¡Noticias de Alicia!

¡Bienvenidos familia, amigas, y amigos! Welcome! For this school year, 2012-13, I will be teaching Spanish to the youngest members of our AFS community and I couldn’t be more excited. In fact, our journey has already begun.

 

Acquisition happens naturally and subconsciously when we are surrounded by another language. My goal is to spend the first few minutes of each class speaking in English to the children, as I explain the day’s activity. As the children gain some comprehension of the Spanish language, I will then present the introduction of the day’s activity in Spanish. I have presented to the children my red sequin vest and explained that when I put this vest on, it indicates that I am the Spanish teacher and therefore I will be speaking solely in Spanish. We will volar (fly) to Spain and other Spanish speaking countries at the beginning of each class session and once we land, we all do our very best to speak in the language of that country, Spanish.   

During our clase de Español (Spanish class), we have been practicing words for greetings. My aim is for the children to demonstrate an understanding of Spanish words used when greeting someone as well as common and polite gestures such as a hand shake or a wave. The phrases we have been working on are:

 

¿Cómo estás?  (How are you?)

¡Muy bien, gracias! (Very well, thank you!)

 ¡Asi, asi! (so,so)

No muy bien, gracias. (Not very well, thank you)

¡Hasta luego! (See you later)

¡Adiós! (Good-bye)

 

To reinforce this new vocabulary, I introduced the children to a few songs. To the tune of “Are you Sleeping...”, sing with your child the following:

 

Buenos días, Buenos días

¿Cómo estás?, ¿Cómo estás?

Yo muy bien gracias, yo muy bien gracias.

¿Y tú? ¿Y tú?

 

And, to the tune of “London Bridge”, try these:

‘Hola’ means hello,

hello, hello.

‘Hola’ means hello

¡Hola amigos!

 

‘Adíos’ means good-bye

good-bye, good-bye

‘Adíos’ means good-bye

‘Adíos’ amigos

Also, we have been practicing how to say “Thank you” and “You’re welcome”. I have a little friend who will help me reinforce these terms at the end of every class.  Ask your child who this little friend is.

¡Muchas gracias! (Many thanks)

¡De nada! (You’re welcome)

So, go ahead and give it a try! Practice at home with your child how to greet one another in Español. Until my next noticias (news) ....

 

Paz,

Alicia