Communicative Teaching Method
Students will be immersed in the Spanish language and culture, while issues such as grammar and vocabulary are blended into the learning materials. Based on the many years of experience we have applied an eclective learning method; the communicative method, combined with the best parts of the classical method (which is based on memorizing words and grammar, translated from one language to the other). The students, in this case, do not have to memorize, they just actively go to work with the language. A much more fun and productive way to learn the language. The classes are composed in a visual and themed way, where students will be immersed in the Spanish language and culture, while issues such as grammar and vocabulary are blended into the learning materials. Extra materials are can be accessed in the online library.
This way the student will be able to start communicating from the start while learning the various skills (speaking, listening/understanding, reading and writing) in a fun and playful way.
More information
The Communicative Method is, in reality, an umbrella term – a broad approach rather than a specific teaching methodology, and has now become the accepted ‘standard’ in Spanish language teaching.
Communicative Language Teaching is a natural follow-on from the reaction during the 70s against previous methods which over-focused on teaching grammatical structures and template sentences, and which gave little or no importance to how language is actually used practically.
The Communicative approach emphasizes the ability to communicate the message in terms of its meaning, instead of concentrating exclusively on grammatical perfection or phonetics. Therefore, the understanding of the second language is evaluated in terms of how much the learners have developed their communicative abilities and competencies.
In essence, it considers using the language to be just as important as actually learning the language.
The Communicative Language Teaching method has various characteristics that distinguish it from previous methods:
- Understanding occurs through active student interaction in the foreign language
- Teaching occurs by using authentic Spanish texts
- Students not only learn the second language but they also learn strategies for understanding
- The importance is given to learners’ personal experiences and situations, which are considered as an invaluable contribution to the content of the lessons
- Using the new language in unrehearsed contexts creates learning opportunities outside the classroom