Pensamientos

“If you meet at dinner a man who has spent his life in educating himself - a rare type in our time … you rise from table richer, and conscious that a high ideal has for a moment touched and sanctified your days. But Oh! my dear Ernest, to sit next to a man who has spent his life in trying to educate others! What a dreadful experience that is!”  Oscar Wilde

Alice blogged recently about foreign language resources for independent study.  

Shortly before the end of the school year, I was informed that a rising eighth grader at my place of employ will embark on a half-year tour of several countries.  So that the student in question can keep up with her Spanish studies, I was asked, per request of the student's mother, to compile list of resources.  What follows  is the list I compiled for them.

• Learn Spanish with Ease. Offers guidance re: how to approach learning Spanish, especially if one is embarking on independent study.

• Spanish Pod.  I would say this site is PG-13; some of the topics are about relationships, etc. Still, it has become a widely popular way to learn Spanish.  That said, Katie should explore the "Newbie" and "Beginner" sections.  This is a fee-based subscriber service, with a seven-day trial.  Should one decide to subscribe, a premium subscription, I believe, will allow access all of the support materials, i.e. audio transcripts, vocabulary lists, grammar explanations, worksheets, etc.

• Spanish Language and Culture.  Though designed as a review for college students, much of it is very useful for middle school and high school students

• Conjuguemos.  An excellent, interactive site for practice and review. One needs to set up a username and password to get started.  The site is free, but, teachers are encouraged to pay a nominal fee of $25.00, which allows a full year of access for their students.

• Dr. Lemon.  An excellent site.  Gives clear explanations and lots of practice opportunities.

• Word Reference.  An excellent online dictionary supporting various languages.

• Verbarrator.  I blogged about this tool some time ago.  I am in the process of exploring this resource for my classes for next year.  However, at $57.00, it seems like a great bargain and a useful learning tool.

• The following sites are productions of BBC Spanish, and are for beginners:
• Spanish Steps 
• Talk Spanish 

Thank you to Jaime for providing the quote.