posted Feb 28, 2014, 2:41 AM by barryjohnson@isriau.org
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updated Feb 28, 2014, 2:42 AM
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I’m excited to share a variety of technology resources with you to enhance your
child’s Spanish language acquisition process. Our students learn not only the
traditional skill areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking, but also cultural
acquisition in the program and technology has a way of bringing more than one
modality alive at the same time.
Duolingo
At www.duolingo.com you can create a free account and begin learning Spanish
in a fun interactive way immediately. Duolingo was Apple’s 2013 App of the year,
and you’ll see why with an intuitive interface, competitive and rewarding video
game components, and social media interaction for motivation or “bragging
rights” with family and friends. It’s easy to spend just ten to fifteen minutes a day
to learn new words and practice old ones. One study found that learning with
Duolingo for 26-49 hours would be tantamount to the first semester of a
university course.
The aim of Duolingo is two-fold: to help people learn new languages and to
translate the Web. Yes, that’s right, it’s an ambitious, egalitarian goal and all at
absolutely no cost. There are listening, reading, writing and speaking activities
that will engage most learners.
Yabala
The only aspect that Duolingo lacks is a cultural context, and at
www.spanish.yabala.com there is an abundance of videos (over 1,000 equaling
54 hours) which delve into the human and cultural aspect of Spanish. There are
videos on every possible topic including: travel, food, music, science, fashion and
many more. The amazing thing about this site is the text to audio interface. After
watching the initial video with Spanish and English subtitles (which can be
hidden), students play a gap-fill game in which they need to find the missing
word and type it in. The game is played in two rounds and can be repeated as
the words change with each playing. Each video is rated for its difficulty and the
speaker’s accent is categorized so that students may practice listening to the
many different ways Spanish is spoken. There is a vocabulary study function as
well. We sampled the song Fotografía by Juanes in the middle school class, and
students were completely immersed in the 3 minute video for an entire lesson.
Lastly, Te Toca, or “Your Turn”, (http://dilealsol.es/1OCA/oca1024.swf) is an
interactive website from Spain with 20 categories from colors and numbers to
grammar and spelling that plays like a board game. You’ll need some
understanding of Spanish to navigate the menu, but you can also explore the
settings options for number of players (jugadores) and how to answer (eligiendo o
escribiendo). Once in the game, students must correctly identify images by either
clicking on the correct answer, or typing it in the box. There are some fun
surprises inside the game board, so watch out!
These are just a few of the ways you and your child can study Spanish
independently in fun and meaningful ways with a simple internet connection.
While Duolingo and Te Toca are free, to get beyond the sample videos in Yabala
takes a subscription. Luckily, we have just purchased a membership and in class
we’ll begin to use grade level appropriate selections. ¡Buena suerte!
Source: Grego and Vesselinov, 2012
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