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Use Flash Cards to Learn Spanish, French, Chinese, and More . . . BLINGuals!

I love using flash cards in my foreign language classes.  Kids (even big high school kids!) learn quickly and effectively when they are having fun with a hands-on activity.  I was tickled to discover BLINGuals Illustrated Flash Cards in 15 Languages.  It’s awesome that the language combinations go well beyond English-Spanish.  I’ve been having a blast using the French-Spanish pack of cards with my kids who are learning both languages.  The illustrations are very clear and SO adorable!

But do you know what I’m really excited about?  It’s the packaging.  Okay, maybe it isn’t a big deal to you, but I love that the flash cards are just like a regular deck of playing cards, box and all.  Do you know how many random ziplock baggies of flash cards I’ve got around my house and classroom?  Then along comes this nice, neat little BOX to keep the BLINGuals in.  YESSSS!

Anyway, there are oodles of games and activities you can do to promote speaking with multilingual flash cards.  At home, we do guessing games, listening identification races, hide-n-seek, and our own version of the card game War.  (Divide the deck, say 1-2-3 in the target language, slap down a card English side up, and try to be the first to say your card in the target language.  Slowpoke takes the opponent’s card.)

Here are a few ideas about how you can use you can use BLINGuals in a classroom or a homeschool group of learners:

Trading Cards: Distribute one card to each student.  The students circulate around the room asking classmates “What is it?’ or even teaching the new vocabulary word.  More advanced learners can invent a sentence or two involving the word, or ask the classmate a question about it.  After two students interact with their words, they exchange cards and go on to talk to a new person.

Charades or Pictionary: Divide the class into two teams.  One person comes to the front of the room and draws a card from the deck.  Set the timer for one minute.  The player must get a team member to say the word in the target language by either gesturing or drawing (depending on the game!)  Once the word is said, the player draws another card.  Continue until time is called.  Tally the points and continue with the next team.

Storytime: Shuffle the deck and deal five cards to each student, pairs, or small group.  The learners must tell or write a story using all five words.

Taboo: A player chooses a card and must describe it to a partner or team members in the target language.  It is “taboo” to use English or to use the actual word.  Great circumlocution practice!

Around the World: Two students stand.  Show a flashcard.  The first student to correctly identify it in the target language stays standing and advances to the next student for another challenge.  Try and see if someone can travel all around the classroom.

Louder – Softer Hide-and-Seek: Send one student (the Seeker) out of the room.  Another student selects a card, shows it to the class, and hides it somewhere in the classroom. Bring in the Seeker.  The class chants the word in the target language, softer and softer as the Seeker moves away from the hidden card, louder and louder as the Seeker approaches it.

BLINGuals are great for use at home, but also in a regular foreign language classroom. An extra 5-10 minutes at the end of class? Grab your deck and play a game! Enjoy using flash cards to spark speaking in another language!

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