How to teach Spanish to beginners?
We give you 5 tips to teach Spanish to beginners while you start your professional career with Teacher Training courses.
Teaching Spanish to beginners is easy when you are teaching a monolingual group, you just need to have studied their language. However, to teach Spanish to a multilingual group you will need to standardize communication in one language. In this case it is recommended to use the English language because it is known in more countries, so you will have to take English teacher training course to learn the process of learning the language.
Prepare yourself with Teacher Training to teach Spanish professionally and follow the following tips to guarantee the progress of your students in Spanish courses.
What to focus on when teaching Spanish to beginners?
A worldwide classification for the level of language learners is beginner, intermediate and advanced. A beginner Spanish learner focuses on learning the essential use of the language such as: presentation, basic vocabulary and everyday phrases. Therefore, the first lessons for teaching Spanish to beginners will focus on how to ask questions, construct simple sentences and basic concepts.
5 tips for teaching Spanish from scratch to beginners
Clear and short instructions
The most important thing when teaching Spanish to beginners is to speak in short and simple sentences. You should even repeat them when necessary and use body language to exemplify the meaning.
Apply the language learning process you learned in the Spanish teacher training courses: start the Spanish courses using texts with simple sentence structure, vocabulary and verb tenses. In addition, you should vary the structure of an intensive Spanish Course by combining short explanations with interactive and practical activities.
Use material and expressions to teach Spanish
Remember that teaching Spanish to beginners requires the use of support tools. ELE teachers should have whiteboards, projectors, books or videos. Implementing visual material allows for the comprehension of concepts and increases information retention. Therefore, during the planning of Spanish classes to teach Spanish to beginners, include images or objects that allow you to explain concepts quickly and accurately. Remember that you can use the language teaching process in IH Riviera Maya’s Teacher Training courses.
Also, prepare material for activities that encourage language practice in the classroom. This is an excellent way to get students to speak in complete and correct sentences, using the language they have learned in the Spanish courses.
Repeat everything to teach Spanish from scratch
Teaching Spanish to beginners requires repeating words and phrases constantly to become familiar with the sounds of the new language. In grammar Spanish classes, break a sentence into units and build it again. This practice helps to recognize grammatical elements and increase speaking skills, learn more techniques in Spanish teacher training courses.
Test comprehension when teaching Spanish to beginners
One mistake is to assume that the content of Spanish courses will be understood from the first explanation. When teaching Spanish to beginners it is essential to evaluate the comprehension of each lesson, however some students prefer not to ask questions or resolve doubts.
One of the skills as a Spanish teacher is to learn to read the body language of the students. At the end of each lesson, end with an “Understood?” Students will let you know directly or subtly if they have understood the topic.
Developing additional skills as a Spanish teacher requires experience and practice, but the first step is professional preparation. So we recommend you start your career with Teacher Training for beginning teachers.
Practice, practice, practice
By now you recognize that to teach Spanish to beginners you must provide clear instructions and check for understanding. Additionally, you need to allocate enough time for students to practice what you have just explained.
We recommend that you incorporate the four Spanish language skills into the practice activities: reading, writing, listening and speaking. In this way, Spanish courses will allow you to develop all communication skills at the same time.
Can Spanish be taught without knowing English?
As mentioned above, Spanish teachers must have knowledge of other languages in order to be able to teach Spanish to foreigners. Although it is not essential to know different languages, it is important to have a high level of English in order to standardize communication in the classroom. IH Riviera Maya offers English Training for English teachers.
At IH Riviera Maya you can choose between TKT courses to be able to teach English professionally or update your knowledge and techniques as an English teacher with a CELTA course.
Learn more about our English teacher training courses at the official website of IH Riviera Maya.
