A Spanish Webliography



Spanish Webliography

Reviewer: Tonya Acome

Introduction: This webliography is a list of websites that would be of interest to both students and teachers of Spanish. The websites listed have been carefully reviewed to ensure that they are quality resources that will enhance the instruction of and acquisition of the Spanish language.

Spanish Proficiency Exercises



Summary: This website is a compilation of video clips that portray native Spanish speakers completing a variety of tasks, such as counting to ten, buying something in a store, and discussing an ailment with a doctor. For each topic represented, there is a simplified video clip in which the speaker talks slowly and uses little slang. This simplified clip is followed by several native speaker clips relating to the same topic. Viewers have the option of watching the video clips with the Spanish script present, with an English translation, or with the script not present. The clips are organized by difficulty level, ranging from beginning to superior level.

Commentary: This is an excellent resource that is affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin. It can be used in any level Spanish class, from the very beginning level of language study to an advanced level. It provides students with the opportunity to listen to authentic native accents, which is an important aspect of acquiring and comprehending a language. The website is easy to navigate and the video clips correlate with national foreign language learning standards.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

BBC – Languages – Learn Spanish



Summary: This website is affiliated with the British Broadcasting Network and contains a huge amount of resources to help both students and adults learn Spanish. You can take a self-quiz to gauge your level of Spanish, print holiday phrases, download mp3s, complete interactive crosswords, play games, view a Spanish soap opera, and even complete a free online course. The online course is called “Spanish Steps” and includes videos, interactive quizzes, and activities for students to complete.

Commentary: This website is a phenomenal resource for learners of all ages. I actually completed the online course some time ago and learned a lot. The videos are interesting and help you learn how to pronounce words correctly. I like the fact that you are able to download mp3s to put on your I-Pod so that you can continue your learning of Spanish away from the computer. The mp3s and the video clips that can be found on the website can be used in Spanish classrooms of a variety of levels.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Mi Clase Es Tu Clase (My Class is Your Class)

Summary: This website was created by a 25 year veteran Spanish teacher and contains activities appropriate for students in Spanish Level I or Spanish Level II. The website is geared toward the Spanish teacher rather than the Spanish student. There are numerous worksheets that can be downloaded and printed. These worksheets correlate with the Buen Viaje textbook series, but can be used to supplement any Spanish curriculum. There is a section on the website that contains printable directions for numerous games that can be played in the foreign language classroom. There are also links to Quia sites and other websites of interest to the Spanish teacher.

Commentary: This website is a great resource for the Spanish teacher. I especially like the printable directions for the games that can be played in the Spanish classroom. One downfall of this website is that all of the activities correspond to the Buen Viaje textbook series, so the vocabulary and grammar emphasized may not match your curriculum if you use a different textbook series. You can, however, modify the worksheets to fit your needs since they can be downloaded and opened in Microsoft Word.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Spanish PowerPoints



Summary: This website contains a multitude of PowerPoint presentations that can be downloaded and used in the Spanish classroom. The PowerPoints are organized into four different categories: cuentos (stories), gramática (grammar), práctica (practice), and vocabulario (vocabulary). The PowerPoints are interactive and are appropriate for use in the first and second levels of Spanish.

Commentary: The PowerPoints that can be downloaded on this site are of good quality and are interactive in nature. They are useful to both teachers and students since teachers can download them to use in the classroom and students can access and view them online. It is great to be able to find good quality ready-made PowerPoints because it saves a lot of time when you don’t have to make them yourself.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Learn Spanish



Summary: Learn Spanish contains a variety of activities to help students practice Spanish. There are grammar and vocabulary lessons, online quizzes and tests, and audio drills to help develop pronunciation skills. Students and teachers can also register for a free membership that allows students to have their own virtual report card and teachers to track the progress of their students.

Commentary: This website is an excellent study tool for students. Students can go to this website to practice a variety of vocabulary and grammar topics. The website provides immediate feedback and allows both students and teachers to track student progress. This is a definite plus.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Spanish Language & Culture



Summary: This website contains several study modules that relate to songs, poems, cultural celebrations, and grammatical concepts. These modules contain guided readings and interactive exercises that relate to the topic of study. There is also a list of grammar topics on the website and interactive exercises and audio features that correspond to them. There is also a section in which students can practice conjugating verbs in a variety of tenses.

Commentary: This website is well organized and easy to use. It contains both visual and audio features which are beneficial to the foreign language learner. The exercises are interactive and provide immediate feedback. Students of all levels could benefit from this website.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Online Resources for Teachers of Spanish



Summary: This website is geared toward the beginning level Spanish teacher and contains ideas for a variety of lesson ideas organized by topic. Topics include weather, family, food, the alphabet, body parts, numbers, adjectives, school, and days and months. Each topic has its own link and once clicked on, a list of lesson ideas and Internet activities appears. Resources worth purchasing are also mentioned.

Commentary: This website is a great resource for the beginning level Spanish teacher. It serves as a good place to start to get ideas for lessons. It also contains many useful links to online resources that relate to each topic. It was created by a Spanish teacher with the goal to share what activities have worked for her. This leads me to believe that the activities will be effective. One downfall of this website is that it gives a lot of ideas, but doesn’t provide a whole lot of extensive information about them.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Learn Spanish: Hola Español



Summary: This website contains all kinds of links you can click on to hear the pronunciation of Spanish words, play games, and listen to songs. There are comic strips you can listen to, bingo games, songs for children, and even e-books you can listen to. The site relies heavily on audio features.

Commentary: This is a great site for students to use to enhance their listening skills because the audio features are extraordinary. There are all kinds of basic Spanish topics represented and almost everything is pronounced for you. This site is geared toward the younger language learner. The middle or high school student (which is when students typically begin to study Spanish) would probably find this site childish. The website also is not organized by topic of study, which makes it a little difficult to find what you are looking for.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

KLB School Spanish Interactive Exercises & eResources



Summary: This website is part of the Katherine Lady Berkeley School’s website. It contains several activities you can click on to practice concepts such as greetings, numbers, colors, and the calendar. The exercises involve matching vocabulary terms, putting terms in the correct order, and answering multiple choice questions. There are also some audio features that will pronounce certain vocabulary words for you. This website is appropriate for the beginning level Spanish student.

Commentary: This is a good website for students to use to practice Spanish independently. Students can complete the exercises and then submit them to be scored. One potential downfall to the website is that some of the activities require the Macromedia Flash Plug-In, which sometimes doesn’t work properly. I could not get it to work correctly on my computer.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Señor Wooldridge’s Spanish Website



Summary: This website was designed by a middle school Spanish teacher and includes original songs that you can listen to. There are sections for both seventh and eighth grade Spanish. Once you click on the appropriate grade level, you will find information that pertains to his own classes, but you can also listen to songs that Mr. Wooldridge wrote for and with his students, PowerPoints to watch, and also video clips. Some of the content on the site is restricted to only those who buy his music CD.

Commentary: The songs that Mr. Wooldridge created are original and have a catchy tune. They are certainly appropriate for the middle school student. The downside of this website is that you cannot download the songs; you can only listen to them. Mr. Wooldridge wants you to buy his CD (which I think would be worth the money) and therefore limits access to some of his site’s features, such as the lyrics to the songs. Only those who buy his CD can access these features.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (due to the fact that full access is limited to customers)

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