SPANISH 1A: What can I do to be successful in this class?
1. Come to class! Attendance is very important in a foreign language class.
If you are not here, you are not hearing Spanish. If you are not hearing
Spanish, you are not learning. There are many auditory and oral activities
that we do in class that cannot be made up if you are absent. COME TO CLASS!!!
2. Pay attention in class.
3. Participate in class. Active participation not only gets you a good
participation grade, it also leads to learning.
4. Come to class prepared. Bring your materials to class. Do your homework.
5. Use a Spanish folder where you keep ONLY papers from your Spanish class.
6. Copy the notes NEATLY from the overhead every day and put the date on
them, number them, and keep them together in a spiral notebook.
7. Review your notes every night for at least 10-15 minutes, saying them over
and over again AND writing them over and over again. REPETITION is the key to
learning a foreign language.
8. Complete and turn in all homework assignments ON TIME or within the late
work deadline (1 day late--20 points deducted, 2 days late--40 points
deducted, 3 or more days late--ZERO FOREVER AND EVER!!!)
9. Take your time and write neatly on daily assignments, quizzes, and tests.
If I can’t read your answer, IT IS WRONG!!!!!!!
10. Sing the Spanish songs in class, looking at the words. This will improve
your Spanish reading skills and your Spanish pronunciation. The songs will
also help you learn vocabulary and grammar structures, but you have to
actually sing them for it to work!
11. Pay attention during the stories so that you can hear the words over and
over again. Remember it takes at least 40 REPETITIONS to acquire a word or
phrase, BUT YOU HAVE TO BE LISTENING TO THE REPETITIONS!!!!!!!!!!! Try to
respond during the stories, and stop me if you do not understand something.
12. Listen when your partner tells the story and help him/her if he/she
messes up or gets stuck.
13. Study for tests! If I give you the review on Monday for a test that is
on Friday, study every night for about 20-30 minutes rather than “cramming” on
Thursday night.
14. Use my web site to review for quizzes and tests:
www.quia.com/pages/ucedaspanish1.html (This site is also linked to my
site at TeacherWeb.com/TX/FriendswoodJrHigh/Uceda) If you do not have a
computer, go to Friendswood Public Library or borrow a friend's computer.
15. Use your E-Coach computer program (which will be checked out to you
soon...but you will not be able to use it until we finish the introductory
chapter and start chapter 1).
16. Come to tutorials (Tue. or Thurs. 8:00am) if you need help or want to use
my computer to review on my web site.
17. There are study tips for each chapter in the back of the book page H16-H29.
18. Memory Associations for Learning Spanish Vocabulary Words
The following memory concepts were taken from the “The Memory Book” by Harry
Lorayne & Jerry
Lucas:
Step 1: Start with a Spanish word and know the pronunciation of it.
Step 2: Look up the English translation.
Step 3: What does the Spanish word sound like or make you think of?
Step 4: Make an association between what the word actually means and what the
word
sounds like. Try to make a ridiculous picture in your mind.
Examples:
Step 1: Spanish word – Soy (pronounced just like soy in soy sauce)
Step 2: English meaning – I am
Step 3: Soy reminds me of soy sauce.
Step 4: Picture a huge bottle of soy sauce introducing itself to you and
saying, “Hi, I am
soy sauce.” Try to really use your imagination and make this
soy sauce come
alive in your mind. The sillier and more bizarre the mental
picture, the better.
Step 1: Spanish word – Carpeta (pronounced “car pet ah”)
Step 2: English meaning – Folder
Step 3: Carpeta reminds me of carpet
Step 4: Picrure the floors of your house with folders instead of carpet.
Step 1: Spanish word – lápiz (pronounced like “la peace”)
Step 2: English meaning - pencil
Step 3: La reminds me of singing and peace reminds me of the peace sign / hippies
Step 4: Picture a pencil dressed up in tie dye, with the peace sign and
singing la la la
Step 1: Spanish word / phrase – Mucho gusto (Pronounced “moo cho goose toe”)
Step 2: English meaning – Nice to meet you.
Step 3: Mucho reminds me of much (as in a lot); gusto sounds like “goose toe”
Step 4: Picture millions of goose toes shaking your hands and and saying
“Nice to meet
you.” (It’s okay that geese do not actually have toes. The
picture is supposed to
be ridiculous.)
Tips for creating mental pictures:
1. Out of Proportion: Try to see the item larger than life (gigantic, huge,
enormous).
2. Exaggeration: Try to see “millions” of the item.
3. Action: Picture the item doing something (flying, leaping, bouncing,
swimming, running,
dancing, inantimate objects talking…)
4. Subsitution: Picture something in place of something else (folders instead
of carpet)
Buena suerte! -- Good luck!