Activities using Chilean Idioms

Historical Background

The Chilean language has always been an idiomatic language and is therefore not your typical Spanish. There are two reasons for this type of language development. One is the influence of immigrant communities and their languages-mainly Italian, Yugoslavian, German, and English. The second is Chile's island-like geography which has seemed to foster the development of a unique, internal language.

EALR Objectives:

Art 3.1

Geography 3.2

Geography 3.3

Materials

Word List taken from How To Survive In The Chilean Jungle written by John Brennan and Alvaro Taboada

Activities:

1. Students can dramatize a situation using one or more of the idioms. Make it into a game.

2. Students can illustrate an idiomatic phrase by designing a poster, cutting out pictures from a magazine.

3. Students can find idioms of equivalent meaning in other languages and make a multicultural idiomatic dictionary.

4. Students can research other countries which have island-like geography to see if they also have a unique language.

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