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Cognates

Did you know that about 40% of English words have a related word in Spanish? Cognates are words that are the same or similar in spelling and/or pronunciation between two languages. Learning to recognize cognates is a great way to help English language learners expand their vocabularies. See Using Cognates to Develop Comprehension in English for more information.

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Vocabulary Development

Knowing vocabulary words is key to reading comprehension. The more words a child knows, the better he or she will understand the text. Using a variety of effective teaching methods will increase the student's ability to learn new words.

Using Cognates to Develop Comprehension in English

Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. For Spanish-speaking ELLs, cognates are an obvious bridge to the English language.