How Do you Teach a Spanish person speak English better?

Question

How Do you Teach a Spanish person speak English better?

Answer 1

As someone who has taught English as a second language, I have found that - usually - it's quite easy to teach the actual grammar of English to any foreign student.  The main problems happen with:

PRONUNCIATION: any foreign learner has difficulty with English pronunciation (and the other way around).  For example, many foreign learners have problems with the <th> in words such as <THe> <THis>, as very few languages actually have these sounds.

SPELLING: English language is not based on a phonetic spelling system:  we have the -GH ending which is different depending on the words we use: Laugh; cough; /f/; dough; daughter; (isn't pronounced at all.)

GRAMMAR: prepositions are difficult - English has the most prepositions of any european languge.  Their use must be learnt.  For example: we say that someone lives IN a town; but ON a river; we hit someone IN the face, but ON the cheek, for example.

IDIOMS are also problematic.  We say that someone has 'green fingers'.  This means that they are good at gardening.  We say that it is RAINING CATS AND DOGS when the rain is torrential.  (Every language has these expressions, they aren't only found in English). Literally, they can be translated into other languages, but they won't have the same meaning when they are.

The main idea is to practise what you have learnt - preferrably within an English speaking environment.

Hope the above helps.

Answer 2

Practice, practice, practice.

Answer 3

if it's your friend or associate practice with him or her and there are very help ful books and tape u can buy goodluck.

Answer 4

First of all, they have to want to learn.  Then it probably would help if they were not in an environment where everyone around them spoke only Spanish.

My experience, though, is that most Spanish people who speak English at all speak it pretty well.  Are you sure you are talking about people from Spain, or are you talking about people from some other Spanish-speaking country?

Answer 5

English as a Second Language Listening Links

The following links will help you find activities to practice listening, reading, grammar and pronunciation or check out the latest news.  

http://www.paltalk.com/

http://www.spokenenglish.org/

http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Vocabulary/

http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/2512_es...

How to Do A Language Exchange

You should practice using the Cormier method, a language exchange method that has been proven for over 3 years at the C.E.L.M. school in Montreal, Canada.

http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/

Answer 6

Placing them in an environment that forces them to speak English and helps them to gain a lot of practise.  If you're in a Spanish speaking country then I would take them to an English club where people mingle and socialise in English (this can be found at most major universities) and if in English speaking country taking them out (to dinner or a bar or something) where there is a lot of talking with people who speak English.

Answer 7

Get them to start talking with English speaking people, and have them read a book even if they dont understand it very well. You could also try watching tv show's that are in English.