Hands on Spanish
Frequently Asked Question
I'VE TAKEN SPANISH CLASSES BEFORE. WHY CAN'T I SPEAK IT?
How is Hands on Spanish different from other Spanish programs?
As
a former middle school Spanish teacher and a current part-time college Spanish
instructor, I know exactly why students who take a Spanish class are rarely
able to speak it. The school system revolves around the written language (textbooks,
notebooks, homework, tests, exams, etc.). Yet 90% of language is spoken! Also,
when you take a course for credit, you are regulated by standards and curriculum
to which your instructor is limited. The instructor must abide by these and
rush through grammatical content at lightning speed in order to cover everything
that will be on the final exam. This is all at the expense of conversation
practice in the new language. Besides, with 35 students, how could there possibly
be enough time for them all to practice conversation skills in a 45-minute
class? It is no wonder that tutors are so often very helpful. When education
is less structured and more one-on-one, our learning curve increases and our
creativity expands.
This is why I created WeBspañol,
an online Spanish tutorial program which focuses on conversation skills and
allows students to e-mail questions to and receive answers from their computer
tutor. The program is good for beginners (no experience necessary) and for
those who have taken Spanish courses but need a review. Often times, Spanish
students are quite well versed in grammar rules, but do not have good pronunciation
or conversation skills. WeBspañol
can help!
You will learn practical, everyday Spanish in
this program, which is geared towards immediate use. However, you must speak
it in order to truly learn it. Learn the Spanish that you want to speak by
speaking the Spanish that you want to learn! Otherwise, you are simply cramming
for a final. Memorization causes you to dump all of the information the minute
the test is handed in. Practicing Spanish out-loud will force you to learn
and remember the language.
What
is
WeBspañol?
What's a Computer Tutor?
