Great Expectations?

We all have great expectations at different times in our lives, years, seasons, and schooling. Sometimes, however, it is nice to have a fall-back plan. Nothing strenuous or monumental, just a hum-drum, bare necessities plan to get us through those times when everything else is falling apart – (ie, new baby, moving, changing jobs, the Church picnic, graduation, holidays, dentist appointments for all the kids – you get what I mean!)

The Low Down
So, today, instead of a brand new, innovative, whiz bang, great idea, you’ll find a list of some very simple ways to keep foreign language in your day to day living, without too much effort:

Cinco Ideas
The list will start with ideas for the very young, and move to the high school ages, great for those family that have one in each category! (I’m using Spanish as the target language in these examples.)

1) Choose one room of your house to use your foreign language in. Declare it (even a hallway) the "Spanish Room!" As you walk through the room, you call out a foreign word – ANY word! The rest of the family, anyone in earshot, translates it back to you in English.

2) Tell how you’re feeling in the target language  - perhaps after each time you eat. "estoy bien – I’m fine" "Estoy triste – I’m sad" "estoy cansado/a – I’m tired"

3) Post seven words in a list on your fridge on Sunday. Each time you open the fridge, you repeat them and study them. How many can you remember on Saturday?

4) Count your toothbrush strokes in a foreign lang uage. Or call out the timer numbers from the microwave or egg timer in Spanish. (Popcorn – 3:00 minutes, so you say "tres, cero, cero" as you tap that in.)

5) Call out driving directions in the car in your target language – when you turn left: "izquierda," when you turn right "derecha," when you stop "para," when you go straight, "derecho."


Please leave a comment on our Facebook Page and let us all know which one of these ideas worked for you and your family, or add to the list!
Buena suerte! (Good Luck!)