Internet Resource

When students learn Spanish, many of them realize that Spanish is something that they can use both inside and outside of the classroom. For this reason, giving students access to everyday information of the target country in the target language is very appealing to both the students and the teachers. Many times, as in any language, accents vary and different words and used in different countries. Since the target country of my theme is Ecuador, I couldn't think of a more authentic resource than to use the daily-updated website of "El Comercio"--the daily newspaper in Quito, Ecuador.

This is an authentic material for use in the Spanish classroom. There are no translations of the Spanish text, and everything is organized in different sections, just as it would be in a real newspaper. Students could, for example, check the weather forecast for Quito, Ecuador for the next few days, read about the ongoing teacher strikes, and the growing rate of unemployment. Whatever the case, it is going to be a subject that is known in Ecuador, and the students will have access to this information on a daily basis.

As stated earlier, the website is completely in Spanish. This can be a positive aspect for students learning Spanish. For example, if a student sees a word that s/he doesn't understand, s/he can use the surrounding pictures and headlines to figure it out. Many times, students may get bored with just the textbook in use. For this resource, students can look for information about sports, entertainment, politics, etc. with the click of a button. One possible disadvantage of the site is that it is not easily-monitored by the teacher. For example, there may be sensitive issues included in the articles that students of younger age may not need to read. However, since it is a public newspaper, these topics are written in a manner that is the least offensive, and vulgarity is kept to a strict minimum.

All in all, this site gives students a great opportunity to use their knowledge of Spanish, while learning new words, phrases, etc. Of course, beginning Spanish classes will not benefit from it as much as a Spanish 2 or Spanish 3 class, but the advantages are still there.

Here is a link to El Comercio.

You can also find a link on the front page by clicking HERE