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.

In the article, “Review of Rosetta Stone,” I talked about how Charlotte Mason relied on the findings of Francois Gouin when creating her own foreign language teaching theory.  Mr. Gouin was a big believer in making series.  All this means is that you would teach the language while doing something practical.

I chose to make a sandwich.  So, I put together a string of commands and sentences describing how to make a sandwich.  I taught them to my kids while showing them through a demonstration, not simply translating.  Then, I had them repeat the sentences.  Next they received their own sandwich making supplies and repeated the sentences after me while building their sandwich.  After much practice throughout the week of sandwich making, they were eventually ready to “perform” the series on their own.

The next step once they know the series well is to change the verb tense.  The main vocabulary stays the same, but the verb changes.  I always begin teaching the formal you or the Usted form.  I do not introduce the informal you or the Tu form.  In Texas, parents train their children to be polite.  We say “yes ma’am” and “no sir” when speaking to adults, I still do to older people.  Therefore, I wanted to teach my children to be polite in Spanish.  I consider it to be rude if you only addressed people in the familiar form.

Saying that, I begin the series with the formal commands.  In English the verb stays the same regardless, but not in Spanish.  So in our language it would be something like:

Take out two pieces of bread.  Spread mayonnaise on both slices.  Add cheese, turkey, lettuce, and tomato to one
slice of bread.  Place one slice on top of the tomato to make a sandwich.  Put the sandwich on a plate and enjoy.
(Take a bite.) Oh, how delicious!

The next time we did this exercise I would change from formal commands to present tense in the Yo form or 1st person singular form.  This would make the series say, “I take out two pieces of bread…”   Then you can change the tense to the past tense where they describe how they made a sandwich.

At this point, my children are well-versed in sandwich making vocabulary.  They easily recall the different food words.  Of course, they do not have to always make a turkey sandwich.  They can practice all different food vocabulary.  They have learned grammar without doing workbook pages of verb conjugations.  They have learned through a more natural process while doing a simple, everyday task.  It is the beauty of the series.

Now you just change the series to something else.  If they are learning about house vocabulary on Rosetta Stone, then create a series on the steps of cleaning a house.  Keep the series as simple as possible at first.  Dust the furniture.  Sweep the floors.  Vacuum the carpet.  Wash the dishes, etc.

The Gouin series enables your children to learn a foreign language by making it not so foreign.  The series becomes part of their day.  It becomes a part of their life.  They are literally working with the language in a hands-on manner.  Using the series is a great supplement to Rosetta Stone or any other foreign language curriculum.  All you have to do is try it.

Ideally, I would speak Spanish at home all day long so that my five children would learn it naturally like a native speaker.  Unfortunately, it just does not happen. And, I am not a “follow the curriculum to a tee” kind of girl.  When I was paid to teach Spanish, I never used the textbooks that the school purchased.  I did unit studies.  Back then, I only had to worry about a child’s education in Spanish.  I was not responsible for math, science, history, etc. unless it pertained to the language.  As a home-schooling mother, I feel a much heavier weight of responsibility on my shoulders.

I looked at the different foreign language curricula available.  Overall, I was not impressed.  Most of them seemed too similar to the textbooks I ignored in the public school systems.  I was not wanting to write my own for my children each year.  I could do it; I was capable, but with two little ones I did not feel like spending my time in this manner.  What to do?

Well, I went to an expert in education, Charlotte Mason.  I read everything she wrote on learning a foreign language in her own words.  Like everything else in her educational philosophy, Ms. Mason believed the most natural approach was the best.  She went along with the research and finding of  Mr. Francois Gouin.  He studied German and after a year could not speak it with any fluency.  Does this sound familiar?  Who has ever taken a foreign language class and not been able to converse in the language at all?  However, he noticed that his young nephew without formally studying a language could speak fluently.  Something must be wrong in the way one studies a language.  Gouin believed you need to expose yourself to new vocabulary daily connecting it with other words in a series.  His method is called the Series Method.

Of all the foreign language curricula available, the one I chose followed most closely, in my opinion, to the natural approach.  I purchased and use Rosetta Stone. I had levels 1 and 2 in the older version.  I am not one to buy the new and improved versions that come out.  Usually there is not enough improvement of the material to warrant my buying it.  However, the exception was Rosetta Stone Version 3.

The company had really overhauled the software.  It was so much better that I was amazed!  The pictures were better.  Writing, grammar, speaking, spelling, etc. is all integrated into the one unit.  It switches between the lessons to give you a well-rounded grounding in the language.  I was impressed how they changed their starting point and how they progressed through the language.  I loved how the program guided my children through the units and taught them the language, especially the correct pronunciation of the words.  This version even breaks down the word into its different syllables in order to better understand the pronunciation.

My absolutely favorite part is the milestone lesson at the end of each unit. The student has to carry on a conversation with the computer in different scenarios depending on the unit.  At the end of the first unit, the student finds himself/herself a hiker who stumbles upon a group of people camping.  The student has to enter the conversation and continue it.  It is great!  I am absolutely thrilled when I hear my child speak so well in a foreign language.  It is a confidence booster for my children, too.

My three oldest children do Rosetta Stone at their own pace and ability.  What does that mean?  How can a computer know what their ability is?  Well, it doesn’t, but you have a much better idea as the parent.  For example, my son Jake started using Rosetta Stone, Version 3 when he was in the 2nd grade.  Jake was learning to spell in English and I did not want him getting upset about misspelling Spanish.  I was more interested in him listening to and speaking in Spanish; therefore, I set up his program as such.  As the teacher, you have several options.

Even the makers of Rosetta Stone know that they cannot completely teach a child to be a native speaker by working through the lessons.  They give ideas to enhance the student’s education and make it as well-rounded as possible.  I also employ my own ideas, which I will be happy to share with you, but at another time as this article is getting quite lengthy.  In summation, Rosetta Stone, Version 3 is worth every penny. It is not the cheapest option, but it is the best available in my opinion.  I have only tried the Spanish language, but I am confident that the results would be the same regardless of what language you choose to study using this program.  To try it out free of charge click here.