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Unfamiliar Words
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Since I like to use a lot of authentic listening texts in my classes, I will search for the perfect one until I find it!  It is almost as exciting as finding a long lost treasure worth millions!  That is, until I realize that my students do not know some of the important key words.  I do not sweat it though. I solve that problem by pre-teaching students the vocabulary they will need to know. I also provide background information on the topic and teach students to apply what they have previously learned while they listen.  Even though I prepare students as much as I can, I know that I cannot always be there to prepare them for the real word.  Therefore, I emphasize to students that they should focus on what they know.


Focus on Known Words

In order for students to survive Spanish in the real word, I teach them to focus on known words instead of unknown words.  In my experience, students tend to fixate on words they do not understand and tune out the rest of the listening passage. There is nothing worse than seeing grimaces on students’ faces as they complain to their classmates how lame the activity is and how impossible it is to understand.  It is my job to teach students how to listen.  I like to give students a metaphor.  I dramatize it with my voice, movements, and props.

You are competing in a race and you really want to win.  While you are racing,  you can’t stop others who are racing.  You also can’t stop running because they  are still running and you don’t want to fall behind.  You really want to win!  It’s the same when listening to Spanish.  You can’t always stop and interrupt the person who is speaking.  If you don't understand a word, and you “stop running in the race” and fixate on it, you lose the chance to "hear" the words and phrases that you do know and you will “lose” the race.  While you “stop” the others will just keep on moving.  It's probable that the one word or phrase that you don't know won't be relevant to the task at hand - you don't need to know every word to comprehend the general meaning.  Sometimes students will "stop" listening on words that they know because they're trying to translate everything into English. That also slows them down and prevents them from keeping up with the other runners.

As students listen, I want them to realize that Spanish is not just one, large, jumbled mess that they will never comprehend.  So, I assign activities to train students to focus on words they already know such as:
  1. Complete cloze activities with words they have already learned. 
  2. Listen for the gist.
  3. List familiar key words and phrases.

Once they find that they do understand something from the listening passage, they get a glimmer of hope and a big boost of confidence that they can understand Spanish. That is very exciting for all of us!

 

Additional Strategies from Teach Spanish Easily

Give a Focus

Context Clues

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