Teaching Spanish - Beginner Errors

After 25 years working as a teacher, I have had a week full of blunders committing 6 beginner errors. At the end of the day, I have reached the conclusion that having experience does not prevent you from making mistakes, it simply gives you the sense of humour you need to laugh at yourself and, probably, the motivation not to panic and to stop and learn a few useful lessons from the past:

1. Es necesario para ti.
   Everybody knows that in Spanish we say “necesitas”. I started work again on Monday and this short phrase slipped out in a B2 class but I remained perfectly calm. I had to laugh at myself and after regaining my composure I explained that my brain had stopped working and that I needed to visit a psychiatrist.

2. This is a reflexive verb (Este es un verbo reflexivo).
   I didn´t even realise that I had made this error until I discovered that my pupils had started creating a list of reflexive verbs and that they had decided that verbs are either reflexive or non-reflexive. After the students got this idea in their heads, they became completely confused. They didn´t understand why “se cambia de ropa” is reflexive but “se cambia moneda” is impersonal. This made me realize that there are no such thingsas reflexive verbs but reflexive actions or reflexive ideas and that until I make an effort to unlearn this label I will keep falling into my own trap when I least expect it.

3. It is better to use SER because it describes permanent attributes (Mejor usar SER porque es siempre).
   How awful! Who said this?  I didn´t say this. These words didn´t come out of my mouth. Right? No one has heard anything like this from me. Is that clear? Even though I know that SER is not used to express temporary attributes,I have managed to avoid using this explanation in my classes for so many years, and then I go and let it slip out. Haven’t I already said that I need a psychiatric nurse?

4. Wait, this verb is irregular (A ver, que ese verbo es irregular).
   If a verb ending in ir has an “o” in its root, for example dormir, it has a “u” in the first and second person plural forms of the present subjunctive. And I made this error in a class where the aim was to improve the fluency of my B1 almost B2 students.  As I was talking, I was lowering the volume of my voice. I must have been distracted, really distracted, to go and break one of my clearest rules at the first sign of an error: avoid correcting students when the purpose of the class is to build their fluency and only do it when necessary using clear and concise rules.
    
5. Finishing my students’ sentences (Terminar las palabras de mis alumunos).I don´t give them the opportunity to take risks with the language because I correct them before they make a mistake, in an inexplicable show of impatience and arrogance which has nothing to do with how I think the class is going.  It is as though a strange being takes hold of me, I can´t really explain it.Why God? Why?
    
6. Letting a definitive phrase slip out (Soltar una frase lapidaria).
   Doing this prevents the conversation class from continuing. For example, I might say something along the lines of:“Because as everybody knows, that´s how it is, and there is nothing we can do about it.” Who can say that they avoid an opportunity to look good?  Eh! Who? We all need our moments of glory. Don’t we?

“Errare humanum est” (making mistakes is part of human nature), but making a mess of things is something Spanish teachers tend to do. Fortunately, we are able to criticize ourselves and we have the sense of humor needed to not give up and dedicate our lives to gardening which is a lot less dangerous.