How often has this happened to you?

You are at a social function with your spouse or friend. People begin introducing themselves, and you shudder thinking of what is coming. Everyone tells his name, then adds what he does for a living. You brace yourself as you say, "My name is Fulana. I am a Spanish teacher." Here it comes!! In unison the group comments, "I took two years of Spanish in high school, and I can't remember a thing!"

Students usually start the study of Spanish with great enthusiasm, but sometime during their second year, their enthusiasm starts to wane. Relatively few continue their studies beyond the required minimum.

When asked the reason, most will explain that they were overwhelmed by "THE VERBS" in Spanish II.

Beginning students typically spend the entire first year "mastering" present tense and perhaps being introduced to one or two other tenses. Then in the Spanish II, they are hit with a seemingly interminable series of tenses, taught one tense at a time in isolation. Not only do students NOT understand the relationships between the various tenses, but also they find themselves wondering, "Just how many more tenses are there out there to learn?" By the end of the second year, the Spanish verb system seems like endless conjugations to memorize. No wonder they feel overwhelmed!

Students need to know from the beginning that

• the Spanish verb system is FINITE
• they CAN learn it
• it is used to COMMUNICATE!

We got into a discussion concerning this concept on FLTEACH, the listserv for Foreign Language Teachers. I think I explained it rather well in my response :
To conjugate or not to conjugate?

In "traditional" teaching, well-meaning experts have made the verb system more "digestible" for students by dissecting it into discrete units of learning (i.e. conjugation) that are doled out in isolation. While this approach may seem to facilitate the learning of Spanish verbs and tenses, it can actually have the opposite effect of inhibiting language acquisition.

Rather than considering each tense and/or each conjugation individually, we advocate

• condensing information that can be learned together (find the lowest common denominator)
• using prior knowledge whenever possible
• keeping the current learning in perspective by showing how it relates to what you have already learned and what you will learn.

To make this overview of the verb system possible, we employ a technique that runs throughout many Color Connection lessons and teaching kits:

A Spanish verb expresses four concepts simultaneously:

• the action
• the person doing the action
• when the action is done
• whether it is real or imaginary (indicative or subjunctive)

If you ask a native speaker why he uses one particular verb form rather than another, he will probably say that it "just sounds right." The second language learner doesn't know what "sounds right" in his new language. The Spanish Verb Wall is our most powerful and complete example of visualized grammar because it allows the student to select the correct form because it "looks right" through the use of color, graphics and location. The form that "looks right" is chosen and used to communicate until it starts to "sound right."

(Another kit, THE FOUR CORNERS was developed to teach gender and number agreement of adjectives and nouns using similar reasoning concerning the visualization of grammar concepts.)

(While we are on the subject of adjectives, CONCRETE ADJECTIVES and COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES are two more useful lessons.)

First the new structure is presented in a contextualized situation, then explained. The learner has already been communicating with the structure BEFORE understanding how it works. After the communication stage, we present a brief explanation and the learner’s reaction is “AHA! So that’s what we were saying!” Not, “UH-OH, I don’t want to learn this!” which is the reaction if we START with the grammar explanation!

We try to avoid explaining the functioning of the language in “grammarese.” We use simple, sometimes almost silly, terms instead of the “official” terms because they can frighten the learner. Later, when I want to give the official terms, and I usually do, not to help them communicate, but to protect them in college, I blame a character I created as the cause of having to learn these terms: “El señor de la Gramática.” He embodies all the traits of the Devout Grammarian. Rigid and inflexible, he sees himself as the hero who has come to save the day. He ENJOYS making students suffer and memorize grammar rules rather than teaching them to speak! We talked so much in class about el señor de la Gramática that one of my students drew her idea of what he looked like for a class project assignment. She nailed every detail!

Just for the sake of Mr. Grammarman, I included this important information in the Verb Wall Kit.

To be effective, the Verb Wall must be displayed in the classroom. (It requires an area about 8' high and at least 16'-18' wide, although adaptations can be done to make it work in smaller areas) The idea is to get the verbs up out of the textbook, out of the computer, and display them on a timeline large enough that you and your students can actually stand in the various time zones.

The "bigness" of the wall is intentional. The learner of the new language is child-like in his learning needs, regardless of his age. For that reason, the students should be allowed to approach the wall, observe the endings close up, and feel themselves moving through the time zones. The wall should be a physical as well as mental experience that makes the verbs come to life outside of the confines of the textbook or computer.

Just as visitors to a new city use a map to guide them into unknown territories, students use the Spanish Verb Wall to begin communicating in tenses which they have not yet studied or "mastered," tenses which are "beyond their level." The verb wall's graphics, colors and locations empower students to make "forays" into unexplored territories.

The Verb Wall allows you to take advantage of those "teachable moments" that were so often lost before. For example, you are trying to teach a song in class. I will use a Justo Lamas song to illustrate. The chorus says:

Hey, ¿Cómo estás? Cuenta conmigo.
No llores más, te necesito.
Siempre por siempre te amaré
y a tu lado yo estaré
Siempre por siempre
tú serás mi amor.

No longer do you have to say, "Just accept that these verbs are in the future tense. Later when we are ready to study the future, I can explain them." Nor do you have to write samples on the board and list the future endings to show them how these forms were made. You simply point out on the Verb Wall where the endings are located and go on with the song. The students accept the endings and formations because they can see what they mean.

1. The verb wall is intended to be internalized, not memorized. Its purpose is to TEACH the forms by making them accessible for communication. It is intended to be a helpful tool, not an instrument of torture.
2. The Verb Wall is not intended to replace your current curriculum. It supports your curriculum and expands upon it. Students who are exposed to the verb wall will become aware of many tenses and forms and will start using them. They should NOT be expected to "master" information that is not yet required by the standards and curriculum of that class.
3. This Verb Wall Virtual Workshop is NOT intended to be used as a substitute for the Verb Wall in the classroom. If you have it on the wall in your room, you may refer your students to this web page to use while doing homework. It is a grievous sin to disobey this admonition, and you will be duly chastised should you be discovered!
4. Devout Conjugationalists Beware! If you firmly believe that the only way to teach Spanish verbs is to present them in conjugation order, then this workshop is NOT for you. If, however, you believe that using the correct form of the verb is important for communication and have been looking for a more holistic way to teach verbs, then this workshop IS for you.
5. BEWARE OF THE GREAT PANCREAS