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I spend much of my time in Germany wishing the official language was Spanish so that I could communicate. Spanish was the only language offered at my high school, and I had studied it for 3 years before embarking on a journey to Germany. At age 16, I was awarded the Congress-Bundestag Exchange scholarship. No […]

Many people wonder about the distinction between language acquisition and language learning. Here’s a simplified explanation: When you pick-up new words in a language, you are experiencing language acquisition. This is the subconscious process by which one gains skills and competence in a language. Babies acquire their first language; they do not learn the language. […]

My family spent Christmas in Costa Rica a few years ago. We loved the nativity scenes that appear all over the country. Families often create an extensive nativity scene with figurines traversing through moss, small plants, and rocks. The scenes are often displayed in the living room or on the porch where they can remind […]

The children and I love this wonderful story of being different than the cultural norm and making the most of what life offers you. In Giraluna by Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer, you can read all about this little sunflower who doesn’t do things in the normal fashion and ends up being loved and understanding her purpose […]

While visiting Stephen Krashen’s website last week, I stumbled across a free eBook he is offering titled Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition.I love Krashen’s work, so I downloaded the Acrobat version, printed it out and curled up next to the fire to read and learn. Happily, reading this text helped me refocus my […]

I love to give educational gifts of enduring value. My favorite gifts for children are quality books and fun, sing along music. This year, you can give the gift of music, education, language development, and fun with the Mi guitarrí: Spanish Songs for Kids album. You can listen to the complete album on Spotify,or Apple Music, or purchase […]

“The Calico Spanish curriculum is amazing! Truly this is following the best practice methodology for teaching languages! I can’t wait to get started using it in my classroom!” Here at Kids Immersion, LLC, we are thrilled that teachers thoroughly appreciate Calico Spanish because it provides tools, resources and extensive guidance that allow teachers to implement […]

Have you ever been caught in a rainstorm?Did the drops hit you one by one, or did you get wet quickly? Here’s a song that catches you up in the rain as you learn to count by tens in Spanish. In Spanish we say, “Counting by Tens” as “Contar de diez en diez.” Our song […]

Finally, a new action packed color song is available from Calico Spanish on our CD: Mi guitarrí: Spanish Songs for Kids! This song is taken from a traditional German folksong. We modified it slightly to make it our own and to give children everywhere a chance to laugh and learn their colors in Spanish. The […]