Beginners Spanish - Laying the Foundation ebook

Who Is This Book For?

• Educators who need curriculum to support their beginner Spanish students.

• People ages 11 - 111 who want to learn Spanish independently with material written by someone who knows what it feels like to learn Spanish, and who is a  qualified Spanish teacher and curriculum expert

• Spanish teachers who teach mainly CI (comprehensible input) or TPRS (teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling) but would like to offer their beginner students some explicit grammar and vocabulary instruction without having to do all the planning and creating, and without sacrificing the CI approach. 

• Spanish teachers who have some beginner students who just "aren't getting it" and need a tutoring platform. 

• Spanish teachers who need some "go-to" plans for substitute teachers.

• Homeschooling families with students from 5th-12th grade who want a program that lays everything out in a way that students could work through on their own or with a parent or guardian. Families could learn together!

• People who are using El Puente Bilingüe's 22-lesson video course and would like to catapult their learning and broaden their knowledge.

Including...

Straightforward Explanations

Getting started as a new language learner is challenging! El Puente Bilingüe gives thorough explanations in English, without missing the opportunity to build stamina for learning in Spanish. Students are well-guided throughout the book, and go from learning the alphabet to being able to describe and introduce people, and comprehend basic short stories in Spanish! Take a peak at the book's introduction here.

Convenient Teaching and Learning Tools

El Puente Bilingüe gives appropriate exercises for each skill set taught. Written explanations, along with pronunciations in the digital flaschcards aid students in the learning process. The answer keys as well as the ACTFL-based rubric at the end of the book make grading convenient and allow for student reflection.

A La Carte Menu 

There may be times when students would like the added support of a video lesson or more exercises. For this reason, within the table of contents El Puente Bilingüe has included links to videos and exercises that are specifically created for the 22 lessons in this book. In fact, the book was written after the course was created, and while it stands alone as a wonderful tool for learning, it could be very powerful to use the book along with the video lessons and auto-graded exercises. Not only that, it gives teachers back their time. The links go to my Teachers Pay Teachers page, but please note that the entire video course is also available here in my Shopify store.

Memorization Tips

There's no way around it - learning a language involves memorization! Each lesson in this book offers tips on memorization as well as exercises to allow students to test their knowledge. There are flashcard components included as well - both digital and blank cards so that students can choose the method that works best.

Short Fictional Stories

Part-way into the book, two characters and their families are introduced to the student in the form of two short passages. At the end, two more stories are presented to the students about these same characters. These stories are written in ways that utilize the skills and vocabulary presented within the book. They also have a few new words. Students have the opportunity to practice what they have learned, test their comprehension skills, and expand their knowledge. Each story includes comprehension questions at the end, and the answers are included in the answer key at the end of the book. By the way, we have big plans for these characters in future books and courses

Create a Glossary and Mastery Track

Two very important aspects of this book are the "Create a Glossary" and the "Mastery Track" activities. In an ongoing activity which puts the learner in the driver seat of their experience, the student builds a glossary from the new words that are offered within in the short Spanish explanations in each chapter, and used again throughout the book. This is separate from the words and skills learned in the actual content taught. The Mastery Track activities allow the learner to apply their knowledge in creative ways, encouraging a lot of writing and speaking practice along the way.