Nov. 8, 2009
Pronunciation help from a free internet resource
Posted in grammar and language helps
 Another great, free web resource is available to help you with your Spanish. On Forvo, you can hear words in Spanish, or any language, pronounced by native speakers. Click here to go to the home page.
In the upper right corner of the page, you'll notice a search box that allows you to look up a word you want to hear pronounced. Let's give it a try using the word "abanico". When you enter the word you will get a results page. You'll notice that your results options include Portuguese. This is not unusual, you will find that there is a definite overlap between Spanish and other Romance languages. When you click on the Spanish results, you will have two options. You can hear a female speaker from Costa Rica or a male speaker from Argentina pronounce the word for you. Although there will be differences due to regional accents, the basic pronunciation will be the same. Bookmark this site and enjoy hearing the pronunciation of words you may have been unsure of in the past! |
Nov. 1, 2009
miniWord Reference
Posted in grammar and language helps
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Mini Word Reference is an exciting new widget I found that I can't resist bringing to your attention. I have long used and relied on the Word Reference site, and recommend it at every opportunity. It is now available as a widget that you can conveniently use while on this site, or place on a site that you use frequently.
Check out the Word Reference site at www.wordreference.com for more freebies, including Iphone apps and toolbars to add to your browser window. Please Word Reference people - make a Blackberry app! I can honestly say that as I've grown more dependent upon Word Reference and its forums, my big unabridged Spanish-English dictionary has been gathering dust. Maybe I can refinish it and use it as an end table? |
Oct. 8, 2009
Counting in Spanish
Posted in grammar and language helps
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This catchy video is especially geared toward young children, but even more mature learners will probably learn something. Boca Beth teaches counting to 10, as well as some other terminology that will be learned in context. In the second half of the video, she promotes a CD she has produced. Take it or leave it - but enjoy this spunky free video! |
Oct. 1, 2009
Plaza Sιsamo - Lola helps us with vowel pronunciation
Posted in grammar and language helps
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The Spanish language program Plaza Sésamo offers the Spanish learner a great free resource for learning and hearing Spanish spoken. This video is particularly important for pronunciation, as the vowel sounds are very consistent in Spanish, and getting them right makes all the difference in how your spoken Spanish sounds. In this video you will get lots of practice with the vowels in a format that will make them more memorable for young and not-so-young alike. While you will not understand all that is said, the context clues are all you need to properly produce the vowel sounds. |
Sep. 29, 2009
Top 5 Mistakes English Learners Make
Posted in grammar and language helps
     4. Trying to be perfect - When have you ever done something hard for the first time, and done it to perfection? When it comes time to speak Spanish, students should be advised to relax and realize that mistakes are part of the process. We all need to learn to laugh at ourselves, and cut others some slack in this area. If there is too much pressure for spoken Spanish to come out perfectly, students will clam up, stammer, and experience more frustration than real learning. 5. Relying on schools/classes/teachers - I've known many people who cruise through language classes with good grades who don't retain a word of what they supposedly learned. Language learning is ultimately the responsibility of the student. This happens in part when you discover your strongest learning style, and make the extra effort to internalize the information. Inspiration plays a role here too. Spanish is not just an academic subject; it is a living language, spoken by millions in over 20 nations. There is history, art, culture, food, literature, etc to inspire you and make the language more real and relevant. Unless a student is inspired to take personal ownership of the learning process, Spanish is just another academic exercise. |
Sep. 17, 2009
Don't miss this pronunciation tutorial series!
Posted in grammar and language helps
 About.com is a great source of information, and their Spanish offerings are consistently accurate and high quality. They have just begun a Spanish pronunciation tutorial series that includes a clear, brief description and an audio file of the featured sound. The series begins, appropriately, with the letter "a". In Spanish this vowel has one pure "ah" sound, and no variety depending on countless phonics rules as in English.
Consistent and pure vowel pronunciation is a key to sounding good in Spanish. Unlike English, the vowels keep the same pronunciation regardless of where they fall in the word. If you have taught phonics, you have surely learned of the "schwa" sound in English - the nebulous "uh" that we render of most of our vowels in unaccented syllables. This is such an ingrained habit for most of us that it requires awareness and conscious effort at first to avoid it in Spanish. Check out the tutorial on the "a" sound - and look for more to come! |
Sep. 3, 2009
Una Entrevista con una Maestra de Espaρol - Parte Dos
Posted in grammar and language helps
Join us again as we continue to pick the brain of a Spanish teaching guru... Kathleen: Welcome again Debbie, and thank for taking the time to answer a few questions for us. What would you say parents should keep in mind while teaching Spanish to their children? Debbie: As far as pronunciation, the vowels are the most important part. If the child can pronounce the vowels correctly then they will be more understandable. Also remember the progression of any language learning is as follows: Absorbing and then producing. So a child must hear the language before he/she can speak it. A child must be able to read it before he can write it. Kathleen: That sounds reasonable, but I know as parents we can get impatient with that process. In other words, our first year students will probably not be able to serve as a translators just yet! Digging deeper, how can language instruction be made more multi-sensory? Debbie: Do as much Spanish through games and activities as possible. For example, with my students we play a lot of matching games, Go-Fish with new vocabulary, dice games, battleship to practice verb conjugations, etc. To get ideas for some of my games I have used this book: Games….Tools for Learning. I also try to use commands as much as possible. For example, when we are learning prepositions (on top of, under, beside, etc.), I will tell my kids/students to put an object under the sofa or on top of the piano. Or I may describe where something is located in the house and they have to go find it.  Kathleen: Sounds interesting and fun! Moms take note, you need to be learning the language along with your children in order to do this. What are some common mistakes that you see people make when they start teaching or learning Spanish? Debbie: There are several types of mistakes we make when teaching Spanish or any other language for that matter. First of all, we expect too much too soon and when we don’t see results we give up. Language learning is a long process…it is a marathon, not a sprint. Think about how you learned your native language. You listened to the language for almost two years before you started to say your first words! Give your students time to learn. Keep it up no matter how slow the progress. And above all, if it becomes boring, make it fun!!!  Kathleen: I have long believed that if Spanish is just another workbook, just another subject to check off the to-do list, that it will quickly become boring and low on our priority list. Your ideas to make it more fun are inspiring, and student will learn more if Spanish is woven into daily life. What are some ways that you weave Spanish into your home life?
Debbie: When my youngest was little and I only had one child, I spoke to him only in Spanish Monday-Friday. This soon became not doable when the second child came along. So now we look for opportunities to add in Spanish. Here are some ideas: *Go to the grocery store…can you name the fruits and veggies in Spanish? *Listen to Spanish online. Here’s a site for younger kids. *If you have young kids, check out their Disney DVD’s, sometimes you can switch the language into Spanish and they can absorb some language that way. This works well if your child knows the storyline well. *Post-it notes are our friends! Use post-it notes to label things in your house in Spanish. *By all means, boss your kids around! Learn simple commands in Spanish to tell your kids what to do. Kathleen: Wow, thanks again Debbie! I would add that you can also check your TV listing for your kids' favorite cartoons in Spanish. Last time I checked, you can catch Bob Esponja and Bob el Constructor among other favorites on the Spanish stations. Meanwhile, I'm off to dig out my post-it notes.... Go check out Debbie's beautiful blog and take a look at her homeschool adventures in amazing Alaska!  |
Sep. 1, 2009
Interview with a Spanish Teacher/Una Entrevista con una Maestra de Espaρol
Posted in grammar and language helps
 I'd like to introduce you to Debbie, and amazing homeschool Mom who lives and teaches her children in Alaska. You can find her blog and learn more about her life here. If this blog looks familiar to you, it is because this is the same lady who graciously brought us the Spanish Lapbook. (Learn more about it here).
Prior to homeschooling her two boys, Debbie worked as a public school Spanish teacher. She puts her knowledge and experience to work teaching Spanish to her own children, and we are fortunate today that she is willing to share some of her wisdom with us. What follows is Parte Uno of a recent conversation Debbie and I had about teaching Spanish at home:  Kathleen: Hi Debbie! Thanks for taking your time to answer a few questions. First, what inspired your interest in Spanish, and what made you decide to become a Spanish teacher? Debbie: I can't even remember what inspired me to want to learn Spanish. Subjects that involve language (i.e. language arts, grammar, reading, etc.) have always been so much easier for me than say, math. Don't ask me to multiply and divide, that is for sure! So I guess because of my strength with words as opposed to numbers I gravitated towards learning other languages. Spanish seemed like a natural choice way back when I was in high school living in Colorado. There were many Spanish speakers in my area. Another reason for learning Spanish was I loved the sound of it! Truth be told though, I have always wanted to learn Italian (also because I loved its sound), but Italian wasn't offered at my high school. So my choice became Spanish. It has served me well...better than Italian would have. Since the United States is the 5th largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, I have had plenty of opportunities to use it. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to become a teacher... so I guess it was just a natural for me to follow that path. Combining Spanish and teaching seemed like a great choice for a career path! Kathleen: I confess to a fascination with Italian as well! I find that having studied Portuguese and Latin as well as Spanish, that I can understand a lot of it. Moving on, what would you say is the main difference between teaching Spanish in a classroom and teaching it at home? Debbie: I have taught Spanish in a public school, as a private tutor, and to my own kids. Teaching Spanish in a large group setting (i.e. public school) was far more difficult. When there are about 30 kids in a class I couldn't give every kid enough opportunities to speak the language. A smaller group or private lessons help kids go farther and faster when learning a language. Actually, a small group setting is by far the best. The student gets enough practice time and yet has a few people to interact with. When I was teaching in a classroom I had to be more structured in my approach... teaching at home has allowed me to branch off and do fun things with my kids that I would never be able to do with a big group.  Kathleen: So it sounds like the homeschool teacher has a big advantage over the large classroom situation. But what is a parent supposed to do if they haven't studied Spanish, and want to use a prepackaged curriculum? What do they look for, and how do they compare programs? Debbie: It is tough to choose a program especially if you don't know the language. The other hard part is that no program is perfect. But here are some things to conisder and do when looking into a program: *Read reviews about other programs. Here are some options: Homeschool Reviews The Curriculum Choice TOS (This Old Schoolhouse) Crew Reviews The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Reviews *Does the program use these five aspects of language in its teaching of Spanish: listening, reading, speaking, writing, and culture? *Is it kid friendly and user friendly for the parent? *Will it fit your child’s learning style? *At home, we use Rosetta Stone. Although it isn’t perfect, I have liked it so far. For me, I love the fact that it is completely in Spanish! Here is a short review I wrote for another website. |
Aug. 27, 2009
Mariposa Montissori Bilingual Blog
Posted in grammar and language helps
 Several months ago, I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Sandra Candel, and even sharing some of her fantastic ideas on this blog (see previous posts here and here). Sandra has decided to share more of her talent on her new blog, Mariposa Montissori Bilingual Blog, found here. This is heaven for me... educational tips in English and Spanish! Go check out what Sandra has to offer, and pick up some new vocab while you're there. Gracias por todo Sandra, y qué estés muy féliz en la casa nueva. =) |
Aug. 19, 2009
Free Spanish Lapbook!
Posted in grammar and language helps
 In an earlier entry, I mentioned a free Spanish lapbook project created by homeschool Mom and fellow lover-of-all-things-Spanish, Debbie in Alaska. Debbie's project is available on Homeschool Share. She blogs about it here and here. Thanks for sharing your talents with so many others! We can't wait to do this project Debbie!  ¡Muchas gracias! (these photos are from Debbie's blog and used with permission) |
May. 21, 2009
Part 2 - Present tense verb conjugations
Posted in grammar and language helps
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Now that you have had the chance to review subject pronouns, let's take a look at the regular present tense verb conjugations... Thanks again Professor Jason! |
May. 19, 2009
Subject Pronouns in Spanish
Posted in grammar and language helps
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Today I present what will be a two part lesson about subject pronouns and present tense conjugations. We have talked about some of this before, but Prof. Jason give such a good overview, it is worth repeating, and watching both videos together. Part 2 coming soon! |
May. 14, 2009
Top ten - birthday presents and party words!
Posted in grammar and language helps
 Drumroll please.... it's the.....
Spanish top 10!!!!!!!!!! (aplausos, aplausos) Not as funny as David Letterman, but much more useful! 10. toy - el jugete 9. balloons - los globos 8. decorations - las decoractions 7. doll - la muñeca 6. cd/music - el disco/la música 5. candles - las velas 4. games - los juegos 3. invitation - la invitación 2. ice cream - el helado 1. cake (depending on region) - la torta, el bizcocho, el queque, el pastel  |
May. 7, 2009
Ώde quι es? - what's it made of?
Posted in grammar and language helps
 We've talked before about the sometimes confounding twins "ser" and "estar" - the most common words used in Spanish to translate our verb "to be". Today we'll talk about a common usage for "ser".
When you need to say what something is made of, you will always use "ser" + the preposition "de". In the singular present tense, that congugates to "es de", and the plural is "son de". Here are some examples: The house is made of bricks - La casa es de ladrillos. The shirts are cotton - Las camisas son de algodón. Let's play a matching game. Here are a list of nouns you can use:
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May. 5, 2009
Abbreviated words
Posted in grammar and language helps
 Just as we do in English, some words are abbreviated and shortened in Spanish. In fact, some of the shortened forms are used more commonly than the whole words. He is an incomplete list of some common shortened words:
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Apr. 28, 2009
Weaving Spanish lessons into your daily life
Posted in grammar and language helps
 My brother and his wife plan to raise their son trilingually, in other words, in addition to English, he is being taught Spanish and Japanese. My little nephew is being exposed to these languages through no formal curriculum, but instead through the circumstances of day to day life. The funny thing is, every time we are around them, we pick up some new Japanese vocabulary. When we snacked on mikons (clementine oranges) the word stuck with us, and to this day we will still call them mikons.
Common sense, right? Research backs this approach up. By weaving phrases and vocabulary into day to day life, it is retained more readily by your child. But here is where insecurities rear their heads for most of us. What if you don't have it exactly right? What if your pronunciation is not so great... shouldn't your child be learning from a native speaker? Here's the good news: any language learning that takes place in the natural flow of daily activities is retained better than language learning that takes place in a workbook or some other academic approach. This holds true even if the teacher is not a native speaker of the language, or if the teacher speaks the target language with an accent (for example, if you feel you are speaking Spanish with an English accent). Try to let go of your insecurities, and speak Spanish at every opportunity with your kids! Make it fun, casual, and as natural as possible. Count the stair steps as you and your child go up and down together, refer to favorite foods in Spanish, use Spanish greetings and polite expressions, etc. As you learn more vocabulary, try to include it into your daily life. Admittedly, it is a hard habit to get into! This takes more up-front self-discipline and effort on the part of the parent/teacher than just giving them a page in a workbook to do, or sitting them down to the computer with Rosetta Stone or some other program. However, once the pattern is established, it is actually easier than having Spanish as another academic subject that your kids may dread. Read more about this and other helpful ideas in The Bilingual Edge by Kendall King and Alison Mackey. |
Apr. 9, 2009
Top 10 activities
Posted in grammar and language helps
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Drumroll please.... it's the.....
Spanish top 10!!!!!!!!!! (aplausos, aplausos) Not as funny as David Letterman, but much more useful! 10. hobby - el pasatiempo 9. weekend - el fin de semana 8. read - leer 7. video games - juegos electronicos 6. talk on the phone - hablar por teléfono 5. spend time with friends - pasar el tiempo con los amigos 4. watch TV - ver la televisión 3. play music - tocar música 2. surf the internet - surfear el internet 1. draw - dibujar |
Mar. 24, 2009
Top 10 Nature words
Posted in grammar and language helps
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Drumroll please.... it's the.....
Spanish top 10!!!!!!!!!! (aplausos, aplausos) Not as funny as David Letterman, but much more useful! 10. mountains - las montañas 9. a camp - el campamento 8. lake - el lago 7. river - el río 6. ocean/sea - el mar 5. desert - el desierto 4. island - la isla 3. tree - el árbol 2. plants - las plantas 1. flowers - las flores |
Mar. 19, 2009
Something to look forward to!
Posted in grammar and language helps
 Debbie in Alaska is an online friend, and a fellow admiradora of all things Spanish. She is busy preparing a lapbook to aid in teaching Spanish to kids. If you are not familiar with lapbooks, they are a great hands-on learning tool for kids. It makes a creative project out of whatever you are learning, and leaves you with an attractive way to present and review what was learned. If you would like to see examples of lapbooks, here are a couple random sites from the internet: Just Call Me Jamin! and Squidoo. To many, Hands of a Child is considered a lapbooking mecca. Got the picture? We love this style of learning! That's why we're esperando con mucha anticipción the wonderful lapbook that Debbie is putting together. I promise to update when it is ready! She blogs it here and here. Thanks Debbie! |
Mar. 17, 2009
True or False
Posted in grammar and language helps
 I'm currently reading a book written by two linguists - more on it in a moment. For now, read the following list taken from the book, and answer True or False in your mind:
1. Only bilingual parents can raise bilingual children (and bilingual parents always raise bilingual children). 2. I'm too late! You have to start very early for second language learning, or you will miss the boat. 3. Only native speakers and teachers can teach children second languages. 4. Children who are raised in the same family will have the same language skills as one another. 5. It's important to correct errors as soon as they appear in grammar and vocabulary (to prevent the formation of bad habits). 6. Exposing my child to two languages means she will be a late talker. 7. Mixing languages is a sign of confusion, and languages must stay separate (one-parent-one-language parenting is the best way). 8. Television, DVDs, and edutainment, like talking toys, are great ways to pick up some languages. 9. Bilingual education programs are for non-English speakers. 10. Two languages are the most to which a very young child should be exposed. (King & Mackey, The Bilingual Edge, Copyright 2007, Harper Collins, page 18) So, what are your answers? If you said that every one of these statements is FALSE, you get an A+! Yep, that's right, they're all false. Intrigued? Check out the book! |
Feb. 26, 2009
A partial list of Arabic words that the Moors brought to the Spanish language.
Posted in grammar and language helps
 Since we just enjoyed a visit to the Alhambra, I thought it would be fun to take a look at just a sampling of words that have come to Spanish from Arabic. This is just the tip of the iceberg... aceite — oil
adobe — adobe aduana — customs (as at a border) ajedrez — chess Alá — Allah alacrán — scorpion albacora — albacore albahaca — basil alberca — tank, swimming pool alcade — mayor alcázar — fortress, palace alcoba — bedroom, alcove alcohol — alcohol aldea — village (same source as English word "alderman") alfombra — carpet algarroba — carob algodón — cotton algoritmo — algorithm alkimia — alchemy almacén — storage almanaque — almanac almirante — admiral almohada — pillow alquiler — rent amalgama — amalgam arroz — rice asesino — assassin atún — tuna azafrán — saffron azúcar — sugar azul — blue (same source as English "azure") baño — bathroom barrio — district berenjena — eggplant café — coffee cero — zero chisme — gossip, gadget cuzcuz — couscous dado — die (singular of "dice") embarazada — pregnant espinaca — spinach fulano — what's-his-name gacela — gazelle guitarra — guitar hasta — until jaque — check (in chess) jaque mate — checkmate jirafa — giraffe laca — lacquer lila — lilac lima — lime limón — lemon macabro — macabre marfil — marble, ivory masacre — massacre masaje — massage máscara — mask mazapán — marzipan mezquita — mosque momia — mummy mono — monkey naranja — orange ojalá — I hope, God willing olé — bravo paraíso — paradise rehén — hostage rincón — corner, nook sorbete — sherbet sofá — sofa rubio — blond talco — talc tamarindo — tamarind tarea — task tarifa — tariff toronja — grapefruit zanahoria - carrot  |
Feb. 17, 2009
More free Spanish fun online!
Posted in grammar and language helps
 A reader of this blog contacted me to share a charming, helpful free online Spanish site. Thanks! Go check out OnlinefreeSpanish.com .
This colorful, animated site is a treat for the visual learner. Features include a lesson of the week, word of the day, and email newsletter. Numerous archived lessons are available, including printables, activities, vocabulary lessons, and dialogues. There is currently only one featured dialogue, and this is a section of the website that I look forward to seeing grow. There are only a couple of activities as well, but El juego de Beeny reviews much of the vocabulary presented on the site. My favorite aspect of this site are the super-cute graphics. Today's kids demand high quality visuals, and this site delivers. The audio is also clear, and immensely helpful. It is easy to navigate, and user friendly to even the most early reader. At the top of the home page, this site declares, "knowing Spanish opens the door for you to communicate with 350 million people worldwide". How is that for a dose of motivation? I look forward to watching this great little site grow! ¡Qué se diviertan! - Have fun!
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Feb. 10, 2009
Valentine's phrases with Professor Jason
Posted in grammar and language helps
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Our friend Professor Jason is back just in the nick of time to teach us some crucial Valentine's phrases and vocab in preparation for this special day! |
Feb. 5, 2009
Mαngo Languages!
Posted in grammar and language helps
 I never cease to be pleasantly surprised by wonderful free material available on the internet, and am happy that someone told me about Mango languages today! Check it out!
This site offers lessons in numerous languages, It is multi-sensory in that you see, hear, and repeat what is being taught. You are also quizzed on it, and are given ample opportunity to review and proceed at your own pace. The Spanish is spoken by a native speaker, and the lessons I checked out are also spoken at a natural speed - not slowed down for the beginner. Practice is interspersed with grammar explanations. For a young child, I would say skip the grammar. For a teen or adult, don't skip this! Deepen your understanding of why the sentences are the way they are, why and how certain verbs are used, and what the logic is behind the language. Only Lesson 1 is free, but it is 78 slides of day-to-day conversational Spanish practice. If this is all that you use, and you master it, you have learned a lot of useful Spanish. If you decide this is just the thing for you family, you may want to consider a subscription. (I have no connection or affiliation with this site!) This program looks like it would work best for someone who reads. If you or your student is a strong visual learner, this may not be the best program for you because there are no pictures. Give it a try, and let me know if you find it helpful! |
Feb. 3, 2009
ΏQuι ves?
Posted in grammar and language helps
 An essential and common verb used in Spanish is ver - to see. All verbs in Spanish must be congugated, i.e. the form of the verb is changed to reflect who is performing the action of the verb. In the present tense, ver looks like this:
yo veo - I see
tú ves - you (familiar) see Ud. ve - you (formal) see él, ella ve - he or she sees nosotros vemos - we see vosotros veís - you (plural, informal) see Uds. ven - you (plural, formal) see ellos, ellas ven - they see By way of review, there is no "it" in Spanish, "he" or "she" is used in its place depending on the gender of the noun. For a review of the use of the formal and informal "you" forms, please review this previous entry. Additionally, it is not always required that you use the pronouns with the verb, since the pronoun is often understood because it is built into the verb form. In common speech, the pronoun is only used with the verb if it is necessary for clarification or emphasis.
Let's keep it simple today and just use a couple of form of this verb: tú ves and yo veo. Let's even drop those pronouns. This little game is called ¿qué ves? - what do you see? See how economical Spanish is? What took us 4 words in English required only 2 in Spanish! Playing ¿qué ves? is a great way to practice vocab you have learned, and add multi-sensory learning to your day. You can do this with flash cards, pictures from magazines, but it is even better with real life objects! You can gather objests that represent vocab you are currently learning, and then throw in some review words as well. It looks like this: One person starts by asking another, "¿qué ves?" (kay base?). The second person answers, "Veo una lámpara" (Veo is pronounced Bay-oh). The the first person to find and touch the lámpara gets to ask the next question to the person of their choosing. ¿Qué ves?.....Veo un plato, and so on. Just in case I've confused you, here is what that looks like in English: person 1 : What do you see? person 2: I see a lamp. The first person to touch the lamp gets to ask the next question. Let's say it is person 3. Person 3 asks: what do you see? to person 4. person 4: I see a plate. Person 2 is the first one to touch the plate. Person two chooses who to ask the question again. You can see that this game is very simple, but the goal is to make these forms of ver automatic while reviewing vocab. When these are mastered, you can weave in other forms. Let's say for example that person 3 has just touched the lamp as in our English example. You can then state, and have everyone repeat either: He sees the lamp - él ve la lámpara/ She sees the lamp - ella ve la lámpara. (Ve is pronounced: BAY). And now that we can all see the lamp we can add: We see the lamp - Vemos la lámpara. (Vemos is pronounced BAY-mohs). Give it a try today and let me know how it goes! |
Jan. 30, 2009
Top 10 Professions
Posted in grammar and language helps
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Drumroll please.... it's the.....
Spanish top 10!!!!!!!!!! (aplausos, aplausos) Not as funny as David Letterman, but much more useful! 10. teacher - la maestra 9. doctor - el médico 8. secretary - el secretario 7. dentist - el dentista 6. seller/vendor - el vendedor 5. athlete - el atleta 4. waiter - el mesero 3. housewife/homemaker - la ama de casa 2. artist - el artista 1. Accountant - el contador |
Jan. 28, 2009
Professor Jason teaches us days of the week and dates in Spanish
Posted in grammar and language helps
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A warm welcome back to one of our favorite guests, Professor Jason! Today Professor Jason is going to talk to us about days of the week and dates in Spanish. Thank you for joining us Profe! (In Spanish the word Professor is often shortened to "Profe", pronounced: PRO-fay). Days of the week in Spanish:
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Jan. 16, 2009
Check this out!
Posted in grammar and language helps
 I honestly feel like I've made a new friend! Ever since getting my zippy, sassy purple little Ipod nano for Christmas, I've entered the world of podcasts (how many years behind the trend?). I listen to several, and will share more later, but especially wanted to introduce you to Eleena and Voices en Español.
Her high-quality podcasts are geared toward intermediate to advanced students, and include a wide variety of regional accents as well as a broad spectrum of themes. To my readers I would especially like to point out three podcasts that present the topic of raising bilingual children. One is in English, and features the author of The Bilingual Edge. Beyond her excellent podcasts, Eleena offers a great resourse in the blogging she does. It has quickly become a favorite, and I look forward to each new entry. I want to point out one entry in specific that I believe that my readers will find immensely helpful. It is entitled Spanish Toolbox: 10 language-learning resources. It is a guest post by Karen Bryant from Teaching and Learning Spanish, another gold mine of a blog! In this fantastic post, Karen links you to 10 great resources and sites to help you improve your Spanish, and help you to teach your kids Spanish. I wanted to take a moment here to comment on one of those suggested resources, specifically, Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish by Joseph Keenan. I love this book! Like Karen, I learn something new every time I read it. To my readers, I wish to caution that you may want to look the book over to decide if it is appropriate for your family. Specifically, it has the chapter about swear words in Spanish. Here is my position on that topic: You need to be aware of them even if you don't plan to use them, because it is easy to unintentionally give offense in Spanish. Some of the words that may seem the most innocent to us have some of the worst connotations. While I am not currently teaching this to my children, I would especially recommend that you be aware of these words if anyone in the family will be traveling to a Spanish speaking country. You need to know what to avoid, and you need to know when someone else is being "grosero" with you. Just my two cents! Other than that chapter, the rest of the book is not only helpful, but funny and well written. |
Jan. 14, 2009
Falsos Amigos - False Friends
Posted in grammar and language helps
 When you study Spanish cognates, it is encouraging to find out how many words you already know in the language! It sort of lightens the burden, but be warned: it also gives you a false sense of security. Many times in Spanish you will see what looks like a cognate, but actually has a different meaning in Spanish. Sometimes the differences are slight, and sometimes they are potentially embarrassing.
Let's take a word like embarrassing for example. It is practically an urban legend among Spanish students to tell the story of the girl that travels to a Spanish speaking country, and when she wants to tell people she is embarrassed about something, she ends up telling them she's pregnant! That's because embarazada means pregnant, and she would have been better off expressing her embarrassment by simply saying, "¡qué pena!" Need to run to the grocery for a couple of quick things? That's la groseria, right? It makes sense to our English-speaking minds, but has a completely different meaning in Spanish. Una groseria is a vulgar word or action. Un grosero is the kind of person who uses bad language or does groserias. When you see groseria, just think "gross" in English, and you will be on the right track. Here is a favorite of mine. Let's say your house is dirty. Are you going to vacunar la carpeta? That would leave any native Spanish speaker really scratching their head... why would you vaccinate a folder? To vacuum is pasar la aspiradora. A carpet is una alfombra. Ok, let's try again. Another common and famous one is soportar. We all want support, right? But soportar means to put up with. Like: I can barely put up with (or stand) all that noise. That's not something we want our friends and family to say about us! The word that expresses support in Spanish is the noun el apoyo or the verb apoyar. We learned about adverbs and their easy -mente ending, so a word like actualmente looks pretty clear. The problem is that in Spanish this means "presently". To get the sense of our word actually, you would say something like La verdad es que.... Then what if someone mentions un nudo? No worries... that's just a knot! A common mistake involves the word compromiso, which looks like our word compromise. In Spanish it is best translated as a commitment. You can use this word for a specific appointment: Tengo un compromiso a las dos. It can also be used for more vague plans. Say someone wants you to help with the bake sale on Saturday, and you were planning to take a nap. You should be able to satisfy them with a simple: Lo siento, tengo un compromiso el sábado. The audience is called el público or el auditorio, and una audencia is a meeting with any kind of public official... sigh... there are a lot of ways to get confused with these false cognates, aren't there? To see many, many more, check out these helpful websites: Musical Spanish False Cognate Tutorial About.com: False Friends eLearn Falsos Amigos |
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