The sisters Fátima and Nuria Ostolaza affirm that spelling can be learned “without losing one's smile” and that studying the rules that govern the correct use of writing can be “exciting”.
For just over a year they have dedicated themselves to preparing a "different" method of teaching the orthographic universe, based on illustrations and short videos.
They have just published the Visuende guide (acronym for visualize and learn), a "practical and entertaining" tool with which they intend to facilitate the understanding of the fundamental rules of the Spanish language.
“Usually we write pretty badly.
All you have to do is read the messages in many WhatsApp groups”, says Fátima.
To a large extent, she believes, this is because "at school little time is spent studying spelling and students are asked to memorize everything."
This is how the idea arose of “putting together a practical guide on the use of accentuation, the rules on the use of letters, the most common errors in writing and the knowledge of uppercase, lowercase and punctuation marks.
The authors of the Visuende method, explains Nuria, have chosen to "create cards, more than 120 explanatory videos, illustrated comics, exercises, a game board and a solution" that cover the entire orthographic compendium.
Fátima and Nuria, residents of Zarautz (Gipuzkoa), left their jobs as a clerk and in a solicitor's office, respectively, to dedicate themselves body and soul to the spelling guide.
The main codes of the RAE (“san RAE”, they say), as well as various spelling manuals, were hatched.
They were also inspired by theories such as William Glasser's pyramid of learning and Ramón Campayo's tips and tricks to improve memory.
All this background was adapted to create "a model of their own in which images and stories help to remember the rules" and commit fewer fouls.
02:22
Visuende Spelling Guide
Suddenly, is it written together or separately?
The guide makes it clear in a short comic starring Dracula.
As is known, vampires flee from the light, which is why the vignettes explain that the phrases "suddenly", "suddenly", "at ease" and "sometimes", among others, must always be separated.
And then"?
To explain that the adverbs "around", "barely", "immediately" or "in front" are preferably written together (although it is accepted immediately or in front), the authors have devised a story in which the ice cream and the freezer must be together to prevent the candy from melting.
Visuende takes this course: she makes use of simple and short invented stories to associate them with the grammatical rules that will solve her doubts.
The same to differentiate "to see" from "to have", to know when it is appropriate to use "why",
The Visuende method comprises a 299-page book in which QR codes are interspersed that give access to explanatory videos, with advice and clarifications by the private teacher Clara (the one who clarifies the rules) and her partner Pruden (the prudent one who warns exceptions), both characterized by the sisters Fátima and Nuria.
The Ostolazas have “had a great time” and hope that the users of their method “have fun and get the occasional smile” while handling the manual.
The book is also in digital format and the method is completed with five interactive courses, the preferred one for young people due to their fondness for mobile phones and tablets, so that "everyone learns at their own pace, at the time they prefer and from the place you want".
Fátima explains that they have opted for this visual model to "better adapt to the use that students make of new technologies and social networks."
"These are very short videos, inspired by TikTok, that manage to hook young people and facilitate learning of the subject."
Lying endlessly is not the same as telling endless lies, it is worth knowing that around the island there may be a paradisiacal environment and that "coil" and "bovine" sound the same because they are homophones, but they have different meanings.
Nuria acknowledges that they would have liked to have such a guide to solve their children's doubts and their own.
And she adds that "learning the rules does not have to be a boring and complicated task if we find a fun and practical way to get writing correctly."
“We are meeting many people who confess to us that accentuation is their unfinished business.
Let them know that the courses are available separately”, she sentences.
Before its publication, the Visuende guide was used by 5th grade students at the Miguel Delibes public school in Burgos "with a high degree of acceptance", according to its authors.
This center has already decided to incorporate it next year in the subject of Spanish Language with students between 10 and 12 years of age.
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