General Resources

Best Practices / Expectations:

There are some things specific to class, and others just beneficial for language learning in general:

Speak and listen to Spanish EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Language is not just information - it is skill, practice, muscle-memory, cultural understanding, empathy, emotional, etc. You might be able to "cram" for a knowledge based quiz or test - but that doesn't really help you actually become more fluent in the language. Using Spanish for 10 or 15 minutes every day or so is better than going days without using it and then 'killing it' for a couple of hours. You need to digest it. Make it a part of you and your everyday life. Bring it into other areas of interest for you (outside of just language learning for its own sake).
Choose to be at ease with putting yourself in situations where you are not necessarily going to understand every word you hear/see. Go to local taquerías, pupuserías, Hispanic markets and restaurants, watch news/shows/movies/streaming en español, strike up conversations with Spanish-speaking co-workers, family, neighbors, friends and classmates. Attend a religious service in Spanish. Get a Spanish-speaking pen pal. Come have extra Spanish conversations with me or another Spanish teacher. STRETCH AND GROW!!
In class (and out of class, as possible) - use Spanish the entire time (when you are answering a question from the teacher OR from a peer, when you are completing an official activity, when you are talking informally, when what you are saying has nothing to do with the Spanish class itself, when you are making plans, when you are asking something personal, even when you know that your comment and/or the response would likely be easier to say and clearer to understand in English -- still use español!!
Use your resources (even when they are not "an assignment"). Don't let your fluency growth be limited by what the homework is on a certain day. Let your interest in Spanish open doors to your fluency.
@Non-native Speakers - interact with your Native speaking amigos, and have as many conversations as possible. BUT - treat them as human beings, not dictionaries! They are human - therefore fallible. Native Speakers sometimes give incorrect information, because they are telling you "the way we say it at my house", or how they best think on the spot to translate something (which sometimes they don't even say themselves in Spanish), or maybe they feel pressure from you that they are supposed to 'know everything' in Spanish. You can ask them, "How would YOU say this?", or "Do you know a way to say this?", etc. --something that doesn't set them up to be a dictionary for you.
@Native Speakers - DO NOT FEEL BAD ABOUT SAYING YOU'RE NOT SURE, OR YOU DON'T KNOW! They don't know "all English" and you don't know "All Spanish" (in every region, every country, every context, etc.). Don't put that pressure on yourself. We are all life-long learners. It does NOT make you any less Hispanic/Latino to admit that there are things you don't know - it just makes you human! Also, do NOT make fun of each other for being "more" or "less" Hispanic/Latino based on what Spanish they know/don't know or use/don't use. SOMOS UN EQUIPO.
DO NOT USE AUTOMATIC TRANSLATORS! Google Translate, the Translate section of SpanishDict.com, translating apps, etc. These are NOT good sources. You need to use dictionaries or dictionary sites which give you context, usage, part of speech, etc. Your brain should be involved in decision-making with the tool you use to find words. Anything you use that just spits out a translation is not approved for in-class use, and is in fact considered plagiarism (against school policy - grounds for discipline).
- Use Wordreference.com (see below in the RESOURCES section), or similar resource
- TIP: When you need to look up a verb, ALWAYS look it up in the infinitive (not conjugated) form. i.e. if you need to say, "He called them.", you would not look up "called" -- you would look up "to call". Then, you would use your brain/other resources to figure out the appropriate conjugation.

Help! We actually speak Spanish in my Spanish class! What do I do????

(Advice and experience from students who have walked in your shoes):

MAH00192.MP4

RESOURCES:

My #1 resource for practicing your conjugation forms:

Conjuguemos.COM

Note that as often as possible, you should be practicing the forms in an context-integrated way -- i.e. writing actual sentences, because that's what we do with language in real life!! (But as needed, this is a great SUPPORT tool for acquiring language)
https://conjuguemos.com/

<< Find "Spanish" under the library menu or on the homepage (if you're on a computer/larger device). You'll click on "VERBS" to practice just conjugations, but the other options below are useful as well. The "GRAMMAR" section is similar, but includes more grammar points than just verb conjugations - and it is within sentence context. It basically creates live worksheets which you can check for accuracy. The "LISTENING ACTIVITIES" section is a growing set of videos of people from various countries who speak on a variety of subjects. This is a great section to develop your 'ear' for understanding many different dialects of Spanish.

After clicking "VERBS" you can choose from the list of different verb tenses and moods. They are usually split up between regular, different irregular groups, and then all grouped back together.

<< I usually recommend you practice with the "Graded Practice Mode", but there are many other gaming options below as well. And, if you just want to see a bunch of the conjugation charts for that particular tense 'at a glance', click on "Conjugation Chart".

Once you click "Graded Practice Mode", you'll see the image to the right. You can click in the time box and adjust to whatever time you want to give yourself [red]. I usually recommend that you put a short time (1 - 2 minutes) - that way you can practice several times in a row to check your progress on accuracy quickly. The start/stop button is in the orange. The blue customize button allows you to choose how you want to be quizzed for the conjugations (i.e. full chart, one person at a time, leave out or include vosotros, etc.). The pink circle shows the text box where you will type your conjugations. It is important to note that the "+ Accent" button allows you to add accent marks as needed. You have to click that immediately following the letter that needs to be accented. Then, you can finish typing the word. The purple, of course, shows you who you are conjugating for, and which verb.

StudySpanish.com

is a good site for practicing various grammar points in a fuller context. This site usually gives a lot of instruction and examples, in addition to practice opportunities.

http://studyspanish.com/

Learn Spanish Online at StudySpanish.comLearn Spanish with our free online tutorials with audio, cultural notes, grammar, vocabulary, verbs drills, and links to helpful sites.

Wordreference.com:

Wordreference is my #1 recommended dictionary site for looking up words you don't know.

Benefits of Wordreference:

It is NOT just a translator (translators don't work, give you misinformation, and stop you from learning!)
It gives you part of speech (noun, adjective, verb, adverb, etc.)
It gives you the context - a full sentence in which you could use the word.
It generally has MANY options for terms so that you can see the different contexts to DECIDE which one is the correct term to use.
- EXAMPLE: looking up the term "take": http://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=take
(When available) they differentiate between which terms are used in different countries.
It has language forums. You can either search the language forums directly from the homepage, or - after looking up any term, scroll down to the bottom to find any open forums relating to that term. These forums are interesting for two reasons.
- [1] It shows you possible options for phrases or terms which are not made clear in the dictionary section. You get feedback from native speakers of the language.
- [2] You get to see discussions BETWEEN native speakers. This helps you to see and understand that language is not as simple as, "How do you say this in Spanish?" There are MANY terms and phrases which are different in different Spanish-speaking countries.
Verb Conjugators: Click on this tab to enter in any verb you're unsure of. It will populate all the conjugations for every tense and mood of the verb.