Learn to Speak Spanish Online

Why Should You Choose Online Spanish Classes?

2012-01-09T01:47:00.002-05:00

Why should you choose online Spanish classes instead of one of the other many ways to learn Spanish? There are a few good reasons why it might be the best choice for you - read on to learn why!

Many of us have been there - wishing we knew how to speak Spanish. Think of how many ways it would help you out - in school, on the job or just in your personal life. But there are so many different ways to learn Spanish that you aren't sure where to start - books, tapes, cds, DVDs, or even online Spanish classes. So how do you choose?

Think about how it works when you buy a book to learn Spanish - you get the book, you read about how the letters sound, read the words, try to pronounce them - and don't know if you're saying it right or not. You may learn a few colors and maybe how to count to ten before you give up.

Why?

There's no interaction with a book! You don't know if you're saying things correctly if you can't hear how they're supposed to be pronounced.

So - you move on to tapes or CDs that you listen to in your car while you drive to work. You listen to words and phrases and you dutifully repeat them back. Or maybe you get some DVDs to watch in your home - perhaps you even swing for some computer programs that supposedly "listen" to you as you repeat the words and let you know if you aren't saying it right.

But it all comes back to the same thing - you're not really learning how to have a conversation, you're just learning to repeat a bunch of words and phrases - and hopefully correctly.

What you really need is the chance to practice with a live tutor. Imagine having the chance to work one on one with a native Spanish speaking teacher! Online Spanish classes give you just that - plus the opportunity to practice real Spanish conversations - not just "listen and repeat".

Another thing to take into consideration is convenience - and online Spanish classes are definitely convenient. You can take classes on your schedule, from anywhere in the world where you have a computer and broadband internet connection! Just check out this video to see how -

Do You Need a Spanish Tutor?

2010-03-16T10:51:00.002-05:00

Although this blog is about learning Spanish online, I realize there are people who are looking for some help to give them that extra OOMPH over the hurdles of learning a new language. I've had a few people send me messages, asking if I can tutor Spanish, but unfortunately tutoring is just not something that I can fit into my schedule. I was thinking about this subject the other day, and ran across this article. I hope it will be helpful to those of you thinking about finding a tutor to help you learn Spanish.

What to Look For in a Spanish Tutor

By Jessica Ojeda

What to look for in a Spanish tutor:

#1

The most important thing a Spanish tutor should have is extensive knowledge of Spanish grammar and not just the ability to speak Spanish. Think about it this way, you and all of your friends speak proper, or at least have the ability to speak proper English. However, how many of you could make a good English teacher or tutor to someone whose native language isn't English? Maybe one or two of several, right? Just because someone is fluent in a language doesn't mean they have the grammatical knowledge necessary in order to effectively teach that language.

#2

A good Spanish tutor must be fluent in Spanish! You might be thinking, well if the tutor meets requirement number 1, which is to have extensive knowledge of Spanish grammar, then they must be fluent, too. However, this thinking is incorrect. The fact is, just because a Spanish tutor may know all the grammar rules of Spanish, doesn't mean that he or she can process these rules simultaneously and at a fast enough pace to be considered fluent.

I, personally, can vouch for this! I was a Spanish expert, or so I thought. I was a Spanish major and in my 3rd year of college. I aced all of my Spanish tests and barely had time to study due to work and my other major, geology, which took up most of my study time. I was extremely excited to study abroad in Mexico and felt prepared to "show off" my mad Spanish skills. When I arrived, I was in shock! When my host mother spoke to me and very very slowly at that, tragically, I didn't understand 75% of what she said. I was crushed. I knew that the knowledge was in my brain to understand her, but I just wasn't able to process it fast enough. What it all boils down to is this: I was still translating from English to Spanish in my brain instead of thinking in Spanish, and in order for me to achieve the fluency I desired, I knew I must be able to think in Spanish and not just know Spanish.

Spanish fluency is vital since a student often asks the very important question, "How can I say this in Spanish?", and the Spanish tutor must draw upon several grammar rules and vocabulary at once. This can be difficult or not even possible for a tutor who only has knowledge of Spanish grammar.

#3

A good Spanish tutor must have a great Spanish accent and sound like a native Spanish speaker! Correct accents are essential when learning a foreign language. Therefore, having a tutor with a horrible Spanish accent will cripple your Spanish-speaking abilities. Haven't you been on the phone with a non-native English speaker with a strong accent? It's not the most enjoyable experience as we all know. Much effort must be put into the conversation just to communicate simple ideas.

#4

All good Spanish tutors must possess the ability to teach. No matter how knowledgeable a tutor is in their subject, if they can't transmit their knowledge in a manner in which the student can easily understand the material, they can't make a good tutor.

#5

Chances are if a student needs a Spanish tutor, the student's interest level in Spanish probably isn't too high. A good Spanish tutor must be able to motivate the student and teach them why the subject is important and relevant to their life. The Spanish tutor should be able to relate the Spanish language to the student.

#6

A Spanish tutor must be patient. A good Spanish tutor will understand that the same concept may need to be explained several times before a students understands it. After all, most of the time it's not the first time that the student has been exposed to the concept since the Spanish teacher or Spanish learning software have probably covered it already. Basically, a tutor must understand that they are a tutor and not a teacher. Teachers generally go over a new concept once, and twice if he or she considers it to be difficult. But a tutor must go over the same concept in multiple ways until the student has a good understanding.

#7

A good Spanish tutor must of course be reliable. In order to be reliable a good tutor will have lessons prepared, will have read over the student's work ahead of time if it's available, will have extra learning resources available (i.e. Spanish/English dictionary, pencils, erasers, computer with internet, etc.), and most definitely be able to reliably meet the student's needs. Now, I don't expect that a good Spanish tutor will be able to meet all of the student's needs on the spot, but I do expect them to be able to find a way to meet them in the near future. For example, I believe it's perfectly acceptable for the tutor to say (every now and then), "I don't know the answer to that. I'll research it and have the answer to you by tomorrow," or something along those lines.

#8

We all know that the subjects we get tutored in aren't our favorite by far and therefore, are more than likely on the boring side. That's why a Spanish tutor must have a good sense of humor. Imagine, a boring (at least in the student's eyes) subject coupled with a boring tutor. Not a good combo. It may be so horrible that the student decides to just fail or drop the course! This isn't good for the tutor or the student.

#9

A good Spanish tutor must vary their tutoring styles according to the way the student prefers to learn. You know you have a good tutor when the tutor starts the session like this, "How can I help you learn today?" instead of "This is what we are going to do today." By asking how the student would like to be tutored, the tutor shows that which ever learning style works best for the student, is the learning style that will be used.

#10

And last but not least, a good Spanish tutor will care about the success of the student in and out of the realm of Spanish.

You might have noticed that I didn't include experience in the list of what to look for in a Spanish tutor. I believe that jobs requiring experience before the job seeker can even become a job candidate is in short, ridiculous. How many unknown talents must there be just because they couldn't get their foot in the door due to zero years experience? By not allowing new, inexperienced workers in, unknown opportunities are missed unreached heights never reached.

If you're in the market for a good Spanish or English tutor, please visit my website, http://www.TheSELVA.com. Tutoring rates are very affordable and satisfaction is guaranteed.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jessica_Ojeda

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Getting Familiar with Spanish Pronouns - Subject Pronouns

2010-03-12T12:57:00.004-05:00

Pronouns are noun substitutes. What we mean by that is that we can use pronouns to take the place of a noun in a sentence. For example, in the sentence 'The woman walked to work', we can replace the phrase the woman with she; 'She walked to work'. She is a pronoun. Today’s lesson is about the use of Subject Pronouns.

1st Person
Yo [yo] ‘I’
Nosotros [no-sot-ros] ‘we’

2nd Person
Usted [oos-tehd] ‘you’ (Informal - Tu [too])
Ustedes [oos-teh-dehs] ‘you all’

3rd Person
Male - El [el] ‘he/it’ Ellos [eh-yos] ‘they’
Female Ella [eh-ya] ‘she/it’ Ellas [eh-yas] ‘they’

1st Person is used to refer to yourself or to a group that includes you.

2nd Person is used to refer to the person or group of people you are talking to. I recommend using the formal 'usted' in all situations except when talking to close family or children.

3rd Person is used to talk to one person about another person or group of people.

The use of subject pronouns will be further when we start using them in sentences - for now, it is enough that you become familiar with them.

Giving Dates and Times in Spanish

2010-03-10T10:25:00.007-05:00

Dates, in Spanish, are formed by stating the date (number) first before the month. The number is introduced by an article, while the preposition de ‘of’ is used to link that date to the month. So, using the nouns and numbers given in previous lessons, you should be able to put it all together to form the times, days and dates. Let’s try it!

¿Que fecha es hoy? [keh feh-cha es oy]
El cinco de marzo. [el thing-ko de mar-zo]
‘What’s the date today?’ ‘It’s the 5th of May.’

¿Que dia es? [keh dee-ah es]
Es domingo. [es do-ming-go]
‘What day is it? ‘It’s Sunday’

Note:
- The months and days in Spanish do not begin with capital letters when written.

¿Que hora es? [keh oh-ra es]
Es la una de la tarde [es la oo-na deh la tar-de]
‘What time is it?’ ‘It’s 1:00 p.m.’

Months, Days, Time of Day in Spanish

2010-03-08T10:36:00.003-05:00

Image by dier madrid via Flickr

Today, I'm just going to give a quick rundown of the Spanish words for each of the months and days, and a few phrases to help you out when discussing time of day.

1. Months in a Year (los meses en un año)
Enero [e-neh-ro] ‘January’
Febrero [feb-reh-ro] ‘February’
Marzo [mar-zo] ‘March’
Abril [ab-reel] ‘April’
Mayo [ma-yo] ‘May’
Junio [hoo-nyo] ‘June’
Julio [hoo-lyo] ‘July’
Agosto [ah-goes-toe] ‘August’
Septiembre [sep-tyem-breh] ‘September’
Octubre [oak-too-breh] ‘October’
Noviembre [noh-byem-breh] ‘November’
Diciembre [dees-yem-breh] ‘December’

2. Days of the Week (las dias en una semana)
Lunes [loo-nes] ‘Monday’
Martes [mar-tehs] ‘Tuesday’
Miercoles [myeer-koh-les] ‘Wednesday’
Jueves [hweh-bes] ‘Thursday’
Viernes [bee-yer-nehs] ‘Friday’
Sabado [sah-bah-doh] ‘Saturday’
Domingo [doh-ming-go] ‘Sunday’

3. Time of the Day (tiempo del dia)
De la mañana [de la ma-nya-na] ‘am’ or 'in the morning'
De la tarde [de la tar-de] ‘pm’ or 'in the afternoon'
Hora [o-ra] ‘time, hour’
Media hora [meh-dee-ya ora] ‘half hour’
Cuarto de hora [kwar-to deh o-ra] ‘quarter of an hour’

Using Spanish Articles to form Nominal Sentances

2010-03-03T14:28:00.005-05:00

Image by Franco Folini via Flickr

In Spanish, articles are also used to show a noun’s definiteness. Since it is a gender and number specific language, these articles are also inflected for gender and plurality. Study the table below that introduces these articles:

Masculine Definite - El (singular), Los (plural)
Masculine Indefinite - Un, Unos
Feminine Definite - La, Las
Feminine Indefinite - Una, Unas

So, here then are the steps in forming nominal phrases:

Identify the gender of the noun. Check its ending but remember the exceptions.
How many are being talked about? If it’s more than one, observe the ending so you would know what suffix to add.
Is the noun definite or not? This would determine what article to use.

Examples: Answer the questions in Spanish.

Q: What did you have for breakfast?
A: 2 bananas and a glass of milk

Platano ‘banana’ is a male. Vaso ‘glass’ is also a male.
2 bananas. Hence, add -s to change platano to the plural, and 1 glass, so vaso stays the same.
2 bananas - definite, with the number, two, would be "dos platanos", and a glass is indefinite, so you would use "un vaso".
So, the final answer would be "Dos platanos y un vaso de leche"

Q: Who called while I was gone?
A: The neighbors (girls) and a student (boy)

The neighbors are girls. Use vecina (instead of vecino). Estudiante is neuter. No need for inflection.
Neighbors is plural, so add -s to change vecina to vecinas. And there's only one student, so estudiante stays the same.
The neighbors are definite, use las vecinas, and a student is indefinite so you'd use 'un estudiante'.
The final answer would be "Las vecinas y un estudiante".

Definite and Indefinite Articles

2010-03-01T08:18:00.003-05:00

Since we've already started forming nominal phrases with the use of numbers, let's continue by using articles in Spanish this time.

A nominal phrase is usually composed of an article and a noun. Articles can be
either definite or indefinite. In English, the article “the” is a definite article, and we use 'a' or 'an' as indefinite articles. In case you've forgotten what we mean by 'definite' and 'indefinite', here's a quick review:

Definite - [The child] is playing.
Indefinite - [A child] is playing.

In the first sentence, we're talking about a particular child - perhaps a child we already
know or have been talking about earlier; however, in the 2nd sentence, we're talking about an unknown child, or one that we've not spoken of before.

In Spanish, articles are also used to show a noun’s definiteness. Since it is again a
gender- and number-specific language, these articles are also inflected for gender and
plurality. Tomorrow, we'll introduce those articles.

Numbering items in Spanish

2010-02-25T12:09:00.005-05:00

Image by Archie McPhee Seattle via Flickr

Apart from adding the suffixes -s and -es, numbers can be observed in Spanish
nouns by using the numerals themselves with the nouns. They should agree with one
another – if the noun is more than one, a plural suffix should be present in the word. Here
is the table for Spanish numerals:

0	cero	[seh-ro]
1	uno	[oo-no]
2	dos	[dohs]
3	tres	[trehs]
4	cuatro	[kwat-roh]
5	cinco	[sink-oh]
6	seís	[seys]
7	siete	[see-eh-te]
8	ocho	[oh-cho]
9	nueve	[nweh-veh]
10	diez	[dee-ez]
11	once	[on-seh]
12	doce	[doh-seh]
13	trece	[tre-seh]
14	catorce	[ka-tor-seh]
15	quince	[keen-seh]
16	diez y seís	[dee-ehz ee seys]
17	diez y siete	[dee-ehz ee see ehteh]
18	diez y ocho
19	diez y nueve
20	veinte	[behn-teh]
21	veinte y uno	[behn-teh ee oo noh]
22	veinte y dos
30	treinta	[train-ta]
40	cuarenta	[kwa-ren-ta]
50	cincuenta	[sink-kwen-ta]
60	sesenta	[seh-sen-ta]
70	setenta	[seh-ten-ta]
80	ochenta	[oh-chen-ta]
90	noventa	[no- ben-ta]
100	cien	[see-ehn]
1000	mil	[mill]

Here are examples of nouns and numbers forming nominal phrases:
Un dia [oon dee-ya] ‘one day’
Ocho vasos de agua [oh-cho bah-sos de a-gwa] ‘8 glasses of water’
Doce meses cada año [do-seh meh-ses ka-da a-nyo] ’12 months a year’
Treinta y dos años [train-ta ee dos a-nyos] ’32 years’
Cien pesos [cee-ehn peh-sos] ‘100 pesos’

Spanish Plural Nouns

2010-02-20T10:37:00.002-05:00

Image by National Library NZ on The Commons via Flickr

Just like English, nouns in Spanish have a plural form - or in other words, they can show the difference between one item and more than one. Here are the rules for making plural nouns.

1. Add -s to nouns ending in vowels.
Vaca • Vacas [bah-kahs] ‘cows’
Gato • Gatos [gah-tos] ‘cats’
Plaza • Plazas [plah-sas] ‘towns’
Calle • Calles [kai-yehs] ‘streets’
Tía • Tías [tee-ahs] ‘aunts’

2. Add -es to nouns ending in consonants.
Papel • Papeles [pa-peh-les] ‘papers’
Color • Colores [koh-loh-res] ‘colors’
Ciudad • Ciudades [see-oo-dah-dehs] ‘cities’
Hotel • Hoteles [o-teh-les] ‘hotels’
Flor • Flores [floh-rehs] ‘flowers’
Mes • Meses [meh-ses] ‘months’

*Some nouns ending in /s/ don't change form when pluralized.
Jueves • Jueves [khwe-ves] ‘Thursdays’

3. For nouns ending in /z/, change the /z/ to /c/ then add -es.
Pez • Peces [peh-sehs] ‘fishes’
Luz • Luces [loo-sehs] ‘lights’
Vez • Veces [ve-sehs] ‘number of times’
Voz • Voces [vo-sehs] ‘voices’
Lapiz • Lapices [la-pi-sehs] ‘pencils’

Spanish Words with No Gender

2010-02-19T13:06:00.005-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

There is a 'third gender' in Spanish. Well, maybe not really a gender, but a third noun classification, and that's the 'neutral' or non-gender noun. Words belonging to this category can be either male or female, depending on the actual gender of the noun being referred to. They don't change endings like the words we discussed in the last post.

Let's look at some examples below:

Agente [ah- hen-te] ‘agent’
Adolescente [ah-doh- le-sen-teh] ‘adolescent’
Artista [ar-tees-tah] ‘artist’
Canguro [kan-goo-ro] kangaroo
Ciclista [see-klees-ta] ‘cyclist’
Cliente [klee- yen-teh] ‘client, customer’
Especialista [es-peh-sya- lees-tah] ‘specialist’
Estudiante [es-tu-dyan-te] ‘student’
Gerente [he-ren-te] ‘manager’
Periodista [pehr-ee-o-dis-ta] ‘journalist’
Policia [po-li-see-yah] ‘police officer’
Representante [re-pre-sen-tan-teh] ‘representative’
Taxista [taks-ee-stah] taxi driver

Just because the words themselves don't change based on gender, doesn't mean that Spanish doesn't have a way to let people know what gender you're actually talking about! Taking the first word on that list 'artista' - If I'm talking about say... Pablo Picasso, I would say 'el artista', with the article 'el' being a masculine modifier. On the other hand, if I'm talking about Mary Cassatt, she would be 'la artista', with the article 'la' letting everyone know that she is clearly a woman.

Gender Specific Spanish Nouns

2010-02-18T13:40:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

When speaking of people and animals, most Spanish nouns will refer directly to the gender of the nouns being referred to. Below are some samples of various Spanish nouns, with the masculine form of the word followed by the feminine form.

Arquitekto [ar-ki-tek-to] Arquitekta [ar-ki-tek-ta] ‘architect’
Cajero [ka-heh-ro] Cajera [ka-heh-ra] ‘cashier’
Chico [chi-ko] Chica [chi-ka] ‘boy/girl’
Director [di-rek-tor] Direktora [di-rek-to-ra] ‘director’
Dueño [dwe-nyo] Dueña [dwe-nya] ‘owner’
Esposo [es-poh-so] Esposa [es-poh-sa] ‘spouse’
Granjero [gran-heh-ro] Granjera [gran-heh-ra] ‘farmer’
Hermano [er-mah-no] Hermana [er-mah-na] ‘brother/sister’
Huesped [wes-ped] Huespeda [wes-pe-da] ‘guest’
Hijo [i-ho] Hija [i-ha] ‘son/daughter’
Ladron [lahd-ron] Ladrona [lahd-ro-na] ‘thief’
Medico [me-di-ko] Medica [me-di-ka] ‘doctor’
Nieto [nee-eh-to] Nieta [nee-eh-ta] ‘grandchild’
Perro [per-ro] Perra [per-ra] ‘dog’

Notice that most of the masculine nouns referring to persons and animals above end in -o or use the base form (without any suffix) of the word, while the feminine nouns
end in -a.

As a side note, when talking about a mixed gender group, the masculine form of the word is used, as shown in the picture. Visit Spanish Grammar to learn more about gender specificity in Spanish nouns.

More on Noun Gender in Spanish

2010-02-15T12:20:00.008-05:00

In the last post, we were introduced to Lawrence and Dazcion - mnemonics that will help us remember the gender of various Spanish nouns. However, there are some exceptions to these rules. Many of the words that don't follow the rules are words that are 'borrowed' from other languages, like English. Observe the table below:

Masculine Nouns Not Ending in L-O-R-E-N-S
Arroz [ar-roz] ‘rice’
Bistec [bees-tek] ‘steak’
Champu [cham-poo] ‘shampoo’
Dia [di-yah] ‘day’
Esqui [es-ki] ‘ski’
Fax [faks] ‘fax’
Mapa [mah-pah] ‘map’
Menú [meh-noo] ‘menu’
Pez [pehz] ‘fish’
Programma [pro-gra-ma] ‘programme’
Reloj [re-loh] ‘watch’
Rey [reh-ee] ‘king’

Feminine Nouns Not Ending in Dazcion
Calle [ka-ye] ‘street’
Cancer [kahn-sehr] ‘cancer’
Carcel [kar-sehl] ‘prison’
Carne [kar-neh] ‘meat’
Flor [flor] ‘flower’
Ley [leh-ee] ‘law’
Lente [len-teh] ‘lens’
Mujer [mu-her] ‘wife’
Noche [noh-cheh] ‘night’
Razón [rah-zon] ‘reason’
Suerte [swer-teh] ‘luck’

You should also note that just because a word is generally associated to a certain gender (i.e., pants for men, skirts for women) doesn't meant that the gender of the word will follow. Look how ironic Spanish nouns can be:

Masculine Nouns
Camison [ka-mi-son] ‘nightdress’
Pantys [pahn-tees] ‘thights’
Salvaslips [sal-vahs-leeps] ‘panty liner’
Sujetador [su-heh-tah-dor] ‘bra’
Pendiante [pen-dyan-teh] ‘earrings’
Feminine Nouns
Corbata [kor-bah-tah] ’tie’
Gorra [gohr-rah] ‘cap’
Guardia [gwar-dya] ‘guard’

Gender Specifics in Spanish

2010-02-13T13:41:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Nouns in Spanish are classified according to their gender - masculine, feminine, or
neuter. Now, we have some of that in English too - for example, the word 'man' is masculine, while 'woman' is feminine. But in Spanish, all nouns have a gender, which has an affect on the article and adjectives that you use with the word. The question is, how do you know if a word is masculine or feminine? For example, the word 'camion' (truck) - what the heck is the gender of that word?

To help you solve this problem, I’d like to introduce you to Lawrence, a clever guy from California, and Dazcion, a pretty maiden from Mexico.

Lawrence can help you remember which nouns in Spanish are masculine because he is a
guy, while Dazcion can do the same for feminine nouns. How is that possible? Read on.

Spanish nouns ending in L, O, R, E, N, and S (Lorens, or 'Lawrence') are masculine. Here are some examples:

el Árbol [ar-bohl] ‘tree’
el Azucar [ah-zoo-kar] ‘sugar’
el Barrio [bar-ree-oh] ‘town’
el Cinturón [seen-tu-rohn] ‘belt’
el Garaje [ga-ra-hey] ‘garage’
el País [pah-ees] ‘country’

On the other hand, nouns ending in D, A, Z, and Cion are feminine. Some examples are shown below:

la Agua [ah-gwa] ‘water’
la Dirección [di-rek-see-on] ‘address’
la Juventud [hoo-ven-tood] ‘youth’
la Luz [looz] ‘light’

Hence, when you encounter a Spanish noun, all you have to do is look at its
ending and see if it belongs to Lawrence (L-O-R-E-N-S) or Dazcion to know its gender. I recommend that as you learn the words for nouns (people, places, things) that you always learn it together with the correct article - "la" for feminine and 'el' for masculine.

Learning the Spanish Alphabet

2010-02-09T13:27:00.003-05:00

Image by Ryan Greenberg via Flickr

Now that we've looked at a few basic greeting in Spanish, let's go over the Spanish Alphabet.

The Spanish alphabet is composed of 30 letters. The letters have different names than they do in English. The table below will tell you how to say the name of the letter and how the letter itself sounds. I have used Latin American pronunciations that will be understood anywhere - there are some regional differences.

Alphabet Pronounce It!
A [ah] /ah/ as in English "tall"
B [beh grahn-de] /b/ as in English "boy
C [seh] /k/ as in English "cup" (when followed by the vowels a, o, u)
/s/ as in English "sit" (when followed by vowels i, e)
Ch [cheh] /ch/ as in English child
D [deh] /d/ as is English doll
E [eh] /eh/ as in English let
F [eh-feh] /f/ as in English fan
G [keh] /g/ as in English gift (when followed by a, o, u)
/ch/ as in German "Bach" when followed by e, i
H [ah-cheh] the letter h is always silent in Spanish
I [ee] /ee/ as in English "sweet"
J [hoh-tah] /ch/ as in German Bach
K [kah] /k/ as in English kite
L [eh-leh] /l/ as in English light
Ll [eh-yeh] /y/ as in English yellow
M [eh-meh] /m/ as in English money
N [eh-neh] /n/ as in English net
Ñ [eh-nyeh] /ny/ as in English canyon
O [oh] /o/ as in English hotel
P [peh] /p/ as in English party
Q [ku] /k/ as in English kite
R [eh-reh] R is pronounced by trilling the tongue against the roof of the mouth, like a cat purr sound.
Rr rr [ehr-reh] Similar to R above, but the trill is more pronounced.
S s [eh-seh] /s/ as in English son
T [teh] /t/ as in English time
U [oo] /oo/ as in English toot
V [veh chica] a soft /b/ sound - pronounced by forming the letter b, but not closing the lips completely.
W w [veh dobleh] /w/ as in English water
X x [eh-kis] /ch/ as in German Bach when used in the start of a word
/ks/ as in English taxi when placed inside a word
Y y [i-gri-yeh-gah] /ee/ as in English ski
Z z [zeh-tah] /s/ as in English sit

Learning Spanish - More Spanish Greetings

2010-02-06T12:35:00.007-05:00

In the last post, we learned a little bit about some of the formal greetings and salutations. We'll continue today, starting with something a little less formal.

¿Qué tal?
[ke tal]
‘What’s up?’

¿Como estas?
[ko-mo es-tas]
‘How are you?’

Both expressions above are used for asking how another person is today, what he has been doing lately, how he is feeling, and the likes.

Note: When talking formally, use esta instead of estas in the latter expression.

(Muy) Bien
[(moo-ee) byen]
‘(Very) Well’

(Muy) Mal
[(moo-ee) mal]
‘(Very) Bad’

Mas o Menos
[mahs oh may-noes]
So-so

Questions on knowing ‘how you are doing’ can be answered depending on how you are actually feeling during the moment you are asked. Hence, from the options above, you can reply with a good, a very good, a bad, or a very bad, or just 'so-so'.

Por favor
[por fa-vor]
‘Please’

Por favor is the Spanish way of showing respect when asking a favor. It can be used either at the beginning of your sentence or at the end.

To Remember Easily: Don’t you usually say please when you ask por (for) a favor? 

Gracias
[grah-see-yas]
‘Thank you"

De nada
[de na-dha]
‘You’re welcome’

¡Adiós!
[a-dhyos]
‘Goodbye’

¡Adios! or ‘goodbye’ is used when you bid farewell to somebody you know – whether personally or through the telephone. It’s like wishing that God be with the other person as he continues his journey as a diós literally means ‘to God.’

Learning Basic Greetings in Spanish

2010-02-03T10:31:00.004-05:00

The first step to learning a new language is being familiar with its greetings and
most basic phrases. In this article, you'll find some everyday expressions in Spanish words, with
pronunciation guides, to help you enunciate them properly. You'll notice that written, the Spanish language uses both the inverted question mark (¿) and inverted exclamation mark (¡) at the beginning of every interrogative and exclamatory sentence, respectively.

¡Hola!
[oh-lah]
‘Hi, Hello’

¡Hola! is the most basic Spanish expression in greeting other people. It means ‘hi’
or ‘hello’. It can be used both for people you know, and for those you don’t know to get
them to notice you.

Note: Spanish people do not pronounce the letter /h/, making it a silent letter,
except when used in the /ch/ sound. Thus, the above expression should not be read [hohlah]
but [oh-lah].

¡Buenos dias!
[bwe-nos di-yahs]
‘Good morning/day’

¡Buenas tardes!
[bwe-nas tar-des]
‘Good afternoon’

¡Buenas noches!
[bwe-nas noh-ches]
‘Good evening/night’

These are the daily or timely greetings in Spanish. Similar to English, they are
composed of two words, namely bueno which means ‘good’ and the Spanish words for
morning, afternoon, and night.

¿Cómo te llamas?
[ko-mo te ya-mas]
‘What is your name?’

¿Cómo se llama usted?
[ko-mo se ya-ma oo-sted]
"What is your name?' (Formal)

Literally, these translate to ‘How do you call yourself?" or "How are you called" and both are correct for asking someone their name. The first one would be appropriate to use with a child or among peers in an informal setting, and the 2nd should always be used in business or when dealing with people older than you.

The literal translation of “What is your name?" would be

¿Cual es tú nombre?
[qual es tu nom-bre]
‘What is your name?’

If someone asks for your name using any of the above questions, you may also
respond with various answers:

Yo soy [name].
[yo soy … ]
‘I am …’

Me llamo [name].
[me yah-mo … ]
‘I am called …’

Mi nombre es [name].
[mi nom-bre es … ]
‘My name is …’

Though there are variations when telling your name in Spanish, all are accepted and are used to introduce yourself to other people.

Best Way to Learn Spanish Verb Tenses

2010-01-25T20:36:00.005-05:00

In this post I would like to talk some about Spanish verb formations. Understanding how to form Spanish verbs can be extremely frustrating for native speakers of English. The reason for this is that they're formed very differently. In Spanish it is often not necessary to use subject personal pronouns (I, you, he, she etc) together with verbs like it is in English. Look at this simple example:-

I live in England. = Vivo en Inglaterra.

Take note of how in Spanish no word for ‘I’ is used, simply because much of the time the way a Spanish verb is formed will automatically indicate what subject personal pronoun is being referred to (I, you, he, she etc). At first this may seem very confusing - and then down the road it may still seem quite confusing! The problem is that there are so many different ways in which one individual verb can be formed. Not only does the verb change according to which subject personal pronoun it is used with, it also changes depending on what verb tense is being used (present, past, future etc).

Obviously, you will have to learn how Spanish verbs are formed even to have a very basic conversation. There isn't any getting out of it!

Spanish verbs are split into regular and irregular verbs. The benefit of understanding how to form Spanish regular verbs is that once you know how to form one verb in one particular tense you can apply the same formation rules to all similar regular verbs. You only need to know the right way to form the verb once!

So, what are the best ways to go about learning the right way to form Spanish verbs? You'll find without doubt a lot more regular verbs in Spanish than there are irregular ones so learning the formation rules that apply to regular verbs is most likely the best start. Some of the most very common verbs in Spanish are irregular however, so sooner or later you'll have to study those too!

The Spanish textbook I was using began to introduce verb formations right from the very beginning but didn’t include any kind of in depth explanations about them until perhaps midway through the book. I was putting sentences together making use of different verb formations without really knowing why. Of course any sentence without a verb is not very much of a sentence so being subjected to them right away was unavoidable.

To begin with, it is most likely a good idea to start creating sentences with verbs by concentrating on remembering what the verb is in it’s infinitive, or root, form, rather than attempting to learn the way it is formed in various tenses.

Infinitive verb examples – (to live = vivir / to eat = comer / to talk = hablar)

You are still learning, simply by remembering what lots of different verbs means. Down the road, you can start to look at various verb tenses and formations. Personally, the Spanish textbook I was using didn’t explain in enough detail how verbs were being formed. I was keen to learn this fairly early on in my studies. My textbook approached the subject on a piecemeal basis, which unfortunately seemed a bit too disjointed for me. I'd have preferred to learn about verbs as a separate topic rather than having them introduced piece by piece!

No matter which way you choose to learn about verbs, one thing you'll almost definitely need in your possession is a verb conjugation (formation) book. This is a book designed to tell you how each and every imaginable verb in the Spanish language should be formed in all tenses.

Beginning Spanish Words and Pronunciation

2010-01-19T17:15:00.000-05:00

Image by fnnkybutt via Flickr

In the last article I talked about how Spanish sentences are formed differently from sentences in English, and how learning Spanish isn't just as easy as learning what a bunch of words mean. But, of course if you don’t know any Spanish words, then you aren't going to be able to make any sentences, regardless if they are grammatically correct or not. You need to start learning some words and phrases. A good way to start is by thinking about some of the most common every day phrases in English.

You could start by learning some common greetings for example - hello (hola), goodbye (adiós), good morning (buenos días), good afternoon (buenas tardes). In these examples you might have noticed that the translation of the English word used for "good" is both "buenos" and "buenas". This is because one is masculine and the other is feminine!! If you are not sure what I am talking about then don’t worry. I will talk much more about gender in later articles.

The point here is that when learning new Spanish words or phrases you are probably going to notice differences in the way they are used that you don’t fully understand. If you are anything like me you will always be asking yourself “why?” My advice is not to get too bogged down in trying to understand these things too quickly. It will probably just frustrate you! I can say from experience - my own, and in teaching English to Spanish speakers - that worrying too much about 'why' certain things are said the way they are can become a big distraction from just learning to it, at least in the beginning.

As well as learning useful words and phrases, you of course need to make sure that you can pronounce them correctly! The only way you can do this is by hearing some examples. It is important to make sure you pronounce Spanish words correctly right from the beginning. If you don’t then you will pick up bad habits that will become more difficult to shake off later on. If you're learning on your own at home, it's important to pick a course of study that provides Spanish sound samples and conversations for you to listen to.

Spanish pronunciation is something you will probably want to study separately during your studies. It is a good idea to do this early on. The good news is that Spanish pronunciation is far less complicated than English pronunciation. I will be discussing this in more detail in later articles.

Learning Spanish - All Languages are Not the Same!

2010-01-17T21:35:00.001-05:00

If you are thinking about learning Spanish then it makes sense to think carefully about what you hope to achieve and how you hope to achieve it. This is because the learning process is likely to be a long one and full of trials and tribulations. It is wise not to underestimate yourself.

In this article I’m going to talk about what I did when I was first thinking about learning Spanish. My concepts of how other languages worked were really very basic. I thought all I had to do was to take any English word and simply learn what the equivalent word in Spanish was. Therefore I could simply put the words together and hey presto I would have a complete sentence. It didn’t take me long to realize that this basic theory was completely off base!

For example, "I always buy strong coffee". In Spanish, " siempre compro café fuerte". In this sentence there appears to be no Spanish word for "I" and the word for "coffee (café)" comes before the word for "strong (fuerte)". This is only a simple example but it shows how my basic theory falls down. The Spanish word for "I" is "yo", but it is often not used in Spanish sentences because the construction of the verb it is used with already tells us that "I" is being referred to "compro = I buy". Secondly, in Spanish, adjectives usually come after the nouns that they are used with whereas in English they usually come before them. "strong coffee = café fuerte".

If you know nothing about Spanish as I didn’t then you might already be a little confused. At this stage it probably isn’t worth thinking too much about how the structure of the English and Spanish languages might differ. You will simply come to realize these differences as you progress through your studies. However, I think it is important to remind yourself right from the very beginning that learning Spanish won’t be as easy as simply matching English and Spanish words!

If you're ready to take the next step in learning Spanish, try the 6 Day FREE course from Rocket Spanish.

What's Stopping You From Learning Spanish?

2010-01-13T14:43:00.001-05:00

There are tons of people who want to start speaking Spanish now. There's one problem...They don't know where to begin. If you fit in this group, you are probably planning on taking lessons - however, you may want to teach yourself how to speak Spanish.

In order to learn Spanish, you have to overcome your second language learning anxiety. This is an emotional problem that hampers the abilities of many potential Spanish speakers around the world. Becoming motivated and overcoming this anxiety can, in fact, be the first step for you in becoming a fluent Spanish speaker.

Many believe that the older you get, the harder it is to learn a language. It is a common belief that advancement in age can hamper the ability to learn Spanish. There is no doubt that you may have to adjust when learning a different language - however, adults are actually more than capable of learning a language.

The reason why children are believed to be better at learning languages is the simple fact that they haven't developed any mono-language habits. Their minds are open, so they are open to change. However, you can easily break these habits and learn the language you need to! (And don't forget, learning a new language is excellent exercise for your brain)

People do not believe they are capable - When people do something such as trying to learn Spanish, they have to envision themselves doing it, otherwise, they'll be absolutely discouraged.

The simple fact is; most people simply do not believe that they are mentally capable of learning a second language. If people simply believe in themselves - they'll be well on their way to learning how to speak fluent Spanish!

Watching Latino TV and listening to radio stations that speak Spanish is something that practically anybody can do. When you do this, you will be giving yourself the opportunity to grow accustom to the style of the language. This includes the "speed", "pronunciation", and even certain phrases and sayings. You will begin to observe trends, etc.

When you listen, you may want to consider sitting down with a dictionary and trying to decipher some of the words you hear. When you observe that a specific word is spoken often, you may want to look that word up and translate it using your dictionary. You will be able to put sentences, paragraphs, and even full essays together by practicing on a daily basis. You may also want to combine this method with either a Spanish class, or a commercially available product that teaches you Spanish.

4 years of Spanish Studies, and Can't Hold a Conversation?

2010-01-09T13:56:00.001-05:00

Most people would agree on the absolute necessity of learning a foreign language in today’s society. But what is the most adequate, most effective way to do it? Here things get a little bit more complicated. Different answers to this question have guided the various methods employed in the language classrooms throughout the years.

If you grew up during the 70s or 80s you’ve probably been studying a second language at least since you were in high school. Studying is the key word here, because most likely, at the time, you used to complain about the fact that, in spite of hours and hours of study, in the end you could not use the language at all.

Well, it is time for you to know that this was not your fault. It was the consequence of a traditional approach to language teaching with an enormous emphasis on grammar. At the time, it was thought that the grammatical rules of a language were its most important aspect. Consequently, students were forced to memorize hundreds of verb tenses and word lists. But they were never taught to use the language.

The writing and reading skills were also given precedence under the traditional method in detriment of the listening and speaking ones. As a result, the overall communicative competence of the students was very poor. Think about this: after several years of studying, let’s say, Spanish, were you able to follow a film or a television program in that language? Did you feel comfortable speaking Spanish? Or did you panic at the thought of having to travel and encountering native speakers? This is what having a poor communicative competence means, and it is typical of ‘traditional’ students.

Later on, you may have decided to attend a language school. There you probably found a radically different approach: you spent hours and hours repeating sentences after the teacher, without even knowing how they were spelled or what the individual words meant. You were told that this was not necessary.

That ‘communicating’ was the important thing. Most likely the motto of the school was that learning a second language was as easy as learning your native one. This is a typical example of the audio-lingual method, a response to the traditional one. Speaking and listening are the skills stressed here, so students almost never write or read. Unfortunately, most of the conversations drilled are not even near to a real conversation with a native speaker. When you as a student are old enough to understand this, it will be almost impossible to be motivated, and who can blame you?

You’ve probably guessed by now that the most comprehensive method to learn a foreign language should be a combination of traditional with new techniques. This approach would try to pay equal attention to and combine the four different skills by, for example, trying to present the grammar in a conversational format. Students also need meaningful activities that correspond to what they do in the real world. In other words, language teaching needs to be oriented towards a context that is relevant for learners, with materials that engage them and make them become active in their learning.

Visit the BestWaytoLearnSpanish.info for more information on their comprehensive language studies program.

Spanish for Children

2010-01-04T15:22:00.001-05:00

If you'd like to get your young child started learning foreign languages, head on over to Planet CD-Rom. They're offering a FREE JumpStart Language CD where kid's can discover:

French, Japanese, Spanish, and English
Vocabulary for everyday objects
Cultural stories, customs, and characters
Conversational phrases
Colors, numbers, and time
Music and lyrics

All age appropriate for young children. There were only 31 copies left at the time of this writing, so don't wait!

Free JumpStart Languages CD

.

History of the Spanish Language Part 2

2010-01-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

The Spanish language arrived in America first through Cristóbal Colón’s exploratory travels, and then with the rest of colonizers, at the end of the fifteenth century. At this point the Spanish language was already firmly consolidated in the Iberian peninsula. In the “new world”, however, Spanish had yet to be established, and this was done through a process labelled by historians as “hispanización”.

During this period, the southern part of the American continent was a conglomerate of hundreds of different languages and dialects. Moreover, the cultures that the settlers encountered were radically different from the Spanish one. Communication, therefore, was really a challenge in the first stages, and it was done first through gestures and later on through captive natives who acted as interpreters.

The Catholic Church played a fundamental role in the expansion of the Spanish language throughout Latin America. Thus, Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries established schools where they educated and converted into Catholicism most children and teenagers. Of course, this was all done in Spanish, and thus this language started to penetrate little by little in the daily lives of the different indigenous groups.

The evangelization was accompanied by the slow but firm administrative imposition of the Spanish language, which relegated the Amerindian languages to an unprivileged position. This was the inevitable consequence of the cultural and ethnic cleansing imposed by the Spanish Empire to its colonies.

However, there was a two-way flow of cultural and linguistic influence between the colonizers and the colonized. This happened because, in spite of their dominant position, the natives of Spain always constituted a very small minority in the American continent. Thus, there was a constant contact among languages and a progressive mixing among the different populations. This allowed the incorporation of aspects belonging to the pre-Columbian cultures into what would later become American Spanish. African languages, brought by those who were taken to America as slaves, also contributed to the formation of this rich mosaic.

Just listening to the intonation of the different South American Spanish dialects we can see that they are closer to the various native languages than to peninsular Spanish. In terms of vocabulary, two of the most influential languages were the Mexican náhuatl (spoken by the Aztecs) or the Peruvian quechua (spoken by the Incas). These two languages were accepted and spoken by a significant part of the population, and therefore they were used for commerce purposes, even after the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. Examples of words that have been incorporated into American Spanish from these languages are “papa” (potatoe), “cuate” (friend), or “chamaco” (boy).

On the other hand, the characteristics of the Spanish explorers were also heterogeneous, since they came from all over Spain. However, their meeting point before starting their long journey was Seville, in Andalucía, the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula. Since they stayed a long time while preparing their adventure, they ended up adopting some of the characteristics of the Andalusian dialect. Then they took them to the “new world”. This is why American Spanish shares most of the Spanish pronunciation characteristics with Andalusian Spanish. The most significant one is the phenomenon known as “seseo”, which indicates the fact that the sound “c” (pronounced “th”) is transformed into the sound “s”.

All these factors have made American Spanish the rich and multicultural linguistic variety that it is today.

Spanish Dialects

2009-12-31T00:10:00.001-05:00

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A dialect is defined in linguistic terms as a language variety which is spoken in a specific territory. In the Spanish peninsula, for example, there are different dialects of Spanish. One should not, however, mix up the different dialects in Spain with the different languages spoken in the Peninsula: Spanish, Catalan, Basque and Galician.

The existence of dialects is a natural consequence of the dynamism of languages. For example, throughout its evolution, Spanish has adopted unique characteristics in the different places where it is spoken. Some of the dialects of Spanish in Spain are canario (from the Canary Islands), andaluz (from Andalusia), and madrileño (from Madrid). The different Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America also present national and regional variations. Thus, we can speak of an Argentinean, a porteño (from Buenos Aires city), a Peruvian or a Colombian dialect, among others.

The differences between dialects are usually limited to intonation, pronunciation and isolated words and expressions. An example of word variation within the Spanish peninsula is “candle”. Candle is referred to as “vela” in the northern and center parts of Spain, but as “candela” in the South. As for pronunciation, the word “Madrid” is pronounced in the capital of Spain as “Madrith”, whereas in the bilingual areas of the East coast, and because of the contact between Spanish and Catalan, it becomes “Madrit”. In the South, however, people tend to eliminate the final consonant and say “Madrí”.

One of the main differences between the dialects of Spain and those of Latin America is the use of pronouns. Thus, in Spain, the informal pronoun that has remained for the second person singular (in English “you”) is “tú”. However, some Latin American countries, (Argentina, Uruguay or Paraguay, for example) have retained the pre-modern “vos”. This leads to unique verb forms such as “¿entendés?” for “do you understand?” instead of the peninsular “¿entiendes?” or mixtures such as “¿Vos te marchás ya?” Instead of “¿Tú te marchas ya?” (In English, “are you leaving now?”).

The plural “you” also varies, and thus in Spain people differentiate between an informal “vosotros” and a formal “ustedes”, whereas this difference does not exist in Latin America at all. As for pronunciation differences, the only country where we can find speakers who pronounce the letter “c” before “e” and “i” as the English “th” is Spain. In the rest of the countries, (and also in the South of Spain) this “c” is pronounced as an “s”. Try to pronounce the word “cenicero” (ashtray) in both ways and you´ll hear the difference!

Even though dialects are socially valued differently (Andalusian, for example, is perceived as less educated than Castilian), linguistically speaking all dialects are equally valid. What we need to remember is that everyone speaks a dialect, and therefore dialects are NOT incorrect or less valid versions of a language. If you study Spanish in Buenos Aires and interact -as you should- with locals, you will learn the particularities of that area.

How to Learn Spanish on the Internet

2009-12-26T12:19:00.002-05:00

With the popularity of the Internet has come the opportunity to partake in a plethora of new services. Who would have imagined that you could, for example, learn the fundamentals of the Spanish language from an online course? All you need is an Internet connection and the desire to learn.

Providers of online Spanish language courses offer a number of programs from which to choose. Online language-course services not only offer fast-paced Spanish language lessons but many also try to make the learning experience a pleasurable endeavor.

Various exercises are offered to assist online students in becoming more familiar with the Spanish language. Some providers use the "natural language acquisition" method which closely resembles the way children in every culture learn their own language. With this approach, online students build the foundation, attitudes, habits, skills and learning strategies that will help them to learn quickly the Spanish language.

Online resources are available, like English/Spanish dictionaries, online translators and other learning tools, that may be downloaded from various sites free of charge.

For those who want a more traditional education, there are online Spanish courses administered by expert language tutors and self-paced independent study programs. Some Spanish courses conduct weekly online "meetings" using live voice chat to provide students with a real-time exchange of information and to help them learn proper pronunciation. Spanish courses found online include introductory and advanced level Spanish, business Spanish, health care Spanish, Spanish and Law, Spanish for Emergency Situations, and Spanish for teachers.

There are many benefits to learning Spanish online. You can study any time, from any location and most importantly at your own pace and you earn a certificate of completion that's acknowledged by educational institutions..

History of Spanish - Part 1

2009-12-22T18:52:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Spanish is, after Mandarin Chinese and English, the third most spoken language in the world, with an estimated 400.000.000 of native speakers throughout the planet. Its origins, however, are much more reduced, both geographically and numerically.

Together with other initially European languages such as Portuguese, French or Italian, the linguistic roots of Spanish make it a Romance language. This means that Latin, or more specifically, Vulgar Latin, constitutes its most important linguistic base.

The constant contact and mutual influence of the Latin basis with other linguistic traditions and cultures has led to the formation of the different Romance languages as we know them today. In the case of Spanish, there are, for example, characteristics that come from the Iberian and Celtic traditions.

There is also a great amount of Greek vocabulary that was first adopted by Latin speakers and then brought into Spanish. Words such as “escuela” (school) or “huérfano” (orphan) all belong to this tradition. And we should not forget the seven centuries of Arab domination of the peninsula. This has left, among other things, an important legacy of lexical elements that have been incorporated into the Spanish language. A surname you probably know which exemplifies this is “Almodóvar”.

Spanish is, especially in the bilingual territories of Spain, also known as castellano (Castilian), because of its origins in the region of Castilla. Castilla is situated in the north-central part of Spain, and it was once the neuralgic center of the Spanish empire that would take the Spanish language to more than twenty other countries.

The establishment of a linguistic unity of Spanish as a common language for the state of Spain was parallel to its territorial unity. This union was only possible after the Reconquest of the peninsula from the Arab settlers, at the end of the 15th century. The kingdom of Castilla, and also its linguistic variety, expanded to the practical totality of the Iberian Peninsula. After the marriage of Isabel I of Castilla and Fernando II of Aragón, the Spanish state was born, and Castilian language and culture became its most dominant identity. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, through a series of linguistic evolutions and normalizing changes, the language of the Spanish state became what is nowadays known as Modern Spanish.

It is important to remember, however, that spoken Spanish is not identical in the different regions of the Spanish state. In fact, its pronunciation and lexical characteristics can vary to a very significant extent from one place to another. However, the maintenance of a unified, standard, version of the Spanish language and of its written form is guaranteed by the Real Academia de la Lengua Española. The Academia sets the rules to follow in order to speak and write in a way that is accepted by all the different Spanish speakers.

Why Choose Spanish?

2009-12-19T12:00:00.002-05:00

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Why learn Spanish of all languages? Why not Italian, French, or even Mandarin? Well, mainly because it seems to be the most practical language to have these days living in the US. With an ever-expanding Latin American population, being able to speak a language that is becoming so widely used would be an invaluable asset. Schools are even becoming bi-lingual and Spanish is stressed. There are even parts of the country; Miami springs to mind, where there are most likely more people for whom Spanish is their first language than there are people who are native English speakers.

Even outside of the states, Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world; the ranking is apparently in dispute as I found numerous statistics. Most Latin American countries, those in Central and South America speak Spanish with an ever increasing amount of people in the United States. That is almost an entire hemisphere full of a language. And then there is Spain as well, while that Spanish may be slightly different than the Spanish in Latin America, Spanish it still is.

There are an ever-increasing amount of reasons why people should learn Spanish. Not only because of the amount of people who speak it but in a more selfish way it is becoming increasingly valuable to speak a second language professionally. The problem is that people in the United States tend to be more than a little arrogant in their thought that English is the most important language and they simply don’t need to speak anything else.

Being bilingual gives one opportunities to live and work outside of the country that would be unavailable otherwise. It gives one options. And given the large amount of counties in which Spanish is spoken it gives one a lot of options.

Spanish as a Second Language

2009-12-17T11:49:00.002-05:00

So you’ve decided to learn a language – Awesome! Learning a new language is something that can have tangible effects on your everyday life, whether it makes a vacation more fulfilling or helps you find a better job. Three hundred and fifty million people in the world speak Spanish, so what better language could there be to learn?

With twenty-five countries in the world speaking the Spanish as their official or primary language, learning Spanish makes sense. While acquiring any second language has many benefits, (such as improving memory and problem-solving abilities, enhancing one’s ability in any mother tongue and improving self-esteem) choosing a language that has huge practical applications increases the value of the study involved. With the US being the third largest Spanish speaking country in the world, and this language second only to English in the frequency it is spoken in homes, learning Spanish is a wise choice.

Whether Spanish is learned as part of a school curriculum or taken up in later life, the benefits of gaining an understanding of this language in particular are manifold. A knowledge of Spanish can afford an important edge in today’s competitive job markets, particularly as an increasing number of corporations are opening offices in South America. The NAFTA treaty signed by the USA, Canada and Mexico has also increased trade and communications between these three nations, making an understanding of the Spanish language more useful than ever in the work place.

Studying Spanish is also valuable in providing enrichment at a personal level, as the countries in which the language is spoken offer a multi-layered cultural heritage that can be best explored through its native tongue. Many literary masterpieces were written by Spanish authors, and can be enjoyed to their full extent in their original language. An understanding of the Spanish language also cultivates the desire to travel to foreign lands, opening up new and fascinating worlds to the student.

Learning Spanish can open up so many avenues of exploration, from those in the business world to more personal paths of discovery. Enhance your understanding of the world around you by learning about the linguistic heritage of another culture, and see the world you live in as never before.

Should you teach Spanish to your child?

2009-12-11T13:35:00.005-05:00

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There are many reasons for wanting your children to learn Spanish. Some parents are interested in preparing their children for life in today's world where it is important to know more than one language. This is even more important in our hemisphere where it becomes increasingly valuable to know Spanish.

Other people think of the intellectual stimulation that learning a language provides. They think that they can give their children a an additional intellectual challenge in a painless way. Researcher in London, England have determined that learning a second language boosts brain power which remains throughout life.

Learning a language can be a source of pride and self esteem for the child who is fortunate enough to be exposed to learning outside of the classroom. Of course, helping your child learn to speak Spanish is easier if you can speak Spanish yourself. For more information, see the BestWayToLearnSpanish.info.

Don't Forget Your Dictionary!

2009-12-09T10:27:00.003-05:00

On my first trip to Peru, in my excitement I forgot to pack several things. Somehow, I made it out of my house without my toothbrush and toothpaste, but fortunately I was able to replace them as soon as I realized my mistake. Far worse than forgetting those things, however, was the realization that I had forgotten my Spanish dictionary that I had bought and practiced with just for this trip.

Many people told me that having a Spanish dictionary would be one of the best tools for living in Peru. I certainly believed it, but I had no real idea until I got here just how true it really was. I was like a lost puppy! My Spanish wasn't as good as I thought it was. I couldn't really talk with locals and could only make out the simplest words on signs or billboards.

The only way I was able to make it through in the beginning was by having my husband there to translate nearly everything for me. I eventually bought a new dictionary, and then of course became much more fluent in Spanish as time went on. However, I learned quickly that gestures and pointing can go a long way when no words can be communicated.

If you're learning Spanish to travel, you may not have the luxury of a "husband/translator" traveling with you. Forgetting your Spanish/English dictionary or phrasebook can put a big damper on your trip, and cost you the chance to really get to know the people who live in the country you're visiting.

Learning Spanish Online

2009-12-06T11:13:00.005-05:00

Learning a new language such as Spanish can be very rewarding and it can really broaden your options. However, whether you're learning Spanish for travel or to help your job opportunities, you may find you don't have the time to attend an after work class. In that case, you have the alternative of learning to speak Spanish online

If you are looking to learn Spanish fast online then fear not - it couldn't be easier. Whilst there are many Spanish courses online which do take a long time to complete, there is also a good selection of quick lessons which you can really benefit from.

Sometimes you don't always have time to join up with long term language courses. It could be that you are going on a last minute holiday or perhaps you have an unexpected business meeting with a Spanish client. If so and you are not overly confident in your ability to speak Spanish, you may be in desperate need of fast Spanish lessons. But is it really possible to learn Spanish fast online?

Ideally when you look to learn Spanish fast online, you need to take a number of factors into account. The main one is do the lessons tell you how to say the words? Some fast track courses will only show you how the word is said and this makes it a lot more difficult to learn. So with any online quick Spanish courses, they should be interactive and you should be able to hear the word being said to you. It is a well known fact that people learn quicker when they hear and see things together. So a good fast online Spanish course will make use of these skills.

Learning to speak Spanish online can be a lot cheaper than learning in a class. You can even learn to speak Spanish online for free if you look around. The great thing about the internet is that there is always a lot of information that you can pick up for free and learning to speak Spanish is one topic you should find a lot of free information on.

How Should You Learn Spanish?

2009-12-05T21:09:00.005-05:00

How to learn Spanish? As I am sure you know learning a foreign language is not an easy task unless you are one of those people with an “ear for language”, something I never really understood. There are many available options. The first that comes to mind is obviously taking a course in your high school, college, or other educational institution. This is a convenient and trusted way to learn, and one that has been utilized for years. However, given that most of the people that take a language in high school or college never actually become bilingual, the merits of this method seem to be suspect.

As with anything else, when deciding how you want to learn Spanish, the internet is as good a place to start as any. If you look on the internet you will find a wealth of options available to you. There are a very large amount of study systems being sold, some at reasonable prices and others for a small fortune. There are also programs for placement in Spanish speaking countries that allow you to totally immerse yourself in the language. Then there are even websites with free exercises and drills that will help you get started.

My personal opinion is that online learning is the best way to start. If I didn't believe so, I wouldn't have started this blog! There is a lot of information to be found on the internet. But you're never going to truly learn Spanish without some form of interactivity - listening and speaking, learning to follow a real conversation - and that's where the best Spanish language software programs come in. The web page in that link can help you with choosing the program that is right for you.

Learning Spanish Grammar - Verbs and Nouns and Adjectives, Oh My!

2009-12-05T20:55:00.003-05:00

Image by lensfodder via Flickr

When learning Spanish, it can be helpful to familiarize yourself with its main grammatical units. This is the first necessary step in order to understand and create meaningful speech.

Here are the main grammatical elements in Spanish and some useful information about them:

Nouns:
A noun is a word which is mostly used to refer to a person or thing. All nouns in Spanish have a gender, meaning that they are either masculine or feminine. For example, “niño” (boy) is masculine and “niña” (girl) is feminine. The best way to identify gender is undoubtedly experience, although here are some general guidelines which may be useful at the beginning: usually nouns ending in –o are masculine and nouns ending in –a are feminine. Of course there are always exceptions.

For example, “mano” (hand) and “radio” (radio) are feminine. On the other hand, words of Greek origin ending in –ma, such as “dilema” (dilemma) or “problema” (problem) are masculine. When you are learning new vocabulary, it is recommendable that you learn a noun together with its corresponding article. That will help you to remember their gender. For example “la niña”, “la mano” or “el problema” and “el niño”.

Verbs:
Learning Spanish verb forms is easily the most complicated part of Spanish. Verbs, of course, indicate actions. The basic form of Spanish verbs is called the infinitive; an example would be “hablar” (to speak). In Spanish there are three different groups of verbs, based on the spelling of the end of their infinitive form. These three different categories are called conjugations.

The three conjugations are:

verbs that end in –ar, such as “hablar”,
in -er “comer” (to eat) and
in –ir “dormir” (to sleep).

Verbs in Spanish have different endings depending on who is performing the action. These endings will vary from one conjugation to the other. For example, with the verb “hablar”, the singular “you” is “(tú) hablas”, whereas with “comer” it is “(tú) comes”. This can obviously be complicated for learners at the beginning, but once you get used to it, you will have no problem communicating effectively.

Adjectives:
Adjectives are used to describe a particular noun, to say something about it. It is important to remember that in Spanish they are usually placed after the noun. Since adjectives are always related to a noun, they have to agree with them in gender and number.

This means that if you want to say something about the noun “niño”, which is masculine and singular, the adjective that you use will also have to be masculine and singular. Thus, you can say “niño alto” (tall boy), “niño pequeño” (small boy), etc. If, on the other hand, if you were talking about a girl, you would have to say “niña alta” and “niña pequeña”.

Pronouns:
Pronouns substitute for nouns. For example, you can say “la niña está aquí” (the girl is here) or “ella está aquí” (she is here). In this case “ella” is substituting for “la niña”. The subject pronouns in Spanish are “yo” (I), “tú/usted/vos” (singular you), él (he), ella (she), nosotros (we), vosotros/ustedes (plural you), ellos (they).

The singular and plural “you” are used differently depending on the dialect of Spanish that you are using. It is important to remember that subject pronouns are frequently omitted in Spanish, since the ending of the verb already makes it clear who is performing the action. Thus, native spears would say “estoy aquí” (I’m here) rather than “yo estoy aquí”.

How Hard is Learning Spanish?

2009-12-05T20:13:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

In the last article, ‘Why Learn Spanish?’ I talked about the different reasons why people might decide to learn how to speak Spanish. I also talked about the great sense of achievement that learning another language can bring you. In this article I am going to talk about the different things you should consider before embarking on such a crusade.

I think a lot of people believe that learning another language won’t actually be that difficult. Well, maybe it won’t be for some, but if like me you have never tried to learn a foreign language before then it may well turn out to be one of the most challenging things that you are ever likely to attempt. Of course I don’t want to put anybody off, after all, in my last article I said that anybody can do it. Well, I absolutely believe this, but I also believe that you should realistically think about how and when learning Spanish can be achieved for you.

Of course not everyone is the same. Some of us are better at doing some things than other people are. So, it stands to reason that learning Spanish might be easier for one person than it is for another. The truth is that learning a new language can be achieved by possessing any number of different skills. That's why the best ways to learn Spanish appeal to a broad range of learning styles.

When I first started to think about how and when I would learn Spanish I honestly thought it was going to be easier than it actually was. I think one reason was because I was comparing myself to the millions of Europeans that fluently speak English. Anyone who has been to Germany, or Scandinavia will know that pretty much everybody can speak English. I thought if so many of them can learn a new language then it couldn’t be that difficult!

Now, when I think about Europeans speaking English I realize that they are so good at it because they have been learning it practically since they started to learn their own languages. This is certainly one of the key things that you need to realize about learning Spanish. It will not happen overnight. It is a process that can literally takes years.

Some languages might be considered more difficult to learn than others but of course this is all relative. It is true however, that the structure and functionality of some languages are more similar to each other than they are to others. The structure of the French language for example more closely mimics the structure of the Spanish language than it does English.

If you can already speak another language then perhaps learning Spanish will be easier for you. Even if it isn’t then at least you will already be prepared for the learning experience that you are about to embark on.

At this stage you might well be thinking, how can I prepare myself for the learning experience that I am about to embark of if I have never tried to learn a different language before? How can I prepare myself for the challenges ahead if I don’t even know what the challenges are? The reality is that your not going to know how difficult or easy learning Spanish might be until you actually get started. All I really want to emphasize at this point is that you shouldn’t underestimate how difficult and frustrating it might turn out to be. Patience is the key!

Of course you should be very positive and excited about learning Spanish, after all if you don’t enjoy doing it then what is the point! Learning Spanish could be one of the most amazing and fulfilling experiences that you have ever had. It certainly has been for me. Believe me, learning Spanish could open new doors in your life that you had never before thought possible. Heck, if not for having learned a little Spanish before hand, I would have never met my husband in the first place!

Why Learn Spanish?

2009-12-04T20:49:00.000-05:00

There are lots of reasons why someone might want to learn Spanish. Perhaps you're planning a holiday or business trip to a Spanish speaking country - or maybe you are thinking of moving to one. You might live in an area with lots of Spanish speakers, and know that the ability to converse in another language could help you in your job. It might even be that you don't really 'need' to speak Spanish at all - but you want to be able to say that you can. The ability to communicate in another language certainly gives you a great sense of achievement.

My reasons for learning Spanish were clear. I had always been drawn to the language, and living in Florida had picked up a bit here and there. Although I had wanted to learn Spanish for a long time, the main reason I finally decided to do something about it was because I was planning a move to Peru. I had met a Peruvian man while I was on vacation in Caribbean, and well... long story short, I was moving to Peru to marry him. :) Well that was a back in 2002, when we first met, and I've been living in Peru since 2004. Since that time, the Spanish language has literally taken me over. I wouldn’t have believed it then but now Spanish is a part of my every day life. I can speak, read and understand Spanish to the point where I rarely have to think about it anymore.

When people ask me if I can speak Spanish fluently, I am always a little hesitant to say yes. The truth is that even though I can communicate well in Spanish, I still don’t feel that I know enough. I am not really sure if I ever will! There are always new words and phrases to learn - and apart from 'regular' Spanish, there's all the delicious slang!

I think one of the biggest tests for me is being able to sit in front of the TV movie in Spanish with my family and completely understand everything that is going on. After all, if I can do that in English why shouldn’t I be able to do the same in Spanish? Well, I have to admit that although I'm not quite there yet, I DO understand enough that I no longer need to use those distracting subtitles.

So, how did I go from just knowing a few simple phrases in Spanish to being able to read a Spanish book, speak to a Spanish-speaking friend or watch a Spanish movie? Well the answer to that is what I intend to write about in this blog. The truth is that learning a new language takes time and requires a great deal of patience and commitment. However, what I really want to convey at this point is that anybody can do it easily if they really want to. I was over 40 years old when I started seriously learning Spanish - If I could do it, ANYONE can!