This site on Spanish language and culture offers a reading of a poem, “Instantes”, that talks about what the author would do if given the chance to live his life over again. The site provides the text as well as the audio of the poem. This could be a good exercise to promote a discussion about what the students might change in their lives if allowed to do so. The activity could lead to great use of the conditional verb tense and “if” clauses, as well as allow students the opportunity to be creative with their language. A teacher could play this poem in class and assign students the task of creating their own personal poem to be read aloud the following class.
Another link from this same website presents a receptionist at a hotel describing a scary experience that happened to her while she was working. This video is most appropriate for more advanced students as the speech is natural and no transcript is provided (although there are exercises for learners to fill in the blanks if they do so on their own). In the classroom, a teacher could play this at the beginning of an activity in which the students will talk about a scary time in their own lives, which could be done in small groups or in pairs. The clip focuses on the preterite and imperfect forms of the past tense and provides the students with an authentic example of how people relate stories in Spanish which could be used to help them create their own.
http://coerll.utexas.edu/spintx/
Spanish in Texas website. Contains videos of Spanish speakers discussing their lives and the use of Spanish in their lives.
http://coerll.utexas.edu/spintx/
Spanish in Texas website. Contains videos of Spanish speakers discussing their lives and the use of Spanish in their lives.
First of all, what an interesting poem! I am sure that would generate so much discussion. I love activities that end up having students talk about real things, things they're very interested in. Your idea about using this poem was really cool, and it reminded me of an activity I really like with one Spanish professor I had. She had us read the poem "Autorretrato" by Pablo Neruda (you can find it here: http://puntachumba.blogspot.com/2007/09/autorretrato-de-pablo-neruda.html) and then she had us write poems about people in our lives in the same way. I ended up writing poems about people and giving it to them as gifts. It was a really cool experience to be creative in another language, and also to use my language skills in my personal life.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the poem site, too. Being given the opportunity for introspection in a different medium of communication has always excited me. It takes learning the subjunctive and the conditional to a whole new level, allowing students to both practice a grammar point and think about their lives at the same time. Giving students the oppportunity to reflect on a deeper level is a great thing to include in a language course. Students might learn more about eachother than they had ever imagined they could know. Maybe they it would even have them find a new outlook on life. Very good site.
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