often the kids answer their parents in English. Look around at your Latin friends and relatives and you will see that most give up on teaching their kids to speak Spanish. Chicano and Puerto Rican families seem to have a little better luck than Latinos from other countries with keeping Spanish alive in their barrios but even their younger generation is losing fluency in Spanish.
In general terms parents can fall into one of three groups:
1. Those who know NO Spanish;
2. Those who know enough to read, even poorly;
3. And those who can model correct pronunciation for their children.
All these parents should make sure their children HEAR a lot of good Spanish but obviously those parents who know no Spanish will be more dependent on recordings for their children to listen to. Try to find some good audio resources. Besides the tapes and CDs you might buy or take out of the library don’t forget the radio and TV. All parents should expose their children to ask much passive listening of Spanish that they can. In most places there are Spanish language radio stations. TV programs from the Univision network are very widespread.
Tags: kids Spanish, Learn Spanish, Spanish parents, teach Spanish, Viva Spanish
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Monday, July 11th, 2011
In part 1 we discussed how Spanish was first introduced in the Americas by Christopher Columbus in the 15th century. The evangelization by the Catholic Church was accompanied by the slow but firm administrative imposition of the Spanish language, which relegated the Indian languages to an unprivileged position. This was the inevitable consequence of the cultural and ethnic cleansing imposed by the Spanish Empire to its colonies.
However, there was a two-way flow of cultural and linguistic influence between the colonizers and the colonized. This happened because, in spite of their dominant position, the natives of Spain always constituted a very small minority in the American continent. Thus, there was a constant contact among languages and a progressive mixing among the different populations. This allowed the incorporation of aspects belonging to the pre-Columbian cultures into what would later become American Spanish.
Just listening to the intonation of the different South American Spanish dialects we can see that they are closer to the various native languages than to peninsular Spanish. In terms of vocabulary, two of the most influential languages were the Mexican náhuatl (spoken by the Aztecs) or the Peruvian quechua (spoken by the Incas). These two languages were accepted and spoken by a significant part of the population, and therefore they were used for commerce purposes, even after the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. Examples of words that have been incorporated into American Spanish from these languages are “papa” (potatoe), “cuate” (friend), or “chamaco” (boy).
All these factors have made American Spanish the rich and multicultural linguistic variety that it is today.
Tags: kids Spanish, Learn Spanish, Spanish parents, teach Spanish, Viva Spanish
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Monday, July 11th, 2011
The Spanish language arrived in America first through Christopher Columbus’ exploratory travels, and then with the rest of colonizers, at the end of the fifteenth century. At this point the Spanish language was already firmly consolidated in the Iberian peninsula (Spain). In the “new world”, however, Spanish had yet to be established, and this was done through a process labeled by historians as “hispanization”.
During this period, the southern part of the American continent was a conglomerate of hundreds of different languages and dialects. In addition, the cultures that the settlers encountered were radically different from the Spanish one. Communication, therefore, was really a challenge in the first stages, and it was done first through gestures and later on through captive natives who acted as interpreters.
The Catholic Church played a fundamental role in the expansion of the Spanish language throughout Latin America. Thus, Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries established schools where they educated and converted into Catholicism most children and teenagers. Of course, this was all done in Spanish, and thus this language started to penetrate little by little in the daily lives of the different indigenous groups.
Tags: kids Spanish, Learn Spanish, Spanish parents, teach Spanish, Viva Spanish
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Thursday, May 26th, 2011
According to National Geographic 5% of the entire world speaks English and an equal 5% speak Spanish! Does this surprise you? It surprised me. It also made me realize how beneficial it is for English speakers to choose Spanish as their second language to learn. We are happy to be a catalyst for promoting Spanish and hope that we can encourage Spanish language learning to adults as well as children.
So Spanish is popular and the sun is finally starting to shine in NE OHIO. We love EL SOL (the sun)!
Tags: Gladys Benitez-Reilly, Learn Spanish, reasons to learn Spanish, spanish classes, spanish language, Viva Spanish
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Welcome to our blog. Viva Spanish offers language programs to children and adults in the Greater Cleveland area.
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