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What I took away from the readings was how important it is when learning a new language to do so in a manner that relates it to your first language. Why I personally think it's important to learn like this and why It's incredibly smart that Spain has begun to approach linguistics this way stems from my own journey learning a second language. When I first began to learn Spanish in high school, I had a very difficult time. Some of this was because of how difficult it is to learn any language at all, but much of it was because of how the course placed emphasis on memorization and grammar. It wasn't until I traveled abroad to Japan and studied there as a foreigner I began to see why it was originally so difficult to learn a foreign language. The most effective way for me to learn Japanese wasn't from long hours in front of a textbook or listening to educational tapes (although there is a necessary amount of this required for proficiency in any language,) it came from conversation with other foreign students. While I can tell Spain wants English to become more prevalent by increasing the amount taught in schools and the quality of what is being taught, I absolutely think the best way any culture can learn a second language is by learning about it through experience and culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IOZbJ7PCPk
Although this isn't an article, and the language discussed is Japanese, it is a video that properly discusses the personal challenges you have to overcome in order to be successfully fluent in a second language and how important both conversation and conventional education is. I can personally say both parts are equally dependent on each other and necessary towards mastery of a second language.

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Learning a second language has always been really difficult for me. I still don’t speak any fluently, but have had my hand at German, Spanish, and Norwegian. Growing up I didn’t see the immediate reward, so I slacked off (obviously I regret that now). I wasn’t in an environment with people who spoke other languages, so it didn’t seem beneficial at the time. I can relate to many of the problems addressed in the articles. Over assigning homework, and emphasizing the importance of test results and specific areas of language like grammar and vocab can be detrimental in a students progression. I agree, that understanding cultural differences is the most important. It’s very difficult for a child to understand that different cultures and languages discuss and talk about things in a different way, that may not make sense, or require a different kind of thinking. The CEFR seems like a decent standardized requirement to have for most employers. Our own opinions about how well versed we are is usually an exaggeration. It’ll be interesting to see how language learning transforms with the use of technology, and connecting with other cultures (much like what we’re doing). Here is a link to ESL teaching in Sweden, I thought it was interesting that they require so much from their teachers in order to be qualified.

https://www.thelocal.se/20180312/careers-how-to-work-as-a-teacher-in-sweden

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(Yikes I uploaded this from my phone previously this week and I don't see this anywhere on the thread so here is my repost)
I am a native English speaker with 5 years of French under my belt and I still can not speak the language fluently, but can understand it when be spoken to or in writing moderately. I enjoyed reading these articles and felt very educated as to why it is difficult to learn a second language especially Spanish to English. In high school we had a foreign exchange student from Spain and I developed a close friendship with her. She explained to me that it is hard for her to speak english due to sentence structure and grammar as that is not what is focused on when learning English in her education system. She spent a lot of time studying the language in her free time so she could communicate better with everyone in this new high school in America. I introduced her to a dance team and we all spent a lot of time with her taking her places and hanging out. By the end of her exchange trip, she could speak English nearly fluently and she said immersion is what made it click for her. As mentioned in the article, “The traditional method of teaching English isn’t working” it mentions, “ “Languages cannot be taught in isolation and the least important things are grammatical structures.” This was something that was true for this exchange student and emersion was her solution.

Here is an article I found regarding immersion as a key tool for language progression

https://www.weareteachers.com/why-immersion-may-be-the-key-to-foreign-language-learning/

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I really liked the article that discusses the issues that make it difficult for Spaniard to learn English. In taking Spanish classes through high school that I was required to takeI often noticed the Spanish teacher focused heavily on grammar instead of words, making it hard for students to remember anything that they really learned in the class. I found it really interesting to that grammar is the last thing that should be focused on.I would be interested to see what methods most teachers use despite knowing some are more effective than others. I thought a variety of the other articles were very helpful to gain insight on what grade school is like in Spain and how intense it can be for the kids. One thing that I have noticed in learning a second language is that once basic words are established practicing seems to be the best option. Which seems ironic because I am sure for most kids it would be best to practice at school with other kids that are learning and a teacher that is able to instruct. Versus processing at home alone. I found the hiring practices with their teachers intreating, and we be intrigued to seem more themes amongst individuals who were language teachers in Spain.

Below is the article I found that shares tips on ways to teach ESL.
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-teaching-techniques-ttt/

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English is my native language and I do not speak any other language so this weeks information was good for me to read. I found it very interesting that in Spain they tend to chose a native speaker to teach there English courses. I could see how this may be difficult for not only a novice English speaker but also the teacher if they do not know Spanish. As I read through this article: https://elpais.com/elpais/2012/10/29/inenglish/1351524669_594031.html?rel=mas I see that these native speaking teachers were initially important to students because of the quality education they were able to deliver opposed to the fact that they spoke very good English. It seems as though Spaniards do still chose native speakers to teach English in schools but it is not as important as it once was because education in Spain and training for Educators seem to be advancing. One other thing I thought was interesting is that the teachers who do not speak Spanish fluently and are there to teach English had a difficult time communicating with families and parents. This is a big one for me because I am someone who feel strongly about communication with a child’s parent and if that cannot be done properly the teacher, student, parent dynamic could struggle.

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I thought it was interesting in comparing non native speaking teachers with native speaking. I agree with the fact that it comes down to the education and ability of being a good teacher. Though there is benefit in being a native speaker, it does not necessarily make you more qualified. If someone has gone through the proper education process and is able to effectively teach the information, that is where the effectiveness and qualification is displayed. It may be more work for the teacher, when it is not a native language, however it does not make them less eligible. In regards to the Cambridge Exam, I can see the merits behind having such a test. Studying to be able to receive qualification really increases the level of information that is being retained and can only be beneficial in the amount of fluency that person it attaining. Having a set goal acts as a motivator for learning.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-english-language-learners-complex-endeavor

I found this article on ELL in America, and the complexities behind it due to students being at different skill levels. It says that about one in every ten students is an English language learner. In order to navigate this, some districts have opened separate schools devoted to this learning, and well as hiring on more ESL teachers and having immersion classes where nonnative speakers learn alongside native speakers.

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The article about whether native speaking teachers was very interesting to me, Alvarez brought up a lot of good points. Overall, the most important thing is that the teacher is a good teacher. I think it is also really beneficial that there is so much training happening for these teachers, both Menarguez and Alvarez mentions this in their articles. Menarguez brings up that teachers should work together to implement their lessons, and to really learn the culture behind the languages which will help create similarities between the native tongue and the language being taught. Peiro also brings up a lot of great points, with the ridiculous complexity of English. The rules of grammar in English are so intricate, there comes a point in time where one should focus more on learning words rather than pinning down grammar, when first learning the language. When she gave the example of the differences between “in the end”, “at the end”, and “by the end”, it really made me realize how challenging distinguishing the different meanings between the three might be while trying to first learn English, they all sound so similar yet they are so different.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/teaching-english-to-spanish-speakers/

I thought this article was interesting, almost like a continuation off of my particular interest in Peiro’s article. It goes into detail about teaching English to those who speak Spanish, and each tip provided, I feel gives a lot of helpful information about how to most help those learning English.

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I found the collective action of the students in their strikes to be both inspiring and commendable. It is fantastic that the instructors made changes in response to these actions, and were pushed towards rethinking the format with which they approached giving students work. I can personally testify that some classes that I have learned the most in did not require very much homework, but were extremely rigorous and exciting to attend.

In terms of teaching methods and instructors, I think I agree that the pedagogical approach is far more important than whether or not the instructor is a native speaker of the language being taught. I am quite sure that a non-native Russian speaker who has been taught the nuances and different approached to teaching language would do a much better job than I even could in teaching a classroom of students the basics of the Russian language, even though I am a native Russian speaker who is fluent. It really is an interesting thing, because it seems like the native speaker has a greater understanding of and a more wholesome view of the language they are teaching, but that is not all that is required to effectively teach a class.

I found this New York Times article about how the news source has developed methods to help English language learners in their endeavors of learning to speak and understand English well, and I thought it was very interesting. It is nice to see huge organizations like the New York Times reaching out, hoping to be more accessible to  people who are interested both in news and in continuing their English education. https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/10-ways-to-support-english-language-learning-with-the-new-york-times/?searchResultPosition=5

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I thought the most interesting reading was on the discussion of Native english speaking teachers vs non native teachers. From someone who has taken quite a few languages courses in the college level I personally prefer a non native speaker. I thought this article was particularly good at explaining that in Spain there isn't really a set rule for who is hired. They talked about how in certain ways non native speakers are great at teaching because they are able to explain certain things in Spanish so people can get a better sense of grammar of english but they also talk about how Native speakers can give more of an insight into cultural differences or significances which can help in other aspects as well as the flow of the language.

https://www.tandem.net/native-speakers-for-language-exchange

I thought this was an interesting and relevant article because it goes more into native vs non native and which is 'better' and just get another article perspective since everyone learns language differently.

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Learning a second language is substantially easier for people when they are taught in a completely immersive way. I thought it was really smart of Esperanza Aguirre (from the El Pais article) to hire native English speakers to teach classes in Spain entirely in English. It may seem daunting to learn a foreign language from someone who can't speak your native tongue, but it is much more effective to teach this way. The students have no choice but to learn the language through experiencing it firsthand. Students are also more likely to forget a language they have learned via memorizing lists of verbs and their conjugations than they are to forget a language they have experienced firsthand by the new teaching methods. I'm glad that we're moving towards cultural exchanges being the primary way foreign language will be taught now and in the future to come.

https://www.uab.edu/news/campus/item/9535-esl-program-makes-second-language-a-first-priority

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I found the readings really interesting and relatable. I moved to the United States 3 years ago from India. After reading the articles I realized how similar the two education systems are. I have been learning English from the first day of my school since English is the most common second language there. We are taught all sorts of grammatical rules but one thing which lacked was the skill to communicate effectively. Since I was always told to focus on the grammar, I never paid attention to being able to communicate verbally. After moving here I realized what a waste of time it is to teach grammar without providing appropriate communication tools. The article on traditional teaching method made so much sense to me and was so relatable.

The article on native teacher was also interesting and I totally agree that it is so important for the teacher to speak the same language as the students, especially in the case of teaching a new language. No doubt the native speaker will have a lot more knowledge on grammar usage etc. but it is so important for the teacher to be able to communicate with the students about their struggles, which they can only convey comfortably in their native language.

Lastly, the homework article was again very informative and interesting. I strongly believe that along with academic, kids need to develop social and interpersonal skills. When students are loaded with so much homework, they are left with no time for anything else. It is sad to know how Clara, at the age of just 14 is loaded with so much homework that she has to stay up late until 1am! Especially at this age where she needs proper sleep to be able to grow.

https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/qualifications-teach-abroad-spain

I was wondering what were the requirements for someone to be able to teach English in Spain. This article had a summary of everything needed to become one. I was really interesting to know that some programs don’t require any degree to be able to teach. Also, there are many programs which don’t have any requirement of being able to speak Spanish.

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The article, “The traditional method of teaching English isn’t working,” mentions that, “the traditional approach to teaching languages doesn’t work. We have to take a risk,” These risks include rethinking our ideas of how to teach a foreign language to students. The most interesting comment from this article was that the least important aspect of teaching children another language is the grammatical aspect. When I took Spanish courses in middle school, I remember their being Hispanic students who were fluent in Spanish taking the course and failing. This was because they did not have correct grammatical usage. I remember this bothered me even in seventh grade. I thought if they can speak the language fluently; what else could matter?

It is time for educators to quit thinking of teaching a foreign language as teaching English classes to English speakers. Yes, English speakers fail English, but we do speak the language. It is unfair to have a student who is learning a foreign language to be held to this same standard. It is vital to ensure the students can speak the language and possibly read it first. Once this is achieved, then I believe they can wrap their minds around the grammatical aspect.

Link: https://www.esolcourses.com/content/topicsmenu/elementary.html

I found this link helpful because it offers curriculum to elementary aged students attempting to learn English. One of the assignment is a fill in the blank words with a Whitney Houston song, this seems like a really fun activity to do with kids.

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I thought that the reading for this week where very helpful in learning about the school culture in Spain. It was interesting to see how much homework you people have and how it affects their families. When I was growing up I always dreaded doing homework on the weekends when I had already spent so much time doing homework on the weekdays. It makes a lot of sense that parents would encourage their children to act if they are not agreeing with something. I think a lot of people would  just assume that children must sit back and not voice their opinions because the adults know better. I think the way people learn when they are kids greatly affects the way they will learn when they become adults. When I was in elementary school in the united states I did not know any English and I had to attend after school classes to help me learn the language. I also took French classes in high school. One of the common recurring themes that I remember from my experiences learning languages was having to memorize verbs and conjugations. While that served its purpose it was extremely limited. Mostly because I was only getting the technical side of things. Yes I knew the conjugations but when was the best time to use them? It was a lot easier with English because I was forced to practice it every day during school hours. However with French I only had the hour long class to practice the language. I think this is where the article questioning if native teachers is the best comes in. There are a lot of tricky parts about english. Some that you wouldn’t know about unless you either lived in the country or had extensive learning experience. Overall I think that teaching English or any other subject should shy away from memorization and extensive busy work into a more practical conversation based and theory learning way.

I found this article titled Better ways to learn by the New York Times.

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/better-ways-to-learn/

One of the key concepts talked about in this article is the fact that grades do not always correlate to learned material. It mentions that sometimes getting a good grade on an exam might be beneficial for a day or two until the student has lost all of the information and therefore learned nothing. Instead the article suggests that information should be spread out. And learned about in a contextual way or by changing the scenery in a way that makes the information revenant.