About the curriculum:
Welcome to Living Waters Spanish.
This curriculum accomplishes two goals: It quickly brings you from little or no knowledge of Spanish to high-level functioning in the language, and it simultaneously provides a solid overview of the Bible by using sixty Bible stories as its textual foundation.
With Living Waters Spanish, you will be equipped to communicate effectively and naturally with native Spanish speakers, both about everyday matters and the Gospel message.
Thirty years of research show that the most effective way to learn a second language is through comprehensible input – language that you understand in a meaningful context. While it is relatively easy to learn to say several sentences by rote memory, the key to becoming fluent is in being able to understand and respond to the myriad statements that a native speaker might say.
Our aim with Living Waters Spanish is to equip you to be able to communicate effectively with native speakers, both orally and in writing. There is no faster way to learn Spanish than the Living Waters’ method.
Further, the research indicates that teaching grammar rules tends to be a short term memory item. For most people to be successful in applying a grammatical rule, they must:
(Adapted from The Natural Approach, p.30, by Stephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell)
Further Reading on TPRS
This curriculum accomplishes two goals: It quickly brings you from little or no knowledge of Spanish to high-level functioning in the language, and it simultaneously provides a solid overview of the Bible by using sixty Bible stories as its textual foundation.
With Living Waters Spanish, you will be equipped to communicate effectively and naturally with native Spanish speakers, both about everyday matters and the Gospel message.
Thirty years of research show that the most effective way to learn a second language is through comprehensible input – language that you understand in a meaningful context. While it is relatively easy to learn to say several sentences by rote memory, the key to becoming fluent is in being able to understand and respond to the myriad statements that a native speaker might say.
Our aim with Living Waters Spanish is to equip you to be able to communicate effectively with native speakers, both orally and in writing. There is no faster way to learn Spanish than the Living Waters’ method.
Further, the research indicates that teaching grammar rules tends to be a short term memory item. For most people to be successful in applying a grammatical rule, they must:
- Understand clearly how to apply the rule;
- Be focused on using the form correctly;
- Have time to apply it.
(Adapted from The Natural Approach, p.30, by Stephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell)
Further Reading on TPRS
- For a good introduction to TPRS, check out language thoughts (@placido).
- Another good introduction to TPRS can be found on Ben Slavic’s blog (@placido).
- Susie Gross has some good articles about TPRS (@jklopp).
- @SECottrell provided this example of a story she used in Spanish 2.
- For French teachers, Conte-moi la francophonie is great for African stories, and can be a good springboard for student-created stories (@msfrenchteach).
- @placido suggests checking out these videos of Carol Gaab using TPRS with her ESL students.
- @maestraVB shared this helpful video on TPRS.
- @lindseybp always shares this article on storytelling with her students to build empathy and help them to understand her use of TPRS in class.
- Several participants mentioned joining the MoreTPRS community on Yahoo to join a community of educators who share information on what works and doesn’t in their TPRS efforts.
- If you’re looking for information and evidence on the benefits of storytelling in the classroom, check out this peer-reviewed journal for starters (@placido).
- For more information on comprehensible input, @jklopp recommends researching Jason Fritz, Carol Gaab, Karen Rowan and Blaine Ray.
