Think Spanish Audiomagazine

[Jeanine in TX]

Breaking the Barrier has Think Spanish Audiomagazine on sale through July 1.

 

I subscribed to it, but now I am wondering how to best use it with my dd12 and ds10. We are beginning Spanish speakers.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

 

P.S. For those interested, BTB's Think French Audiomagazine is also on sale.

[Shifra]

I don't know about the audiomagazine, but I once took out of the library the book Read and Think Spanish produced by the same company that develops the Think Spanish magazine. Let me tell you, Read and Think Spanish is not beginners Spanish! I have taken 2 years of high school Spanish and tutor it in the hospital that I volunteer in (so it's not like I have forgotten all that Spanish). In addition, when I have access to a television (we don't have a TV at home), I watch the news on Univision in Spanish. Even though I can understand about 25% of Spanish television, I found Read and Think Spanish extremely difficult. You will need a dictionary close at hand and maybe also 501 Spanish Verbs. Read and Think Spanish has a lot of footnotes which help, but it is still very difficult.

 

So while this sounds really negative (and I hope that I am not being too discouraging), I would suggest being patient with yourself and your sons if Think Spanish is difficult. Start with whether you can understand just the headlines of the articles. Do a sentance or a paragraph at a time.

 

Also, I see that you are from Texas. If you have a television, don't underestimate the power of Spanish TV. Most Spanish programs are from Latin America; if they are adult soap operas, there will be a lot of sex (especially extramatrial affairs). While the children's programs will not have graphic sex, there is no bars held with life's drama. Poverty, children only discovering that their maid is their mother, heart attacks, etc. are openly displayed (and that was in one show!). Plaza Sesamo, which is the Mexican Sesame Street is more innocent, but even there, there is great emphasis on hygeine and other topics specific to Mexico. In Plaza Sesamo the segments with people may be too difficult to understand, but the cartoons are easily understood. You may want to check if your local library has videos or DVDs of Plaza Sesamo. And as I said, I find the news pretty easy to understand (because there are graphics that put the words into context). If you have already heard the news in English, it should be pretty easy to understand what's going on in the Spanish version (although that may report on news from Latin America that may not have made the English version).

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I figured that, even though it may slow our progression from turtle pace to snail pace, we could use the magazine on Fridays (our traditionally light day) as a supplement, and that it would help to elucidate some concepts as well as expose us to other, new ones.

 

I am excited about it. It definitely is not for someone who is just learning Spanish I, but if you are near completion of BTB I, as we are, I think you will be fine. There is a sidebar on the edge of every article page that has an extensive glossary of the many terms in bold within the article. I went through one of the articles with no problem at all, and they are all like that. I am not a Spanish speaker, I have just been learning BTB I with my son. We are on Unit 10. And, I am not learning it as well as he.

 

Get excited about this awesome supplement. In my opinion, as a fellow consumer, you made a good purchase that you can use in many ways.

 

Enjoy!

[Jeanine in TX]

To Madd Jenny

Do you and your son try to read the articles aloud with the audio? That is the hardest thing for me to do. My mouth doesn't want to form the Spanish syllables. I am thinking about tape recording us reading so we can compare our pronounciation to that of the reader.

 

To Shifra

Unfortunately, we lost access to local television after the digital conversion. Living in Texas does allow me access to native speakers in real life though. I understand some of what they are saying when they speak slowly. My children and I just don't feel that we know enough to try to strike up a conversation in Spanish. I was hoping that the additional vocabulary and the audio component of Think Spanish would help us.

 

By the way, cshell sent me a link to Mi Vida Loca. Google this. It is an online video mystery series that introduces conversational Spanish. I plan to use this too.

[cshell]

I am glad you are going to use ....Mi Vida Loca!

You can also sign up for reminder e-mails...to help you finish this in 12-weeks...with a completion certificate! And....you can print out the transcript of the show, as well as work sheets that go with the show.

What a fun supplement to our Spanish studies!!!:001_smile:

 

Just a reminder it's FREE!!!!:001_smile:

And on the same website there are also other FREE Spanish programs offered from the BBC.