Why Should You Choose Online Spanish Classes?

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?

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

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

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

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

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:

1. Identify the gender of the noun. Check its ending but remember the exceptions.
2. How many are being talked about? If it’s more than one, observe the ending so you would know what suffix to add.
3. 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

1. Platano ‘banana’ is a male. Vaso ‘glass’ is also a male.
2. 2 bananas. Hence, add -s to change platano to the plural, and 1 glass, so vaso stays the same.
3. 2 bananas - definite, with the number, two, would be "dos platanos", and a glass is indefinite, so you would use "un vaso".
   
4. 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)

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

Definite and Indefinite Articles

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.

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