Best Way to Learn Spanish Verb Tenses

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

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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!

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?

 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?

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

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
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• 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 


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History of the Spanish Language Part 2

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.