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Quijote y Yo (Spanish) and Quichotte et Moi (French) are two distinct historical fan-fiction series designed for natural language acquisition. Start with the Novice Low Septology and advance through increasingly complex trilogies—or jump in at any level, as each arc can be read independently. Backed by second-language acquisition research, the premise is simple: learners need abundant, compelling, and comprehensible input to build a strong mental representation of a language—giving them the foundation they need to communicate naturally.

—Constanza Ontaneda
World Language Educator, Author, Publisher & Founder.

WANT TO LEARN SPANISH OR FRENCH?

Whether you are a School District Administrator, an Educator, a Learner or the Parent of a child whom you wish will one day be multilingual, welcome to Input Wand. We believe in learning and teaching languages through literacy because over 70 years of research show it is the best way to do so. However, the literature used must be written for language learners. 

"Comprehensible input is the crucial and necessary ingredient for the acquisition of language."
—Stephen Krashen, PhD., American linguist, educational researcher and activist.
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WANT TO TEACH SPANISH OR FRENCH?

It is accepted that humans learn vocabulary and increase cultural knowledge through extensive reading. Why should learning a language be any different?

And yet, over and over again as a World Language Educator Constanza had to learn the hard way that when texts are too hard, learners shut down. 

This is why Constanza has written accessible, humorous and culturally engaging texts for language learners.

We serve school districts, elementary, middle, and high school students and World Language Educators, independent learners and homeschooling parents by providing top-notch curricular and supplementary resources.

WHY STORIES?

Linguist Stephen Krashen argues that for optimal language acquisition, reading and listening material must not merely be understandable or mildly interesting—it must be compelling. In his Compelling Input Hypothesis, Krashen defines compelling input as content so absorbing that you forget it is in another language.

Turns out humans find nothing more compelling than stories.

Constanza Ontaneda has written a meticulously-researched historical fiction series that is also humorous, adventure-packed, action-oriented, suspenseful and informative. If you're a CI-based Educator, it is perfect for Reader's Theater. 

THE RESEARCH IS CLEAR

Dr. Stephen Krashen views grammar drills and rote memorization as hindrances or unnecessary tools for true language acquisition. Constanza's experience confirms this, both as a learner of 8 languages and as a World Language Educator of over 12 years. 

Krashen asserts that we acquire language in only one way: by understanding messages (listening and reading content slightly above our current level, known as i + 1) in a low-anxiety environment. Grammar and vocabulary naturally emerge from this input over time.  

⭐Quijote y Yo is the only language-learner literature to focus their Novice Low Level on the seven most common verbs in the Target Language, commonly known as the Super Seven. 
⭐In the Novice Low Aventuras Septology, each book focuses on one of the verbs: To Like, To Be (Emotions), There Is/There Are, To Be (Relationship), To Go, To Have, To Want/Love. 
⭐Once learners are done with the Septology, their abilities in all four functions of language (reading, writing, speaking and listening) far exceed ACTFL's guidelines for Novice Low proficiency.

KNOWLEDGE-BUILDING CURRICULUM

The series is set in the late 1500s and covers topics such as The Holy Spanish Inquisition, Pre-Incan Cultures, Incan Cultures, the European Renaissance and much more. A few magical powers such as time travel make it fun and accessible to readers of today. 

Talk about alignment with ACTFL World-Readiness Standards, such as 

⭐“Cultural Comparisons: Learners use the language to investigate, explain, and reflect on the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.”

⭐“Making Connections: Acquiring Information and Diverse Perspectives: Learners access and evaluate information and diverse perspectives that are available through the language and its cultures.”

RESEARCH-BASED SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

Our downloadable pdf Communication Guides provide step-by-step lesson plans.

Pre-reading, Reading and Post-Reading Tasks are presented to build background knowledge, think while reading, interact with the text, complete comprehension tasks, write and extend one’s experiences with what is read. 

NATIVE-SPEAKER AUDIO

In order to sound like a native-speaker, learners must hear and comprehend native speakers. Therefore, all audio products at Input Wand are narrated by native speakers. 

The series is written and narrated in Latin American Spanish and Parisian French. 

ENHANCED LEARNING AND TEACHING WITH STORYLABS

Storylabs is a state-of-the art educational digital platform designed by Brooke Stephens, a World Language Educator and Homeschooling Parent.

⭐ Student-privacy-certified platform.

⭐ Built-in journaling.

⭐ Usage-tracking.

⭐ Audio and Text integrated for books and Communication Guides.

⭐ Custom Acquisition-Driven Tasks and Games by Textivate that ONLY exist on Storylabs.

⭐ Educator ability to add up to 180 students into their own classroom.

⭐ Educator ability to decide what students see, and to track student progress.

FREE YOUTUBE RESOURCES

Head to our YouTube Channel to access free resources.

⭐All the Novice Low Audiobooks in both Spanish and French

⭐Chapter 1 Samples for all books in the series in both Spanish and French

⭐Yell Its! in both Spanish and French

⭐Act Its! in both Spanish and French

⭐Question Words in both Spanish and French

⭐Teacher Training Videos 

⭐Lectures

PROFESSIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS

Marcia Fernandez is an Argentinian professional illustrator who specializes in young-adult and children's illustrations. 

Constanza and Marcia collaborated together for years to illustrate the series. 

Constanza is committed to utilizing human-only content in the series. For years, Constanza utilized other readers in her classrooms and was disappointed in either the absence of illustrations or their poor quality. 

Marcia's illustrations:

⭐Enhance comprehension

⭐Enhance cultural understanding

⭐Enhance engagement

⭐Enhance enjoyment

COMPREHENSIVE GLOSSARIES

Words mean different things in different contexts. This is why using dictionaries in the World Language Classroom can be both time-consuming and defeat the purpose. Class time is limited, and we want to maximize it engaging learners in tasks that will lead to acquisition.

Custom-made glossaries solve this issue. Every book in the series has one.