Tips to Teachers

Tips to TeachersAuthor(s): Gladys KingSource: Hispania, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Feb., 1953), pp. 113-115Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and PortugueseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/334759 .

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TIPS TO TEACHERS

TIPS TO TEACHERS Conducted by GLADYS KING,* Associate Editor

Se Habla Espaiol o . . . ..-On days when an assignment is of such a nature that the students can express themselves in Spanish without a great deal of difficulty, or when I can succeed in having most of them understand what I say in the language, Spanish must be the language of the hour, or else! And the "else" is "dar de comer al cerdito." When the students see a piggy bank on the desk they grin because they know that "se prohibe hablar ingl6s sin permiso, y si alguien habla ingl4s, tendr, que pagar una multa de un centavo, eso es, dar de comer un centavo al cerdito, el banco." They have liked this idea, which is more successful with some classes than with others. Brookings, S. Dak. MOLLIE MALMSTROM

And Others Liked It.-When your editor mentioned the above idea to her classes, they pounced on it and came up with suggestions for using it. Alfonso el Gordo, a beautiful

calico china-pig, Chico and Cerdito, clay pig, of less imposing appearances, and Manolete a gangling clown, have brought lots of interest to the classes and have aroused that of non- Spanish students. These pets are not making the growth that one usually expects from such friends because their keepers show a strong aversion to feeding them! However, their keepers are putting on Spanish weight, for the sight of our pets stimulates the use of the language. Here's how the Elkhart students elaborated the above suggestion: a representa- tive from each of the classes served as a committee to draw up the regulations for the "dfas sin inglgs." Each class has a banquero who supplied each student with an envelope of 25 centavos (small hard-paper disks) and who will sell more for real money when a student has used up his cash. (We hope we never get rich.) There is also a juez who settles disputes as to whether a fine is to be deposited. The teacher is no exception, and the student who thinks he can save his cash by keeping still has to pay a stiffer fine than the one who lets English penalize him. (Your

* Members are urged to send items for this department to Miss King at 314 Dale St., Elkhart, Indiana.

113

2. Cornett, William N. Portuguese Commercial Correspondence and Technicalities. London, Hirschfeld, 1950. 5s

3. Mascarenhas, J. C. New, Concise and Com- plete Portuguese Grammar and Commercial Handbook. 4th rev. & enlarged ed. London, Continental Publishers, 1944. 5s6d

4. Valadier, Mathieu. Vocabuldrio comercial portugugs-francds. Oporto, 1950. 5 escudos.

5. Vieira, Jose. Cartas comerciais em portu- gu6s. Oporto, 1949. I do not know of any book published in

the United States which would answer your needs. One ought to be written. Hispania and The Modern Language Journal are quite anxious to report on textbooks in Portuguese along with textbooks in other modern languages. The absence of reports reflects the lack of new publications.

Meu prezado Colega desculparA que lhe tenha dado a resposta A sua brilhante carta no meu modestissimo ingles. Mas assim pude escrever mais depressa. Tamb6m facilitart~ a

publicagio na revista Hispania, onde talvez conduzirA alguns leitores a publicar informes adicionais.

Sem ddvida existem entre n6s academias de com6rcio em que se ensina o portugubs. Ali encontrarA o Colega a informagao que est, buscando. Penso, por exemplo, no "Inter-American Institute" de Chicago e noutra escola, de Phoenix (Arizona), que se chama "PanAmerican School" se nao me lembro mal.

Dos livros indicados na sua carta conhego pessoalmente o da sra. Toepker, e as gramiti- cas de SA Pereira e de Hills, Ford, etc. O dltimo parece-me o mais valioso destes livros do ponto de vista gramatical, ainda que os outros contenham um vocabul4rio mais vernticulo.

Lamentando a impossibilidade de lhe poder dar mais esclarecimentos actualmente, fico para sempre ao dispor do prezado Colega.

GERALD M. MOSER Pennsylvania State College



114 HISPANIA

editor knows from many years of experience that it is not hard to entertain high-school students who love to play games.)

Is Spanish Club One of Your Problems?-- We gave up having an after-school Spanish Club a few years ago because only a handful came and they mostly to eat. Now we have each class organized into its own club, and we meet twice a month. Some of our activities are: (1) Original skits, written and presented by members of the class. Sometimes they have very few rehearsals and usually I do not correct their incorrect Spanish, for constant correction discourages them from trying to write the Spanish. (2) Skits read or memorized from Gessler Publications (Gessler Publishing Co., Hastings-On-Hudson, New York)-these are mostly short jokes made into very brief skits. (3) Card games. Gessler has four or five of them, varying from a Spanish version of "Authors" to a vocabulary Bingo. Banks Upshaw (Dallas, Texas) will sell authentic Mexican Bingo with pictures instead of numbers. (4) Games like Twenty Questions. (5) A drawing game. I start early in the first year dictating to the group that they shall draw "una casa con una puerta y dos venta- nas, una muchacha cerca de la casa", etc. In the advanced class they draw lakes, boats, trees with birds in them, etc. Sometimes a student suggests what shall be drawn next, all in Spanish, of course. (6) Spanish and Latin-American music. We memorize some songs and just practice others using the song books, records, and phonograph which we have gradually accumulated from the pro- ceeds of our Spanish dances. Sometimes we try dancing the chiapanecas or the raspa, and we often end the club hour with a conga line. This last feature has only been possible since I got my room moved next to the typing room and the machine shop. We were not popular with our previous neighbors. St. Paul, Minn. JOSEPHINE DOWNEY

"Flight to Spain"--TWA (80 East 42nd St., N. Y.) offers as a free loan this 12-minute documentary color film of Spain which gives a thrilling insight into the people, places, and customs of that country. Do get your name on the list.

Loteria.-Get enough Bingo cards and tokens (ten-cent store variety) for the entire

class, let a member draw and cell the numbers, the winner calls "Loterfa" and reads back the numbers he has covered. While the students have their tokens, have the group count how many they have, first, one at a time, then by twos. (It is amazing how smoothly they seem to know the numbers, then ask them to count objects, and they use English instead of Spanish-the above suggestion should make them realize that one can count objects in Spanish!)

A Tribute to Their Intelligence.-After the beginning classes have learned how to pro- nounce the vowels, the teacher misses a real opportunity if he does not start giving assignments in Spanish, asking the students to write something for each word that they hear. At first, there will be great consternation, but as the budding Hispanists realize that they get more and more words right, there will be less and less resistance. If they do not understand or cannot keep up, a " C6mo?" will get a repetition of what has just been said. Of course, the teacher must use a great deal of patience and understanding, but he will soon have the students taking their assignments (in Spanish) almost as rapidly as they could in English. The careful writing of these assignments requires the constant use of days, dates, numerals for exercises and pages, etc.; there- fore these soon become second nature.

Many - Verbs with Little Effort.-After the beginning classes have learned to conjugate the present tense of a few regular verbs, the students can master the mechanics of irregu- lar and vowel-changing verbs in a short while and have more time to spend on using the forms of the present tense. If a student will memorize the first and second persons singular of the present tense of a verb and will follow the suggestion that the first and second persons plural are formed from the infinitive, he will be able to conjugate the present of any verb (except ser, ir, haber). As practice, the teacher can give the first and second persons singular of any of the following verbs: tener, venir, decir, volver, oir, reir, or huir, then let the students finish the conjuga- tion. Bet them that they won't do it right, and they will defiantly show you! Then let the students try to conjugate obtener, devolver, sonreir and bendecir. Of course, the teacher



NOTES AND NEWS

NOTES AND NEWS Conducted by

WALTER T. PHILLIPS, Associate Editor, and the EDITOR*

"The Value of Modern Foreign Language Study."-This excellent bulletin, first an- nounced in the February 1952 Hispania, p. 114, has been reprinted and is again available for free distribution. Write to the Division of General Extension, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

McGrath Conference.-Another Conference on the Role of Foreign Languages in American Schools was called by Commissioner McGrath of the U. S. Office of Education January 15-16 in Washington, with addresses by Commis- sioner McGrath, Dr. Harold Benjamin, Pro- fessor Theodore Andersson of Yale, Professor Agnes Brady of the University of Kansas, Dr. Marjorie Johnston, and others. Among the members of the planning committee are Doctor Johnston and Professor Lawrence Kiddle of the University of Michigan.

Spanish Pronunciation Record.-Professors Emilio Goggio and Diego Marin of the Uni- versity of Toronto offer a record, spoken by a

Spaniard, that gives the sounds of the alpha bet, with examples, and a passage of con- nected prose. There is an English script with the basic rules of Spanish pronunciation, accentuation, and syllabification. References are made to Spanish American variants. Cost of the 12" record and script is $3.00, postpaid. Send orders to Miss E. Rugg, University College, University of Toronto.

Scholarship in Spanish.-Rockford College is offering a departmental scholarship in Spanish of $1000 ($500 for two years). Candi- dates must have had two or more years of Spanish in high school. The scholarship is awarded on the basis of a competitive ex- amination, high school records and recom- mendations, an aptitude test score, and achievement in other fields of interest. Appli- cations may be filed up to March 1, 1953. For further information applicants may write to the Director of Admission, Rockford Col- lege, Rockford, Illinois.

Annotated Bibliographies of Modern-Lan- guage Methodology for the Years 1946, 1947, and 1948.-An 84-page booklet, compiled by Richard A. Williams, Elmira Nelson, and

* Material for this department may be sent to Professor Phillips, San Diago State College, San Diego 15, Cal., or to the Editor.

115

needs to explain that compounds are conju- gated like the stem verb.

Get Acquainted with Your Students.-Since a class hour is so short and so busy a teacher does not get to know the students well as individuals. The Editor of this Department has found that a personnel sheet that gives personal information on her students not only makes her aware of them as individuals but also gives her an opportunity to learn of their musical, artistic, or dramatic talents (for use in Spanish class), their out-of-school activities, which usually are worthwhile and often reveal why better results are not ac- complished in academic work, the weaknesses that they would like to overcome, and other information, all of which makes it easier for

her to work with them and to help them grow according to their backgrounds.

Study Habits.-Your "Tips" editor has compiled some "Study Habits for Learning Spanish," which include not only some suggestions for effective study in general, but also some specific advice as to how to study vocabulary, read Spanish, prepare exercises, etc. She also has an outline on "The Uses of the Imperfect and Preterite," which has brought very satisfying results. (She has no funds with which to supply these aids gratis, but if you will send her a self-addressed stamped envelope to facilitate the mailing, and an extra 30 stamp to cover the cost of the paper and clerical help, she will be glad to send you copies of whatever you want.)



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