Observación de Francisco en Santiago, Chile

While I was in Santiago this past summer I attended a school for foreigners who wanted to practice/refresh their Spanish skills.  Since foreigners come from all over the world and have various language proficiency I was interested in seeing the structure of a beginning Spanish course.  On a Monday morning I observed Francisco as he met and taught his students completely in Spanish.  Here are some highlights.

• Francisco began by asking the following question:  ¿Cuál es la pregunta por esta respuesta?  What is the question that matches this answer?  As you will see, some of the questions are quite ambiguous, which made multiple questions possible and also allowed students to get to know their teacher while reviewing their Spanish:
• Francisco (Eliciting the question, ¿Cómo te llamas? What is your name?)
• Sí, y muy feliz. Yes, and very happy.  (¿Estás casado/a? Are you married?)
• Santiago, Chile (¿De dónde eres?  Where are you from?)
• No, todavía.  No, not yet. (¿Tienes niños? Do you have children?)
• Profesor de español  Spanish professor (¿A qué te dedicas?  What is your job?)
• Sí, dos.  Yes, two.  (¿Tienes hermanos?  Do you have any siblings?)
• When Francisco came across a word that he was not sure if students would understand he asked, ¿Sabes qué es ______?  Do you know what ____ is?  or ¿Qué es?  What is it?  If a student knew the answer they were then allowed to explain the meaning in Spanish.

La policía (The police)

I loved singing with my students, but it is difficult to get everyone to participate.  Constantly reminding students to sing took the fun out of the experience, and if they do not sing they do not get the fluidity practice.  That is why I created “la policía”. 

To introduce “la policía” I would first teach my students a song: “Vamos a cantar.” (We are going to sing.)  After teaching the song, I would hold up “la policía” signs and ask students: ¿Quién quiere ser la policía?  (Who wants to be the police?).  Usually many students wanted to participate because it gave them some control.  (You may also want to rotate through students.  I drew from a pile of popsicle sticks with students names on them, but I did give students the option of choosing an alternative student to take their place.) I would then explain: “Pueden cantar con la clase o solo.  La policía busca estudiantes que no canten.” (You can sing with the class o alone.  The police are looking for students who are not singing.)  Hand gestures increased student comprehension.  (You can also be “la policía” for the first round or pretend that you are not singing and show students what happens.)

Two students would wear signs that said “la policía” during a song.  If they both agreed that a student was not singing I would ask that specific student, “¿Quieres cantar conmigo o solo/a?”   (Do you want to sing with me or alone?)  Then students would either repeat after me or sing a section of the song alone.  (When “la policía” would begin to gang up on certain students I would change the rules to somehow keep “la policía” in check.)