Spanish 101: Number Story

In order to retain things in memory, associations are helpful. Mom mom taught me an association story for counting to ten in Japanese when I was ten, and it has always stuck with me. So...I decided to try it with a few key languages I want my kids to learn. 

Create a story...

1. Write foreign numbers 1-10

2. Then translate numbers into an equivalent-sounding English word

3. String them together into a simple story line

...

Deliver story and create memory...

1. Tell the story to your child. Make it long and meaningful and fun. It will stick more.

2. Tell an abbreviated/simplified story using few words and emphasizing each number in your fingers

3. Then point to each finger one at a time and say the word associated and have your child fill in the parts of the story

4. Next have your child tell you the story as you point to your fingers and ey say the words associated with each one.

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VOCAB: Spanish numbers 1-10

1. uno (eew no...)
2. dos (does)
3. tres (tray...[finished run-on with number four])
4. cuatro (s-quat...row)
5. cinco (sink...oh!)
6. seis (says)
7. siete (see it...eh?)
8. ocho (ouch...oh!)
9. nueve (new wave...eh?)
10. diez (days)

The Story... (The Spanish Monkey: 1st picnic-food)

Dora was getting ready for her tea party with her monkey, Boots. So she started gathering some fruit. One piece dropped on the ground. "Eew....no!" Whoops! So she picked it up and rinsed it off with water. She asked Boots "Does this look clean now?" He said "It does." So she handed him his fruit on a plate, along with his cup. Everything was placed nicely on a tray to carry to the table. But Boots was confused where to go because he wasn't used to tea parties since he was always on Dora's bed. In fact, he didn't even know what a tea party was!

Dora tried to tell Boots to take the tray and sit at the short, long table crowded against the wall, with cushions to sit on all placed neatly in a row. But she didn't want to confuse him so she tried to just tell him with three short words, "tray...squat...row."

Boots was even more confused. So Dora explained: Take the tray to the table. Then squat down onto one of the cushions in a row by the tea table. Now Boots understood. so he went to sit down, but dropped a piece of fruit. "I'll take it to the sink. ...Oh!" Boots had accidentally dropped the fruit down the sink drain. "Mother says once food goes down the drain it's lost for good. That what mother says. Boots...can you see it, eh?" Asked Dora. Boots couldnt see it: "I'll try to get it." He said as he reached down his paw. "Ouch! Oh!" Boots ended up hurting his paw on something poking out from the drain. Dora bandaged it so it was better, which made Boots happy. He thanked Dora by waving his paw at her. "Hmmmm....new wave, eh?" She asked, as she didn't see the normal friendly paw she was used to high-fiving, but instead saw a bandaged stub waving back and forth through the air. "Next time I'll listen to your mom and not put my hand down the drain. Moms know best!" Boots said. So, for the next 10 days Boots and Dora had tea parties until his hand got better. And Boots made sure to listen extra well to Dora's mom's advice so he wouldn't have any more accidents.