# How to teach English to a Spaniard?



## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Hi. I have an offer from one of my Spanish neighbours to study together - Spanish for me and English for him. I've got my study tools lined up, thanks to forum members who helped in another thread, but I have no idea what to give him to study. He doesn't speak a word of English. What we're thinking of doing is taking our laptops to a local café and studying there. So I'm hoping someone knows of an online teaching site for English to Spaniards. I'm looking for just basic Spanish words, phrases and sentences - not the whole language. Thank you in advance for any help provided.


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

AllHeart said:


> Hi. I have an offer from one of my Spanish neighbours to study together - Spanish for me and English for him. I've got my study tools lined up, thanks to forum members who helped in another thread, but I have no idea what to give him to study. He doesn't speak a word of English. What we're thinking of doing is taking our laptops to a local café and studying there. So I'm hoping someone knows of an online teaching site for English to Spaniards. I'm looking for just basic Spanish words, phrases and sentences - not the whole language. Thank you in advance for any help provided.


If you feel like a pirate, google Vaughan Vocabulary 1 and Translation A. They are good places to start teaching a total newbie - as long as they study!!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

elenetxu said:


> If you feel like a pirate, google Vaughan Vocabulary 1 and Translation A. They are good places to start teaching a total newbie - as long as they study!!


Hi Elenetxu. Thanks for your suggestions.

I found this book for purchase for Vaughan Vocabulary 1:
Vocabulary booklet 1 - Tienda Online - Vaughan Systems

I forgot to say that I'm hoping to get something for free. :fingerscrossed:

Translation A came up with a billion results. I don't know what you're referring to here:

https://www.google.es/webhp?sourcei...ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=translation+a&start=0


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

elenetxu said:


> If you feel like a pirate, google Vaughan Vocabulary 1 and Translation A. They are good places to start teaching a total newbie - as long as they study!!


... can you provide a link please. It would help enormously.


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## Susanna345 (Apr 29, 2015)

I will be nice if you learn from rosetta stone. They sell multiple languages DVDs that teach you small basic words to start off then you will get better at constructing your sentence.


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## Tigerlillie (Apr 7, 2015)

I taught english to teenagers when I lived in france and there are many free tools and worksheets that range from beginners upwards. If you type in 'ESL worksheets online for beginners' in your browser there are many good resource websites out there, it is just a case of going through them and finding one or however many you want that suit yours and your students needs. Have a look at this website for starters:

http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topicsmenu/beginners.html


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I'm sure neither of you want to spend any money. Google "Free EFL resources for beginners" and there are loads. This for example:

Beginners. Free Printable ESL materials. | ESL Lounge


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Susanna345 said:


> I will be nice if you learn from rosetta stone. They sell multiple languages DVDs that teach you small basic words to start off then you will get better at constructing your sentence.


Hi Susanna. Thank you for your suggestion, but I bought Rosetta Stone myself to learn Spanish and found it very disappointing - to put it mildly - even if it were free. It's outrageously expensive and the method sucks. Don't get me started!  But I do appreciate your suggestion.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Tigerlillie said:


> I taught english to teenagers when I lived in france and there are many free tools and worksheets that range from beginners upwards. If you type in 'ESL worksheets online for beginners' in your browser there are many good resource websites out there, it is just a case of going through them and finding one or however many you want that suit yours and your students needs. Have a look at this website for starters:
> 
> http://www.esolcourses.com/content/topicsmenu/beginners.html





Alcalaina said:


> I'm sure neither of you want to spend any money. Google "Free EFL resources for beginners" and there are loads. This for example:
> 
> Beginners. Free Printable ESL materials. | ESL Lounge


Hi Alcalaina and Tigerlillie. Fabulous suggestions for googling.  The links you posted are with English instruction. Based on your suggestions, I googled "free ESL for Spanish speakers," and I hit the jackpot. Thank you! I found this page which has lots of suggestions. I've been going through them to find one that has Spanish instruction, since he doesn't speak a word of English. For my Spanish, that's what I use - with English instruction - and I really like that. So I'll go through these links and post here which sites on here look good, just in case anyone else is interested. So here's the site I'll be looking through:

https://sites.google.com/a/beloit.edu/eslmaterials/spanishspeakers


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## amespana (Nov 10, 2009)

This is also a situation which may affect us.We live in a small Spanish community in Estepona.We have a lovely Spanish family next door.My wife and I are 60ish and retired,our neighbours are probably 35 ish with two young children.My Spanish is a work in progress but much better than my neighbours English (so he says).Anyway several times he has mentioned to me that his 4 yr old son is going to English classes.Obviously he would appreciate some help from us along the way which we would be more than happy to give.However we've not had kids nor do I have any teaching experience.So I would be grateful for any tips to help my young neighbour on his way. The above advice is obviously for the much older.Tia.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

amespana said:


> This is also a situation which may affect us.We live in a small Spanish community in Estepona.We have a lovely Spanish family next door.My wife and I are 60ish and retired,our neighbours are probably 35 ish with two young children.My Spanish is a work in progress but much better than my neighbours English (so he says).Anyway several times he has mentioned to me that his 4 yr old son is going to English classes.Obviously he would appreciate some help from us along the way which we would be more than happy to give.However we've not had kids nor do I have any teaching experience.So I would be grateful for any tips to help my young neighbour on his way. The above advice is obviously for the much older.Tia.


Hi Amespana. Who are you calling old?!  What a delightful opportunity for you to teach English to a four-year-old. When I go through those sites, I'll bear in mind your request and post with any good ones for kids.


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## Helenameva (Aug 15, 2014)

The British Council website has some good stuff for learning English Learn English | British Council , teaching English TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC and a special Brucie bonus site for teaching kids Teaching kids | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC with videos and interactive games.


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## amespana (Nov 10, 2009)

No offence intended All heart.But having read many of your posts I would have thought you were much older than four.At least heading into your high teens as my wife and sometimes feel and sometimes behave!Keep smiling!


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

amespana said:


> This is also a situation which may affect us.We live in a small Spanish community in Estepona.We have a lovely Spanish family next door.My wife and I are 60ish and retired,our neighbours are probably 35 ish with two young children.My Spanish is a work in progress but much better than my neighbours English (so he says).Anyway several times he has mentioned to me that his 4 yr old son is going to English classes.Obviously he would appreciate some help from us along the way which we would be more than happy to give.However we've not had kids nor do I have any teaching experience.So I would be grateful for any tips to help my young neighbour on his way. The above advice is obviously for the much older.Tia.


My specialty is teaching very young learners - I love teaching 4 year olds! Super Simple Songs are a great way to have fun and teach at the same time. Most of them are on You Tube if you search for them there so you don't need to buy anything. The webpage has a ton of helpful resources. 

If you have a way to get your hands on children's story books in English (library?) reading to your little friend is also something you could do. Kids love being read to, and they can usually follow along by looking at the pictures as you point things out. 

Have fun!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

First you need to think about whether the student is a beginner who doesn't even know the verb to be and the number 1 - 100, is he a false beginner, someone who knows the basics like personal information questions (what's your name, what's your phone number etc) how to get a cup of coffee and how to ask for help or if he can get as far as talking about the weekend, hobbies and his family which could be elementary level.
Using internet as a basis is a little risky taking ito consideration that the student is a beginner and I think AllHeart isn't a teacher (Is that right?) I think you can both get lost after a while and that can be demotivating and difficult to find your way out. Also the quality of internet stuff varies a great deal and a lot of it is written by non native teachers and is riddled with mistakes. Also most of the beginners stuff is aimed at children. Lastly, you can spend an inordinate amount of time looking for something on internet and end up looking at tribal life in Chad instead of introducing yourself at a party. My advice is "Use with Caution". I would invest in a good book that can be supplemented and pepped up by internet and photocopies when needed.
Unfortunately that can be expensive although some can be downloaded illegally, but you'll need CDs too

A couple more pointers
Have a plan ie daily activities things that you did at school, the weekend, in the office - think about vocabulary and structures.
Always go over what you've done before
Try to do the same area of work in different ways ie pictures, texts, watching videos
Do include listening activities

Here are some links that may help you

https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/beginner/?cc=us&selLanguage=en

Real English ESL Videos & Lessons. Real English is a Registered Trademark of The Marzio School. (old, but good)


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

you could always teach him this poem.....
Bet you're glad you're not learning English as a foreign language!

:heh:


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

amespana said:


> No offence intended All heart.But having read many of your posts I would have thought you were much older than four.At least heading into your high teens as my wife and sometimes feel and sometimes behave!Keep smiling!


Here I thought that was a dig at my profile pic  You bring to mind the expression, you're only as old you feel. And with that, I keep smiling.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> you could always teach him this poem.....
> Bet you're glad you're not learning English as a foreign language!
> 
> :heh:


What a riot!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> First you need to think about whether the student is a beginner who doesn't even know the verb to be and the number 1 - 100, is he a false beginner, someone who knows the basics like personal information questions (what's your name, what's your phone number etc) how to get a cup of coffee and how to ask for help or if he can get as far as talking about the weekend, hobbies and his family which could be elementary level.
> Using internet as a basis is a little risky taking ito consideration that the student is a beginner and I think AllHeart isn't a teacher (Is that right?) I think you can both get lost after a while and that can be demotivating and difficult to find your way out. Also the quality of internet stuff varies a great deal and a lot of it is written by non native teachers and is riddled with mistakes. Also most of the beginners stuff is aimed at children. Lastly, you can spend an inordinate amount of time looking for something on internet and end up looking at tribal life in Chad instead of introducing yourself at a party. My advice is "Use with Caution". I would invest in a good book that can be supplemented and pepped up by internet and photocopies when needed.
> Unfortunately that can be expensive although some can be downloaded illegally, but you'll need CDs too
> 
> ...


Wow, what a lot of great suggestions! Thank you so very much. This guy doesn't speak a word of English. No, I'm not an English teacher. I'm not teaching him; we're studying together - Spanish for me and English for him. We're just going to help each other in our studies when we get stuck. That's why I'm looking for something with Spanish instruction, so that he can study on his own. All of the links you posted are in English. Hopefully someone else can benefit from them. The other pointers are most helpful too. Thank you for being there.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

AllHeart said:


> Wow, what a lot of great suggestions! Thank you so very much. This guy doesn't speak a word of English. No, I'm not an English teacher. I'm not teaching him; we're studying together - Spanish for me and English for him. We're just going to help each other in our studies when we get stuck. That's why I'm looking for something with Spanish instruction, so that he can study on his own. All of the links you posted are in English. Hopefully someone else can benefit from them. The other pointers are most helpful too. Thank you for being there.


All Heart, some of the videos are very simple and deal with saying hello for example.
It's often forgotten that one of the things learners have to learn is that in the real (English speaking) world they are not in control of the language like they are in their native tongue. They're not going to understand everything, shouldn't try to and shouldn't expect to, and getting to that stage of picking out what you need to understand and what you can understand is a skill that has to be learnt along with adverbs of frequency.

I've taught beginners in English, and nowadays I would use some Spanish, but a minimum. The instructions don't need to be in Spanish for example. After a couple of exercises they should understand listen, read, write, underline etc and that becomes part of their vocabulary.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> All Heart, some of the videos are very simple and deal with saying hello for example.
> It's often forgotten that one of the things learners have to learn is that in the real (English speaking) world they are not in control of the language like they are in their native tongue. They're not going to understand everything, shouldn't try to and shouldn't expect to, and getting to that stage of picking out what you need to understand and what you can understand is a skill that has to be learnt along with adverbs of frequency.
> 
> I've taught beginners in English, and nowadays I would use some Spanish, but a minimum. The instructions don't need to be in Spanish for example. After a couple of exercises they should understand listen, read, write, underline etc and that becomes part of their vocabulary.


Yes, I agree that the instructions don't have to be in Spanish, but if possible it's better, I think. I'm just speaking from my own experience in learning Spanish, where I prefer the instruction to be in English. 

I just found what I'm looking for, at least to start with. This is one of the sites recommended on the page I gave earlier in the thread. This is even better than what I was looking for, as it's a bilingual site. I'm thinking this is something we can study together, as some of this beginner stuff is new to me too. He'll be way behind me in learning, so I can study it with him, and then as he's studying more I can turn to my own Spanish studies. Then when he's done, we can go on to the next section. I just can't get on with own studies, so this is good incentive to study with him to get cracking. So here's the bilingual site, in case anyone else is interested:

Pumarosa.com Escuela Bilingue Interactiva Gratuita para estudiantes de habla hispana

Here's the beginner's section we'll start with:

Pumarosa.com Escuela Bilingue Interactiva Gratuita para estudiantes de habla hispana


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

One problem you may have is first teaching the Spaniard to speak Spanish rather than Andalu' or some other dialect.


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> One problem you may have is first teaching the Spaniard to speak Spanish rather than Andalu' or some other dialect.


Thank you for your input, Mr. Smartie Pants!


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

Amespana, I didn't find anything in the list of sites I went through for a four-year-old kid. But I found a channel on YouTube that you might like, which has educational videos that are definitely geared towards a young crowd. Some of these are in Spanish and others in English. Maybe Kalohi will find these useful too? Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr3ZBNAEl--RsK1aeFqUKoA


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

I just found another video for little kids with 50 plus English songs. It's really cute!


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

With my limited experience of Spain from what I have observed so far for Brits to converse with Spaniards it appears just shouting louder in English is the way to go


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

AllHeart said:


> I just found another video for little kids with 50 plus English songs. It's really cute!
> 
> Top 50 Hit Songs | 50+ Mins | Collection Of Animated English Nursery Rhymes in HD For Kids - YouTube


Some of the pronunciation is atrocious - Baa baa black sheep have you any will?????


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

kalohi said:


> My specialty is teaching very young learners - I love teaching 4 year olds! Super Simple Songs are a great way to have fun and teach at the same time. Most of them are on You Tube if you search for them there so you don't need to buy anything. The webpage has a ton of helpful resources.
> 
> If you have a way to get your hands on children's story books in English (library?) reading to your little friend is also something you could do. Kids love being read to, and they can usually follow along by looking at the pictures as you point things out.
> 
> Have fun!


I am so in love with that website. My six year olds adore it too!


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> Some of the pronunciation is atrocious - Baa baa black sheep have you any will?????


Maybe it's a modern take on an old song.  The black sheep could represent Barcenas while the three bags full could easily be the (in)famous envelopes...


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## Tigerlillie (Apr 7, 2015)

Rabbitcat said:


> With my limited experience of Spain from what I have observed so far for Brits to converse with Spaniards it appears just shouting louder in English is the way to go


I love this, having lived in france I have seen this there as well, always makes me laugh at the stupidity of some people. Why do people think shouting in broken english will make the person they're shouting at somehow miraculously understand what they're saying? :confused2:

How to talk to foreigners:

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Talk_to_Foreigners


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