Introduction:

Natural language learning connects language patterns to concrete experience, movement and emotion.  The Act to Speak Spanish™ Curriculum mirrors the natural language learning process by promoting the active and communicative use of language and by using theatrical performance to establish fluent speaking skills.  The acronym A-c-t stands for an active, communicative and theatrical approach to language learning.

For an overview of the Act to Speak Spanish™ Curriculum click here.

For the Act to Speak Spanish™ Performance Assessment form click here.

The Act to Speak Spanish™ Curriculum also recognizes that “speaking” a language is mainly demonstrated by the ability to understand and respond to a set of essential questions.  If we can fluently perform these basic “scripts” then we can be said to “speak” a language even if we do not know every single word of that language.  Once these scripts are strongly established, then improvisation and expansion become possible, and the ability of the learner to communicate and promote their own learning increases.

The Act to Speak Spanish™ Curriculum is designed to be extremely memorable or “made to stick”.  Essential questions form the backbone of the program and provide mnemonic cues to evoke the detailed information associated with each script.  These essential questions also provide clear learning objectives and the ability to accurately assess student progress based on written and spoken responses to these questions.  Essential questions and sets of divergent responses are made even more memorable by associating them with concrete experience, physical movement and emotional response.