¡Inglés para Padres!

Daniel Welsch es un profesor de inglés que vive en Madrid. Tiene 10 años de experiencia enseñando a adultos y he decidido darle la palabra pensando en aquellos padres que quieren participar más activamente en el aprendizaje del inglés de sus hijos. 

Estoy segura de que os vendrá muy bien!
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¿Tienes hijos que están estudiando el inglés?

Ya sabrás lo importante que es aprender el inglés para los niños de hoy en día, y querrás ayudarles a aprobar en la asignatura pendiente de los españoles. Si nunca has aprendido el inglés o si llevas un tiempo sin tocarlo, puede que ahora sea el momento de empezar!

Mi libro electrónico, Inglés Para Principiantes, explica en 30 unidades todo lo más importante para el estudiante del nivel inicial. Es fruto de una década de experiencia enseñando el inglés en escuelas y empresas de Madrid, y el conocimiento que eso aporta. En estos años he aprendido muy bien qué son las necesidades y las dudas de los hispanohablantes a la hora de enfrentarse con mi idioma y puedo explicar todo de una forma comprensible.

El libro contiene la gramática básica--los mismos temas que estarán aprendiendo tus hijos en el colegio. Presente simple, presente continuo, pasado simple, los verbos más importantes y el vocabulario imprescindible. 

Además contiene unos textos para practicar, conversaciones básicas, y listas del vocabulario necesario. Todo está explicado en un español claro y sencillo, con muchos ejemplos para ilustrar los puntos.

Para ver más de lo que hago, entra en mi página web http://madridingles.es donde tengo unos 600 artículos gratuitos sobre el inglés y el aprendizaje de idiomas. Puedes suscribir a las actualizaciones por correo y aprender más un par de veces a la semana. 

Inglés Para Principiantes está disponible en Amazon.com … Amazon.es … iBooks de Apple o bien puedes cómprarlo directamente de mi.

¡Gracias y espero verte pronto en la web!

Daniel.

GUESS WHAT?!? A Guessing Card Game for Kindle!

Do you remember GUESS WHAT?!? 

The vocabulary card game designed to prepare the Cambridge FLYERS A1 level exam?

Well, it's finally available for KINDLE!

I published the Card Game on Amazon, so you can have a quick, readymade resource to  use at home or during your English classes.

Words and phrases you'll find on the cards: 

BACK, EXTINCT, FUR, SWAN, WILD, WINGS.

BLOND(E), BEARD, CURLY, FAIR, MOUSTACHE, NECK, SHOULDERS, STRAIGHT, FINGER, TOE. 

STRIPED, SPOTTED, NECKLACE, RING, SILVER, BRIGHT.

GRANDCHILD (REN), GRANDPARENT, GET MARRIED, GROWN UP

CHOPSTICKS,THIRSTY, SMELL, TASTE, FLOUR.

COUGH, EARACHE, HURT, TEMPERATURE, CHEMIST'S.

A version for iPad and iPhone will be ready soon!

Don't miss it!

I design series of activities based on a communicative method that will help children to practice the grammar they're learning at school.

Many ESL activities, I see, are nothing more than 'fill in the blank' exercises that only teach kids how to fill in blanks and miss the whole point of learning to speak and understand a new language.

It's much easier and more fun to learn by doing, and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll see valuable results. 

You can get my activities on my online store:

http://childreneslworksheets.bigcartel.com

MARY'S TOOTH

It looks like my 3 (nearly 4) year-old students, who attend a bilingual public school here in Madrid, know the names of the parts of the body, mentioned in the famous song Head Shoulders Knees and Toes,  almost perfectly.

They also enjoy any activity related to this subject.

So, Mary's Tooth was exactly what I needed to close this cycle of lessons.

The book is about a little girl, probably the age of my children, who, one day, is eating a snack on the playground of her school.

At this point, (1st page) I heard: " No, no. ¡No se come en el patio! ¡Solo en el comedor!" (She can't eat in the playground! Only in the dining hall!)

I must admit that it was hilarious!

Well, turning pages, we find out that one of her teeth falls out and she carefully wraps it to take it home and safely place it under her pillow.

But, unfortunately, once she is back home, she can't find the tooth!!! 

If you play this moment up just a little, you'll notice a couple of reactions: some of the listener will sympathize with Mary showing a worried little face, while some others will try to find the tooth among the several school objects Mary's frantically throwing out of her schoolbag. 

Anyway, at some point the Tooth Fairy manages to fix the situation by passing the responsability to 'Ratoncito Perez' (a famous mouse who is the Spanish version of the Tooth Fairy), who manages to lead the story towards a happy ending.

Now, my students weren't totally satisfied with the present that Mary finds the next day. Therefore I took the opportunity to ask them what they were expecting and let them draw their answers.

This book, like The Moon is Cold and At The Fair, belongs to the First Steps collection, published by Algar Editorial.

Exactly like those previous one has got a little cartoon on the top left corner. This time it shows the Ratoncito Perez taking out a present.

Enjoy it!

TWINKLE TOTS, CantaJuegos en Inglés

Empezamos con este post una nueva sección del blog dedicada a las actividades para peques en inglés. Estrenamos desde Madrid con el primer invitado: TWINKLE TOTS, una idea de Sara

Hola Sara, háblanos un poco de tu idea, ¿qué es Twinkle Tots?

He trabajado desde 2005 en España con actividades creativas en inglés para niños y jóvenes. 

En principio era a través del teatro. Yo veía el nivel bastante malo de inglés que tenían la mayoría de los jóvenes y la presión que había para que aprendieran el idioma. 

Esta presión también pesaba en mi situación personal; cuando conocí a mi pareja, él estaba un poco disgustado de descubrir qué yo fuese inglesa, porque pasaba totalmente del fanatismo del inglés. 

Entonces me di cuenta que parte del problema era la enseñanza - que los profesores nativos eran muy escasos (insisto que hace falta un nativo para poder coger buen acento y soltura) y había tanta presión que los niños se volvían rebeldes!

Entonces pensé que, quizás, lo que les ayudaría sería una actividad en inglés MUY divertida, sin exigencias, desde una edad muy joven para crear ya una buena base para el resto de su aprendizaje. 

Básicamente mi pensamiento era 'si tienen ganas de verme y jugar conmigo a mi estilo (en inglés) pues quizás no estarán tan resistentes en las aulas'.

Vaya historia no?!?

Bueno, entonces surgió Twinkle Tots. La música es ideal para la estimulación temprana. Y como yo soy actriz y cantante....

¿Qué es lo que más te gusta de tu trabajo?

Cuando me sorprenden los peques. 

De repente un niño que lleva un mes sin responderme se pone a hacer los bailecitos, o me dice 'bye bye, Sara' al final de la clase! Me encanta!

¿Qué es lo que más les gusta a los niños?

Les encantan las pegatinas! 

Empiezo la clase dandoles una pegatina con su nombre a cada uno y es un momento muy especial para ellos. 

También les encanta tocar los instrumentos

¿Cuál es la canción qué tiene más éxito?

Uff, pues será un empate entre The Wheels on the Bus y Five Little Monkeys

¿Realmente Funciona?

Sí, pero no lo puedo hacer sola. La participación de los padres es esencial. 

Se nota muchísimo cuando los padres se lo curran para aprender las canciones y los gestos, porque los niños vuelven la semana siguiente muy familiarizados con las canciones. 

Hay padres que me piden dejar a los niños solos en clase, pera la verdad es que lo pasan mucho mejor bailando y cantando en familia - otra cosa que creo que es esencial para un buen  aprendizaje: hay que hacer las cosas JUNTOS.

>>INFO CLASES 

Todavía no tengo un lugar propio - ese es el meta!

Nos pueden encontrar en los siguientes lugares:

Los lunes en El Bosque Encantado 17.15 y 18.15

Los miércoles en Sus Pequeños Pasos 16.45 y 17.30

Los jueves en la Bolsa Mágica 12.00

Baby Deli Lagasca 16.00

Grey Elephant 18.00

Los viernes en Baby Deli Pozuelo, 16.30

Los sábados y domingos en lugares distintos:

Entre Mamás, El Mundo de Mozart, Fun& Fit, Living Baby, Quisicosas

También hacemos fiestas de cumpleaños y talleres puntuales para colegios.

CONTACTOS

saramontgomerycampbell@gmail.com

         

Teaching English through games 2: GO FISH!

Apart from 'Guess Who?' I also use this simple card game called 'Go Fish' that can be played by a small group of children (from 3 up to 10 players).

You need a deck of matching cards (like the ones we use for a memory game). So for example I have a deck of cards representing animals in which there are 2 elephants, 2 mice, 2 penguins etc.

Deal 5 or 6 cards to each player, depending on how much time you want to spend playing, and leave the rest of the deck, faced down, in the middle of the table.

The aim of the game is to get pairs of cards. 

One kid, Antonio, starts asking to his classmate, Luis: "Luis, Have you got a TURTLE?"

If Luis has indeed a turtle (yes, I have), then he will give it to Antonio, who gets a point for the pair of TURTLES.

If Luis hasn't got any card showing a TURTLE (No, I haven't), then he will tell Antonio to 'Go Fish'

In this case Antonio picks a card and the game passes to the next player.

The next guy will ask another about an animal he needs to match cards, and so on, until someone ends up with no cards left in his hands. 

Afterwards the children have to count their cards. 

The winner is the one who collects the higher number pairs.

The best part of this game is the attention that your students will pay to the other players, even if it's not their turn to play, because they need to discover and remember who has got which card.

VARIATIONS

1 - You can use any set of matching cards you want. It depends on what vocabulary you need to reinforce or teach.

2 - I usually have two winners: the first, who ends up with no cards left, and the one with the higher number of couples. That way I can keep playing longer.

3 - Arranging your students into teams allows them to use the pronoun WE: Yes, we have or No, we haven't.

WHY SHOULD YOU US GO FISH TO TEACH ENGLISH?

1 - Because you'll be able to study and review any vocabulary you want.

2 - Because students can practice the interrogative form of the structure 'have got' and its affirmative and negative short answers.

3 - Because it is a fun way to teach English!!!

Teaching English through games 1: GUESS WHO? 

Teaching English through picture books: ERIC CARLE


      

I design series of activities based on a communicative method that will help children to practice the grammar they're learning at school.

Many ESL activities, I see, are nothing more than 'fill in the blank' exercises that only teach kids how to fill in blanks and miss the whole point of learning to speak and understand a new language.

It's much easier and more fun to learn by doing, and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll see valuable results. 

You can get my activities on my online store:

http://childreneslworksheets.bigcartel.com

Writing tip nº 5: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF…? (2nd Conditional)

This writing technique proposed by Rodari in his 'The Grammar of Fantasy' uses hypotheses to make up stories.

It's quite easy because you only have to randomly choose a subject and a verb, possibly logically disconnected one from another. 

For example: 

bath / fly

toy / speak

cow / give an interview

mountain / walk

Oklahoma City / is surrounded by the sea

candies / rain

Rollerblades / travel through time

etc.

More ideas:

What would happen if a cow was interviewed by Oprah?

What would happen if you could walk on a rainbow?

What would happen if your school was a boat?

What would happen if you could speak Chinese?

What would happen if all the cars in your city couldn't move?

What would happen if you could pop into your favorite program right through your own TV?

Your students can answer the question using their imaginative skills and create really amusing and fun stories.

The more they can talk about their own lives and experiences the more they will be able to enhance their essays.

Actually, why don't you use this writing tip to create an unusual school bulletin? 

It would be challenging and entertaining!

In the picture: What would happen if a glass elevator got into an Earth orbit?
Illustrator: Ashlyn Anstee


WRITING TIP NUMBER 4

WRITING TIP NUMBER 3

WRITING TIP NUMBER 2

WRITING TIP NUMBER 1



  

ANORAK - Revista en inglés para niños / English children's mag

Talking about motivation and how to inspire kids to get more involved on learning English, today I'd like to introduce you to ANORAK magazine.

This nearly bimonthly publication (five issues a year), colorful and modern illustrated  magazine defines itself as 'the happy mag for kids' and, actually, it is. But not only happy, it is like home: cosy, enlightning and cheery. 

Every issue is full of stories, presented under different graphic techniques, rhymes, games, quizzes and activities for children aged from 6 to 12. Each one is dedicated to a single subject: I got the one about animals, but inventions, toys, vikings etc. are waiting for you to enjoy them all.

And not only that! Your child can be part of its Little Editors' team. 

Yes! You read it right! 

Children are allowed to send drawings, rhymes, stories and comics to Anorak. Wouldn't be motivating for your students to cooperate with a real English Magazine?

I bet, it would. 

Designed to be 100% ecological (it' s printed on recycled paper using vegetable ink) and collected, you can purchase it in several countries all around the world 

Here in Spain it is mostly sold in Barcelona, but also in Madrid, Valencia and Gijon.

Don't miss it! Your children will love it!

I design series of activities based on a communicative method that will help children to practice the grammar they're learning at school.

Many ESL activities, I see, are nothing more than 'fill in the blank' exercises that only teach kids how to fill in blanks and miss the whole point of learning to speak and understand a new language.

It's much easier and more fun to learn by doing, and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll see valuable results. 

You can get my activities on my online store:

http://childreneslworksheets.bigcartel.com