It’s always a good idea to get students practicing using language for practical purposes. I found a site by Harry G. Tuttle that includes links to different menus from various Spanish speaking countries to help students practice conversation. The teacher could use this site in the classroom (as long as she has access to a computer and a projector because most of the links are to photographs) to have the students practice ordering food. The class could be put in groups and given an imaginary budget and take turns being clients or waiter. One link has a menu with a pretty bad English translation and could be used to promote some funny discussions about the risk of directly translating (check out the trout section).The teacher could check for comprehension of food words by asking the students about why they chose to order the dish they did and get them to talk about where the food might come from (beef comes from a cow, tortillas are made with corn, wheat, etc.) or how someone might go about preparing it.
Teachers can arrange to have sets of the Ahora Sí publication sent to their classrooms in Austin. Current, local events are always a great motivator for discussions. Check out the website:
The source (in case the link above doesn't work) is "Newspapers in Education- Ahora Sí"
http://orlandokelm.wordpress.com/spanish-language/
Orlando Kelm's website, contains some good links and lots of good advice on language teaching.
http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/clozeline/
Zachary Jones' Zambombazo: contains worksheets and activities that utilize TONS of real-world, authentic materials (current events, popular culture, etc.)
http://orlandokelm.wordpress.com/spanish-language/
Orlando Kelm's website, contains some good links and lots of good advice on language teaching.
http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/clozeline/
Zachary Jones' Zambombazo: contains worksheets and activities that utilize TONS of real-world, authentic materials (current events, popular culture, etc.)
I love all those "real world" menu pictures! Colorful and so authentic- students can practice and develop a real skill necessary for travel or living in a Spanish-speaking country. Also you could use these as a mini multi-step reading activity. First look over it and pick 3 dishes that look good, then examine the ingredients listed, guess what the ones you don't recognize mean, compare and share knowledge in partners then choose one dish. Love this collection of photos!
ReplyDeleteThis is neat because it shows a diversity of real-life menus. I couldn't open all of the links, but I could use the available ones or search for more examples on the internet. This would be a great activity for my ESL classes, too (except have English menus!).
ReplyDeleteI have to admit to loving the trout section! I have seen this type of menu before. As you pointed out, such a menu could be used to demonstrate the risk of direct translation. Students often think they can get away with plugging their native-language text into an online translator; this type of menu is proof that direct translation can be pretty ineffective.
ReplyDeleteA nice activity that would surely generate a lot of laughter would involve having students "fix" real menus like the trout menu.
I pretty much agree with what everyone else said about this resource. I think it would be really motivating to students to see authentic menus from Spanish-speaking countries and see how they are learning things that could be used in the real world. I also like the idea of an activity showing the hazards of online dictionaries in translating. It is probably eye-opening to students to see the results in their native language.
ReplyDelete