Audio Spanish with Audio-lingual approach: a remarkable way to success in talking
Spanish
Audio-lingual approach, a.k.a audio
spanish was developed to correct some of the disadvantages of
the direct method, and is a more effective way of learning than situational approach.
In audio spanish, a.k.a audio-lingual
approach students are taught Spanish directly, without using English and
without any translation or grammar explanations, quite similarly to the direct method and immersion method. Unlike
the direct method however, where learning Spanish is focused on learning common words and phrases, in audio-lingual
approach the students are taught both grammar and vocabulary. In fact the new conception introduced, in comparison
to the direct method, is the idea of teaching grammar in an accessible and easy way.
Description of audio Spanish
- The teacher introduces a sentence based on a certain grammar pattern and the
students have to repeat it.
- Then the sentence is enriched with a bunch of new words, while the grammar
frame remains the same, and the students have to repeat all the newly formed sentences. Thus grammar and
vocabulary are taught.
- Grammar is taught in quite a smart and implicit way. It is not taught through
explanations and instructions – all the rules are memorized because they are exercised immediately through the
repetition of the relevant sentences.
- Thus the any grammar drills are avoided and the process of memorization is
much easier and less time consuming.
Benefits of using audio Spanish:
- This method is really very effective, especially for conversational Spanish.
It allows you to speak practically all the time, except of course, when your teacher is
talking.
This resembles very much to lessons with a private tutor, which are acknowledged
as one of the most effective ways for language learning, despite its significantly high cost. By the way, just
imagine how many times you would hear your voice in a language study class based on a traditional study method,
surrounded by a large number of classmates!
- Compared to the direct method, the audio-lingual method has a clear advantage
as it makes the whole training much more suitable for adults, since both Spanish vocabulary and grammar are
taught at the same time.
- This method matches perfectly to the idea of learning to speak Spanish
through imitation. Moreover the specifics of the learning process allow paying much greater attention to the
correct pronunciation, in comparison with both language immersion and situational approach.
- It could be recommended both for beginners and intermediate
students.
- Compared to the situational approach, all the drills and exercises related to
practicing the freshly taught grammar and vocabulary (no matter how interesting the topic might have been) are
lacking. What is more, in audio-lingual approach a much more decisive and a direct step is made towards
implementing all the new material in real practice.
- Nevertheless of the above mentioned “teacher”, the method is quire suitable
for Spanish self-training. It is successfully embedded not only in Spanish audio programs but also in Spanish
learning software tools, particularly in those with speech recognition capabilities.
- Grammar is taught indirectly and implicitly. Moreover, it is not explained in
English.
Disadvantages of using audio spanish for learning Spanish
effectively:
- The idea of repetition could limit the students’ freedom and could leave for
some time their communication skills in the target language underdeveloped. For many people the repetition of
what the teacher has just said might appear kind of boring.
- Some people could have certain trouble to switch to contextual Spanish
learning, as they might have felt not quite well prepared. The advice is still in the beginning to combine the
audio-lingual lesson with other activities – watching TV, listening to radio programs and music and even
listening to people talking in Spanish.
- English is still used, though not for explaining grammar.
Recommended level for empoying audio spanish:
A brilliant example of the audio spanish is the
Pimsleur method developed and applied for a variety of languages. It’s a combination of
highly effective techniques which help every Spanish learner not only “feel” Spanish language really fast but also
give a solid base for further contextual learning.
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