Is this a solid Spanish 1 plan?

[SilverMoon]

Or, we didn't make it past the first week without changing gears. Madrigal really clicked with DS. We're now two weeks in and he'll finish leccion 6 today. He understands what he's doing and passes the reviews easily. Paso A Paso, Plan A, hasn't left the shelf.

 

He really likes the idea of working through a Spanish book, like C.S. Lewis did. (There may have been a smartypants comment contrasting Kirkpatrick and myself. :P)

 

So...

-Madrigal's at the pace he sets should easily get it done in a year. (45 chapters)

-Occasionally going through Paso A Paso orally to see how we're measuring up with a standard 1 course

-Practice Makes Perfect workbooks: Basic Spanish, Verb Tenses, and Grammar

-working through the Spanish Divergent by Veronica Roth (his choice) or something else he hasn't already read

 

I think we need an auditory component beyond watching movies in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. We have limited data, so internet based won't work. Suggestions welcome.

[Kareni]

Glad to hear that Madrigal's is working well.

 

Does your local library happen to have any audiobooks in Spanish?  Or better yet sets of children's books with the accompanying audio?  Your son might listen and attempt to follow along in the book.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[SilverMoon]

I don't remember them having much, but we haven't been there in a long time. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

[EndOfOrdinary]

Many of the movies our library offers can be set to Spanish (some with subtitles in Spanish, some not).

[Miss Tick]

Reading Divergent in Spanish sounds ambitious! I'm not trying to get credit, but I'm just reading Sapo y Sepo (Frog and Toad) and Geronimo Stilton. My kids are obviously a lot younger, but it gets tricky with all the verb tenses and turns of phrase. Go for it! But brace yourself and maybe have a fall back book in mind. :-) Also, I don't think it is critical that he not have previously read the book. It can be helpful to already know the plot of the book when you are trying to focus on vocabulary. YMMV!

[SilverMoon]

The book would be spread across the whole year and longer if needed, and he does have previous Latin experience.

 

We have a good sized DVD collection. They're learning which ones have Spanish. DD/4th has begun memorizing Libre Soy (Let it Go) much to the annoyance of DS/10th.

 

I want Sapo y Sepo for myself now!

[Hoot]

Reading Divergent in Spanish sounds ambitious! I'm not trying to get credit, but I'm just reading Sapo y Sepo (Frog and Toad) and Geronimo Stilton. My kids are obviously a lot younger, but it gets tricky with all the verb tenses and turns of phrase. Go for it! But brace yourself and maybe have a fall back book in mind. :-) Also, I don't think it is critical that he not have previously read the book. It can be helpful to already know the plot of the book when you are trying to focus on vocabulary. YMMV!

 

I agree with this and have found it helpful for DS15 in Spanish.  He has Spiderman comics and Scooby Doo books in Spanish, but also Harry Potter.  He already knows the plot, which is helpful to get the gist of some of the words that he may otherwise not know.  An added bonus is to listen to the audio while following along in the book.  Again, DS does this for Harry Potter and it has been very helpful. 

 

As you get further in, another practice called shadowing is also great.  I used it a long time ago when learning a different language and it comes very highly recommended by polyglots.  Simply listen to the audio while following along in the book AND reading aloud in time with the audio.  Bonus points (and extra retention) if you are walking or otherwise active while doing so.

 

Otherwise, it looks like if you just add in an auditory component you would be covering all the bases of language learning. 

[Miss Tick]

Thinking more about adding an audio component - so tricky! I realize your internet capability is limited, dc this may not work, but perhaps a regular podcast? I enjoyed News in Slew Spanish back when it was free. There is a subscription now ($8/month?), but perhaps a subscription gives you access to archives, so you could download a bunch of episodes at one time. It has been a while, but the format was 3 or 4 headlines from the news, a grammar discussion, a story to illustrate an idiom, and then a short travelogue. Each one was about 30 minutes.

[Miss Tick]

 

As you get further in, another practice called shadowing is also great. I used it a long time ago when learning a different language and it comes very highly recommended by polyglots. Simply listen to the audio while following along in the book AND reading aloud in time with the audio. Bonus points (and extra retention) if you are walking or otherwise active while doing so.

 

 

I've never heard of this. Sounds cool, I wonder if I can figure out how to leverage this with my dc.

[SilverMoon]

DS would enjoy shadowing. I can absolutely see him pacing while reading a book. (This is the kid who did K and 1st standing up...)

 

Every comment was appreciated. Thank you!