Learning Methods to learn Spanish

Language Learning with a Kinesthetic Learning Style

Benefits of Field Trips: A field trip is an organized educational outing which removes students from their usual learning environment to learn by way of experience. Using a recent field trip to Segovia as an example, it is possible to say that learning about Spanish language and Spanish culture can be effortless when combined with fun. It can be extremely challenging to absorb and retain information in the traditional classroom setting, especially for students with a kinesthetic learning style who learn best through experiencing things for themselves. Organized field trips break the monotony of the ‘daily grind’ by sparking the interest of the kinesthetic learner.

Useful quote from a book called Utilization of Field Trips: Prospects and Problems:  “For certain learning styles, field trips may prove to be highly productive in terms of achievement, especially for students who are predominantly visual/tactile/kinesthetic learners” (Muse, Chiarelott, & Davidman, 1982, p. 123).

One-To-One Language Lessons: The subzero temperatures in mountainous Segovia at the weekend resulted in a group of friends taking refuge in a warm café for several hours. Arguably, the café wins hands down over the classroom as an ideal environment for learning Spanish. This is because; the pace of a language lesson is set by the slowest student; whereas in a social environment, the pace of the conversation is set by the native Spanish speakers and the foreigners brain is forced to adapt to normal speed.

Language Courses in the Target Country: Arguably, the only way to learn Spanish grammar is by means of language classes and independent study. However, when it comes to Spanish vocabulary acquisition, time spent around native speakers of your target language is vital to improve fluency.

The three recognized learning styles are as follows: Visual – Auditory – Kinesthetic. Most people use a combination of these styles however; there was a study done in the late 1980s (Reid, 1987) that found the self-reported preference among English Language Learners was Kinesthetic. This shows it is essential to integrate more physical elements into our language lessons. Unfortunately though, schools are hanging on to their traditional methods rather than taking notice of this statistic.