High-school Spanish Teaching

By Author: Daren Kyle
Total Articles: 466
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Former South African President and 1993 Nobel Peace Prize awardee Nelson Mandela once said: If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head; if you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart. This statement underlines the importance of a language for people to understand each other anywhere in the world.

Spanish is one of the most significant languages of the world. The growth of Spanish-speaking population necessitates Spanish language classes in schools particularly in the secondary level. SpainExchange will help you find Spanish study programs where you can learn or teach Spanish effectively. In Spain, a study program allows students from age 13 to attend private high schools and to participate in certain activities alongside with Spaniards their age, and experience real day-to-day Spanish life and customs.
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... If you want to teach high school Spanish in other countries, SpainExchange will guide you on the following points:

What you should know
What your lesson plan should contain
What your introductory lessons should be
Your teaching methods, art of teaching
Curriculum content

What you should know. Once you start teaching, it is important that you know your instructional strategies, information literacy strategies, how to organize the classroom, your lesson plan and ideas, and your rubrics or criteria for grading.

What your lesson plan should contain. Normally a Spanish teacher's lesson plan contains the alphabet, punctuations and sounds, syllabic method used to decode the pronunciation of poly-syllabic words, punctuation lessons, drama and speech, that includes the delivery of a persuasive speech preferably written by a Spanish writer, and the parts of speech.

Introductory lessons. It is necessary that in your introductory lessons, there should be discussions of Spanish-speaking countries in the world, the origin of the languages in Spain, history of Spanish, linguistics, and Latin for Spanish speakers. You can also teach your students about the techniques to learn Spanish by memorizing its vocabulary, or watching Spanish television to know the pattern and tempo of Spanish native speakers.

Teaching methods. In teaching Spanish you should always be enthusiastic and have the opportunity to convince students that it is fun to learn the language, keep them interested in what they are learning, and be able to inspire them with trust and confidence.

Through SpainExchange, you will also know that some Spanish teachers use the so-called Bravisimo lesson plan for more creativity in encouraging students to become lifelong learners of the language by using it beyond the classroom. This lesson plan is fascinating to students because it uses drills to learn how to write Spanish verb forms in simple techniques.

Curriculum content. The curriculum content must always include a study of Hispanic culture, a review of middle-school Spanish foundation, introduction of verb tenses, forms and placement of adjectives, several classes of pronouns, and general vocabulary.

SpainExchange will also help you find countries with public high schools teaching Spanish as a second language widely used internationally. These schools aim to prepare students for meaningful interactions in a global workplace of diverse languages, and to develop understanding and appreciation of the cultures and languages of other people.