Elementary Spanish/Introduction

Welcome to the Elementary Spanish language instruction book! The goal of this book is to build an interactive, multimedia textbook to support the dual language instruction program at PS 9 in Brooklyn, New York. The contents and organization of this book will follow that curriculum focusing on the native English speakers who are learning Spanish. We will start at the very beginning and eventually cover material all the way through 5th grade.

Once we have covered the first semester of material here we will begin work on the sister book Elementary English, which will follow the same curriculum for native Spanish speakers learning English. From there we will continue growing both books side by side.

This book is designed to give parents with limited time to study conversational Spanish. The materials are tailored to the kinds of interactions parents want to have with each other, their children, and friends in the community.

All materials are free for everyone to use and open to change. Your feedback and suggestions are vital to making this project the best resource for our community. Our (help) page has easy instructions on how to get involved.

The curriculum is designed around in-person practice events with other parents every two weeks. Each meeting has a unit of material covering the basic conversational exchanges and vocabulary you will need. If you have more time available for study, each unit also contains lessons on using the same basic vocabulary to talk with your children or with acquaintances in the community. You can study as much or as little material as you have time for each two weeks.

The core of each unit is a series of audio lessons that present the kind of dialogues you will have during the next language exchange and explain each part. These lessons are available for download as audio files you can play on your phone or music player so that you can use them on the train or anywhere else without an internet connection. In addition there are vocabulary lessons available online to introduce basic terms and support your language practice.