#HowIBoomalang is a series of interviews with educators sharing how and why they implement Boomalang conversations. Below are insights from Senior Lecturer Wendy Jones-Worden, who uses Boomalang to support students in both beginner and intermediate Spanish at UNC-Greensboro.
“Even shy people who would not speak in class loved Boomalang.”
Classes: Beginner + Intermediate Spanish
Problem
At UNC-Greensboro, students are required to complete a weekly “practice hour” to strengthen their language skills outside of class time. Wendy Jones-Worden was looking for a tool to bring that requirement to life, especially one that could build real confidence in speaking.
She found that many students, particularly those in modified or online courses, needed structured support to succeed. That’s where Boomalang came in.
Solution
“I’ve been able to use it in a face-to-face, online, and our modified class. The modified class is an adjusted regular class to meet the needs of students who struggle in the traditional classroom,” shares Wendy. “I made [Boomalang] a requirement. And by making it count for completion, students were more motivated. For my face-to-face classes, it was considered quiz grades on top of their regular quizzes, so it could boost their quiz average. For the online classes, it was just a separate grade called ‘Boomalang.’”
Students were required to complete eight conversations over the semester. To set them up for success, Wendy gave them a communication toolkit before their first session.
“If you are just saying ‘¿Qué?’ all the time, that doesn’t mean what you think it means. That’s more of an element of surprise,” explains Wendy. “If you don’t understand something, then you need to say ‘no entiendo’ because that lets the Boomalang speaker know that they have to rephrase what they said. If you say ‘repité’, the speaker knows that you didn’t hear them. And if you say ‘mas despacio’, they know they are speaking too fast.”
This kind of scaffolding helped students feel ready for real interaction and contributed to the program’s effectiveness.
Results
Wendy was pleasantly surprised by the impact Boomalang had on her students. Of the 40 students surveyed during the pilot program, 98% loved it. “Even shy people who would not speak in class loved Boomalang.”
Students shared the following feedback at the end of the semester:
“Engaging in real conversations helped my understanding.”
“I liked how we were able to choose who we wanted to talk to, and there was a wide variety of speakers.”
“I liked Boomalang – it helped us see that our Spanish learning isn’t going to waste.”
“I was able to respond quickly and confidently, unlike before.”
“Boomalang allowed me to further my Spanish speaking skills by conversing with nice people.”
“As part of students’ final oral exam, they work in groups of two or three to talk for ten minutes. In the past, I would set the timer and they’d be struggling to get to the 10-minute mark,” Wendy mentions.
“This time [after integrating Boomalang], they couldn’t finish covering all of the topics. And they went for more than ten minutes. I couldn’t get them to stop. They were so comfortable talking that they just kept going. Now it wasn’t perfect, but they kept talking. That, to me, was amazing. To me, that was the biggest success. They weren’t afraid to talk anymore.”
Wendy’s experience at UNC-Greensboro highlights how online Spanish speaking tools for universities can dramatically impact student participation, especially in hybrid or modified learning environments. For anyone looking to offer Spanish conversation practice for beginners that feels real, personal, and encouraging, Boomalang delivers.
Have a story to share?
Whether it’s a small win or a big breakthrough, we’d love to hear it. Help grow the Boomalang community by commenting below, emailing info@boomalang.co, or sharing your experience on Twitter using #HowIBoomalang.
Saludos,
Alison, Community Engagement
