In Spanish, the Personal A is a preposition that is used before a direct object that refers to a person or an animal with a certain level of personal significance. It is not translatable into English and is a unique feature of the Spanish language. The Personal A is used to indicate that the direct […]
Verb DOLER Spanish Lesson Plan for Beginner Students
The Spanish verb “doler” is used to express physical pain or discomfort. In order to use “doler,” you need to know two things: the subject experiencing the pain, and the body part that is causing the pain. The verb is constructed as follows: “doler” + [body part] + “a” + [subject]. For example, “Me duele […]
Health & Body Parts Vocabulary Spanish Lesson Plans and Class Activities
When teaching Spanish as a second language, the introduction of body parts vocabulary typically occurs in the early stages of learning, usually in beginner or elementary-level classes. This is because the vocabulary related to body parts is relatively simple and frequently used, making it an essential part of basic Spanish language acquisition. Generally, students are […]
Present Stem-Changing Verbs Spanish Class Activities (Boot Verbs)
Lesson Plan – Present Stem-Changing Verbs – At the end of this activity, students will be clear on the use of irregular stem-changing verbs in the present tense. Students will know how to identify them and use them accurately. First, students revise the irregular stem-changing verbs in the present with a the song Pero me […]
Verb HACER in the Present Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan – Verb HACER in The Present: School Exams – Objectives At the end of this activity, students will have reviewed the verb ‘hacer’ present tense conjugation and will have used it to talk about school exams Students will be able to say what happens during a test in Spanish. Students can write a […]
Foreign Language Week: 5 Activity Ideas from Monday to Friday
Want to bring the world and all of its languages closer to your classroom? Inspire your students to excite your school community and get everyone involved in National Foreign Language Week this March. What is National Foreign Language Week? Every March, schools around America celebrate National Foreign Language Week or World Language Week to discuss […]
Numbers 100 – 1000 Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan – Numbers 100-1000 Objectives At the end of this activity, students will have reviewed and used, both in written and oral form, the Spanish numbers up to 1000. Students can say numbers and explain how to remember numbers 100 – 1000 in Spanish. Students can explain their infographic about Social Media in […]
Present Perfect vs Past Perfect Spanish Class Activities
Both the present perfect and past perfect tenses are formed using the auxiliary verb “haber” (to have) and a past participle. Students may find it difficult to distinguish between the two tenses since they both involve the same auxiliary verb. In addition, the past participle often looks the same for regular and irregular verbs in […]
Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives Spanish Class Activities
1. Lesson Plan – Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives, Position of Adjectives [MEMBERS] – Students learn possessive adjectives by watching a video and by doing an oral practice that includes vocabulary related to the family. They do a written and oral practice of the forms for the demonstrative adjectives in singular and plural. Finally, they watch the […]
Position of Adjectives Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan – Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives, Position of Adjectives – Students learn possessive adjectives by watching a video and by doing an oral practice that includes vocabulary related to the family. They do a written and oral practice of the forms for the demonstrative adjectives in singular and plural. Finally, they watch the last […]
7 Read Across America Day Spanish Class Activities (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss Day)
Remember those READ posters of movie stars and other celebrities? Though the appeal of posters is their retro look, the message is still very relevant today. So engage your students and talk about literacy with some fun activities on March 2nd for National Read Across America Day! What is National Read Across America Day? National […]
Preposition “A” Spanish Lesson Plan for Beginner Students
The preposition “a” is used to indicate direction or movement towards a person or a specific location. It is also used to mark the direct object of a sentence when it refers to a person, as in: “Voy a ver a mi amigo” (I am going to see my friend). It is also commonly used […]
School Subjects and After-School Themed Spanish Lesson Plans
As a Spanish teacher, it’s essential to equip your students with vocabulary they can use outside the classroom, especially when it comes to after-school activities and school-related topics. Here you will find suggested Spanish lesson plans and resources, with engaging activities and materials to help your students learn and practice vocabulary related to sports, hobbies, […]
Weather Vocabulary and Weather Expressions Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan – Weather Vocabulary and Weather Expressions – Students learn the weather vocabulary and basic expressions with a video. Then, they practice what they have learned in class with an interactive online game and a written exercise. Finally, they do a presentation about the weather in front of the class. The Weather in Spanish – […]
Clothing, Color and Pricing Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan – Adjective Agreement and Verbs LLEVAR, VESTIR, PONER – Clothing, Colors, Pricing – First, students learn the names of colors and clothing items through two videos. Later, they watch the third video in three parts where they practice and expand their vocabulary about clothing; complete a table about the adjective agreement with nouns, […]
Spanish Teachers Community Year In Review
Last year was great for us at Speaking Latino because we helped hundreds of Spanish teachers succeed with their students. We are so excited to offer much-needed help and support. This allowed teachers like you to focus more of your time on your family and friends. How did we do it? We opened the Spanish Teachers Community for […]
CABALLO vs CABALLERO: An Embarrassing Spanish Speaking Lesson
In Spanish, a lot of words may be altered slightly with diminutives or colloquialisms and still mean more or less the same thing, for example with “galleta” (cookie/cracker) and “galletita” (little cookie/cracker”). Chileans, in particular, are famous for their -itos. It is then understandable that one might confuse the words “caballo” and “caballero” and assume […]
4 Free Spanish Language Resources and Blogs
Check out these interesting websites and blog posts from around the world that will help you learn Spanish: 1. Here’s a long list of Mexican slang from the website Mexico Guru. 2. Life in Cuba direct from Conner Gorry, who lives there and blogs about everyday life from the view of a long-term “local” who […]
The Argentina Spanish Street Slang Phrase MANDAR FRUTA
Sometimes, even native Spanish speakers can get tripped up by words and phrases used in other countries. A good friend of mine, Jorge is from Colombia but moved to Argentina to go to school. His Spanish and English are both impeccable, so I take great joy in any of his minor slip ups. It just […]
The Harshest Argentina Spanish Street Slang Insult: AALRPMQTRP
AALRPMQTRP Try saying that three times fast. I bet you didn’t learn the pronunciation rules for that many consonants in a row! Okay, okay, I’ll come clean. This is not a Spanish word, it is actually an acronym for the worst Argentine insult you can dish out: Andáte a la re puta madre que te re […]
4 Names in Spanish for SANTA CLAUS: Infographic
The legendary figure of Santa Claus is well recognized all over the world. The story around this character was inspired by the Christian Bishop Saint Nicholas from the 4th century that lived in Lycia (Turkey today). Legends said that he was recognized for his generosity as a secret gift-giver, putting coins in the shoes or […]
Spanglish Example Photo: BILES
After passing by here numerous times, I finally remembered to take the picture. I had never heard the word biles until I arrived to Puerto Rico. The only word I had learned was cuentas or maybe even facturas (invoices). This Spanglish example is from Miami. Check out these other English Spanish articles.
Ir a + Infinitive: Talking About Places and Future Plans Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan – Ir + A + Infinitive to Talk About Places and Future Plans – By reviewing visual material and an authentic song in Spanish, students learn the vocabulary about actions and places to describe future actions and plans; they also ask and answer about future plans. They create a video about their and […]
Making Comparisons and Superlatives Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan Making Comparisons, Superlatives – After School Activities – Students learn vocabulary related to after-school activities through real documents (after school activities handout from several schools) and videos. They will learn about adjectives too. Later, they learn the rules to form a comparative and the ones with an irregular comparative grade. With these resources, […]
7 Must-Have Books for Spanish Learners
In bookstores, I just drool over the foreign language reference section (as my recent visit to Powell’s books proves). Any visit requires me to pass through the language learning materials, peruse and dream of my next language. Chinese, Arabic, Italian all interest me. As do Catalan, Basque, Korean, and several others. I plan on tackling […]
Subjunctive Irregular Verbs Spanish Class Activities
1. Lesson Plan – Subjunctive Irregular Verbs – Feelings and Emotions – Using a song, students learn vocabulary related to feelings, desires, and emotions. They’ll be able to see the most common irregular verbs and how to conjugate them in the present tense of the subjunctive mood. Students will learn the topic in context, interacting […]
Family and Relatives Vocabulary Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan – Family and Relatives Vocabulary – Physical Traits, Relationships, Age and Names – By the end of this activity, students will have learned the family vocabulary, how to describe people, and to ask and answer name and age. Students will have practiced the vocabulary orally and written in context. They will be able […]
Subjunctive Stem-Changing Verbs Spanish Class Activities
Lesson Plan – Subjunctive Stem-Changing Verbs – Vacation Planning – At the end of the lesson, students will have learned vocabulary related with vacation planning, as well as irregular verbs in the subjunctive mode, through written and spoken activities. At the same time, students learn the topic in context, interacting with their teammates and improving […]
Learn Spanish Quiz: Bathroom Bar Graffiti #1
Always on the lookout for new Speaking Latino material I found myself multi-tasking last night at a local bar. In the restroom I ran across this graffiti with a basic Spanish mistake at just about at eye level. While the quote is entertaining, the artist apparently didn’t do well in his Spanish classes. Just in […]
Spanglish Example Photo: Poop Bag Confusion
Buenos Aires is a city of dog lovers. Unfortunately, it is not a city of cleanliness. The result is enough dog poop on the sidewalk to emulate a poop mine field. Argentinians rarely clean up after their dogs, even dog walkers with 15+ dogs sometimes allow the dogs to do their business and just keep […]