learning a new language through music.
Last November, I saw an amazing presentation led by Susan Gross about promoting language proficiency through music. I totally got inspired by Susan's techniques on how to use songs in lessons and I started to implement her simple routine in my lessons. At the start of each lesson, I put a Spanish song on and my students listen to it following the lyrics. They can also sing (of course!) but the most important thing is that they follow the lyrics in Spanish and in English. Each lesson, I focus on a few words or on some grammar rules. For example, I focus on connectives or on verb endings. We also talk about the meaning of the song and about the singer. I also ask for a volunteer to deliver a short presentation about the singer to the rest of the class. That way, not only the students improve their Spanish, they also learn about the Hispanic culture. Then, at the start of the following week, my students have a short quiz about the song where they have to fill in the gaps with the missing words in Spanish and in English. They hear the song twice and have to complete the quiz. I make it quite easy because I want them to succeed in order to keep motivated and to think they are good in Spanish. As Susan Gross stated during her presentation: "if a student thinks he is good at something, then he will be good and there are statistics to prove it!". I also firmly believe in this. When I was a student, I always thought I was good at French and English and as a matter of fact, I achieved high grades in those two subjects. However, I always thought I was bad at maths and I achieved low grades! We already did a few songs which I found on Google or (most of them) on Zachary Jones website which is full of a wide range of resources from songs to videos to texts all in Spanish for Spanish learners. There is also a wonderful activity called ¡Tírate a escibir! which is a great way to enhance writing with your pupils.
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