Teaching fluency the TPRS way

I have adopted the TPRS way of teaching fluency in Spanish.  This acronym stands for Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling.  Unlike traditional textbook teaching, it focuses on giving the learner Comprehensible Input.  For the learner, input is listening to, or reading, the foreign language.  This is the same way a native speaker learns his or her first language.  However, the input must be comprehensible; the learner must know what the speaker (me) or text is saying.

There are two very important parts of Comprehensible Input:  repetition and making input meaningful.  Words and phrases are repeated over and over, so the learner can acquire them quickly.  The more times they hear a word or phrase, the more natural it becomes to them.  However, the key to getting the learners to actively listen is to make the content meaningful;  we either talk about them or about crazy, weird things like flying buffaloes.

I have had so much success with this method of teaching Spanish.  My students actually leave high school being able to use the language.  I also have the perspective of a traditional textbook teacher, since I taught that way for six years.  I was always disappointed with the very low level of proficiency my students acquired.  When I stumbled upon TPRS, I jumped in head-first and have seen levels of proficiency in my students that I never had imagined.

I’m looking forward to a wonderful year with a wonderful bunch of students!!

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