Pobre Ana
Encyclopedia
Poor Ana, is an easy reader originally written in Spanish
for learning Spanish as a second language
. It was written by Blaine Ray in 1999 to be used with the TPR Storytelling
method of foreign language teaching, and has since been translated into several different languages. It is designed to be comprehensible even to beginning language learners, and has a vocabulary of just 300 words. It also gives teachers opportunities to discuss cultural differences between the countries depicted.
When she arrives at the house, the daughter of the Sanchez family, her Mexican family greets her. Susana and Juana form a tight relationship with Ana. As she goes home with her Ana notices that Mexico is very different from Los Angeles. The families in Mexico don't have heated water and the general population have relatively small houses. Many families do not own many things. She also meets Patricia and Ricardo who attend a private school and also have problems with their family. She leaves and says goodbye to her Mexican family and her friends. Ricardo writes her letters every now and again that take about a month to get to her (according to a letter that Ricardo sends her which is sent on August 20 and arrives in early September). Ana looks at her home more appreciative of what she has. Her family has a car, a well sized house, and money whereas many Mexican families do not. In a letter Ana writes in response to Ricardo, Ana states that she will not return to Mexico the following summer as Patricia plans on visiting Ana. Ana says in the letter that she will return in two years. In the following school year, Ana and the Class President Paul gather clothes for unfortunate Mexican families. They have a dance that kids donate clothes to for help. Ana is now very happy with life. She figured out that every family has their own problems.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for learning Spanish as a second language
Second language
A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas ....
. It was written by Blaine Ray in 1999 to be used with the TPR Storytelling
Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling
TPR Storytelling is a method of teaching foreign languages. TPRS lessons use a mixture of reading and storytelling to help students learn a foreign language in a classroom setting...
method of foreign language teaching, and has since been translated into several different languages. It is designed to be comprehensible even to beginning language learners, and has a vocabulary of just 300 words. It also gives teachers opportunities to discuss cultural differences between the countries depicted.
Plot
Pobre Ana is about a teenage girl named Ana who is jealous of her friends. Ana's family is not well-off. Ana thinks her mother is mean and doesn't help. Her mom is strict and her dad won't give her money because they are poor. She has problems with her sister, Patty, who takes her clothes and never gives them back until Ana finds her, and has problems with her brother Don who never helps her find important things. She has two friends in West Torrance High who are very rich. Sara is very rich and interested in brand name clothes while Elsa is interested in new cars. One day, however, Ana's Spanish teacher offers her an opportunity to go to Mexico over the summer and stay with a Mexican family for three months over the summer. She asks her parents and tells them that the trip is paid for by the school. Ana gets permission, and flies to Mexico three months after the offer. She lands in Mexico and, sadly, cannot interpret such fluent Spanish in the country. After arriving at the proper airport, Ana finds that the family is not there and receives help for a taxi from Jose Gomez.When she arrives at the house, the daughter of the Sanchez family, her Mexican family greets her. Susana and Juana form a tight relationship with Ana. As she goes home with her Ana notices that Mexico is very different from Los Angeles. The families in Mexico don't have heated water and the general population have relatively small houses. Many families do not own many things. She also meets Patricia and Ricardo who attend a private school and also have problems with their family. She leaves and says goodbye to her Mexican family and her friends. Ricardo writes her letters every now and again that take about a month to get to her (according to a letter that Ricardo sends her which is sent on August 20 and arrives in early September). Ana looks at her home more appreciative of what she has. Her family has a car, a well sized house, and money whereas many Mexican families do not. In a letter Ana writes in response to Ricardo, Ana states that she will not return to Mexico the following summer as Patricia plans on visiting Ana. Ana says in the letter that she will return in two years. In the following school year, Ana and the Class President Paul gather clothes for unfortunate Mexican families. They have a dance that kids donate clothes to for help. Ana is now very happy with life. She figured out that every family has their own problems.