Greenville Spanish Teacher Wins Award

By KATHERINE DYER
The Greenville News

GREENVILLE, SC – As a student, Kelly Nalley was an overachiever.

She was valedictorian of her high school graduating class and was voted "most likely to succeed" by her peers.

But on her first day as a first-year middle school Spanish teacher, Nalley stapled her finger to the bulletin board. She was 21 years old, and the class was scheduled to arrive 10 minutes later.

That year, she also spent many afternoons crying in her supply closet, exhausted and frustrated.

"Nothing had ever been negative in my life before," she says. "Everyone had always been nice."

In her professional biography she wrote, "After that first year, I decided that I would commit to teach for five years, and if I was still crying in my supply closet, I would find a new career."

It's been 12 years, and on Aug. 14, Nalley was on stage – a far cry from any storage closet – receiving an award as the 2009-10 Greenville County Teacher of the Year.

"She's just one of those teachers who's so naturally good at what they do," said Reem Alnatour, a fellow Fork Shoals Elementary School teacher.

She said Nalley is soft-spoken but effective in classroom management, is in touch with students' emotions, has a good sense of humor and above all, is engaging.

"Whether you're a teacher or a student, she manages to make you feel like you're No. 1," Alnatour said. "She talks to you as if you're the only person around."

She also praised Nalley's classroom activities.

"She tries to bring in the Spanish culture, not necessarily just the language," Alnatour said.

Nalley visits Alnatour's third-grade class twice weekly for Spanish lessons. Alnatour's personal favorite is the lesson on chocolate.

But unlike traditional foreign language classes, Nalley uses a new program called KITE-LL (Kids Interacting Through Early Language Learning), developed three years ago by ETV and the South Carolina Department of Education.

The program integrates foreign language into what students are learning in other subjects. For example, she covers a unit on weather while the students are learning the water cycle in science.

"They're learning the lessons in context," Nalley said. "I'm not stopping to explain how to conjugate verbs or 'how this grammar fits' or how it's comparable to English. We just speak it."

She says it's been incredible to see the difference in how much children learn through this method. Her fifth-graders are on par with students she taught in high school, she said.

"I think in the great scheme of things, I've learned that everything doesn't have to be perfect, because I'm a perfectionist," Nalley said. "That was a hard lesson to learn."

Offering advice for the new school year, she encourages teachers to work together and share ideas.

"You're not an isolated professional in education; you're a team," she said.

Intercambio Gives Language Learning Opportunities

Intercambio gives language learning opportunities

By Yesenia Robles

http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2009/jun/17 /intercambio_gives_languagelearning_opportunities/

Craig, Colorado — A group of four diverse people shared their culture and language Tuesday night at the Boys & Girls Club of Craig during a group meeting called Intercambio.

The word, when translated, means “exchange.”

“We analyze every little thing because there are so many possibilities,” said Ray Parfrey, of Craig, when talking about translating a popular Spanish song. Tuesday was Parfrey’s third week participating at Intercambio.

Intercambio, is a weekly event organized by Integrated Community, a nonprofit organization that seeks to bridge the gap between the immigrant community with the receiving community through various services.

Intercambio is open to anyone who wishes to join in the group’s mission while learning each other’s languages and having fun. Intercambio has been around almost five years, as long as Integrated Community.

For Parfrey, it was curiosity that first led him to be interested in learning the Spanish language. For other members, it sometimes is for use at their work.
Eveline Bacon, the English as a Second Language program manager at Integrated Community, said Americans generally are interested in learning about other cultures but often don’t get the chance of interacting with members of those different cultures, even in diverse places such as Craig.

Bacon said that through Intercambio, people are given that opportunity, and although Tuesday only four people attended, she said the group sometimes is as large as 15.
“There’s always new people, a lot of people are interested, but I think everybody should come and enjoy it at least once,” Bacon said.

During the meeting, participants took turns practicing to speak in both English and Spanish while learning and discussing differences in common language compared to literal translations. The group also sometimes listens to music and translates verses.

Bacon said there are more benefits to the group than learning different languages. She said people often are given the feeling of empowerment when they see they can help other people learn another language.

Parfrey agrees with Bacon.

“Well, I’m just starting up, but like tonight, I had a lot of fun, and I do feel I get a lot out of it,” Parfrey said.

Intercambio is one way in which Integrated Community reaches out to the immigrant community.

The organization operates off of grants and often volunteers to provide formal English classes, translation services and resource referrals to help people learn where they can go for help with a variety of other services.

Yesenia Robles can be reached at 875-1790.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

71 % of US Workers Are Learning Another Language to Increase Their Job Marketability

Additionally, 94% Believe Bilingual or Multilingual Skills Will Make an Employment Application More Competitive

PHOENIX, AZ--(Marketwire) - During the recent economic downturn, job seekers are learning another language to make themselves more competitive against other applicants submitting for the same positions.

In a recent survey of 300 respondents, 71% of US workers have begun learning another language to give them an edge against competing applicants. Additionally, 94% of respondents believe that learning another language makes someone more marketable and can positively impact earning potential.

As companies expand and grow their international relations, bilingual and multilingual candidates are increasingly in demand by employers. According to the survey, 67% of respondents communicate regularly with someone who predominantly speaks another language in their current or most recent position. Additionally, 59% applied for jobs in the past year that required a moderate knowledge of another language.

Language learning continues to be a growing market, as evidenced by recent findings from executive recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International, which cites that 31% of executives speak two languages and 20% speak three.

(1) Success Magazine also reports that bilingual workers earn $5,000 - $7,000 more in salary a year than solely English-speaking employees.

(2) The survey was conducted by Auralog, the pioneer of integrating advanced speech recognition technology with language learning. Auralog's award-winning TELL ME MORE® language-learning solution offers an engaging, culturally-immersive learning experience.

"As the world gets flatter, companies grow more global and span numerous cultures and languages," said Christophe Pralong, Auralog's North American vice president. "Job seekers need bilingual and multilingual skills to be competitive and succeed in this new business environment."

TELL ME MORE consumer products are available online at tellmemorestore.com, and are backed by an exclusive 90-day money back guarantee. The product is also available from leading online retailers including Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com.
To subscribe to an RSS feed of TELL ME MORE's announcements, please visit http://www.lewiswire.com/us/lewiswire/TELL-ME-MORE/c/554 and click on 'Subscribe to RSS'.

About TELL ME MORE® powered by Auralog

Auralog is a world leader in language learning solutions and publisher of the award-winning TELL ME MORE solution suite. Auralog incorporates over 20 years of language empowerment experience, full training support services and advanced technologies including speech recognition, video, role play and spoken language tracking into the TELL ME MORE suite of language learning software programs. With offices in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and China, Auralog has more than 350 employees and provides services globally to more than 10,000 organizations and over seven million learners. Users of TELL ME MORE include consumers, primary, secondary, higher and adult education institutions, home school users and businesses of all sizes. www.tellmemore.com

(1) http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2009/01/26/why-it-pays-to-be-bilingual
(2) http://www.successmagazine.com/Invest-In-Youand-Your-Earnings-Potential/PARAMS/article/326/channel/22#

Contacts:
Katie Eakins / Erin Hall
LEWIS PR for Auralog
619 677 2700

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

Clever Ways to Entertain Your Brain

(www.HealthNewsDigest.com) - Research shows that teachers typically spend between four to six weeks re-educating students on material they have forgotten over the summer. So how can parents prevent the dreaded summer brain drain when pool parties, play dates, and boogie boarding are all kids are thinking about?

Duane Sider, Director of Learning at Rosetta Stone, the premier language learning company, offers fun, cost-effective tips and tricks on how to keep kids minds active during the lazy days of summer break:

1. Get Lost at the Library – Research has show that reading four or five books over the summer had an impact on fall reading achievement comparable to attending summer school. Stop by reading hour, sign up for a children’s summer book club, or just grab a few books off the shelf to read at home. Added bonus? An air conditioned place to keep kids entertained.

2. Turn Your Home into an International Destination – Immerse your family in a new culture by researching your family’s heritage or a favorite foreign city. Engage kids fully in the adventure by visiting a nearby neighborhood steeped in that culture and helping them learn the local dialect by practicing it at home. Parents and children can learn a language together easily using computer-based language-learning programs such as Rosetta Stone, a completely interactive, immersion-based program for learning new languages on CD or online (best for ages 6 and up).

3. Create Your Own Cooking “Class” – How many pints in a quart? Cinnamon is which country’s major export? From measuring spoons to ingredients, preparing meals is the perfect to time to ask math, geography, and even science questions. Getting them involved in measuring the ingredients and cooking will help them better understand the math and science that goes into their favorite cookies.

4. Transform Your Backyard into a Science Lab – Bugs, animals and trees… Oh My! Your backyard is filled with a plethora of scientific wonders that will keep kids busy for hours. Challenge your children to identify and photograph as many species as they can.

5. Plan an Educational Summer Vacation – In addition to building sandcastles and boogie boarding for days on end, plan a family vacation to an educational or historic site. Explore the Grand Canyon, climb to the top of the Washington Monument, experience the Wright Brothers’ first flight in Kitty Hawk, NC or even venture to another country to experience a different culture and language.

6. Discover the Possibilities in Your Community - Local zoos, museums, and parks provide an economical destination for learning. Plan a group trip with friends and classmates to learn about foreign cultures, history, and animals big and small.

7. Get Up and Exercise Your Body and Mind – Getting the blood flowing always helps cognitive thinking. Therefore encourage games outdoors that require counting, group collaboration, and problem solving. Make sure to have plenty of water and sunscreen on hand.

8. Engage Their Investigative Aptitude: Arm your kids with a notebook, pencil, camera and their inquisitive mind. Have them interview neighbors and do research on your home town. This allows kids to sharpen their thought and question process.

9. Break out the Board Games: Whether it’s Chutes & Ladders, Monopoly, Scrabble or even Blackjack, it turns out these family favorites can also be great tools to reinforce a variety of classroom concepts. Combining education and fun will help create a positive learning experience for everyone and remove some of the stress of day to day living.

10. Logging Your Adventures – Through all these adventures and findings have your child keep a diary or notebook of their summer, or if you’re tech savvy, start a family blog so relatives can read about your child’s experiences. Give them an assignment every week. Write a letter to a relative, a poem, a creative short story or what their favorite exploration was that week.

About the Author

Duane Sider, director of learning for Rosetta Stone, is passionate about changing the way the world views language-learning. In his role, Duane has introduced Rosetta Stone solutions and the joy of the language-learning journey to a variety of audiences through numerous speaking engagements nationwide. Additionally, Duane has authored a number of articles and theory papers on immersion methodology in second-language acquisition. Throughout his career, Duane has traveled, performed and taught extensively throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, promoting international communication and advocating new education technologies. Duane holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Messiah College and a Master of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Virginia. He has written two plays, a collection of poetry and manages a theater company in Virginia.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

A Matter of Choice in the Matter of Language

There’s more to learning a language than meets the eye, which is why you need to be careful about the one you choose to attempt to master. If circumstances – like moving to a new country or wanting to impress a member of the opposite sex - dictate your necessity to learn, then there’s no question of choice, but if left to your will, how would you go about choosing the language that’s perfect for you?

If you want the learning process to be as easy as possible, choose a language that:


• Is similar to your mother tongue: It’s a surprising fact, but one that’s true all the same – most languages have the same grammatical structure. Some put the subject ahead of the verb while others do it vice versa. If you choose a language that follows a sentence structure, phonetics and grammar rules similar to your mother tongue, it’s easier to construct sentences in your new tongue when you know the words. Some languages don’t have certain phonemes, so if such languages are your mother tongue, you’re going to have a tough time mastering the missing phonemes in the new language.

• Has adequate learning resources: In the absence of a regular class or a good teacher when learning a new language, you need access to books, lessons, CDs, websites and pamphlets that help you in your effort. You also need to be able to take tests to see how much you’ve learned, so check for online and other resources before you set out on your endeavor.

• Is spoken by people who you interact with regularly: You need to keep practicing the spoken form of the language if you want to attain fluency and retain it, so choose a tongue that people around you speak regularly. It helps the learning process when you’re able to put to practice what you’ve learned.

• Is simple and straightforward: It may be a thrill and a challenge to try and learn languages like Russian, Arabic and Chinese that are extremely difficult, but if it’s your first attempt at learning a new language, it’s better to stick to something simple like Spanish or French.

Whatever your choice, you need to learn the basics in a month or so and become adequately fluent in six months depending on how much time you’re devoting to the cause. It’s a fun process, so enjoy every inch of this educative experience.


This post was contributed by Katie Wilson, who writes about the online universities. She welcomes your feedback at KatieWilson06@gmail.com. After graduating from college she took time off to pursue a writing career. Katie writes for online education sites offering tips, advice, and general information regarding education, learning, and studying.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

New Squidoo Lenses in March 2009

New Squidoo Lenses in March 2009


For your continuing interest and information, here are some new Squidoo lenses posted in March 2009. I post and use these as readings, for web quests and extra assignment material fro various ESP classes such as Health, Business Administration and Computer or Technology language groups.


A Fat Loss Workout Slim Down Plan
http://www.squidoo.com/fat_loss_workout_plan

Five Traits of a Successful Woman
http://www.squidoo.com/successful_woman_traits

Successful Weight Loss in Women
http://www.squidoo.com/women_weight_loss_keys

Why Women’s Fat Loss is Easy
http://www.squidoo.com/womens_fat_loss

Can UFOs Be Explained By Natural Phenomena?
http://www.squidoo.com/UFOs_explained

Piraña: Deadly and Delicious
http://www.squidoo.com/piranha_deadly_and_delicious

Dynamite Salt Water Lures: Make Your Own for 75 Cents or Less Each with These Easy Steps
http://www.squidoo.com/make_fishing_lures

Free Technology for Teachers
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/03/explaining-daylight-saving-time.html


Making Effective Use of Short Stories in English Language Teaching
http://www.squidoo.com/shorts_for_English_teaching



Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

Teach English and Learn Spanish: An Interesting and Profitable Combination

Teach English and Learn Spanish

When a reader recently wrote in to ask,

“I am interested in teaching English (as a foreign language) in a Spanish-speaking country (mainly because I desire to reach some fluency in the language)."

I was, needless to say, intrigued since I myself teach in the Spanish-speaking country of Colombia. The correspondence finished up with,

“Is there any country that you would recommend as being the best place to learn Spanish?”

That was it, I was hooked.

Here’s some of what my response contained plus some added tidbits.

As for locations where the L1 (first language) is Spanish: The two best for newly-minted EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers are Mexico and Ecuador, in my opinion. Briefly, here’s why:

Mexico

Mexico has a straightforward, although not always quick infrastructure set up for ex-pat English language teachers. The money isn't too bad either in many locations. Getting to and from the USA is normally quick, easy and inexpensive. The FM-3 working visa that long-term teachers will need isn’t too big of a hassle to acquire, and while not actually cheap, it’s affordable. You can easily recover your investment working only for a short time. Many schools will even pay it for you on a one-year minimum contract. Otherwise schools at least help you with getting the work visa, even if you must “front” the money for it yourself.

There are an abundance of Spanish-for-foreigner schools in the larger cities like Mexico, D.F., Guadalajara and Monterrey, among others. ELT (English language teaching) jobs are relatively plentiful and the regional Spanish is a widely-understood, comprehensible variety.

Ecuador

Ecuador is also foreigner-friendly to a point. There are truckloads of Spanish-for-foreigner schools in Quito and other major cities. They use the dollar, which will stretch your savings to greater distances and the country is quite "Americanized" enough that you won't feel like an idiot from day one because you can't read anything or don't recognize anything around you. In a pinch, English speakers aren’t difficult to find in the more upbeat sectors of Quito or Guayaquil, either. There are so many Spanish-for-foreigner schools in Quito, it’s almost silly. At my last count more than 125 had their doors open for business. Other cities like Guayaquil and Cuenca have their offerings too. Jobs are reasonably easy to come by, especially if you’re prepared by a CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) or a well-taught TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course beforehand.

If you need more information you can check out my article series on English language teaching, and teaching English in Mexico posted at http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Larry_M._Lynch. I sincerely hope this offers you some guidance. Best wishes for a great career in a location that’s interesting for you.

… and good luck, you’re going to need it.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, author and public speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, "If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

The Twisted Tongue-Twisting Trials of the Tongue English as a Foreign Language Teaching Lesson

Using Tongue Twisters in Teaching English as a Foreign Language Pronunciation

One of my most interesting and fun EFL speaking and pronunciation lesson series is one that makes frequent use of tongue-twisters. These are a tremendous aid in forcing and reinforcing the positions needed by combinations of speech organs in order to correctly pronounce quirky, difficult and low-frequency dipththongs, triphthongs and other sound combinations in the English language.

There are several good books you can easily turn to as references. Also some “children’s” book authors like “Gulliver’s Travels” author Jonathan Swift, “Alice in Wonderland” author Lewis Carroll, Theodore Suess Geisel (Dr. Seuss – pictured above) and Shel Silverstein, among numerous others, heavily make use of jaw-stretching, tongue wrapping sound combinations to provide an extra element of fun o their literary works. More “serious” poets like e e cummings are hardly exempt either, warping words in wild weird winsome ways of wistful wacky wonder. Elements of connected speech and phonics can easily be taught, demonstrated and practiced in this way.


Not only English as a foreign language, but teaching and learning other foreign languages can be made more dynamic in this way. There are tongue-twisters, rhymes, riddles, limericks and short, clean jokes available in most modern languages.

Key Poetic Elements in the English Language

As you may recall from your trappings with poetry and poetic elements in English, there are several distinct linguistic aspect associated with poems and poetry: rhyme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia being some major ones. Let’s take a brief look at these.

• Rhyme – This is most simply words which have the same or very similar ending sounds. It’s one of the best known pronunciation practice use forms. Words like play, day, slay, whey, clay, may, bay, hay or hey, and say are examples.

• Alliteration – repetition of a consonant sound in two or more words in a phrase or line such as: beautiful bubbling brown sugar or shafts of shimmering sunshine

• Assonance – similar sounds, like alliteration, but used in the internal syllables of a string of words (birthday weather, father’s brother, further mathematics, etc. to give you an idea)

• Consonance – repetition of certain stressed syllables in a pair, group or string of words (taker, baker, maker, shaker, Quaker but not quicker)

• Onomatopoeia – words which by their pronunciation imitate sounds
Words like whistle, tweet, boom, bag, pow, crash, crunch, slam, zoom, snap, crackle, pop, zip and zing among many, many others, fit into this category

If you want to delve into more details regarding elements of poetry, you might want to check out two other article posts I’ve done on the topic as a sort of “primer”. One is entitled, “How to Evoke Imagery, Emotions and Ideas in Writing Poetry That Captures Your Readers Imagination”. The other article post is entitled, “How to Write Poems That Capture the Heart and Imagination of Your Readers”.

In the next related article posts, we’ll continue looking at this little-used, fun and dynamic way to allow your English as a foreign language learners to enjoy their foreign language learning even more.

See you then.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

The Internet and Content-Based Spanish as a Foreign Language Learning Sites

A Useful and Versatile Foreign Language Learning Tool

If you’re a foreign language teacher or foreign language learner, you should take advantage of one of the most useful and versatile language learning methods available – the Internet. While using the internet for English as a foreign language learning is not exactly news anymore, using the internet as a foreign language learning tool has yet to be fully explored even among institutes and those whose progress in foreign language acquisition has been stalled. Two highly useful approaches that can be successfully applied to the learning of almost any foreign language are content-based instruction and task-based learning.

Learning Spanish Online Using CBI and TBL

As an example, suppose you want to learn or improve your Spanish using the internet. Using Content-Based Instruction and Task-Based Learning you might go onto websites in Spanish in order to learn by using the foreign language to acquire knowledge in cultural or Spanish-language-related areas like foods, travel, geography, music, folk lore, dance and other Spanish-speaking-country-based aspects. Here are some practical websites you could surf for ideas to boost your Spanish language skills while steeping yourself in related language elements. The sites are in Spanish but are not Spanish language teaching sites, instead the focus is on teaching and learning other themes which are taught and practiced in Spanish. Since they are principally web sites for native Spanish speakers, you’ll be getting authentic language throughout while your foreign language communicative skills take off like the space shuttle.

SENA Virtual (http://www.senavirtual.edu.co)

SENA or the Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje in Colombia offers quite a number of free online courses. These are great for learning and practicing the Spanish language in an authentic context while developing knowledge and skills in other areas too. I’ve actually gone through a couple of the cooking courses offered online here too – with excellent results, I might add. It’s an interesting, delicious introduction into the varied cultures of Colombia. Check out one of the cooking videos I produced during the SENA Colombian Foods cooking course in Spanish for “Arroz Llanero” online at YouTube.
Emagister.Com (http://www.emagister.com/)

This adult education site also features free online courses in Spanish. The areas of specialization here include Business Administration, internet, marketing and sales, and human rights, as well as finance, accounting and technical science and mathematics course offerings.

Mailxmail.com (http://www.mailxmail.com/)

This website boasts more than 1242 free online courses in Spanish. So whatever else interests you, you can very likely practice your Spanish language reading, writing and comprehension skills using authentic language. More than 270 internet and computer courses are offered including topics in Power Point, MS Word, Excel, Photo Shop, MS Office, Linux, Java, Flash and programming language tutorials. Another 390 plus courses are business administration and information based to help to hone your Spanish language and business operation skills. This could offer some great insight if you’re living and working in any one of the world’s 21 Spanish-speaking countries.

AulaFacil.com (http://www.aulafacil.com/)

At this likewise excellent web site for a flurry of free online courses in the Spanish language, the extensive lineup is headed by courses in Cooking, crafts, pets, painting and drawing in addition to several self-help course offerings. I found some of the cooking courses online here to be especially interesting too. After all, you do still EAT, don’t you? (Yeah, I thought so!) Well then, one great way into a foreign culture is through its foods.

coEduca.com (http://www.coeduca.com/)

Another good site with a Spanish ton of free online courses for those willing to take the plunge in ramping up their Spanish language skills to new and greater heights. The course theme areas vary from Arts and Culture to Science and Technology through Economics and Business in addition to Computer Sciences and Tourism and Gastronomy.

So your Spanish language acquisition can not only be intersting and fun but lively and delicious to boot. Who said that foreign language learning has to be boring, tedious or dull? In the words of Shaggy, “It wasn’t me”!





Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, author and public speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, "If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.