Shortcuts to fluency: 6 short stories in Spanish, perfect for students

Do you want to give your Spanish students a direct access to fluency?

Short stories are the ticket.
Spanish novels are rather meandering, scenic ways to reach fluency.
But the short stories are the short and direct roads cut through the hedges.
When do you want to reach your destination faster, what will you take?
Yep. Take the shortcut.
The scenic route is for when you want to take your time, explore, smell the rose
s and admire the small details.
But when we want to give our students an explosion of vocabulary, grammar and sy
ntax, short stories pack the most concentrated punch.
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Why should I give short stories to Spanish students?
Reading is vital for the learning of Spanish students
We all know that reading is fundamental for Spanish students to develop comprehe
nsion and writing skills. But it does not stop there. By exposing their brains t
o the Spanish language written for native speakers of Spanish, they will begin t
o become more familiar with the sounds, rhythms and rules of language.
They will begin to look and listen to Spanish sentences and get a gut feeling ab
out whether those sentences are correct or not. However, getting to that place o
f natural familiarity can be an uphill battle.
Students Frequently Be On Top Of Reading
Looking down the barrel of a 100% Spanish novel, you can leave students shiverin
g in their books, regardless of their skill level. If you have not spent quality
time with Spanish narratives, then beginning to develop reading comprehension s
kills for this particular purpose is difficult.
Diversified reading material is key
Perhaps they have only come to read Spanish in homework instructions, exam forms
, activity packs and in their textbooks. Neither of these formats really prepare
s their brains to immerse themselves in the poetry or prose found in the literat
ure. The style, content and diction is often completely different from what you
have become accustomed to through your class work. And here lies the problem.
We know that students will benefit greatly from reading Spanish literature, but
they simply can not begin.
How can we overcome this obstacle? Well, you know what I think the answer is. Le
t me tell you exactly how I know that short stories will attack your students to
the success of reading comprehension, as well as to the general fluency of Span
ish.
Why short stories are the most effective readings
They are perfect for class activities
Simple and short stories are shorter. This means that many of them can be easily
digested by students during class time. Stories can be read together as a class
, individually or in groups. Either way you go, you'll have enough time to finis
h a quick read and get into class activities and discussion later.
Do manageable tasks
Have you assigned chapters of reading material for homework, just so students gi
ve you that "deer in headlights" look the next day when asked about the content?
A short story is much less intimidating to deal with alone, in addition to stud
ents not needing to fully understand the previous chapters nor recall the inform
ation from future chapters.
All the information they need to understand the main concepts of the story is th
ere, in that brief text. You'll probably have that lazy student who still will n
ot read, but that's more or less inevitable anyway.
There is less material to decompose and process
Reading a book chapter by chapter means that students will have to build informa
tion stores in their brains, notebooks and book margins during the course of the
long-term reading project. When you lose a key idea in the narrative, the probl
ems start to snowball and get worse as you continue reading.
This can be frustrating and discouraging, especially for those who are readers l
ess naturally adept (even in their mother tongue). Having to follow the long, wi
nding character arcs, subtle clues, story progressions and plot turns make each
reading assignment a bit more difficult.
With stories, everything you need to know will be found within the given text.
Choosing the best short stories for your students