Spanish Learning Update 1: Innovative Language Tools

Just a quick post to mention an innovative way to integrate technology into learning Spanish, and any other language. I had a conversation with my co-worker and my counterpart in our little two-month experiment. He had mentioned using an iPod or other mp3 player or mp4 player as a language learning tool (podcasts, etc).

That got me thinking. People use these tools for all sorts of learning. As the iPhone has gotten popular, there are thousands of apps that can do almost anything. But, I thought, not everyone has or can afford these tools.

Then my light bulb moment happened: what about a digital camera? You can buy a basic digital camera for less than fifty bucks at your local discount store, and I see kids, very young kids, carrying around what looks like a toy but takes actual digital pictures. How can this be used to learn Spanish? Well, I got my own digicam out and read the owners manual (everyone should do that from time to time), and it actually allows you to place an audio tag with each picture, using the camera’s microphone. Anyone see where I’m going here? You can easily make a set of digital flash cards, using items that you are already familiar with. That is because they are your items: your house (casa), your car (auto), your money (dinero), etc. This would also work with the video clip function that many of today’s cameras have. If your camera is a bit more basic, perhaps you can take pictures of items, then take pictures of the items with “name tags” en Espanol.

What other common items can you think of as language learning aids? Any advice for beginners or people who are “refreshing” their high school language after several years (decades?!) away from it?

10-plus megapixels and the ability to shoot video and add audio tags to pics.