Examples of some of my photographs from magazines.

I promised to share some of my foreign language teaching techniques from time to time.  “Incorporating the Gouin Series in Spanish” was my first article on the subject after I wrote, “Review of Rosetta Stone Software.”  If you are interested in the Gouin Series or Rosetta Stone, please check out those two articles as well.

Without a doubt, the best way to learn a language is to surround yourself with the language whether you travel, move, or change your environment.  However, not everyone can fully immerse themselves in a language. My best moments were when I traveled to Mexico three times as a missionary while I was a teenager.  I was completely immersed in the culture and language.  In one week, I learned more than in all of my years of study.

The second best way to learn a language in my opinion is to force yourself to speak it. Reading a language is so much easier than actually putting the words, verbs, etc. into practice.  So how do we do this at home?  How do we encourage our children to speak a new language?

I use photographs from magazines.  I look for pages with interesting and colorful pictures.  I glue them on construction paper and laminate them for longevity.  The last step is optional, of course.

Using pages from magazines works well in any language, including English. So, don’t rule out implementing this technique if you are not teaching a foreign language at this time.  It is useful in any language class, foreign or domestic.

Let me explain.  A student must have some knowledge of vocabulary to do this fun exercise. It does not have to be a vast vocabulary.  You can start with just the basics.

Today I taught my kids that the word “Hay” (pronounced like I) is their friend.  It has four different meanings.  It can mean “There is” or “There are”.  In a question, it can mean “Is there?” or “Are there?”  It is their friend because they can communicate to an extent without conjugating verbs.

I allowed them to choose a photograph.  Jake chose the following picture.  Big surprise!
Now the assignment is this:

1) Look carefully at your picture.
2) Consider what you can say in the appropriate language.
3) Prepare 3-5 complete sentences in the language to describe the picture.  (This is where “Hay” becomes very helpful.)
4) Share your descriptions orally with everyone present.

Jake not only impressed me, but most importantly he impressed himself.  Armed with the word, “Hay,” he was able with his limited vocabulary to describe the photograph in Spanish.

The photograph also inspired him to learn a new word.  With my help he looked up and learned the word for saddle.  This example is one of the most simple ways to encourage someone to speak a language.  They are using the vocabulary that they know, but it also can catapult them into learning more words.

As your student’s vocabulary continues to grow, their sentences will naturally become more complex. Kyla, for example, has had more exposure to Spanish because she is older.  Her descriptions were much more complex than Jake’s as would be expected.  She included prepositional phrases, adjectives, and different verbs other than “Hay.”  Kyla was not consciously expressing herself on a higher level; she was just using what she knew.  It is very natural process.

Depending on your student’s abilities, the descriptive sentences can be written down for spelling and punctuation practice.  I personally would not rush into this as speaking a language is my priority.  However at some point, this next step is very appropriate.  And as their vocabulary and grammatical knowledge grows, entire paragraphs or even stories can be made up about a particular photograph from a magazine.

If you choose two different photographs, you can compare and contrast the pictures in your target language.  The educational possibilities are seemingly endless.  You just have to use what you’ve got and work with your student as his/her level.

A family’s photographs would work to a certain extent.  The thing that I loved about the photographs in magazines is that they are often advertisements.  Therefore, the pictures are really worth a thousand words and are very interesting.  Many are completely unusual.

For example, I have a photograph of 4 NCAA mascots checking into a hotel.  I have a man in the desert leading a camel pulling a jet ski.  And, I have a man trying to enjoy his lunch after putting in a sidewalk with a little boy walking right up to him through the wet cement.  The man’s face is priceless.

I do not receive many magazines at home.  Our library will set aside old magazines for free every once in a while.  Neighbors and people from church often look for someone to take their old magazines.  Ask around.  Let people know that you would like a few magazines in which to begin finding great photographs.  Utilizing these magazine ads and photos is a simple and inexpensive way to supplement any language program.

Tags: encouraging speaking, foreign language, magazine advertisements, old magazines, photographs, Spanish, supplement to foreign language study

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