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Everything works (or nothing does).

Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell October 19, 2022 4 Comments

What I Do

Seeking the future of world language learning at the intersection of comprehensible input, project-based learning, global education, and love.
Everything works (or nothing does).
Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell October 19, 2022
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In the language teaching field, we have a long, treasured history of arguing and drama. We may agree or disagree on classroom setup, teacher recruitment efforts, and the best ways to encourage learners to study abroad, but primarily, our arguments center on one question:

What works (or doesn’t work) for successful language acquisition?

In true Sra. Musicuentos style, I want to jump back into the conversation by addressing this question, with thanks to little birds keeping me up-to-date on the status of this argument. It seems we’re still on it, we’re still after each other about it, and we’re still sure that each one of us has the “right” answer.

tl;dr- Here’s my view:

We get really lost in the weeds when we start assuming researchers have proven just about anything about language acquisition and learning. There’s a reason the brain is called the “black box” in this process. But let’s start by agreeing on the one thing that is irrefutable: People have *learned* and *acquired* languages for a long, long time.

You can peruse the shelves at a peddler’s mall and find language learning textbooks from generations past. You can see it in the pages of ancient literature. As long as people have wanted to foster communication in or understanding of another language, there have been language learners, and language teachers.

Just take a look at some of Thomas Prendergast’s work, including this 1875 “Manual of Spanish for Englishmen” and more: “manuals of French, German, Hebrew, and Latin.”

We can argue about who had access to language learning, or how quickly they did so, or any number of other details, but shockingly, people learned languages before the phrase Comprehensible Input came into fashion. Indeed, people learned languages before Stephen Krashen was a twinkle in his parents’ eyes. And they learned them well. They could communicate. Ben Franklin could solve global problems in four languages (or five, but does one really solve global problems in Latin?).

So, next time you’re tempted to buy into a narrative that tells you one thing works and something else doesn’t – or worse, tempted to tell someone on social media that the strategy / activity / worksheet they’re excited about “isn’t going to work,” take a deep breath and think outside your absolutes.

In no particular order, here are a few examples of what I mean when I say everything works.

Storytelling works.

My blog is called Musicuentos (cuentos being the Spanish word for “stories”). Of course I’m a fan of stories! The strategies involved in TPRS changed my teaching world.

Here’s the thing about storytelling teachers: all of us work differently. We bring our own philosophy and our own personalities to the story. For me, every great story includes at least these three things:

  1. Consistency: Unlike most storytelling teachers, I try to fight the problem of time limits by patterning my stories. Stories will focus on a particular skill: what someone is doing right now, adjectives that describe places, adding –mente to make an adjective an adverb, etc.
  2. Cartooning: Some basic skills will help you draw funky illustrations – your learners will love them, and it will help you stay in the TL!
  3.  Cool content: Throwing in something funny and/or in line with what interests your audience keeps them more engaged.

(Here’s another post with some more suggestions, including simplicity, goal-setting, and constant questioning.)

Here’s the thing: don’t be surprised when some of your learners label your crazy storytelling strategies dumb, repetitive, random, and confusing. For learners who won’t engage with my storytelling, it can’t work, scientifically speaking. Disengaged means not acquiring language.

Still, becoming part of a story is primarily how we learned our first language, learned about our heritage, learned how to carry on a legacy. I’m in the camp that believes that if we try to mimic that magic that happened in our first language, second language acquisition is more effective (and fun!). Be comprehensible, and tell some stories!

Grammar explanations work.

You won’t be teaching long before you have some grammar-sensitive learners push you for explanations. Why am I supposed to change this ending? Why do these words have this suffix in common? Go ahead, give in – briefly. I actually structure – and even color-code – input to help learners notice grammar patterns, and I’m not sorry.

To be sure, for some, grammar explanations help not at all. I invite those kids to tune me out for a minute. But also to be sure, grammar does help some learners improve their accuracy.

I know enough to know what I don’t know, so I’m not going to swear to this, but let me describe an example from what I think happens in my own brain. I am one of those people who cares about about language accuracy. Like really cares, all the way to the holy grail of verbal gymnastics in Spanish, the past subjunctive. I often explicitly decide, while I am speaking, whether a verb should be in the past subjunctive. Then, if I haven’t used that verb in a while, I go through the mental process to put the verb in the past subjunctive

third person plural preterite.
drop the -ron.
add -ra or -se ending

and then I say the word – and I do all of this so fast that you very likely can’t tell. A computer could measure the delay, but you couldn’t.

Let me focus on that statement: the real argument behind whether language can be learned versus acquired is an issue of speed. The prevailing theory is that speakers access learned language more slowly (with higher mental cost) than acquired language. Here’s my take on that: only linguist researchers care about this delay, and only they should.

– BUT: Check out my post from a dozen years ago, “A case for avoiding pet grammar.” –

Music works

Hey, I am Sra. Musicuentos after all. In addition to stories, music is my favorite medium for teaching language. It captivates learners of all ages. I might use a song that is written for learners and they understand the majority of it. I might use a pop song that only has one or two focus phrases I’m working on. The key is to know your goal for the song, and to know that (in my opinion) music hones these skills like little else:

  • Separating words
    Most language learners complain about how fast the native speakers use language. This is so true with my learners working on their Spanish. I find that it isn’t so much that people speak faster than others. It’s more that learners struggle to identify where a word stops and the next word begins.
    When we listen to music in my class, this is our mantra:
    You can listen and watch, or you can sing and watch, but you can’t not watch.
    I’ve had my current students a total of 5 class periods right now, and they could give you this mantra verbatim.
  • Pronunciation
    I like to always be learning language, and right now, I’m working on my novice French and Russian skills. With both, I have to tell you, the pronunciation factor is a killer. Even when I can read the French, if I try saying it out loud, it comes out pretty wonky. So I focus on tools that offer me both the written and the spoken word, like Duolingo- or music. Remember, we’re watching the lyrics while we listen or sing, and I’ve found this to be invaluable for internalizing pronunciation.
  • Intuition for phrases
    You know those beastly phrasal verbs in English? I teach ESL to refugees and other newcomers and let me tell you, these are one of the toughest structures to acquire. We have all these verbs that take on a preposition to help their meaning, but you can’t use them interchangeably. You can get in the bus or get on the bus, but you can’t get on the car, unless you’re in a parade or something. When the bus stops, you can get out or get off. Get ready, get up, get dressed, get out, get down from there, or off of there, but not usually off from there!
    I don’t know about the language you teach, but Spanish has some of these as well, though not nearly as many as English. There are many verbs that natives choose to follow with por or para, a, en, de, etc. Music uses natural language and helps develop a learners’ intuition for these phrases and many other kinds, as well.
  • Less academic language
    I remember learning lots of words from my vocabulary textbook that I later learned are not widely used by native speakers. Unhelpful! You know what is full of language that real people on real streets are using today? Pop culture, including music! Kids want to know and use real language, and to learn it, they need to hear how people are really using language. Granted, some music gets pretty creative with structures that aren’t part of everyday conversation, but particularly for popular vocabulary choices and play with language, music is golden.

 – My post “Top 20 Songs for Spanish Class” is the top Musicuentos post ever. –

The one question that overrules it all

I hope I’ve helped you think for a moment the next time you’re tempted to tell someone that a selected strategy “doesn’t work.” Perhaps qualify it – the strategy probably wouldn’t work for the majority of learners you work with. Perhaps ask a few questions: what level? what class size? what demographic? Or, ask the question that overrules all our allegiance to any particular story, song, worksheet, or textbook:

Will this help this learner communicate?

Speaking of magic bullets, don’t forget there’s really only one factor that trumps them all.

Here’s what I’ve realized: I actually don’t need my learners to develop advanced proficiency. I don’t. Most of them will not. And that’s fine. At Intermediate proficiency most learners can accomplish what they need to. In the economy of time, it’s enough. It may not enough to be a diplomat, but it’s still enough. And in that journey, everything works for someone, and nothing works for everyone. So, go ahead and try it, and let’s be a little less judgy, eh?

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Previous Sometimes, the journey is a circle.
Next Mon amis found magic, and it’s throwing stuffies.
Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell
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4 Comments

  1. Gloria Newsome says:
    February 1, 2023 at 8:44 pm

    I was looking for some authentic listening for my students and remembered mi amiga Sara and musicuentos. So I did a search and happily found that you are back! Beinvenida amiga! I will be following! In the meantime I will search in your archives for resources! Muchas gracias!

    Reply
    1. Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell says:
      February 2, 2023 at 10:12 pm

      Contact me anytime, amiga – always glad to help!

      Reply
  2. Loly Mireles says:
    March 14, 2023 at 5:00 pm

    I have missed you. I used to follow you years ago, but then life happened. I hope you are doing well. I’ll have to start following you again.

    Reply
    1. Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell says:
      March 22, 2023 at 2:42 pm

      Welcome back, Loly – thanks for your comment!

      Reply

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      • Stop calling this easy & fast
      • Revisiting Photopeach for the AP Final
      • Stop stressing: It's wrong to do the best you can
      • Three tasks for crafting an effective message: Black Box Podcast episode 4
      • A Year in a Day: Camp Musicuentos 2014
      • Taking care of business: Summer collaboration for a successful year
      • 4 ways to tweak the exit ticket
      • Black Box Podcast episode 3: To Sell Is Human, part 1
    •  April (9)
      • Top 25 Spanish novels
      • Let's play
      • New activity resource: Tweetfest!
      • Black Box Podcast episode 2: Circumlocution
      • An impromptu "langcamp"
      • See you at ACTFL '14
      • 4 ways to keep curriculum relevant
      • Tutorial on the best free PD you'll find in your own home
      • The Musicuentos Black Box Podcast: IT'S HERE!
    •  March (11)
      • Authentic visual illustrations of proficiency (Spanish)
      • Curriculum planning outside the textbook, Part 2
      • A week or more of working with Vivir mi vida
      • Resource release: Complete verb pack
      • Curriculum planning outside the textbook: Part 1
      • Corrections to simple verb pack
      • Musicuentos is on Pinterest!
      • Is this the best we can do?
      • Writing a restaurant review: Activity from Bethanie Drew
      • Putting a number grade on proficiency-based assessment
      • Resource release: Simple verb pack
    •  February (7)
      • My favorite source for restaurant (and other) reviews
      • Guest post: A TPRS rebuttal by Carol Gaab
      • TPRS strategies I don't put in my toolbox
      • What I love about TPRS
      • Repost: Valentine's #authres from Twitter
      • How I use verb charts
      • Guest post: What students need- A leader (David Seibel)
    •  January (10)
      • Every language teacher's biggest mistake
      • My new favorite digital storytelling app
      • Why Genius Hour can't work in a novice classroom
      • Website review: Geoguessr
      • 2014 resolutions #5: Use more authentic sources.
      • 2014 Resolutions #4: Take a step outside the textbook
      • Reviewing 2013: Five blogs to watch
      • 2014 Resolutions #3: Survey your students.
      • 2014 Resolutions #2: Collaborate with someone
      • 2014 Resolutions #1: Read a book
  •  2013 (110)
    •  December (13)
      • The #1 Musicuentos post of 2013 (and the six years before that)
      • Best of 2013: #2 - Tips for the new AP
      • Best of 2013: #3 - Choice in homework, updated
      • Best of 2013: #4 - Novice song for Spanish Class Idol
      • Best of 2013: #5 - Can you control vocabulary?
      • Best of 2013: #6 - Is your lesson plan out of whack?
      • Best of 2013: #7 - Four habits that enrich vocabulary
      • AP Spanish final exam: Controversia navideña y Vacunas para niños
      • Best of 2013: #8 - Novice high vs. Intermediate low
      • Best of 2013: #9 - Using assessment to inform your teaching
      • Best of 2013: #10 - Spot-checking conversations
      • First-ever Musicuentos ebook: Reader's Guide to Ciudad de las bestias
      • Happy December!
    •  November (8)
      • AP Spanish essay - Obamacare
      • Vote: Musicuentos proposal for ACTFL '14
      • Setting goals
      • Don't go to ACTFL '13 without TELLing
      • Repost: A story for demonstratives
      • Listen to some Grammy music
      • Caring about the Really Big Deal
      • Calm before the excitement!
    •  October (4)
      • Using assessment to inform your teaching
      • Just some fluff: Makeup for busy mom teachers
      • Top 3 mistakes teachers of novices make
      • Book review: Teach Like A Pirate
    •  September (7)
      • Interacting with authentic materials: a guide
      • Using audio-lingua
      • Seven keys to a great story
      • Stations: Exploring music
      • It's a myth: Equipping students to communicate with... themselves
      • Turn a Novice Song into "Spanish Class Idol"
      • Is your lesson plan out of whack?
    •  August (12)
      • Children's literature for the world language class (Helena Curtain)
      • App review & Giveaway! High School Spanish
      • Choice in homework, updated
      • Back to school: Proficiency posts
      • App Review: Storykit (bonus - meet my family!)
      • Back to school: Evaluate traditions
      • Back to school: Blogs with great ideas
      • App review & giveaway: Word Magic dictionary and thesaurus
      • My authorized AP syllabus
      • Back to school: Musicuentos "first days" posts
      • Back to school: Give them signals
      • Going back to school with Musicuentos
    •  July (6)
      • Tips for the New AP
      • Don't be fooled! What the AP does and doesn't measure
      • Illustrating proficiency with a laugh
      • Snag some free apps while you can!
      • Stop asking for unnatural language
      • Fun video: Animals, present, feelings
    •  June (9)
      • Targeting problems with a pop quiz
      • Song, irregular present, part 4: Tengo tu love
      • It's my birthday - check out our presents!
      • A meaningful approach to grammar
      • Websites for creating online magazines
      • A world with no magazines
      • Guest post: Coaching with choice
      • Screencast: Photopeach
      • Communicative grading made easier
    •  May (10)
      • Health infographic: Novice - Intermediate Activity
      • A lesson in finding authentic sources easily
      • Tips and songs for past participles
      • Foster higher-level thinking from the beginning
      • Summer: Language for the fun of it
      • Novice high vs. intermediate low
      • E-magazines with learner appeal
      • Step outside the textbook: Tell a story
      • Repost: Novice description with Jengibre and Pin Pon
      • Interpersonal communication by choice
    •  April (11)
      • Novice speaking: Describing self with Sie7e
      • Can you control vocabulary?
      • Activities from authentic resources: Future tense
      • Why I love mistakes
      • Maternity leave!
      • Lots of your class gone? Pick up a book.
      • Abandon the multiple-choice question
      • Songs for future tense
      • I choose béisbol: sample "homework" report
      • 300 times thank you
      • Reporting like kindergarten
    •  March (11)
      • Training in circumlocution: Ban the dictionary
      • Fun activity #9: A leer
      • Last tips on avoiding burnout
      • Cortometraje for narration
      • Make developing curriculum even easier
      • Even more tips on avoiding burnout
      • Authentic resource: trivia games
      • Still more tips on avoiding burnout
      • Two more ways to ease into developing curriculum
      • Song, irregular present, part 3: Carmelina
      • More tips on avoiding burnout
    •  February (10)
      • Intermediate news activity for all three modes
      • Easing into developing curriculum
      • If you don't pay attention to comprehensibility...
      • Burning out or burning bright?
      • Keeping the class engaged: Change activities
      • Fun activity #8: A cantar
      • Twitter/relationships activity, just in time for Valentine's
      • Tech tools gone wrong
      • Grading regular free-topic writing
      • Add more music to homework choices
    •  January (9)
      • Spot-checking conversations
      • Song, irregular present, part 2: Hace tiempo
      • Four habits that enrich vocabulary
      • Paragraph form
      • Myths 8 & 9: I don't do it because they can't handle it.
      • Assigning homework
      • Song, irregular present, part 1: Sigo con ella
      • More choice every day
      • A novice cross-curricular activity from authentic materials
  •  2012 (39)
    •  December (2)
      • 5 New Year's resolutions for every WL teacher
      • It pays to have a focus
    •  October (2)
      • Best and worst games I've seen
      • Example: authentic text for novices
    •  September (7)
      • Success with Stations
      • More student choice in homework
      • Prezi: The Choice is Theirs (KWLA 2012)
      • Prezi: Kick the Vocab Quiz (KWLA 2012)
      • Take the leap to standards-based assessment
      • Fun activity #7: Conecta cuatro
      • A song for feelings
    •  August (11)
      • Screencast: Edmodo
      • Myth #7: Spanish Mike is a taco.
      • A study in motivation, part 2: Self-assessing abilities
      • It's my blogiversary - but you get the gift
      • Menus
      • Reading guides: Cajas de cartón & Esperanza renace
      • A re-post for your first days back: Abecedario
      • Screencast: Finding authentic sources for prompts
      • Maintaining personal proficiency
      • Ideas for the first days of school
      • AP redesign: Units & EQ's
    •  July (9)
      • A study in motivation
      • Advice for teachers in training
      • More uses for Amor de mi tierra
      • Book review: The Talent Code
      • Songs for 'duele'
      • The Case for Commands
      • Got idioms?
      • Like Musicuentos? Like it on Facebook.
      • Very short times with very young kids
    •  June (1)
      • 5...4...3...2...1... LAUNCH!
    •  March (4)
      • Another change: Survey says...
      • Design your own final exam
      • What I'm changing this week
      • Repost for CSC12: Increasing target language
    •  February (1)
      • A storytelling success story
    •  January (2)
      • Not going to ACTFL again, but for the best reason ever
      • Free Ebook for WL educators
  •  2011 (57)
    •  November (1)
      • Dear novice-learner teacher - love, an AP teacher
    •  October (3)
      • Learning from #langchat
      • Not your average health unit
      • Presentation: Target Language: Expect More, Say Less
    •  September (6)
      • Spanish 3 assessment documents
      • For KWLA 2011: Media from Reel to Real
      • Accuracy vs. proficiency: an illustration
      • Fun activity #6: A escribir
      • App review: Tour Wrist
      • Myth #6: Memorizing vocabulary
    •  August (5)
      • Trending topic = authentic comprehensible input
      • Got the rubric!
      • New year, new units, new assessments
      • Jumping on the Animoto bandwagon
      • Rethinking "late" work
    •  July (1)
      • A song made for early Spanish 1
    •  June (9)
      • Proficiency & tacos
      • Proficiency levels shouldn't be a secret
      • Flipbook illustration
      • Ethics in the language class - we aren't their parents
      • Activity #5: Gira la botella
      • Symbol Illustration
      • Connecting your classroom
      • Myth #5: The textbook is all I need
      • Taking paperless to the blog
    •  May (2)
      • Combat the 'este tiempo' monster
      • Children's DVD giveaway!
    •  April (6)
      • Activity #4: Drama Inmóvil
      • Myth #4: The Time Whine
      • Have you used PhotoPeach?
      • The myths aren't going to ACTFL
      • Fun activity #3: ¡Arriésgate!
      • Fun activity #2: A conversar
    •  March (3)
      • Dismantling Myths 2 and 3: Learning about language and its cousin, Grammatical Terms
      • Activity 1: Cuento poco a poco
      • (Trying to) Make learning fun
    •  February (10)
      • Two new options for out-of-class fluency
      • Great resource from la Sra. Birch
      • Dismantling Myth #1: What's a qualified teacher?
      • Keep singing: 189 pages of Spanish lyrics
      • #Charlando para aprender
      • Vote for this week's #langchat topic
      • It's time for them to use their time
      • For tonight's #langchat: A game for description
      • Short listening activity tailor-made for beginners
      • Ciudad de las bestias: Guides public & streamlined
    •  January (11)
      • Instead of the vocab quiz
      • Best songs for stem changing irreg. present
      • Do something drastic - kick the vocab quiz
      • Topic for #LangChat 1/27
      • Topic for the first #LangChat 1/20
      • Low-level learners can't understand authentic media, what?
      • They can't speak, and it's our fault: Dismantling the myths
      • Don't teach a health unit without this song
      • New: A language teachers' weekly chat on Twitter - choose our first topic!
      • Since I stopped teaching to the [AP] test
      • Faith and Culture: help me decide our AP topic
  •  2010 (38)
    •  December (4)
      • 9 ways to increase students' TL use
      • I love collaboration
      • The problem with translation (from a student)
      • Why music is more powerful than anything (& how to use it)
    •  November (2)
      • iPad giveaway!
      • A collaborative project for our Spanish-teacher PLN
    •  October (2)
      • And the winner is...
      • In the spirit of open source: Ciudad de las bestias
    •  September (10)
      • Books recommended as 'easy'
      • Pure present tense & at least 22 repetitions of 'ya no'
      • For a conference attendee: resources in math
      • Searching BBC Mundo
      • Prompts with Power: writing/speaking prompts
      • Prompts with Power: Prezi
      • Prompts with Power: German & French resources
      • Prompts with Power: Dating in high school
      • KWLA Presentation: PLN-ology
      • Tweet with double objects
    •  August (6)
      • Interactive comic creator using Maya & Miguel
      • Ads of the World | Creative Advertising Archive & Community
      • Added some great new links
      • First 12 days of Spanish 1
      • My supply list
      • Scope & sequence, word list for Spanish 1
    •  July (4)
      • 5 tips for increasing (your own) target language use
      • A warm-up from @samocamila: por vs. para
      • Camila's all on board! (well, on Twitter)
      • Getting vocabulary from a tweet
    •  April (3)
      • Huge toy giveaway from SpanglishBaby
      • A case for avoiding "pet" grammar
      • Authentic audio with future tense
    •  March (2)
      • Interesting blog post about iPod as language lab
      • News article: appeal + subjunctive for influence
    •  January (5)
      • A high-interest exercise for imperfect/pasado continuo
      • A song with 17 verbs in past subjunctive
      • My corporate Spanish links, all in one place
      • "Adora la Exploradora"-the week we didn't feel like a boring past-tense review
      • My level 1 and 2 stories (for Bethanie, and whomever else)
  •  2009 (80)
    •  December (2)
      • A song with 37 repetitions of "más que"
      • Switch to a communicative set-up
    •  November (10)
      • Print & audio sources for AP synthesis essay re: efficient energy
      • Two songs for voy + a + infinitive
      • A case for free-topic blogging
      • It's 19 de noviembre!
      • Camila's new single: "Mientes" (release date 11/24!)
      • A case for pleasure reading
      • Noviembre - a popular month for songs
      • Zachary Jones's "Clozeline"
      • Two songs + resources for Ojalá + subjunctive
      • A song just for @mamitati
    •  October (13)
      • You can't buy this in a textbook
      • Cultural connections: Four songs to explore using Google Earth
      • David Bisbal's YouTube channel
      • Correction on Pin Pon in Shrek
      • Four songs for contrasting que & lo que
      • Nominados en la 10a entrega de los Latin Grammy
      • Story and songs for subjunctive: indefinite/negative antecedent
      • AP sythesis essay sources: Los indocumentados y el sistema de salud
      • Blog that does what I do, only better
      • My October playlist
      • We must not ignore the Paz Sin Fronteras (video)
      • Build your perfect tenis (en español)
      • Video with por, haber, past participles, commands, from Coca Cola
    •  September (10)
      • Latin Grammy website gets a cool makeover... and nominations!
      • Songs for the elusive 3rd pers. sing. preterite
      • I just made my first Yodio
      • KWLA Fall 09 Conference presentation
      • Found Juanes on Twitter
      • For you French teachers
      • Bilingual toy giveaway, gracias a @mamitati
      • Keeping your eyes open for gold nuggets
      • CNN launches Latino in America
      • Bob Esponja on Mundonick
    •  August (4)
      • A correction on the correction of La Frase Tonta
      • I am in technology heaven
      • An AP oral presentation, with past tense: "Consecuencias"
      • I love crossover songs
    •  July (2)
      • Raimundo, the bilingual Latin American snail
      • A song for object/refl pronoun 'te'
    •  June (6)
      • A song for your hip-hop fans
      • Developing world citizens
      • Follow me on Twitter
      • Aquí Estoy Yo: video oficial
      • A new group on my radar
      • Two months later, back to the blogosphere (with a companion)
    •  April (5)
      • A most fantastic performance at Premio Lo Nuestro
      • The heroes speak Español
      • A brilliant pair of songs contrasting por/para
      • Useless grammar I used to teach
      • Adding some links--check 'em out
    •  March (7)
      • Negative commands + culture
      • Winds of change
      • Our students aren't the only ones who have speaking problems!
      • Activity: News interaction (present perfect)
      • A new smash hit with a subjunctive benefit
      • A shout out for Jacob & Joshua
      • El campesino y la princesa (a Spanish 3 story test, with a bit of subjunctive)
    •  February (15)
      • More interactive websites, courtesy of my students
      • A product I love
      • Good stories for commands
      • a story for imperf. vs. pret. and subjunctive influence
      • Interactive websites: practicing house/location/color vocab
      • Subjunctive for doubt: Story, song, activity
      • A good story for 'tiene'
      • A song for subjunctive/nosotros commands
      • A story for demonstratives
      • Rules in a communicative class
      • Cause and effect
      • Relating everything to English
      • A correction on La Frase Tonta
      • Equipping and informing, for free
      • A project based on motivation
    •  January (6)
      • "How much is estuvo de pie?"
      • One more song for subjunctive
      • A couple more subjunctive songs
      • An example of vocab
      • Internet scavenger hunts
      • A Spanish 2 story test
  •  2008 (51)
    •  December (7)
      • Videos from Jesús Adrian Romero
      • Alex Campos's YouTube channel
      • A story test
      • A video for Navidad
      • Great new song for subjunctive
      • ¡Nueva música!
      • A fantastic blog post
    •  November (14)
      • Ever heard of Patito feo?
      • Two groups you just can't go wrong with
      • Things to be thankful for
      • Grammar learning vs. acquisition
      • Forced to give grammar tests?
      • High aptitude is a beautiful thing
      • Another Spanish 1 reading
      • New media list!
      • At the ACSI conference in Dayton
      • Story success: Huevos verdes con jamón
      • Another story source!
      • Words we don't use
      • Song success: Hace tiempo
      • El carro de sus sueños
    •  October (12)
      • Overgeneralizing, again
      • Spanish 2 Story: La llama se llama...
      • Song success: Me voy
      • Not posting lately
      • overgeneralizing
      • The outcome of Pin Pon
      • Pin Pon in Shrek?
      • Best practices
      • Reading in Spanish 3
      • SCORE!
      • My media list
      • Awesome YouTube video
    •  September (18)
      • KWLA '08: Assessing comprehension without English
      • Song success: La llave de mi corazón
      • Spanish 1 Story: Insectos grises para el almuerzo
      • Finding stories
      • How do I find the music?
      • Modeling the billingual lexicon
      • Summaries of some classroom SLA articles
      • Love/Hate Krashen
      • Another article that rocked my world
      • More sunshine
      • When it's not all coming up roses
      • What on earth is going on here?
      • So, what are the cuentos?
      • The verdict on pop test 1
      • People I love
      • A pop test
      • Some assumptions
      • Starting to share my journey

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