EDGAR ALLAN POE IN SPANISH

It's said tha impossible is nothing. It is if you don't face reality when reality means eleven-year-old kids from a beautiful Galician village trying to read and summarize Edgar Allan Poe's tales in English. It is impossible to make them express themselves in a foreign language to summarize literay works, and it is worthless to pretend that they will be able to read Poe's tales and poems in English however adapted or abridge they may be. But it is possible to make them love literature because reading is fun, and because while they are entering a magic world they can discover different cultures, new feelings, ancient or even future times.

Colle and Slater explained in the 80's that "engaging imaginatively with literature enables learners to shift the focus of their attention beyond the more mechanical aspects of the foreign language system" But don't forget that efficient reading takes places when the language of the text is comprehensible to the learners. Let's admit that most kids find it difficult not only to understand or express themselves in a foreign language, but also to read a story in their own language.

It was 19th January 2010, 200+1 years after Edgar Allan Poe's birth and since my students are so interested in mystery and horror stories, I decided to pay tribute to the first genius of this genre. Many pre and post-activities were done in English, but my students had a lot to say in their mother tongues - Spanish and Galician. Calm down and don't panic, you Direct Approcheraddictoholic! When you are a Latin language speaker and you are studying the 5th or 6th level, grade, year, the gap between the English you can speak and the English you can understand can be really huge. Belive it or not, this is the first step beyond to narrow that gap: Sometimes the mother tongue can be used. It really works!

Here you are the result of enjoying working and searching for information in English and reading some of the most frightening tales by Allan Poe in Spanish.

In honour to Edgar Allan Poe and his universality without language barriers.