I have encountered many people who contort their faces into interesting expressions when I share that I am a Spanish teacher. "I hated Spanish." "I don't remember anything from high school Spanish (French, German, etc)." "All we ever did in class was memorize conjugations and complete worksheets."
Yuck, you're right. Memorizing conjugations and completing worksheets day after day would be boring. I have set out to change that "yucky" foreign language perception. Successful foreign language learning should be authentic and engaging. It needs to incorporate all aspects of language learning: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students should also understand why learning a foreign language is important and how it effects (and affects) them.
I share this glogster with my students on the first day of class. It is important for them to understand why foreign language learning is important.
