What is Authentic Language?
Before giving examples of authentic language, I’d like to make a distinction between authentic language and authentic resources. They are not the same thing.
Tasks
Authentic language
Authentic language is the communication of real messages as opposed to artificial practices and drills.
Drill: Write a sentence with the pronoun “tú” and the verb “nadar”.
Authentic Language: One student describes a picture of someone swimming to a partner who cannot see it. The partner uses the description to identify the correct picture.
It’s important to make most of our classroom communication as authentic as possible to encourage students to view the target language as a means of communicating, expressing ideas, sharing information, and connecting with others, not as another class they have to take. With that mindset, they will acquire language as they hear, read, and understand meaningful messages in context.
Materials
Authentic Resources
Authentic resources, in contrast, are materials originally created for real-world purposes rather than specifically for language instruction, such as movies, songs, and news articles intended for a Spanish- or French-speaking audience.
Both authentic resources and teacher-created materials can provide comprehensible input (CI) when students understand their messages. I lean toward authentic resources whenever possible. Of course, in my advanced classes, I can integrate more native-speaker texts and audios.
Materials
Authentic songs: Songs are a great way to cement language by repetition and to introduce culture into the lesson. I use songs as often as I can at all levels. My students love the song, “Ya no Quiero” for imperfect/preterite practice. (See below.)
News articles provide lots of language in context and academic vocabulary, and also serve as springboards for discussion. http://noticias.univision.com is a good site for advanced Spanish learners. When students are focused on understanding and conveying real messages they learn the language while doing something rather than focusing solely on grammar functions of the language.
Social media: Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, and YouTube provide many authentic resources for language learning: clips of Spanish or French comedians, inspirational reels and commentaries. I have enjoyed listening to Sofia Niño de Rivera on TikTok and Instagram. Being able to read the captions while listening and replay as many times as necessary makes these clips wonderful for learning language.
Your advanced French students may enjoy watching Gad Elmaleh.
ONE CAVEAT: Make sure to choose only clips without salty language.
Using Songs for Comprehensible Input
When teaching the preterite and imperfect I use the song below.
Ya No Quiero: Preterite vs. Imperfect Input
TPRS Stories for Authentic Language
Also, stories have an element of mystery; students are interested to see what will happen next and how the plot will unfold, even in level one. In addition, stories with accompanying activities provide the necessary repetition needed to learn the language, provided the teacher is skilled in TPRS storytelling strategies. TPRS Stories for Spanish One and Two give some basic instructions for how to teach using TPR and some illustrations to aid students in comprehension.
When the story includes visuals to help students understand and follow the plot, it becomes even more effective at providing CI. Click on the images to the right to see some of my most popular illustrated Spanish stories.
Authentic Language on the Internet
The Internet is a great resource for authentic language with endless possibilities: Students can email Spanish speakers in other countries, connect with Spanish speakers through video calls, listen to Spanish radio broadcasts on the internet, listen to podcasts or read blogs, noticias, diarios. One site that I have used often, “Spanish Proficiency Exercises,” provides comprehensible input and examples of many different accents for all levels.
Authentic Language in Videos and Movies
Movies, if chosen judiciously, can be wonderful comprehensible input. By, “judiciously”, I mean not above the level of the students, language +1. For students to learn from movies, they must be only slightly more difficult than their understanding. If the movie is too advanced for them, they will not acquire the language and will only read the subtitles. It will have been wasted instructional time, which is already more scarce than money.
Here are some popular videos for Spanish One that include Spanish subtitles and pop-in images to aid in comprehension (Click on the images):
Get all the Spanish1 and 2 Videos in one bundle.
Movies for Advanced Spanish Learners.
My AP Students Love the Movie, “Bajo la misma luna“. I can’t watch it too many times.
Make sure to give students accompanying activities to keep them focused and accountable.
Sites for Meaningful Listening and Communication
Speakable: Teachers can combine videos, audio, and podcasts with listening activities and AI conversation practice. It accommodates both authentic resources and materials created for learners.
MyConversationTrainer: You can access this tool on the Vista Higher Larning site. Students practice listening and speaking in simulated real-life situations in Spanish and French. It’s a clear example of instructional material that models language for communication.
Pangea Chat: Students communicate with peers or AI partners through text and voice. It offers opportunities to exchange meaningful messages.
Using Games for Language in Context
Games can also give students a meaningful reason to use the target language. Students become so caught up in competing that they forget they are communicating in another language! The key is to choose games that require students to understand or convey messages in context. Here are a few games that my students love:
French Clothing Digital and Printable Bingo provides language in context for comprehensible input.
Spanish Clothing Bingo La ropa Digital and Printable Game
Minimaratón or Spanish Trivial Pursuit provides authentic reading texts for Spanish 1-4 and works well for early finishers.
I found some ideas for activities for authentic language at this interesting site: Musicuentos
With so many choices, it’s easy to use authentic language in your world language lessons.
