Document text
3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Ashland publisher offers prize for environmental book Orthodox Church raising funds to build new home What does Uncle Foods weekly dinner mean to you? A place for food and fellowship Mother's Day brunch supports World Peace and Prayer Day Education Ashland Middle School students put their Spanish-speaking skills to the test Grizzlies claim speech championship Levy backers eye final push Neal Simon: This is a test Grade-school philanthropist Environment Ashland publisher offers prize for environmental book Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection Stopping fire in its tracks Some trails, roads remain closed due to controlled burn Earth Day: Hope for our 'pale blue dot' Business Ashland Safeway closes Thursday, to reopen as Haggen on Sunday Cars We Remember: Car enthusiast wishes new model designs were ‘more different’ Ride & Drive: 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Silvio Calabi: Taxis and traffic in the olde worlde Airport Day returns May 16 Politics and elections Ashland water bills could go up to fund watershed protection BREAKING: Baltimore prosecutor charges officers in Gray's death Arthur I. Cyr: Cuba’s enduring challenge to American foreign policy – and American politics Kent Bush: Clinton 2.0 is neither new nor improved Arthur I. Cyr: Britain’s earthquake election State News Lack of snow nixes ski portion of popular Central Oregon race Bill under debate in Oregon would limit livestock antibiotics Oregon lawmakers begin minimum wage debate Runners to follow historic salmon migration path Nation - World There's a $10 million precious stone hidden in plain sight at Grand Central Obituaries R. Charles "Charlie" Snyder Death Notices Harry D. Detwiler Death Notices Death Notices Shareable Sports Latest Stories Ashland boys sweep doubles, beat GP Living on the edge SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team See you in August Wry & Ginger: A pitch to make national pastime better High school Ashland boys sweep doubles, beat GP Living on the edge SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team Ashland softball team rolls past Springfield Penn, Norvell, Baldrica pace Ashland track team at Crater Southern Oregon University SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team See you in August Same old Raiders Ashland softball team rolls past Springfield Who's got next? Voices Latest Stories Our View: Forest work is a bargain Letters to the Editor, May 8 Jeffrey Gillespie: Is there a right to offend? Dianne Williamson: Let’s end the marathon bomber saga Editor's Notes: This, that and the other Editorial Our View: Forest work is a bargain Our View: What price history? Our View: Waging peace after war Our View: Rail car roulette Our View: Reading the tea leaves Letters Letters to the Editor, May 8 Letters to the Editor, May 6 Letters to the Editor, May 5 Letters to the Editor, May1 Letters to the Editor, April 30 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Restoring the Plaza's sense of place Guest Opinion: Making conservation a game Guest Opinion: A good day to act Guest Opinion: Allegations unfair to Dr. Tomashefsky Guest Opinion: Fremont cottonwood is not a hazard Columns Jeffrey Gillespie: Is there a right to offend? Editor's Notes: This, that and the other Mochas, Midrash and Mysteries: Balancing the gift and the task Chris Honoré: A wider context rarely discussed Guest Opinion: Restoring the Plaza's sense of place Chris Honore Council Corner Editor's Notes Jeffrey Gillespie Herb Rothschild Revels Latest Stories Peter Rowan, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys at Rootsfest Movie listings: May 8-14 Dancing People Company presents 'Salon Series' 5 picks for live entertainment Prepare for lots of dialogue in 'Clouds of Sils Maria' Theater Ticket availability Ticket Availability Ticket Availability 'Arsenic and Old Lace' has killer charm Some OSF crew members seek to unionize Music The Farr Side: Mumford & Sons’ latest is full-on rock Interview: Country singer Suzy Bogguss enjoying life on the road The Farr Side: CMAs do it right, in many ways Interview: Offspring plays hits new and old on tour The Farr Side: Slow disappearance of physical music Visual Art Movies Movie review: ‘Hot Pursuit’ is a hot mess George Miller returns to his ‘Mad Max’ roots Tom Hardy adapts to life as Mad Max Movie listings: May 8-14 Prepare for lots of dialogue in 'Clouds of Sils Maria' Food and Drink Taqueria Picaro takes over Tabu space Owner of Mix and Amuse to bring Flip burger joint to Ashland Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Looking Up: Once in a while a star blows up Health Watch: Easy tips to drink more water throughout the day Orthodox Church raising funds to build new home Antionette Kerr: Mother’s Day founder challenged commercialism Breathe easier with whole-house air purification Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Mocha Musings Rogues: Tales from the Valley Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business Business Services NEWS NOW Our View: Forest work is a bargain ... Ashland publisher offers prize for environmental book ... Ashland Calendar, Friday, May 8 ... Our View: Forest work is a bargain ... Ashland publisher offers prize for environmental book ... Ashland Calendar, Friday, May 8 ... NO HABLAN INGLéS Ashland Middle School students put their Spanish-speaking skills to the test By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted May. 5, 2015 @ 8:31 pm Updated May 6, 2015 at 10:36 AM By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted May. 5, 2015 @ 8:31 pm Updated May 6, 2015 at 10:36 AM » RELATED CONTENT • AMS Spanish speaking village » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> It’s not easy being a stranger in a foreign land. Just ask Myles Montgomery, eighth-grader at Ashland Middle School, who while visiting a Spanish-speaking country was mauled by a pig (don’t ask) and found himself soon thereafter sitting on a hospital bed before a doctor who knew not a lick of English. “Dónde le duele?” Where does it hurt? Montgomery, leaning heavily on what he’d learned in his Spanish 1 class, and a little on universal gestures, managed to improvise his way through the catastrophe and receive the necessary treatment. Crisis averted. Ham for dinner. “I have to do some actions sometimes,” he said, motioning with his hands. “I worked my way around words I don’t know to basically not say the word (in English). It’s hard to explain.” And harder to perform under pressure, but Montgomery’s make-believe pig-bite emergency gave him an opportunity to practice the Spanish that he’s learned in a real-world situation, which in theory will help him scale the language barrier should he eventually encounter one in real life. The exercise was only a small part of Ashland Middle School’s week-long simulation known as Spanish World Day, which for two hours each morning drops Spanish students into a fictional, Spanish-speaking world populated by booths and challenges them to accomplish a long list of every-day tasks, from buying food to riding a bus. The "world" occupies the entire AMS main gym and is staffed each day by 15 volunteers who, in the five days allotted, will cycle approximately 400 students through a battery of questions and phrases, no English allowed. “In their Spanish classes during the year it is an immersion environment, so they’re not allowed to speak any English in class,” said AMS Spanish teacher Marina Borowy, who was responsible for finding the volunteers. “We only use Spanish in class with them, so throughout the whole year they’re learning a variety of vocabulary and using it in different situations. And then when they come here they are only allowed to speak Spanish, and they have to try to accomplish all these tasks that a normal person would have to accomplish in their day-to-day life.” To make the project as authentic as possible, the students were not tipped off beforehand which words or phrases may come in handy, nor were they provided a cheat sheet. They simply arrived at the fictional bank and had to figure out, based on what they’ve learned, how to deposit their fictional money. Later, they waited in line at the fictional fruit stand to buy some fictional watermelons. Students were graded on their success and marked down for slipping in English. “They just had to pull from what they’ve been learning all year and put it together in different ways,” Borowy said, “to be able to communicate their needs.” Some stations demanded more command of the language than others, but all of them posed a unique set of challenges. On the bus, the students had to know which stop to get off. At the meat store, items were weighed on a scale and customers charged accordingly. Students also visited the consulate to have their passports stamped, checked out a toy store and purchased supplies necessary to complete an art project. “It just gives you more real-life experience, even though it’s contained,” said eighth-grader Sarah Aaronson after visiting the vegetable stand, the fruit stand, the butcher and the bus station. “On the bus, it was a little confusing because we weren’t sure where to get off, and the language barrier is part of that.” Montgomery agreed. “The card station was hard,” he said. “It’s writing cards to people, and I wasn’t sure what she meant by the writing so I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to write at first, but I figured it out.” Bonnie McCracken, who was a sixth-grade teacher at AMS for 25 years before retiring three years ago, jumped at the opportunity to work one of the stations, so she was there Monday selling lobster and other meat products to students, some of which confidently bargained for better prices while others simply completed the task as quickly as possible and checked it off their to-do list. McCracken, who said she used her Spanish in the Peace Corps, is a firm believer in language immersion programs which force students to solve their difficulties outside of the classroom. She helped many through that challenging process Monday, usually with a smile. “Cinco?” a girl asked during a transaction. “Cinco, por favor,” McCracken said. The girl handed over some fake paper money, McCracken handed over a paper cut-out of some meat product and that was that. “I think it gives them a chance to really have to use their Spanish because the hardest part is they have to speak Spanish in class all the time,” McCracken said. “They hear Spanish and they’re not used to it so they come here, they have to use it to do the transactions. So it forces them to, and that’s the only way you can learn it. I know when I learned Spanish, you don’t want to speak it — it’s embarrassing, it’s hard, you don’t have good confidence. But I think this builds their confidence up a little bit. Just a little bit at a time. It’s not like they have to say a whole long sentence or anything, they just have to tell me what they want.” Of course, few of the students know off the top of their heads every word they would probably need to know in order to successfully complete the laundry list of tasks they’ve been assigned. But to Borowy, improvising their way through Spanish World Day provides a valuable lesson in itself. “Yes, that’s a big part of language fluency and natural language learning, that you’re able to communicate even though you’re going to be making mistakes,” she said. “They know they’re going to make mistakes, they’re going to say things wrong. Or they may have to act out part of it. Part of their sentence might be words and part of it might be acting. But being able to let that filter down so that they’re able to communicate without being nervous about those things is a huge part of it.” Joe Zavala can be reached at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted May. 5, 2015 @ 8:31 pm Updated May 6, 2015 at 10:36 AM » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501