Spanish teacher never speaks english?

[babyleans]

has anybody else been taught using this approach where the spanish teacher always teaches in spanish and never in english? my friend told me that that's what his teacher does. i heard that it's a very effective method. have you had a spanish teacher that never spoke english?

[Rosa]

I have never been subjected to that type of approach when learning Spanish. However, I do recall that when I was in high school the students that got the other Spanish teacher were more fluent than those that had my teacher. I later found out that it was all because of that method. She spoke only Spanish and they were only allowed to speak Spanish in her class. I guess the method is really effective than the regular.

[Linguetronix]

I think this is what is known as the immersion technique. I believe it will be useful only once you have some knowledge of the language. Before you have enough I feel it can confuse you and hamper your progress.

[rgaz83]

I've never had a class like this, but I think it would be a great way to learn. I've heard of some classes where you spend the first week or two in English, learning basic Spanish vocabulary, then the teacher switches to full Spanish. It would probably be super confusing at first, but I think it would really help in the long run. The sooner you're using the language as a language and have a reason to use that language, the easier it is for your brain to make sense of all those new, "random" words it's being forced to remember.

[Rosa]

I think this is what is known as the immersion technique. I believe it will be useful only once you have some knowledge of the language. Before you have enough I feel it can confuse you and hamper your progress.

Fortunately, I didn't notice any student getting confused due to them having no knowledge of the language. As a matter of fact, I believe it could be the other way round because we were just seventh graders and for most of us , it was our first time doing Spanish. We were happy to have gotten the privilege to learn Spanish and the technique worked.

[Poki]

I know it sounds strange at first, but it really is efficient. I had to take Spanish classes during the majority of my time in junior high school - it was the only class offered. It worked really well on the students who thought that it was a silly idea. Although it may have been frustrating for them at first, they began to get into the flow and really benefit from this teaching method.

[tuparientemateo]

It really works well.

When I was in high school, I took four years of the hardest classes they had. The first year, we learned the grammar/vocabulary as much as possible, and the teacher was a native so he gradually got us used to talking in Spanish only by the end of the year, and with the common commands. The rest of the three years we had to speak in Spanish. You get so used to it it's scary, and it really helps you to get a bunch of phrases down pat.

I'd heavily recommend learning/teaching this way.

[Trellum]

As a former teacher I can tell you this is for the own good of the student, actually speaking in the language you are trying to teach is very desirable, because if you start giving the students to speak english, then they might end up using it way too often.  It's better they make an extra effort and learn to communicate only in Spanish, even if they have to use body language. This is a very normal thing to do and it often shows the professionalism of the teacher.

[Trellum]

I've never had a class like this, but I think it would be a great way to learn. I've heard of some classes where you spend the first week or two in English, learning basic Spanish vocabulary, then the teacher switches to full Spanish. It would probably be super confusing at first, but I think it would really help in the long run. The sooner you're using the language as a language and have a reason to use that language, the easier it is for your brain to make sense of all those new, "random" words it's being forced to remember.

Then odds are your teacher wasn't very professional.  Because the norm is giving your class in the language you are trying to teach, if you start giving in and use english sometimes, then the students will surely get note and will not stop using their mother language to make questions and apparently make everything easier for themselves in the short-term, but in the long term ruining their own learning experience.

[Verba]

My Spanish teacher in college never spoke in English. She just taught everything in Spanish. The good thing was she was at least considerate enough to speak slowly for us. I learnt she really spoke her language fast when I heard her and another Spanish teacher speaking their language. I did not catch a word they said.

Now, I want to re-learn that language especially because our language has great Spanish influence. And a Spanish colleague recently told me that we have the most flexible tongue to learn and speak their language fast. That motivated me so! :-)

[RedRose]

I had the same Spanish teacher for three years in high school, and in her classes, she only spoke in Spanish. She was one of the best teachers I ever had. It was difficult for me to grasp what she was saying during the first few months I had her, but once I became accustomed to her accent, everything slowly became more comprehensible. By my senior year, I could understand what she was saying, and I didn't even realize it until one day the realization just hit me. You may not have the same teacher for years, like I did, but ultimately it's best to get absorbed in the language, instead of having everything be explained in English.

[picklefingers]

My Spanish 3 teacher spoke only Spanish for the first few months. It helped a lot of us improve really fast. Its just immersion, nothing radical. However, the difference between having to keep up with a recorded tape for an assignment and having to keep up with it for an entire class makes all of the difference. I really recommend it.

[ImMrCuriosity]

It's actually very effective, because you're forced to speak and try to understand a new language. It's weird but it makes sense! You must try it and you will understand what I'm trying to say.

[OddVisions]

I could understand this for classes like Spanish II and onwards, in which I would support the idea wholeheartedly. However, if it's a beginning Spanish class like Intro to Spanish or Spanish I then I'd suggest saying everything in English first and then in Spanish or vice-verse so that the students can get a feel for some of the words they'll need to be able to recognize later. You wouldn't throw a guy who doesn't know how to swim into a pool full of sharks.

[Josiah]

my spanish teacher only speaks spanish when she needs to (aka during review or something) and seems to teach effectively

[rcdpink]

Might as well my teacher had done it that way, because I could never understand most of what he said in English anyway. He was from Cuba and so is accent was a bit different. After a couple months with him however, I think we all adjusted. We were Super Intelligent Boys at our all boys school so I don't know why the teachers didn't think we were smart enough for them to speak to us in Spanish all the time. I think I would have been more advanced today.

[rcdpink]

It's actually very effective, because you're forced to speak and try to understand a new language. It's weird but it makes sense! You must try it and you will understand what I'm trying to say.

Of course it made sense. It made perfect sense. All the many readings that I did could not have helped me more than the conversations that I had with the Spanish speaking people there.

[czarina84]

My French teacher didn't do that, but I know of people who had a Spanish teacher that did.  Most of the students failed that Spanish teacher's class.  They just got too frustrated and stopped trying to learn.  My French teacher did have sections of the class when you had to answer some questions in French and gradually decreased the amount of questions that could be answered in English.  Most of his students passed. I think it helped that he didn't make students feel stupid when they made a mistake.  He would gently correct them, then make the whole class repeat the mistake that had been made. 

[kurdapia]

This would be very difficult for me to be in. How can communicate and understand someone using a foreign language and would not even compromise? This is going to be chaotic and not helpful at all. Looks like a torture and more of punitive than inspiring. This is not going to work for me.