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Grow up with the characters. Grow your language abilities. Quijote y Yo (Spanish) and Quichotte et Moi (French) are two distinct historical fan-fiction series designed for natural language acquisition. In a first-of-its-kind format, readers grow in age alongside the characters as the language increases in complexity. 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, Founder.

WANNA 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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WANNA 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. 

Constanza Ontaneda has written accessible, humorous and culturally engaging texts for language learners.

We serve school districts, elementary, middle, and high school World Language Educators 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 not only compelling, but also informative, and which aligns with ACTFL World-Readiness Standards.

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.  

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.

  • 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.
  • Literacy and reading skills: vocabulary, reading fluency, making inferences, identifying themes, analyzing plot, evaluating character motivation.
  • Educators improve their literacy instruction skills by using the manual
  • Motivate students to keep reading with level-appropriate texts, and a set of core characters that grows in age along with the learner as they move up levels.
  • Activities that increase students’ reading comprehension levels.
  • Proficiency-focused strategies.

KNOWLEDGE-BUILDING CURRICULUM

Constanza Ontaneda has written a meticulously-researched historical fiction series that is also humorous, adventure-packed, action-oriented, suspenseful and informative. 

It 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. 

NATIVE-SPEAKER AUDIO

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

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

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