This session reports on one professor’s experience taking beginning and intermediate Spanish classes at the college-level. Sitting among the students provided a unique perspective to reflect on student learning, language acquisition, and language instruction. Instead of blaming students for not studying, we discuss the issues found among most freshmen and ways to help them. Delving into Second Language Acquisition theories, we examine the advantages and limitations of explicit grammar instruction. Finally, we offer concrete suggestions for language teachers at all levels to incorporate four strands (Nation, 2012) in their classroom: comprehensible input, comprehensible output, deliberate language study, and fluency development.
