Well, this was painful. In preparation for this learning activity, I went to our school library and checked out a couple of books written in Spanish. I should say, I have taken French, Greek, and Hebrew (I stink at all of them), but I have never taken any Spanish. For my more advanced reading, I checked out the Spanish version of the book Holes, written by Louis Sachar. For my easier read, I checked out the book Magic Gods Of The Volcano, written by Escrito por Malio Argueta.
From the very first page Holes I knew I was in trouble. There were a few words I knew. I suspected that "En" meant "in." and I was pretty sure "verde" was green. I believe it is the same in French. I was also sure that "grande" meant "big." I also recognized the word Texas. So, in the first paragraph I had some vague idea that there was something big and green in or around Texas. The second paragraph did not go any better. I was fairly sure that "pueblo" meant town; and I again was pretty sure that "verde" meant green. So, all I could glean from the second paragraph was that there was a green town; however, that did not really sound reasonable, so I was pretty sure I was hopelessly lost.
The only way I knew how to at least try and make sense out of this incomprehensible text was to look on-line for a Spanish to English translator. I found such a device and then translated every word in the first two paragraph. This actually worked fairly well. I know think I have a fairly good understanding of these first two paragraphs. The story opens something like this: "In the Camp Green Lake, there are no lakes. There used to be a very big lake there, even bigger than Texas. (The next sentence still baffles me. It seems to say that there are--or used to be--more than 100 anus." But I'm pretty sure this isn't correct)
But now it is just dry land. The story continues in the second paragraph by saying, "There used to be a town in Green Lake. The town is faded and withered together with the lake and people who used to live there."
Left on my own without any outside resources, I was hopelessly lost. But, once I accessed a Spanish dictionary, I was able to make sense of the text. Even though, as I mentioned above, that I have done poorly at every language I have studied, these previous exposures to language did help. First of all, my grammar is very strong, so I recognized articles, prepositions, nouns, and verbs. I also have some understanding of how flexible syntax can be from one language to the next, so I did not get hung up on words that did not follow the pattern one would expect in English. I also have some experience parsing verbs, so I was able to parse verb forms so they better fit the context of the story. Armed with a Spanish dictionary, I think I could comprehend this book at a fairl high level. But I have a better grasp on grammar and syntax than most ELL students who would be in my room. I do not think I would have been able to get this much out the dictionary had it not been for my previous language course. Of course, this a long time. I only translated the first two paragraphs of the book, which probably took 30 minutes. Looking up every single word is a painstaking endevor. Hopefully, my next go-round with a chidren's book will be a bit easier.
OK, that did not go any better. The Magic Dogs Of The Volcanoes is a children's picture book; it's only 30 pages in length; half of the book is pictures, and the print is very big. But I had no more luck with this book than I did with Holes. In the first paragraph I could understand that they were talking about what happens either in or on the volcanoes in El Salvador. I also knew that lobos meant either wolf or dog and I was able to figure out that "magicos" meant magic. So, I figured out that there was something about magic dogs or wolves either in or on the volcanoes in El Salvador. After looking up every word in this paragaph, I concluded that there are or were magic dogs on these volcanoes. The dogs looked like wolves, but they were not wolves. I also figured out that they eat seeds of the morning (this must be a poetic phrase) these are the beautiful flowers that cover the volcanoes.
I did no better with the second paragraph. I thought "La gente" must mean man, person, or even people. I was also pretty sure that "vive" meant live. Of course, I also recognized the word volcano, which occured twice in this paragraph. So, I figured the second paragraph must mean something remotely akin to: "Somebody lived or lives in or around a volcano." After looking up every word in a Spanish dictionary, I was able to develop a more satisfactory translation. I think the second paragraph reads something more like: "The person or peole who live in the village on the slopes of the volcanoe love the magic dogs. They say they are the great grandchildren of the volcanoe. They say the magic dogs protect them from danger." Again, the use of a Spanish dictionary, along with a strong grasp on grammar and snytax allowed me to make sense of this text. But it sure took a long time. Not all ELL students in elementary school or even middle school will have the degree of skill I have with grammar and syntax.
It must be frustrating for ELL students to try to create meaning from such seemingly confusing texts.
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