Spanish-English Cognate Activities

These 4 activities will give beginning Spanish students an understanding of cognates and false cognates. In addition to learning about cognates, these activities will help students build skills like pattern recognition, logic, deductive reasoning and problem-solving. These skills are crucial to second language study.

In the first activity, students sort cognates according to their endings and use their observations to make "rules" that apply to many of the most common Spanish-English cognates (oso = ous as in famoso, dad = ty as in universidad).

In the second activity, they use the rules that they developed to write the Spanish versions of English words like precious (precioso) or fabulous (fabuloso).

The third activity introduces students to 12 false cognates, then asks them to consider whether they are being used in the correct context when inserted in some English sentences.

The final activity asks them to use what they have learned to decode some basic reading passages that are filled with cognates and answer some questions in English based on what they read.

This Product Includes:
-Cognate Sorting Activity
-Cognate Writing Activity
-False Cognate Activity
-Reading Activity
-Answer Keys for all Activities