¡Bucky Va a Mexico!

Recorded by Guadelupe Garcia, ¡Bucky Va a México! has just been completed and is now available for purchase.  Modeled on the innovative TPR Storytelling® method, it is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to learn conversational Spanish as it is spoken in Mexico.

Not intended as a classroom text, although some teachers use it that way, it is best for individuals. It can be used with accelerated students or students who have extended absences, or with anyone who just wants to hear and repeat interesting and meaningful Spanish in an interesting, comprehensible, and meaningful format that leads to real acquisition of the language.

Memorization is not used. Bucky is a repetition-filled text. Over seven hours of travel structures are presented on six CDs.  Each structure is repeated in the form of a barrage of multiple, non-stop, similar questions.  As you answer each question, you internally acquire the travel terms.

If you compare your brain to a computer, memorization places Spanish structures on the desktop (the pre-frontal cortex). But to truly learn the language, the structures must be placed into the hard drive (the posterior cortex and the cerebellum). This is what the repetitive process of the Bucky programs accomplishes.

Each selection is written in a way to allow you to grasp the meaning of the words from context only. A dictionary is not needed. Some facts may seem distorted or exaggerated. This “catches” the attention of the mind and facilitates learning.

At the end of each selection, a series of questions based on learned vocabulary, but in the "I" form, is presented. This key section allows you to practice speaking in the first person, since that is the form you must master to be able to get around in Spanish speaking countries.

What about grammar? By doing the work on these CDs you learn structure. Structure is grammar, and once learned in this way, you can enjoy self-expression in Spanish. The study of grammar is not needed to learn a language. It can be studied later, once the language is learned, if desired.

At the end of the program, basic Spanish expressions, greetings, numbers, etc. are presented. These selections, again, offer repetitive practice.

The copyright for ¡Bucky Va a Mexico! may be purchased by individuals or schools in order to provide multiple copies to students for independent learning outside of the classroom.

MERRITT BIGELOW, of Centennial, Colorado, says: