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Por Que?

I recently read in a biography of Thomas Jefferson that he taught himself Spanish with a copy of Don Quixote and a Spanish-English dictionary. I figured if it worked for him it would work for me, and I at least have a basic working knowledge of the pronunciation, simple vocabulary, and grammar structure from my 2 years of Spanish in college.

So last weekend during my weekly library trip, I picked up some books in Spanish. I have read "The Berenstain Bears y la Ninera" and "Nancy Elegante" this week. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I'm not sure I've learned more words through this method, but I have seriously worked on thinking in Spanish while I'm reading. That was a tough job.

If nothing else, it's a great excuse to read some of my favorite children's books. This has also been a good exercise for me as a teacher. I think I'll scrounge up a book in German or French this week and see what it's like to attempt a completely "blind" read. I always like to get an idea of what I'm dealing with in the classroom.

Comments

Christy said…
Oooo - Nancy Elegante is one of our favorite children's books in English :)
8:04 AM
frabjouspoet said…
How funny! I never even knew it existed in English. Doesn't it make you want to go out for ice cream dressed in fancy hat and shoes?
1:27 PM
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