USE COGNATES TO BUILD BACKGROUND

Cognates are words that are the same in two languages.  They may not be spelled exactly them same, but they have the same roots.  English and Spanish have many cognates.  Here are some examples:

English               Spanish

Capital              Capital

Colony              Colonia

Geography        Geografia

Magnetic           Magnético

Cognates can help students learn new content by connecting to what they already know in their first language.

· Point out cognates whenever you are aware of them.

· Teach the word cognate to students and encourage them to identify “new” cognates.

· Consider small rewards for students who independently identify cognates.

Links to English/Spanish cognate lists:

Colorin Colorado (A five-page printable list. Very useful)

Tier 1 vocabulary

Science cognates

Math cognates

There are also some  “False Cognates,”  where the same word has different meanings in each language.  Probably the most famous example is embarazada, which means NOT embarrassed, but pregnant! More closely related to school is:

English               Spanish

Library              Biblioteca

Book Store       Libraria

Check out this link for more:

Brown