Summer Proficiency Pack for Middle Schoolers

Run, don't walk to Maris Hawkins' blog post Made It Monday: Summer Proficiency Pack. It's for middle schoolers, but please, go look anyway even if you're not teaching at that level or just learning on your own at home.

She has put together a wonderful packet for her students so that their language skills do not dwindle over the summer. She based it on the most recent #langchat on Twitter: Keep Students Motivated with 9 Summer Language Learning Activities. You'll find links to recipe sites, YouTube videos, news video sites, and more.

In her post, she also mentions that Zachary Jones has put together an ebook, Summer Spanish 2013. It costs $5.00 and I imagine it's worth every penny.

Spanish Language Route: Learn Spanish Using 3D Adventure Game

Just saw this and had to share...

Teaser de 'Spanish Language Route'

• Teaser de 'Spanish Language Route'

It will be available September 2013 and will contain linguistic exercises from levels A1 to C2.

From the article on RTVE.es:

Aprender jugando es una técnica empleada en muchos niveles educativos, también en el ámbito de los idiomas. Una empresa española está desarrollando una ambiciosa apuesta en la enseñanza de idiomas, la Spanish Language Route (en español Ruta de la Lengua Española), una aventura gráfica en 3D en la que, con la excusa de rescatar el diario de Cervantes, el alumno-jugador  pasa múltiples etapas de aprendizaje de español.

El viaje a la Edad Media y a parte del Siglo de Oro español (el siglo XVI) con soporte multimedia en 3D comienza con el robo del diario de Cervantes. El usuario, que puede acceder al juego en su propia lengua, como inglés, francés o ruso, por ejemplo, tiene que escoger un aspecto (avatar) y comenzar una aventura por el Camino de Santiago.

This looks like it will be a lot of fun. I can't wait to try it!

Exercise Videos in Spanish

Challenge your mind and your body by exercising using Spanish language workout routines.

Recently I was browsing one of my favorite YouTube channels, OnceTV México, when I saw a show called Energía. This caught my eye because I work out at least five times a week and am always looking for new routines.

When I googled the show, I discovered that not only do they have regular exercise shows (cardio & strength), but also yoga, pilates, and a couple of other types as well. 

Del sitio

Energía invita a las mujeres a conservar su salud física y mental mediante distintas técnicas para realizar en casa sin necesidad de aparatos o equipo especial. Se busca con ello un equilibrio en la relación con el cuerpo y el bienestar al reforzar aspectos espirituales, de fuerza muscular y cuidado cardiaco. 

Have fun working out your Spanish language skills and your body!

Links

OnceTV México Energía 

OnceTV YouTube Channel

By the way, I discovered the videos by browsing the channel's upload feed. 

First NASA Google+ Hangout in Spanish

Space and Spanish go together like... well, I'm not sure, but in any case, you'll get the chance to participate in NASA's first Google+ Hangout in Spanish hosted by NASA en Español.

From the Google+ Hangout event page:

Durante este evento, la científica terrestre Erika Podest y la investigadora principal e ingeniera de sistemas Michela Muñoz Fernández, ambas del Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) de la NASA en Pasadena, California, compartirán sus historias. Ellas responderán a preguntas de los participantes sobre el camino que tomaron para llegar a la NASA, lo que hacen, por qué es importante y cómo formar parte del programa espacial.

The event is scheduled for Thursday, March 28 from 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM EDT. To participate, visit the event page at Google+ or watch it on the NASA YouTube Channel.

For more information about Podest and Fernández, visit the Women@NASA y Science4Girls.

Happy Hour Spanish

As usual, I ran across this resource as I was spending a bit of time this morning on Twitter. Happy Hour Spanish is a fairly new site (2011) that features videocasts, podcasts and exercises to help you learn Spanish and about the Spanish culture.

Hayley, a California native, was a student of Maider who was teaching classes in Bilbao (her native city) when they decided to start the Happy Hour Spanish program. More information from the About Us page:

After becoming fast friends, we decided to embark on creating the ultimate language learning program based on our unique experience in both teaching and learning foreign languages. We have designed Happy Hour Spanish as a program that teaches Spanish grammar while also giving you an immersion-style experience of Spanish culture and the Spanish lifestyle.  We like to say you can consider our program a cross between “Rick Steve’s Europe” and “Rosetta Stone”.  Follow along with us on our video tours throughout Spain and enjoy all the sights and sounds the Iberian Peninsula has to offer while feeling what it is like to be immersed in a foreign language…

With the podcasts, you’ll find transcripts and translations. Accompanying the videocasts are transcripts, translations and printable exercises (beginner and intermediate).

Here is look at one of their videos about La Boqueria in Barcelona:

Free online magazine: El mundo con eñe

El mundo con eñe is a new free magazine available online. The first one is about Argentina – covering topics such as literature, music, movies, recipes and more.

Each article is given a reading level from A1 to C1. (Look for the number of aliens near the top of each page… yes, aliens.) Also throughout the articles certain words are highlighted which can be found in the glossary section near the end of the magazine. You will also find comprehension exercises for the reader.

In addition to the magazine, there are podcasts and a YouTube channel (links can be found in the magazine).

From their blog:

¿Qué es "El mundo con eñe"?
Es una revista mensual dirigida para quien estudia, enseña o simplemente le gusta el español.

¿Cuánto cuesta?
¡Nada!

¿Dónde la encuentro?
Aquí mismo, en nuestro sitio. Su publicación en línea permite que esté siempre disponible para descarga o lectura en el propio sitio donde la subimos.

Pero...¿qué voy a encontrar en la revista?
Todos los meses trabajaremos un país de habla hispana. Este mes se lo dedicamos a Argentina. Incluimos varias secciones: historia, qué hacer allí, literatura, música, entrevistas y recetas; todo referido al país elegido. Incluimos tambien, un  glosario y ejercicios para aplicar lo que aparece allí.

¿Cuándo la publican?
El útlimo viernes de cada mes.

¿Contiene audios para practicar la comprensión auditiva?
Sí. A partir del segundo número, todas las revistas serán acompañadas por un archivo de audio donde encontrarán  los textos leídos para quien quiera escucharlos y no leerlos. Pero hagan las dos cosas, vamos...

¿Qué harán cuando cubran todos los países de habla hispana?
(Silencio)

No entendí la respuesta...

(Silencio- silencio. Ruido de grillos)

From the questions and answers you can tell that the magazine will be pretty interesting.

Hat tip: http://www.todoele.net/

Radio Ambulante

Radio Ambulante is a new monthly Spanish-language radio program. Here’s more from their web site:

Radio Ambulante es un nuevo programa de radio que contará historias latinoamericanas provenientes de todos los países de habla hispana, incluyendo Estados Unidos. Buscamos llevar la estética de la buena crónica de prensa escrita a la radio.

Nuestro podcast podrá ser escuchado pronto desde nuestra web en cualquier parte del mundo. Además crearemos alianzas con emisoras en Latinoamérica y Estados Unidos, para alcanzar una audiencia de habla hispana en todo el continente.

Una de nuestras metas es formar una comunidad de cronistas de radio en distintos países, aprovechando los avances tecnológicos para producir, distribuir, e intercambiar historias.

There are stories, so far, from Peru, Argentina, United States and others. You can keep up with Radio Ambulante on Twitter and Facebook. I think this program is of course wonderful for native Spanish speakers to listen to stories in their own language, but also for those of us who are learning the language.

JP Is Back!

And it’s about time! Just kidding, JP. Seriously though, I was a big fan of his when he was on SpanishPod. He had such a great way of explaining Spanish grammar, vocabulary, etc. So when I saw a post on my Facebook page (via Medical Spanish Podcast) that he was on a new podcast, I immediately came here to write a quick post about it.

The podcast is called Q&A Spanish and is part of the Radio Lingua Network… you know, the wonderful folks who produce Coffee Break Spanish, ShowTime Spanish and many more high-quality language podcasts.

From the Q&A Spanish web page:

When you’re learning a language on your own and you don’t have access to a teacher or a native speaker it can sometimes be difficult to get the help you need in order to build confidence in the language and make progress. Here at Radio Lingua we receive requests for help all the time through our website, email, our help desk, Twitter and Facebook. We’ve decided that the best way to answer these questions is by launching our new weekly show Q&A Spanish. Q&A Spanish is hosted by Spanish teacher and language expert JP Villanueva. JP is joined by Nahyeli Mendivil who will be sharing her native speaker knowledge with learners in each show.

You can also download the podcast via iTunes. And here’s the link to the Q&A Spanish Facebook page.

Destino: España

I’m totally addicted to the show, Destino: España, on RTVE. I ran across the program via the RTVE app on iTunes.

During each episode you meet several people from various parts of the world (from Togo to Mongolia and everywhere in between) who have chosen to set up residence in Spain. They talk about how long they’ve been there, introduce their family and friends, visit various parts of their town including where they work when applicable.

The program is organized by regions. I started with Aragón since that is where I spent most of my time when I studied abroad in Spain umpteen years ago. For instance, in the Aragón II episode, they talk to a gentleman from Romania who is a gardener at the Monasterio de Piedra. It was lovely to “re-visit” this beautiful location even for just a little bit.

I could see this being used in the classroom (upper-intermediate, advanced) for listening comprehension, Spanish language (of course), geography and culture.