Out of School Language Learning

Every once in awhile in class (or as homework) I would provide an article about tips of learning a language or the benefits of learning a language. Today I'll post some ideas on how you can continue to practice when we're not together. 

Recently the New York Times provided some suggestions on how to learn at language at home, and last year they published an article about what they learned by using Duolingo for 500 days (and compared it to other apps).

If you don't want to get on an app there are ways to incorporate another language into your everyday life like changing your phone to be in the target language, following Spanish speakers on your favorite social media platform, or listening to music or watching shows in Spanish.

SpanishPlans.org has a great list of ideas to maintain the language you've learned over the summer break

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio (or send an email to your teacher), title it the same as this blog post, and complete one of the following tasks

• Create a list of 3 of these things you would do. Include links to songs/playlists you'd listen to, shows you'd watch and/or social media accounts you'd follow. 
• Watch one of these TED talk videos about how to learn a language and summarize it in your own words.
• Look into different (free) language learning apps or extensions you could use (refer to the NYTimes articles How to learn at language at home, and what they learned by using Duolingo for 500 days ) and explain which one you'd be most likely to use and why. 

4 Reasons to Learn a New Langauge

click here to read the transcript

Above is a 10 min. long video about reasons to learn a new language. They are

1. In order to really understand a culture you need to be able to speak their language
2. Speaking more languages has been shown to delay dementia, and multi-lingual speakers are better at multi-tasking than speakers of just one language
3. Languages are fun! Learning to speak in different word order is like driving on the different side of a street in another country.
4. It's never been easier to teach yourself another language. 

"It won't change your mind but it certainly will blow your mind"

Hot Tamale Activities

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio and complete one of the following tasks

• Which of the reasons John McWhorter gives was most convincing to you? Explain your answer
• What are you personal 4 reasons you want to lean another language? 
• McWhorter ends his presentation with the quote "It won't change your mind but it certainly will blow your mind" - give details about a time learning Spanish has blown your mind.
• What makes this presentation good? Identify 5 things McWhorter does that makes his presentation good/great.

The Pros and Cons of Being Bilingual

It turns out that research has proven that being bilingual means you are smarter than others who only speak one language! But wait - there's more! Watch the video below.

Write a blog post in your Spanish blog answering the following questions and link/embed the video.

• What are some benefits of being bilingual?
• When they say that people who are bilingual are "smarter" - what do they mean?
• What are some difficulties that people who are bilingual face?