WHY YOU SHOULD LEARN SPANISH

Are you wondering how many people speak Spanish in the world? Well, it is estimated that almost 500 million people in the world speak Spanish. It is a language that practically everyone has heard. There are many reasons why people choose to learn a second language like Spanish. Here are some reasons why many people choose to speak Spanish worldwide.

First of all, when you look around and notice how many people speak Spanish in the United States, you start to understand why Spanish is becoming more and more popular. It is practically all over the world. For many people, learning to speak Spanish can give them an advantage with many job opportunities because they never know when a new opportunity may come across their path. By being able to speak a second language like Spanish, you can help your employer reach out to a larger group of consumers.

Also, while several countries do not claim Spanish to be their primary language, there are a variety of countries where the Spanish language is spoken just as much as the native language. The United States happens to be one of those countries. You will find people that speak Spanish almost anywhere that you go in the USA.

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the international community. Do you realize how many people speak Spanish in the USA? Well, in the USA the Hispanic population has grown by 60% in just one decade. The estimates indicate that the United States will be the largest Spanish speaking country in the world by the year 2015. Also, the estimates indicate that the Hispanic population in the USA will be the largest minority group by the year 2012.

Additionally, the Spanish language is basically everywhere in the American culture. Since we are lucky enough to be a multicultural country, you will discover plenty of places where your Spanish words and Spanish phrases will be very beneficial. Whether you are watching a Spanish program on television or going to a local Hispanic festival, you will have many occasions to use the Spanish language.

Finally, when you begin to realize how many people speak Spanish in the world, you start to see why the Spanish language is becoming more popular all over the world. Several of the countries, like Spain, are really beautiful places and great for luxurious vacations. Many people who visit these countries really enjoy the culture, food and beautiful sights that these Spanish speaking countries have to offer.

Buena Suerte (Good Luck) with your new found romantic language. Call Club A for information about Spanish Clubs for children and adults at 949-444-2937.

*Research by Orlando O

TIME FOR A TUTOR

The following newspaper articles were written by Cheryl Feuer Gedzelman

TIME FOR A TUTOR

You are sitting at the pool with your children, thinking about what a relaxing summer you’ve had and how you all needed a break from school.  Suddenly you panic.  School is less than a month away - are your children ready?  Have they been reading enough this summer?  Have they written anything besides grammatically incorrect emails?  Did they forget their math?  Should you hire a tutor for a jump start?  Should you wait and see how the year goes?

A tutoring company, like many businesses, is cyclical, with the majority of students needing support during the school year.  Some people are proactive and begin in August to be prepared for new academic subjects in September.  Some start in October, as soon as they see a potential problem.  As I writing this article in June, a few people are calling us in a state of panic for one or two instant tutoring sessions to prepare for a final.  (This is not ideal).

Not surprisingly, there usually aren’t instant fixes.  Learning is a process, and for learning to be successful, there needs to be communication and equilibrium between the student’s state of mind, the teachers, parents, and tutors.  Everyone needs to work together to achieve a common goal.  For the best results, allow at least a few months of tutoring at least once a week.

I will break tutoring into three areas:

• Academic coaching - overall organization, study skills, and homework
• Subject tutoring
• Test preparation

Here is how each can be helpful to your child:

Academic Coaching:  This is especially helpful for ADHD children or those with learning differences or organizational challenges. However, any child can benefit from using a coach. Coaching works best when you start at the beginning of the school year to organize notebooks and become familiar with the curriculum and teachers’ expectations.  A tutor can help the student gain a perspective of what the year will entail and help keep up with expectations every step of the way. A tutor can also help keep up with daily and long term assignments. Some students have coaches for years at a time. Others can learn and incorporate study strategies that they can later apply themselves. Organization and study skills are best taught in conjunction with schoolwork and homework rather than in the summer.

Subject Tutoring:  This can start at any time of the year as needed, but preferably not at the end of the year.  Summer is a good time to strengthen skills.

Math: Math builds from year to year.  If you never quite mastered fractions or the multiplication tables, you will definitely have difficulty with algebra.  If math seems difficult or grades are lower than expected, there may be gaps.  A tutor can help fill in these gaps and re-teach areas of difficulty.  In math, there are many ways to do most problems, and learning more than one way is usually helpful.

Writing: Writing also builds from year to year.  If you are writing below grade level, there could be many reasons.  You may need to work on using varied sentence structure, using more descriptive adjectives and verbs, or adding more detail.  You may need to practice arguing a point of view, backing up arguments with examples, or developing a voice. Some students need help with grammar and sentence structure. Writing doesn’t come easily for everyone, and it is difficult to get enough writing instruction in school to become a good writer.  A tutor can use creative writing and areas of interest to make assignments more interesting.  Since this can be time consuming, summer is an excellent time to work on writing skills.

Reading:  There are two components of reading: decoding and comprehension.  Having difficulty with either of these impedes learning in all subjects.  If you suspect a reading difficulty, do not hesitate contacting the teacher. However, do not expect your preschooler to catch onto reading. Beginning reading is developmental and may take some time. If your child is not reading halfway through first grade, then you can take action.   A tutor can help with all aspects of reading.  If decoding is the main issue, testing and school based remediation may also be necessary.  For reading comprehension, a tutor can teach techniques such as visualizing and active reading strategies to students of all ages.

History/Social Studies/Government and Science Courses:  Tutoring for these subjects works best while the student is taking the course.  The tutor can work on efficient reading strategies, comprehension, memorization strategies, and study skills.

Test Preparation: The test prep most in demand is SAT and ACT prep.  Students’ scores do improve from practice and instruction.  It is in each student’s best interest to strive for the highest possible score to allow for more choices of colleges.  While practice test taking and strategy instruction can begin about three months before the test, you can begin preparing for the SAT and ACT one or more years ahead.  You can work on writing and math skills and read diverse material, both fiction and nonfiction, on a regular basis.  Build vocabulary by reading challenging material and special SAT novels, and look up words you don’t know.  The more prep time, the better, and a tutor can help at any time in the process.

How do you find the right tutor?  You can ask your friends for referrals, search the web, or get a list of tutors from the school.  Then ask the right questions.  What kind of education and teaching or tutoring experience does the tutor have?  If you use an agency, how do they screen the tutors?  Do they interview them on the phone or in person? Do they conduct reference checks or background checks?  Will the tutor come to your home or will you take your child to a center?  Will the tutoring be one-to-one or small group?  Can the agency provide a different tutor if your tutor becomes unavailable?  Is the scheduling flexible?  Can you have a trial session with the tutor to see if it is a good match?  Be sure to periodically check with your child to make sure the tutoring is productive.

Why get a tutor instead of helping your child yourself?

If you are successful helping your own child, go with it.  However, many students do not cooperate as well with their own parents as with an outsider, especially in middle school and high school.  Sometimes it is best to step back and spend time with your child doing more fun, relationship building activities.  Overwhelming research supports the benefits of one-on-one tutoring in improving students’ grades, study skills, and confidence levels (Bloom, 1984; Slavin et al., 1991; Slavin, Karweit, & Madden, 1989; Wasik & Slavin, 1990; McArthur, Stasz, & Zmuidzinas, 1990; Hock, Schumaker, & Deshler, 1995; Lepper et al., 1997; Merrill et al., 1995; Simmons, Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes & Hodge, 1995; Vadasy, Jenkins, Antil, Wayne, & O’Connor, 1997).  Long term or short, a private tutor can help your child improve skills and build confidence.