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Spanish literacy in 2 weeks


Earthmerlin
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I afterschool my 3rd grade daughter. We speak Spanish at home & I have been meaning to teach her to read in Spanish for some time. I plan on starting the endeavor this Christmas break, when we have 2 full weeks of at-home time. Considering this time frame, any recommendations on materials, methodology, & (realistic) expectations?

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If she's got English phonics down, and she speaks Spanish, then learning Spanish phonics and being able to read most anything in 2 weeks sounds quite possible to me (writing would take a bit more work). Though, come to think of it, written text tends to have some words that are rarely used in spoken language, so she'd have to learn those words too (though at the 3rd grade level there probably aren't that many of those words). Spanish phonics is really easy though (probably the easiest out of any language I've learned). 

 

Sorry, no recommendations for materials... something phonics and then beginning readers. If you're familiar with All About Spelling, you could make something like that on your own. Or you might be able to find a Spanish phonics app or something.

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No specific recommendations, but I agree that it's doable. I had a child even younger speaking a minority language (not nearly as well as most hispanic heritage kids I know, since we speak all English when DH is home and when around friends), and - once he could read well in English - picked up the phonetic sounds in the other language quickly and easily and is currently on-grade-level materials in said language. 

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Teach her the Spanish alphabet and check out simple books from the library to read for practice. Since you already speak Spanish at home, I will assume she has a vocabulary on par with those her age. I don't think you need a specific curriculum or methodology since she already reads in English and speaks both languages fluently (again, I'm assuming). Literacy transfers from one language to another.

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Thanks for these responses & ideas. I have a few methodology books and then a set of easy readers. I'm sure that will be a sufficient first go. 'I'm an English only person' resistance is the hardest part (LOL) & I still deal with that in French as well (sigh). I hope to entice her to write to abuela or tia (as penpals) too. I will supplement the reading instruction with library easy readers & picture books. Wish me luck!

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Teach her the Spanish alphabet and check out simple books from the library to read for practice. Since you already speak Spanish at home, I will assume she has a vocabulary on par with those her age. I don't think you need a specific curriculum or methodology since she already reads in English and speaks both languages fluently (again, I'm assuming). Literacy transfers from one language to another.

She knows the alphabet. Do you mean the letter sounds? I've also started writing her little notes in Spanish.

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She knows the alphabet. Do you mean the letter sounds? I've also started writing her little notes in Spanish.

 

Yes, the letter sounds, pronunciation. You really won't need a curriculum for her. Like I said before, literacy skills transfer. All she needs are the tools and she'll catch on. I like the little notes idea!

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  • 2 months later...

For someone who reads English and speaks/understands Spanish, I think they could learn to read in an hour. Or less.  Spanish is phonetic.  This letter = this sound, then blend.  Done.

 

I teach Spanish to older English speakers who don't speak Spanish yet.  They can read it right away with no additional instruction in reading  (other than the basic this letter = this sound in Spanish). The only problem is that their mouths often have a hard time pronouncing the correct sounds, but that isn't a reading problem, it's a pronouncing problem.  If you can already pronounce Spanish correctly, that difficulty doesn't exist.

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  • 4 months later...

Hello, have you had success in teaching to read in Spanish?  Here is how to do:  Have/make 5 flashcards for the vowels. A for abeja or aleta. E for elefante. I for iglu. O for oso and u for uvas.  Once they learn that, then do one syllable: ma, me mi. mo. mu and sa, se, si, so, su, etc.  Then do 2 syllables: mala, tapa, sapo, cama, dedo, etc. Then when they are comfortable with that, do 3 or more syllables, helping them to break a word up into syllables: ca-mi-sa; pe-lo-ta; her-ma-na. 

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