Important Study Tips for Spanish

Important Study Tips for Studying Spanish

When studying a language you must primarily understand that it will take time. You cannot learn all of a language just in class. If you truly want to learn Spanish, here are some tips to make your learning more organized and helpful!

When just starting to learn a language it is important to think of what you already know, even if it is as simple as saying hello or goodbye. Also you must think of what you know in English. It is easy to make connections through certain languages. For example, "...words such as comunicación, deliscioso, limón, and oficina. You'll find Spanish easier if you use what you already know" (Boyles XXXI). These are called conjugations. Words in English and Spanish, although very different, are regularly similar and therefore easier to learn/understand.



Another important strategy for learning Spanish would be the use of tangible things. Make flashcards! Make graphic organizers! Use songs and mnemonic devices! Have fun with Spanish and it will be easier to learn! When it comes to making charts and other graphic organizers, it is important that you make it easy for you to remember (for example, make a key). Drawing and writing diagrams can help you with the connections and meanings of other words. Flash cards are really easy to make too! and for how helpful they are, its definitely worth the time! An easy way to make them is to create a picture on one side of a flashcard, and the Spanish word on the other. You can use the picture to memorize the word and you can use the word to think of the picture that goes with it (Boyles XXXI).

All in all, there are many creative ways to use materials for studying. And certain ones work better than others, but it all depends on how you like to study. Once you know how to do that, everything else should be very simple.

Boyles, Peggy Palo. Prentice Hall Realidades 1. Pearson Education, 2011.

Communication

Communication is an important component to obtain in the real world, but to be specific, it is a prime aspect in basketball. Talking keeps a team organized, able to be coordinated in its activities and assures that everyone is working as a unit to prevent indecisiveness (DeVenzio 243). In Stuff Good Players Should Know, Dick DeVenzio shares the importance of communicating with who you are working with to achieve a goal because it is helping each other verbally.

In basketball, communicating huge to teamwork. "Talking ends any possible confusion that may arise.. Talking, even saying the obvious, helps you win games" (DeVenzio 243). Communicating with your teammates stops the pace of your team from slowing down and brings up the intensity. DeVenzio enhanced that getting in the habit of communicating will make a big difference.

I am writing about communication because when I came across this part of the book, it made me realize that it is better to talk more than to not to talk at all. I took DeVenzio's advice to talk more to my teammates during the action and it helps a lot. I have been communicating more on the court by calling out who I am guarding, letting them know when a screen is coming, saying to cut through the lane, etc. It has prevented the other team from scoring and has helped our team score more. 

Not only is it good to communicate in basketball, but it is also important to communicate in everything else that you do. By letting someone know what is occurring, it will prevent complications and confusions. Basketball is a sport that teaches many life lessons that are needed in the real world, and communication is one of them. I hope you guys take this into consideration to communicate more with the people around you because it will prevent confusion, indecisiveness, and curiosity.

Have you ever experienced a time when you realized you should have spoke up? When was it?

DeVenzio, Dick. Stuff Good Players Should Know: Intelligent Basketball from A to Z. 3rd ed. Stafford, TX: PGC Basketball, 1983. Print.

Equine Communication

Horses can communicate with people in very slight ways. They can detect anything from expressing emotions through body language to a person leaning back while riding. For example, if you lean back in your seat, the horse will take that as a queue to slow down or stop, depending on the field of riding you're in. And in horse sports where you are meant to go fast, you will sit forwards in your seat and lift yourself out of the saddle and over the horses withers, a signal to go. In the book How to Think Like a Horse by Cherry Hill, there are a few written examples of why this happens. Hill writes "Since horses begin reading your body language the instant they see you, be aware of how you move and act around them. Your body language consists of where you are in relation to your horse, your overall stance, and your movements. You posture and movements can indicate, among other states of mind, confidence and strength or insecurity or aggressiveness...Your body stance and movements will tell a horse whether he should be afraid, attentive, or relaxed" (Hill 123). This gives proof that horses will react based on the riders appearance around them. 

While riding, you want to keep your hands soft and not pulling at the bit because the hands direct the horse, and legs should be resting behind the shoulders on the horses' ribs. You should also sit back in your seat to keep the horse at a slower more relaxed pace, and example given in the riding below.

For the rider, Hill says that the body is essential for communication, and during ground work your body position and activity can help give the horse an idea for when to stop, turn, and go faster. It takes a lot to practice proper choreography when working on the ground with a horse (Hill 123). More proof is given by Hill when she says artificial aids are important to extend arms. These include longe lines, whips, crops, halters, chains, and lead ropes. They intensify the movements of our hands and help direct the horse (Hill 124). To try this, I longed Leo on the ground, using a longe line and a flag, which is like a softer version of a crop. 

From the information I learned from the book I am able to use correct body language around a horse, and know how to correctly longe. The video above is from me longing Leo a long time ago, and now I am able to find differences and things I can improve on in both riding and longing. Now I can correctly deal with my horse while riding and doing ground work. 

Hill, Cherry. "How to Communicate with Your Horse." How to Think like a Horse: The Essential Handbook for Understanding Why Horses Do What They Do. North Adams, MA: Storey Pub., 2006. 123+. Print.

How do you think a horse would react if you jumped at it while longing them? Do you know any reasons that a horse would react differently if you distributed your weight farther forwards or backwards? Would a horse react differently if you used a crop for longing instead of a whip or flag?