Spanish Pronouns

Pronouns are words that replaces a noun (phrase) that is understood from context. For example, instead of saying "I like the boy over there. The boy over there is nice." You can say "I like the boy over there. He is nice." The fact that pronouns allow us to conserve effort makes them very useful! However, because there are different types of pronouns and they often are very similar in appearance, they can be quite confusing for students. In order to help students keep the different pronouns in Spanish straight I have created this spreadsheet, complete with examples. I hope that it helps!

Fun Facts About Spanish

Here are some interesting facts about Spanish. They vary from the rates of use of verb tenses to "false friends" (or words that kind of look the same in Spanish and English, but mean different things.) I will periodically update this page as I find more. Feel free to make suggestions!

Random Tidbits:
 - El esposo = husband, la esposa = wife, las esposas = wives, los esposas = handcuffs
 - Trabajar (to work) comes from the Latin word tripalium, which was a form of torture
 - Most verbs in English have 2 conjugations** (excluding compound forms), most verbs in Spanish have 53 conjugations (excluding compound forms)
 - English has about 200,000 words, Spanish has about 100,000 words
 - On average, a text in Spanish is 15% longer than its equivalent in English.

False Friends:
 - Embarazada means "pregnant", not "embarrassed".
 - Carpeta means "folder", not "carpet".
 - Emocionado means "excited", not "emotional".
 - Molestar means "to bother", not "to molest".
 - Éxito means "success", not "exit".
 - Bombero means "firefighter", not "bomber".
 - Constipación means "a cold", not "constipated".
 - Gracioso means "funny", not "gracious".
 - Grocería means "rudeness", not "grocery store".
 - Mama means "breast", not "mom".
 - Papa means "potato", not "dad".
 - Bebe means "he/she/you/it drinks", not "baby".
 - Preservativo means "condom", not "preservative".
 - Revolver means "to turn over", not "revolver".
 - Sobre means "over, on, above", not "sober".
 - Sopa means "soup", not "soap".
 - Trampa means "trap, cheat", not "tramp".

Tense usage (Bull (1947) found the following tense frequencies across several genres of written Spanish):
 - 34.496% Present indicative (hablo)
 - 19.623% Infinitive (hablar)
 - 14.310% Preterite indicative (hablé)
 - 11.303% Imperfect indicative (hablaba)
 - 4.110% Gerund (hablado)
 - 3.554% Present subjunctive (hable)
 - 2.606% Present perfect indicative (he hablado)
 - 2.268% Future indicative (hablaré)
 - 2.220% Imperative (¡hable!)
 - 1.965% Past subjunctive (hablara/hablase)
 - 1.600% Conditional perfect (habría hablado)
 - 1.535% Conditional (hablaría)
 - 1.091% Past perfect indicative (había hablado)
 - 0.406% Past perfect subjunctive (hubiera hablado)
 - 0.284% Perfect infinitive (haber hablado)
 - 0.154% Present perfect subjunctive (haya hablado)
 - 0.098% Future perfect indicative (habré hablado)
 - 0.005% Preterite perfect (hube hablado)
 - 0.003% Future subjunctive (hablare)
* So, if you know the present indicative, infinitive, preterit and imperfect tenses, you will be able to understand approximately 79.732% of the verb conjugations you encounter.
** See Bauer and Nation 1993.

Quests (Extra Credit)

Not all students are eligible for Bonus Quests. Here is what you have to do:

Requirements for students who want to do Restricted Extra Credit: You must have at least 11 HP to be eligible for Bonus Quests!

Deadline: Note that all Quests must be turned in by the last day of class. (So before Finals.)

There are no requirements for Open Quests. These are usually Spanish Club Activities, as announced on Blackboard.

OJO: The total number of XP you can receive for a semester from Quests cannot exceed 5% of the maximum number of XP possible in a course for that class (see the course Syllabus). (e.g. if your course's maximum number of XP is 2000, then you cannot earn more than 100 XP from Quests.)

Here are the Quests opportunities that are currently available:

Approved Quests:
- Report an Issue (bug) with a Course. (No limit. Open Quest.)

- Only bugs reported after a class officially starts will be considered for XP.

- Before you report an issue, please look through the announcements on Blackboard to see if anyone else has already reported this issue.

- If no one else has already reported the issue, please report the issue using this link.

- To be eligible for XP, the issue cannot be something that is inherently temporary (e.g. Blackboard being down.)

- Your report must be detailed (so that I can clearly understand what the problem is and where it is located.)

- If applicable, the inclusion of screenshots would be very much appreciated.

- Once I have confirmed the issue, I will reward you the XP and email you to let you know.

- You will receive 10 XP for each bug you are the first to properly report.

- Attend Spanish Game Night. (No limit. Open Quest.)

- Spanish use: You must actually speak in Spanish during Spanish Game Night to get credit.

- Attendance: Make sure that Dr. Wendorf has recorded your name and that you are there for my class so that you can get your credit.
- You will receive 10 XP for each time you attend and actively participate in Spanish Game Night.

- Attend Spanish Table. (No limit. Open Quest.)

- Spanish use: You must actually speak in Spanish during Spanish Table to get credit.

- Attendance: Make sure that the facilitator has recorded your name and that you are there for my class so that you can get your credit.
- You will receive 10 XP for each time you attend and actively participate in Spanish Table.

- Use one of the Free Tutoring Options. (No limit. Open Quest.)

- Spanish use: You must actually use the tutor for tutoring to get credit. For example - studying for a test, practicing a grammar point, etc.

- Duration: The tutoring session must last at least 15 minutes.

- Report: If you are using one of the local tutors, please have them email me to confirm your tutoring session so that I can give you credit. In their email they should mention what you worked on. If you used tutor.com, please take a screenshot which includes a chat message from the tutor confirming that they worked with you on something for at least 15 minutes. In their message it should indicate what you worked on.
- You will receive 10 XP for each time you meet with a tutor.

- Propose a MAGE. (No limit. Open Quest.)

- MAGEs are online tools that provide a randomly generated game environment for the purpose of language practice in a communicative environment in the classroom.

- You can see several examples of MAGEs created by Dr. Agon here.

- If you find a MAGE that is NOT on Dr. Agon's page, you can submit a link to it here and you will still receive the minimum credit for it.

- If you are submitting a new idea, your idea must be clearly explained and must be original.

- To be acceptable, your proposal must meet the following requirements:

- It must be for a language practice activity (think of the different grammar and vocabulary points we are covering / have covered in class. What kind of game could we play as a class with them?)

- It must be communicative, which means that the players must have to use the language, there can't just be a right or wrong answer, there needs to be guessing or something involved. (Like Guess Who?)

- It must be for a game / activity that can be played by the entire class with the content on one central screen (projector screen).

- The content must be randomizable (e.g. a grid of random pictures).

- The content on the screen should be language-independent (e.g. only pictures)

- It cannot be a MAGE that has already been created.

- You will receive 10 - 50 XP for each proposed MAGE that meets these requirements. The exact amount received will depend on my subjective evaluation of the merit of your idea.

- Review a product or business online in Spanish. (Limit 2 per semester. Bonus Quest.)

- Pre-approval: You must email me beforehand with the following:

- A link to the site where you wish to make the review (e.g. a product's page on Amazon*, Best Buy, Walmart, etc., or a local business, school, church, etc. through Google or Yahoo, etc.)

- The id under which you will be making the review.

- After you get approval, do the review:

 - Your review must contain grammar and/or vocabulary from the target quiz or test.

- You may NOT use an online translator or help from another person in writing your review. (Though you are allowed to have someone help you proof-read it AFTER you have written it.)

- Your review must be of sufficient quality (this will be subjectively determined by myself).
- Span 1113 reviews should be at least 50 words long. Span 1123 reviews should be at least 100 words long. Span 2*** reviews should be at least 200 words long. Span 3*** and Span 4*** reviews should be at least 400 words long.

- Content may not be "borrowed" or translated.

- You must complete the review at least a week before classes end.

- After the review:

- Email me the link to the review.

- If your review is approved you will earn 20 XP.

- Email me the link to an online Spanish music video of a song that was originally created and popularized in English. (Limit 5 per semester. Bonus Quest.)

- Videos must be freely available and must not require a special account in order to view them.

- Songs must be sung in Spanish.
- Songs must have captions in Spanish.
- Songs must have captions in English of translations of Spanish captions.

- Videos and music must be of professional quality.

- Videos and lyrics must be rated PG (e.g. modest dress code and no suggestive dancing).

- Links to videos already on the list "Canciones con capciones en ambos idiomas" on this page will not be approved (but feel free to find ones for any of the other lists of songs!)

- In your email you must mention one phrase sung in the video and how it illustrates / is an example of something that we've covered in class.

- If your submission is approved you will earn 10 XP.

- Create, perform, and record a skit or music video in Spanish, and then post it online and caption it. (Limit 1 per semester. Bonus Quest.)

- Videos must be posted in a public forum so they are easily accessible by the general public without the need to create an account (e.g. on YouTube as "public").
- Videos must be between 2 and 4 minutes in length.
- Captions must contain at least 222 words in Spanish, must match what is said/sung, and must contain good grammar and vocabulary.
- The video and transcript must be PG.
- You must email me a link to the video on YouTube, along with a note explaining how something we have covered in class is present in the video.
- The student(s) wanting the extra credit must speak/sing in the video. Extra credit will be divided up by me among the students according to how much of the speaking/singing they did. (e.g. if one student did 60% of the talking, one did 10%, and one did 50%, that is how I will divide up the extra credit.)
- The video must be easily understood and of sufficient quality. (As determined subjectively by myself.)
- Copying appropriate skits/music videos is perfectly acceptable, as long as that particular skit/music video doesn't already exist in Spanish. (e.g. skits from Studio C, Brian Regan, Saturday Night Live, etc.)
- What is said must make sense. (i.e. The ¿Qué hora es? videos and the First Semester of Spanish - Spanish Love Song would not qualify.)
- If your skit is approved you can earn up to 50 XP for each participant (depending on quality).

- Give a public presentation in Spanish, or about a Hispanic topic. (No limit. Open Quest.)

- You must get approval ahead of time for your presentation to count.
- Possibilities include presenting at the Visions Conference, Undergraduate Research Day, etc.
- You must provide confirmation that you will be presenting by emailing a copy of the program.
- Afterwards, you must provide confirmation that you actually presented by emailing a picture of you giving your presentation.
- You can get up to 50 XP for each presentation (depending on the nature of your presentation.)

- Create an Interactive Fiction that uses exclusively grammar and vocabulary covered up to this point this semester. (No limit. Bonus Quest.)

- You must get approval ahead of time for your Interactive Fiction idea (where it will be hosted, what the story will be about).
- The resulting activity must be freely accessible online without having to create an account. For example, on Twine.
- The grammar and vocabulary employed in the Interactive Fiction must be thoroughly proofed.
- The story must be engaging.
- After you have finished creating the Interactive Fiction, you must email me the link. I will play it at least twice, choosing different options.
- You must also allow me to see all the content (everything you wrote). This can be by giving me direct access to the Interactive Fiction, or by providing me with a blueprint for it.
- You can get up to 50 XP or for each Interactive Fiction you prepare (depending on its quality and how big it is.)

- With a partner or small group, watch a movie dubbed in Spanish or read a book in Spanish. Then, make a video of you all discussing the movie or book in Spanish. (No limit. Bonus Quest.)

- You must email me a list of who will be participating and the book or movie you will be doing for permission ahead of time.

- Videos must be posted in a public forum so they are easily accessible by the general public without the need to create an account (e.g. on YouTube as "public").
- Your discussion should last at least one minute for each participant. (e.g. if there are two of you, it should last at least 2 minutes).
- Each person seeking extra credit should participate equally in the discussion.
- Each person must mention at least one interesting thing about the Spanish used in the movie or book.
- The amount of extra credit awarded will be decided on an individual basis, based on their participation in the video.
- The discussion must be entirely in Spanish, though if the book or movie used names in English, those are permitted.
- The discussion should be that, a discussion. The participants should not read from a script or notes. They can practice ahead of time and briefly refer to notes, but the video itself should not have any reading.
- All participants must be fully visible during the entire video. (Overlays are acceptable.)
- The video must be PG, even if the original book or movie is not.
- The video and audio must be of sufficiently high quality (as determined subjectively by myself.)
- Optional: Inclusion of carefully edited captions will result in more extra credit. (Email me info on who did them.)
- Once the video is ready, email me the link.
- You can get up to 20 XP or for each participant for each for each movie / book discussion video you prepare (depending on its quality and how much you contribute to the discussion.)

If you have an idea for another Extra Credit opportunity you think I should offer, keep in mind that I will only consider ideas that meet the following requirements:

Requirements for Quests:
1. Language Use: The activity must require an appropriate amount of use of Spanish (e.g. not much for foundational Spanish courses, a lot for intermediate and advanced Spanish courses.)
2. Beneficial: The activity must benefit the learner (contribute to enjoyment of the language/lifelong learning), the local community, and/or the university.
3. Verifiable: There must be a way to verify that a student has completed the activity (e.g. a sign-in sheet).
4. Free: The activity cannot require expense on the part of the learner or the instructor.
5. No Double Dipping: This cannot be an activity that is being completed for any other course at the university.
6. Universality: The activity must be one that can be completed with equal ease by all students.

Here are some ideas that I'm considering, but haven't yet approved:

Considered Quests:
- There are no submitted ideas currently under consideration. If you have an idea, submit it!

Here are some ideas that I have rejected:

Rejected Quests:
- Homework-like activities. These do not comply with Beneficial. Basically all they do is give me more to grade. I highly encourage doing these types of activities in order to help you master the language, but they have no other value. (Examples include making a family tree, researching a Spanish-speaking country, and writing an essay.)
- Create a social media profile in Spanish. This does not comply with Beneficial. Who would visit your social media site in Spanish when they can just visit your "real" site in English?

This post is primarily a place for my own students to make suggestions; but I welcome any and all comments and suggestions!

*If the product on Amazon is not an explicitly Spanish product, then you may need to write your review in English and then underneath (in the same review) write it in Spanish.

How to Foster a Little Healthy Group Competition

One of the teaching methodologies that I am a big fan of is called Gamification. In gamification you take principles, tools, and strategies that make games successful and apply them into a non-game setting in order to hopefully boost its success. For example, you can take the idea of competition between players and apply it in the classroom.

Now, granted, this isn't new ground. After all, teachers have been playing Jeopardy with their students for years. Ah, but what if you took the concept of a Leaderboard and used that in the classroom? And what if you made it a little more interesting by making the competition last a while and have some form of tangible reward? Now your students will really start to pay attention!

Okay, so here's what I do. At the beginning of each semester I randomly divide each class into groups and have them name their groups. Each group has a score that is always available to the students on our course leaderboard (a google chart fed from a google spreadsheet and inserted into a google site). Here is an example of what they see:

Group scores can increase and decrease in several ways. Each time we have a quiz, test, lab, etc. I average the scores for each group and each group gets that number of points. Each time we have a game in class, the final score for each group for that game is added to their group score. Each time a student is absent or tardy, their group score drops. Finally, I give out points for other things that suit my fancy. For example, if a student finds a mistake in the textbook or on our course website, they get some points.

I have groups stay together for 1/4th to 1/3rd of each semester (depending on how many tests we have each semester), and then they are dissolved and new groups are formed. When the groups are about to be dissolved, I announce the winning group, and give each member of that group a small prize that they have picked (usually a $3 thing of candy). It may not seem like much, but a lot of students REALLY get into the competition. Several times I've had students make comments like: "I hate Spanish, but I'll be darned if I don't do my homework so that we can get the homework points for our group!"

And best of all, using the google chart, spreadsheet, site combo is easy and FREE! :D Of course, the candy isn't, but you could always pick some other reward system that is. (My students keep begging me to make their group scores count as extra credit for their course grades. So far I haven't caved.)

Random Sentence Generator using Excel

When my students come up to me to ask how they can practice making sentences, one of the things I always suggest is to just randomly pick some words from the chapter's vocabulary list and make a sentence out of them. Then they can come to me, or go to a tutor, and have the sentence evaluated for content and form. But somehow students seem to think that the process of randomly selecting sentence pieces doesn't make sense. To help them understand the concept I've created the Random Sentence Generator using Excel. There are two versions of this tool. The first generates a list of random words in Spanish that the students should then combine into a sentence, and the second generates a random list of words in English, that the students then need to translate into Spanish and then combine into a sentence. (Here is a copy of a Random Sentence Generator of the second type.) I've used these Random Sentence Generators several times in class and students really seem to like them! They especially have fun when the randomly generated list of words makes absolutely no sense, so they have to get creative! When we use this tool in class I usually provide them with four or five different lists of words, and then give them a few minutes to create their sentences, and finally I have them write their sentences on the board so that we can go over them as a class.

Technical Stuff:
The way the generator works is fairly straightforward. Put each vocabulary category into a single column. Then, use the formula:

=INDEX(Table14[Name],1+INT(RAND()*COUNTA(Table14[Name])))

Example (for a list of words contained in cells A11 through A20):

=INDEX(A$11:A$20,1+INT(RAND()*COUNTA(A$11:A$20)))

to have a word randomly selected from each column each time you refresh.

Shooter Safety Game (Brainstorm)

So I was sitting through another really boring orientation meeting about how to react when there is an active shooter on campus and I thought to myself. Someone should make a game for this! You could have all the different situations and have the player react to them, and if they make a mistake they die!

Is anyone aware of any such game that's already out there? If so, please link it in the comments!

Chaboonary

One of the learning activities that I enjoy doing with my students (and which they enjoy as well, as far as I can tell) is something that I affectionately call Chaboonary. Basically, it is a hodgepodge of Charades, Taboo, and Pictionary. Chaboonary is a simple vocabulary review game that can be played with zero prep time.

To play Chaboonary, divide the class into groups. Then have one student at a time come to the front of the class. (I usually rotate through the groups, but you can also just call them randomly.) Pick a word from the vocabulary list at the back of the textbook chapter and show it to the student (who will almost invariably moan and say that that was the one word that they were hoping you wouldn't pick). The student then has one minute to try and get someone to guess what the word was (more on this shortly). The team that correctly guesses the word gets 5 points.

The student has four different approaches that they can use to try and get their peers to guess the word (one from each source game, and then the mix-and-match option):

Speaking: The student can try to explain the word using circumlocution. They are not allowed to use any words on the vocabulary page (including words like "noun").

Drawing/writing: The student can write, draw anything on the chalkboard/whiteboard. The same restrictions on which words can be written apply as those for which words can be spoken.

Acting: Students more inclined to movement can act out the word.

Mix-and-match: Students are allowed to mix-and-match any of the previous techniques. One of the favorite ways that students will do this is to draw something, point emphatically at it, and say something like: "The opposite of this."

I developed this approach because I had found that whenever I tried to do a quick vocabulary review using the framework of just one of the source games that there were invariably students who would complain and zone-out. (I.e. less artistic students did not enjoy playing pictionary.) With the Chaboonary approach this issue is eliminated.

Enjoy!

How to get good grades in college foreign language courses

The purpose of this post is to help students have a better idea of what they can do in order to get good grades in college foreign language courses regardless of their aptitude with foreign languages. Although some of the information in this post is repeated from earlier posts, there is also new content that I believe will be helpful. Much of this content is also generalizable to other courses, and even to other levels (such as high school), but I've found that many of my own students were not familiar with these ideas, or at least the benefits of their application.

Let's start with some general things that will help with grades in any course at any level:

1. Go to class. Research has found that even if your attendance does not directly affect your grade (i.e. your grade doesn't get dinged if you skip), it will be correlated with your grade. (See for example Gunn 1993)
2. Do your homework. Research has also found that even if your homework does not directly affect your grade (i.e. the homework is not graded), it will be correlated with your grade. (See for example Cooper et al. 2006)
3. Eat right. Healthy eating habits have been shown to correlate with better grades. (See for example this report)
4. Get good sleep. Sufficient sleep has been correlated with better grades. (See for example Curcio et al. 2006)
5. Exercise. Regular physical activity has been correlated with better grades. (See for example Singh et al. 2012)

Now let's move on to college foreign language courses. Basically, this section has to do with working on the "Four Skills" beyond how you are already supposed to be practicing them:

1. Listening (you are trying to improve your ability to tell where words begin and end, and to pick out general meaning from context). I recommend that you watch your favorite movies dubbed in the language. This approach has several advantages: It's simple and easy (so you are more likely to do it). You already know the basic ideas behind what is being said (so you will understand more). You will enjoy the movies (so you will practice more).
2. Speaking (you are trying to make pronunciation, vocabulary selection, and grammar as natural as possible). The best way to practice is to simply speak in the language as much as possible in class. In the beginning this will mostly consist of you using words and phrases in the target language within sentences in your native language. For example: "Could I borrow a boligrafo?" This is great! Who cares if no one else (possibly even your instructor) is using the new language? And don't worry about perfection. This is practice we're talking about.
3. Reading (you are trying to pick out more detailed meaning than with listening). Read books that are below your regular reading level that you have already read and enjoyed in your native language (for adults I usually suggest that they pick up books that they enjoyed in their middle school / high school years). One popular approach is to read the book in both languages at the same time, switching back and forth at chapter boundaries.
4. Writing (you are trying to use the grammar and vocabulary that you are being taught). Write sentences using randomly selected grammar and vocabulary that you are covering in class. Then have someone (such as your instructor) look over your sentences and correct them. This works especially well if you provide them with a rubric (e.g. give me 5 points for using the grammar in the right way, 2 points for spelling correctly, 3 points for using vocabulary words correctly, etc.), and then having them score you and then see if you can improve your score each time.

Language Learning Games vs. Glorified Flashcards

Anyone who is familiar with my research is probably aware of the fact that I tend to be very critical of what I call "glorified flashcards" (GFs). I use this term to refer to language learning digital "games" that are basically fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice questions slapped into a basic electronic gaming environment. Often these take the form of Jeopardy-type games.

However, I thought that I should point out that though I am critical of using GFs as language learning serious "games", I do believe that they can be very useful! In fact, I use them quite frequently. I just don't think that they should be considered as serious language learning "games". Instead, they are glorified flashcards. They are tools that allow language learners to quickly practice specific language elements within a prepared electronic environment. But they are not really "games".

When I use GFs I tend to create them myself because I am very particular about the content and format that I like to have them use. For example, in a GF* that I created you can review any of the vocabulary from any of the chapters from any of the textbooks used for beginning and intermediate Spanish language courses at the University of Texas at Austin. In this case, I designed the GF to be as useful as possible for students in these courses because they can choose which chapter vocabulary lists they would like to practice. Moreover I created this game as a multiplayer game which makes it particularly useful (I've found) as an in-class review activity because you can pit groups of students against each other. And believe me, they can really get into it!

My most recent GF* is designed using the same framework (a multiplayer game that generates random questions based on content specified by the user.) In this new GF what I've done though is focused on verb conjugations instead of vocabulary identification. Players can choose which verb conjugations they would like to practice, and how large they would like the game to be, and the questions are randomly generated accordingly. Instead of basing the verbs used on any given textbook though, I have instead based them on Mark Davies' Frequency Dictionary of Spanish. That is, I took all the verbs (there are 1083) that appeared within the top 5000 most frequent words in Spanish. I also pulled their conjugations directly from the Royal Academy's website instead of creating a script to generate them automatically (I did this because a lot of them were irregular).

In my opinion (which is obviously biased, so feel free to share your own opinion below), I think that these GFs are on par with, or better than, most language learning "games" already out there. But they're still not really games. They're just competitive flashcards online. I do plan to continue developing more real language learning games, but these will be much more like the game* that I created for my dissertation. I hope that we can see many more such games be created, and I hope that they can be used effectively alongside the much more common GFs.

*Not currently available.

Family Feud for Language Learning

There's nothing like a little healthy competition to get adult language learners involved in class! Well, maybe chocolate, but for now we'll stick with competition. And what makes competition even better? When the students themselves have influence on the material!

I discovered this several years ago while teaching Spanish at The Pennsylvania State University. I had always created review games for my students on a regular basis, but until then I had always based the content of the games on what I thought the students should study, or on what would be covered in the exam. Makes sense, right? Well, at PSU I decided to take a new approach, I used the reports generated for me by the students' online homework to identify areas where students were committing the most errors, and I based the content of the Jeopardy-style review games on those areas. The students responded very positively to this new approach.

So, what has this got to do with Family Feud? Well, in Family Feud the content of the game comes from a survey. This is actually why I have normally avoided creating Family Feud-style games, because creating them requires involvement from more than just myself. And, as anyone who has tried to get volunteer assistance knows, it's hard to come by.

This semester I wanted to give it another go, so I had my students themselves complete the survey. This way I could more or less assure that the spirit of volunteerism would prevail. Moreover, I was able to make participation in both the survey and the game itself pedagogically relevant. Here's how I did it with the content from our textbook chapter that covers the arts (vocabulary) and hypotheses (grammar):

Preparation:

1.      Generate list of questions for students to answer. The questions should use the target vocabulary but should not use the hypothesis structure. An example can be found here. You should give the students a few days to complete the form.

2.      Collect the students’ answers and determine which answers are the four most common for each question. For ties, google the results and order them according to the number of hits.

3.      Generate a question using the hypothesis structure for each item (I personally made sure to never repeat any verbs). Fill out the FamilyFeud PowerPoint template with these questions and the ordered answers.

4.      Print out an answer sheet using the option to print nine slides per page.

Execution:

1.      Divide the class into groups of around four students. All students should put their textbooks away.

2.      Open the PowerPoint but leave it in “Normal” mode (do NOT enter “Presentation” mode.)

3.      Randomly pick a group to go first.

4.      Read the question.

5.      The group can discuss and then one student must answer using the hypothesis structure. (The student who answers for each group should rotate throughout the course of the game.)

6.      Limit the time each group has to answer to one minute.

7.      If the student answers with one of the answers (check the answer sheet) delete the appropriate rectangle and give that group the number of points indicated on the rectangle.

8.      The next group then gets a chance to answer the same question.

9.      Continue until all groups have had a chance to attempt to answer the question or until there are no answers left to reveal.

10.  The group that answered second is now asked the next question. This way you rotate which group gets to go first with each question.

11.  When you run out of time and/or questions the game is over and the group with the highest score wins.

Results:

1.      I used this activity in the spring of 2014 with my SPN 610 class. My students responded very positively to this activity! They were very excited and engaged, and were especially excited to see whether their personal answers had won a rank in the game. I also noticed:

a.       Students were often eagerly asking each other what different vocabulary words meant.

b.      At the beginning of the game many students were having difficulty with the hypothesis structure, but by the end they were using much better and with little/no help.

c.   Unlike what often happens with my activities, there were no students who were not actively engaged in this game.

2.      During the spring of 2014 I also shared this activity with my colleagues who were also teaching SPN 610. One of them sent me an email letting me know that "My class loved the game!", and another referred to me as “Family Feud” with a big smile on his face when passing me in the hall. I take this as evidence that this activity worked with more than just my class.

Preparing for College/University Foreign Language Exams

I know that there is already a lot of advice floating around the web about how to prepare for exams, and I'd like to add my two cents. Granted, some classes, like high school calculus, don't require much studying. If you just pay attention in class and do the homework, you'll be ready for the exam. But there are some classes that its good to study for, such as second semester college Spanish. When it comes to studying for a foreign language exam, there are some good ideas, some okay ideas, and some bad ideas.

Bad ideas:
1. Staring at lists of vocabulary, grammar rules, etc. Unless you have photographic memory, staring at lists isn't going to do you much good, unless you can really quickly reproduce the lists on the back of your exam when you first start the exam (okay idea). Most foreign college-level foreign language exams these days are designed around the concept of Communicative Language Learning, so you're mostly going to see fill-in-the-blanks and short-answer questions. When you stare a list you are memorizing the content in a very specific context (a list), and it can be very hard for your brain to apply information stored in lists into questions that require you to understand the context.
2. Not going to class, not doing homework, not paying attention in class, not practicing the language in class, etc. Basically, if you don't do what your instructor tells you to do leading up to the exam, you're shooting yourself in the foot. If they are a good instructor then the exam will be formatted very similarly to the stuff they have been having you do in class and at home.

Okay ideas:
1. Going back over stuff that you did in class and at home. This is okay because you will be studying the content in the type of context in which it will be presented in the exam. However, its not a great method because you have already done it (hopefully). Which means that you already know the right answer (again, hopefully). So its very easy for you to not pay full attention to the context of each item while studying. You will probably find yourself moving very quickly and confidently through the previously completed assignments.
2. Cramming. Okay, no matter how much I hate to admit it, cramming can help...somewhat. Cramming tends to be especially useful if your instructor doesn't use much of an imagination, and you can quickly jot down on the back of your exam the stuff that you have crammed right when the exam starts, before you get confused by the questions on the exam.
3. Look for practice exercises on the web. This one tends to be hit or miss for several reasons. First, you may wind up spending a whole lot of time just looking for the darn things. Second, they may not be formatted the same way you know that your instructor will format the items on your exam. Third, there is usually no guarantee as to the quality of the activities. Sure, there's probably some good stuff out there for studying just about anything in any language. But there's also a lot of crap.
4. Flash cards. Yet another traditional method that isn't bad, but isn't great. Flash cards are better than staring at lists, because you see the items out of order, and you don't see the answer right next to the question. However, they are still repetitious, which means that your brain will tend to have a harder time generalizing the stuff you practice into new contexts, and they are usually not formatted like the items on your exam will be.

Good ideas:
1. Prepare your body. Seriously. You'd be amazed how much better you can do on an exam when you have been eating the right foods, keeping yourself hydrated with water, and getting enough sleep. This page is a good resource on how to do this step.
2. Practice using what you'll be tested on. If you're exam is going to be covering the pluperfect subjunctive and vocabulary related to car parts, then practice making sentences (that make sense) using the pluperfect subjunctive and car parts. My favorite way to do this is to take your flash cards (okay idea) and put them in stacks: one for grammar, and one for vocabulary. Then you draw two cards at random (one from each pile), and write a sentence using those cards. I suggest that you do this a couple dozen times, and then take what you've done to your instructor's office hours and ask them to let you know how you're doing (i.e. where you screwed up.)
3. Doing the opposite of Bad Idea #2. If its already exam time, then it is too late to do this step, but if you still have a while, then you might seriously think about doing what your instructor expects you to do both in and out of class. If you don't believe me, you haven't tried it.

How do you address your professor?

I came across this interesting study several semesters ago. These psychologists looked at how graduate students in the US address their professors...according to the gender of the professor. Here is the abstract that provides a quick synopsis of their findings:

College students participated in two studies assessing differences in terms of address for male and female professors (i.e., first name vs. title) and the implications of the terms selected. In Study 1, 243 students reported their terms of address for professors of their present classes. As predicted, the probability of being addressed by title was significantly greater for male professors than female professors. In Study 2, 120 students read and answered questions about a transcript of a class session ostensibly taught by a male or female professor whom students addressed by first name or title. Professors were perceived to hold higher status when addressed by title, regardless of their gender. Female, but not male, professors addressed by title were perceived to be less accessible. These findings suggest that female professors hold lower status than male professors and must often choose between perceptions of status versus accessibility.

It's kind of scary that something like this happens (albeit subconsciously) among a group as educated as graduate students. Of course, its hard to spot these subconscious biases within ourselves. Which is why its good that studies like this are conducted in order to raise awareness.

Reading Books for Language Learning and Pleasure: The Do's and Do Not's

When people decide to try learning a language by reading books that they already enjoy they often make the mistake of starting with books that are for (young) adults. For example, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Normally I would suggest that you read a book targeting a younger audience first. Something like the Warriors books by Erin Hunter, which is targeted at preteens, but is still enjoyed by many adults. I would recommend this for several reasons: the grammar will be simpler, the vocabulary will be simpler, and, most importantly, the plot will be simpler (seriously). And I would suggest that you read it all the way through in English, and then, if you liked it, read it all the way through in the language. In my experience trying to jump back and forth after each sentence or paragraph is just frustrating because it feels more like language learning than enjoyment, and this strategy will work best if you are enjoying the process of reading the book itself.

Also, while going through the books, don't try to understand everything in the language. That's another (very) common mistake. When you start you should be reading and be thinking "I think this is the part where he shot the gun" not "And then he grabbed the gun and fired five shots very quickly into the opposing line." Think of it like watching a movie that you like in the language. You're not going to get all of what is said, but you can still follow along with the plot. Focus on the plot, not on the language. If you start to get lost, either backtrack to where you last think you knew roughly what was going on, or skim forward until you think you have picked the trail back up. If you really want to focus on at least some part of the language, then I recommend that you focus on pronouncing each word correctly in your mind (or out loud if you prefer.) But hopefully you will eventually be so interested in reading the story that even slowing down to pronounce each word correctly will get frustrating, and you'll start just focusing more on the meaning. Also, if you really want to understand more, then you can do the back and forth method, but I recommend that you do it by chapter rather than paragraph, that way when you finish reading in one language you are at a natural stopping point, and it won't feel so forced and it will be easier to remember what was going on when you switch back. Basically, it will still feel like a normal reading process, rather than a forced exercise. Your brain does not like to work. But it likes to play. And, ironically, it does basically the same thing in both situations: learn, practice, and overcome challenges.

Finally, keep in mind that your mind is doing double/triple duty while reading in a new language. So don't be surprised if you can't binge-read like you can in English. Your brain needs time (sleep) to assimilate what it is learning about the language. I would only read until you start to feel frustrated/bored/tired, and then I would mark exactly where you are stopping and scribble a quick note in English about what exactly is going on right there. Again, if you force yourself to read a specific amount each day/week/hour, then you will very quickly burn yourself out and I very much doubt that you will finish the book. Make it fun and relaxing, and take your time to enjoy the process. Hmmm... have I emphasized that enough yet?  ;-)

Where to get Movies and Books in Your Langauge

If you decide to learn a language by watching movies you already enjoy in that language then you are likely to eventually start purchasing DVDs that are dubbed in the new language because the ones that you have right now are not dubbed in that language. For example, I'm slowly replacing my non-spanish dubbed dvds with spanish-dubbed ones.Some languages, like Spanish, have an unfair advantage, but there are still quite a few dvds in the US that are not even dubbed in Spanish. Often I can't even find them on Amazon.es or Amazon.mx. So I've been buying them from an online store in Spain and an online store in Mexico and I've found one on eBay (the hard part was finding the online stores, but once I did it was definitely worth the effort!) I also purchased a region-free player (Toshiba BDX1300 DVD & Blu-Ray Player) which works really well so far (I've been using it almost daily for several months). Finally, I've purchased almost all of the Terry Pratchett books that I've been reading in Spanish on Amazon, but most of them have been shipped from England.

One last note, be aware that sometimes a dvd description on Amazon or other website may say that it is dubbed in the language, but it really isn't. That's because of different versions of the same dvd. This has happened with me with dvds that were identified as dubbed in Spanish in the Amazon description, but aren't really dubbed in Spanish. So far I think I've received around 4 dvds like this.  This is another reason I've moved on to using almost only the online stores in Spain and Mexico, because all their dvds so far have definitely had Spanish dubbing.

Having Fun While Language Learning On Your Own

So, learning a language is getting challenging, eh? Don't you hate it when stuff starts to get harder?

Most people only become proficient in a second language if they use it in a meaningful way on a regular basis. The problem is that "meaningful" can be very different for different people. If you really want to keep learning a language then here are a few ideas of how to make the process and/or end result more meaningful, and therefore increase your motivation.

- Plan a trip to a country where they speak your language in like a year or whenever, now your studies will be preparing you for something real.

- Start looking for a job in a country where they speak your language, and as soon as you find one, take it. Learn the language by living in a country where they speak your language. A lot of people who take this route look for jobs as English tutors.

- Look for a temporary work-abroad opportunity. The prevalence of these programs will depend on what language you are studying. For example, there are a lot of Spanish-speaking countries that have short-term projects that you can be a part of, such as service missions, while these are much less frequent in industrialized European countries.

- Just start doing everything you can in your language. Watch all movies/tv shows in the language, read all books in the language, play video games in the language, switch all your computer/phone settings to the language, etc. Basically, do whatever you do for fun in the language. Note: whatever you do for fun now. Don't try to do this step by trying to adopt pasttimes from a target culture. A lot of people try this but it usually doesn't work out well. So, for example, there are a lot of tv shows and movies in Spanish which are produced in Spain, Mexico, and Argentina, but I never watch any of them. I do however watch a lot of Hollywood movies in Spanish, such as Jurassic Park, Tremors, the Avengers, Bourne, etc. You will pick up a lot more of the language, and you'll be more motivated to learn if you are doing something that you already enjoy. But do keep a dictionary handy, you will want it occasionally (like when you notice a word that is being used a lot).

- Interact with others in the language. This one would probably be the hardest for me. If you're living in the country, then you are forced to use language, so you don't have to go out of your way (other than going out of your way to move to the country), but with this one what you do is look for language speakers where you live right now. Which means that you have to start trying to make friends, volunteering, etc. that you normally wouldn't. A lot of people take this approach, but I'm not a big fan. I much prefer the other methods where you don't have to leave the comfort of your social bubble.

- And, of course, the classic is to date/marry a language speaker. But if you ask me trying to find someone to date/marry just so that you can practice a language is a bit extreme. Also, there tend to be unforeseen cultural barriers, such as the preconception of the role of the woman in a relationship.

Finally, be prepared for the normal process of language learning and don't let it discourage you. You will begin with interference from English, as well as some influence from the new language in English. The interference isn't usually too severe in either direction, but it can be very noticeable to the language learner. Language learning usually is kind of a cyclic process. You'll have a breakthrough, start getting a lot, it will be exciting, then you'll plateau for a while, this will be a little frustrating after the rush of the breakthrough, and then you'll regress for a while, this can be very discouraging because your new language will actually get worse for a while. This is normal and we think it happens because your brain is trying to break apart its concept of the new language in order to incorporate the next thing you'll be learning. (Your subconscious sees it coming but you don't. An example would be your brain getting ready to adopt the new language's way of conjugating verbs by throwing out its current concept of the language's verb conjugations (which originally is largely based on English conjugations), during this process you will find it very hard to conjugate anything correctly in the language). Then you'll have a breakthrough again, etc.