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Explaining Ser and Estar
by Salomé Torres on 3/5/2015
Last week I was talking about how helpful a cognitive grammar approach can be for explaining ser and estar, which later initiated a discussion with my colleagues who put forth examples that seemed to refute the… more »
An Engaging Way to Teach Spanish Grammar
by Salomé Torres on 2/26/2015
It’s been two years since I first read Qué gramática enseñar, qué gramática aprender by Reyes Llopis, José Plácido, and Juan Manuel Real.I’ve reread it three times because I think that the changes it inspires are… more »
Thoughts on this Year's Goya Awards
by Lauris on 2/19/2015
A new mode of writing known as noir fiction emerged in the US during the great depression. Perhaps as a child of the movement, film noir elevated Bogart and his Maltese Falcon to the height of the film genre.The… more »
Can Uppercase Letters be Marked with an Accent?
by Lauris on 2/12/2015
One of the questions that Spanish teachers get asked in class is if the accent mark known in Spanish as the tilde is really necessary (the tilde shouldn’t be confused with the virgulilla [~] which is placed over the… more »
The Subjunctive for the Imperative - Part III
by Lauris on 2/5/2015
We now have a handle on the imperative in both its affirmative and negative forms. We’ve also taken a look with our students at why these forms came to be the way they are. Once we’ve worked a little with exercises and… more »
The Subjunctive for the Imperative - Part II
by Lauris on 1/29/2015
Let’s continue with the imperative and how teaching it can help us make a smooth transition into the present subjunctive, not only in terms of how it’s formed but also as far as the principles of its usages.So how is… more »
The Subjunctive for the Imperative: An Unorthodox Explanation I
by Lauris on 1/22/2015
When we have to introduce the present subjunctive tense to our students, we notice that the lesson is programmed in many manuals to be taught after the imperative has already been introduced. I’ve heard colleagues of… more »
January Language News - DELE 2015
by David Limon on 1/20/2015
Versión Española abajoThe Instituto Cervantes has finally completed the process of updating the new DELE exams for 2015 along with the job of adapting the test to the new CEFR (Common European Frameword of Reference… more »
Teaching the Spanish Past Tenses - Part Two
by Lauris on 1/8/2015
Picking up where we left off last week, I’ll go ahead and use the great Fray Luis de León’s famous line (I’ve always wanted to use it but never felt quite worthy) which he casually uttered when he returned to his post… more »
Teaching the Spanish Past Tenses - Part One
by Lauris on 12/24/2014
Using the Past Tense in Spanish - A Challenge for A2 Level Students: PresentationStudying a language means plunging head first into the murky depths of uncharted waters, a place where linguistic sea monsters lurking in… more »