Foreign Languages for Everyone

ENDORSEMENTS "This book is a conduit for students, teachers, and teacher educators -- a carefully guided path to making language learning not only possible, but meaningful and fun!" --Marjorie Hall Haley, PhD, Board of Directors of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Director of Foreign Language Teacher Licensure, George Mason University "Professor Konyndyk has developed a foreign-language pedagogy that makes students' deserts bloom. Foreign-language instructors and special educators will find themselves grateful to her for this contribution. --Lynn E. Snyder, PhD, CCC-SLP, Professor Emerita and Former Director of the Center for Language and Learning, University of Colorado at Boulder "Though I was told for such a long time 'No, you can't,' you constantly were a voice saying 'Yes, you can and you will.' You not only helped show me that the world of language is one that is possible for me, but you also showed me the way that we . . . can have such a positive impact on the lives of others." --a personal note from one of Irene's own at-risk students ABOUT FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR EVERYONE "This book is about how I learned to teach a second language to those who either have failed before or were not really given a chance to succeed. I wrote it to help others to be smart, productive teachers of foreign languages to students with learning disabilities. The book called me. My life journey prepared and inspired me to write it." --Irene Brouwer Konyndyk, from her preface Foreign Languages for Everyone is based on Professor Irene Brouwer Konyndyk's careful study and classroom experience teaching foreign languages effectively to students with learning disabilities. The goal of serving at-risk students became highly personal for Irene when she realized that her own daughter had a learning disability but could succeed academically with the right combination of multisensory learning experiences. This is a wonderfully practical and inspiring book loaded with practical tips and pedagogical insights for successfully teaching foreign languages to children, young people, high school and college students, and older adults who have difficulty learning a second language. ABOUT IRENE AND HER FREE ONLINE RESOURCES Irene Brouwer Konyndyk has taught languages at all levels -- from elementary through college. She received the Calvin College Innovative Teaching Award for her groundbreaking work developing a successful curriculum for at-risk second-language learners. She leads workshops across North America. Her free website, FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR EVERYONE, provides: (1) downloadable copies of book-related appendixes, forms, and lesson plans, (2) illustrative video and audio clips, (3) news about important developments at the intersections of special education, learning disabilities, and foreign-language instruction, and (4) a community for second-language instructors to share best practices. TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) This book is ideal for educators and volunteers who teach English as a second language (ESL).