Did you know that TruFluency Kids has our own method for teaching Spanish? It’s true — and it’s amazing!
The Bellieu Method was created by and named after our founder, Micah Bellieu, a longtime language teacher who speaks three languages herself and is raising a trilingual daughter.
So what is the Bellieu Method and how does it work? Let’s break things down.
How Did TPRS Influence the Bellieu Method?
The roots of the Bellieu Method go back to 2010, when Micah took a course with Blaine Ray about TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling).
This three-day training covered how to teach a foreign language exclusively in that language by writing stories with students using the chalkboard, using physical responses to engage the students every second of the class, and having them interact with the story, through speaking, from Minute 1 of class.
You can also see TPRS in action in videos from teacher Adriana Ramirez.
Micah was inspired by Ray and Ramirez, but she knew that TruFluency needed a modified approach because our students are typically much younger than those in Ramirez’s videos. So Micah decided to develop her own approach: the Bellieu Method.
Give Your Child the Gift of Spanish!
What Are the Components of the Bellieu Method?
We engage through stories.
Spanish classes at TruFluency Kids have a new theme every four weeks. And each new theme starts with a story.
Why? Learning just happens a lot more naturally through following a story than by memorizing vocabulary words. We’re all familiar with learning this way: For most of us, being read to, and then reading ourselves, helped instill our first language.
It’s also easier to learn language through stories because they give us more context to help us figure out the content.
Here’s how this works: Let’s say your child is learning Spanish, but they’ve never been exposed to the word biblioteca (library). If they saw that word on its own, they would probably not be able to figure out its meaning.
Now let’s imagine that they encounter the word in a Spanish-language story after a character says they need some new libros (books). With that additional information, it’s a lot easier to determine what a biblioteca is.
Books also enhance language learning by creating memorable mental images. To stay with the above example, a colorful illustration of a library stuffed with books makes it easier for your child to recall the word biblioteca.
Micah has experienced this firsthand with her daughter. When someone reads to her, she seems mesmerized by the images in her book. But if Micah asks her questions about the story or a new vocabulary word in the book, her daughter remembers everything.
We produce the language.
We often hear from parents whose kids understand Spanish but still respond to them in English. Now, don’t get us wrong — even getting kids to understand Spanish is a great accomplishment. But it’s not fluency. And without speaking experience, these kids may never achieve Spanish fluency.
The fact is that kids can’t become fluent just by hearing a language. They also have to produce that language. That’s why we encourage, help and motivate TruFluency Kids students to respond in Spanish.
If they aren’t sure of a word, we help them find it. If they can’t answer a question, we give them options and help them choose. But, through it all, we keep speaking Spanish.
Our goal is to get kids feeling safe and comfortable responding in Spanish. So we create an environment that’s safe and supportive — and Spanish-speaking at all times.
We use science
One of the most important things we learned from Blaine Ray is the importance of circling to solidify learning. This is why we reread books with students many times. But we keep things interesting by asking questions in different ways.
By doing this, we ensure that our students truly understand what they’re hearing in Spanish and aren’t just repeating answers they memorized.
We also design our classes to capture and maintain our students’ attention. If students aren’t feeling a strong emotion (like curiosity or surprise), then their attention is probably drifting.
So we choose stories that keep students on their toes — like the one about a girl who builds a treehouse with a room made of bubblegum. (Can you guess what happens next?) The crazier or sillier the story, the more that kids remember. And that’s our goal!
During our classes, instructors are paying careful attention to what kids are interested in. For example, if your child gets really into the bubblegum treehouse story and wants to talk about their favorite gum flavors, we encourage them.
We figure that teaching them the words to talk about something that interests them will inspire them to have their own conversations in Spanish.
We build strong relationships.
When you think about it, language learning is all about relationships. You were probably motivated to master your first language because you wanted to communicate with the people in your life — parents, siblings, cousins, your teacher and so on.
That’s why our classes emphasize connection. We want our students to really get to know each other and their teachers. We love it when our students proudly make artwork for their instructors. One of our families even traveled to Mexico to meet up with their teacher in person!
Take a Trial Class
Now that we’ve explained the Bellieu Method, we’d love for you to see it in action at TruFluency Kids. Sign your kids up for a 30-minute trial class! After it, you can join a parent Q & A so we can answer all your questions.
