Markets In The Classroom
On Oct. 27, the students of Profe Sellon’s Spanish 3-4 class got to experience the excitement of a simulated market.
In Spain and other Spanish speaking countries, there is not a set price for items at a market. The store owner will simply barter with the customer trying to get the best price possible.
Not only is the market a chance to experience culture, they also get valuable practice.
“The Spanish Market is an opportunity for kids to practice their purchasing skills in Spanish,” Spanish teacher Melissa Sellon said. “It’s basically a faux-market where I sell certain items and they have to buy them with pesos or colones, which is either Mexican money or Costa Rican money and they have to barter. It’s really good for them to learn how to pay for things and to use the language at the same time.”
This activity is an annual event, but it is also a very unique one too.
“I think it's special because even if you’re a tourist in another country most of the time you’re going to purchase something, and it gives you that opportunity to practice before you actually go to that country,” Sellon said. “It’s also special because we take an entire class period just for them to speak in Spanish. This is probably one of the only times in Spanish 3 where they get a solid 40 minutes of only Spanish, no English at all.”
The market was a great experience for some students to review skills they already had.
“I don’t think the Spanish market was hard because when I was at LPS, I was learning things that I am learning again now. I think this activity was a great learning experience and I
would want to do it again, ” freshman Kennedy Vanscoy said.
Not speaking English seems like an easy task to do, but according to sophomore Mia Hartley, it is harder than it looks.
“It is impulse to use English words when I forget my Spanish words, ” Hartley said.
The Spanish Market allows students to experience the language in an authentic scenario.
“These activities are super fun because it’s real life. It’s something that’s going to happen if they go to a different country and I like to recreate those experiences, “ Sellon said.
The Spanish Market is an annual activity.The students of Spanish 1-2 look forward to experience this activity in the fall of next year.
