One of the enjoyable parts of knowing several languages is being able to enjoy the music in those languages.
Each month I’ll post links to the music videos for songs that are topping the music charts in various Latin American countries.
May 24, 2010
April 17, 2010
A Few Tips for Language Learning #1
I wanted to write a few posts about language learning in general and ways that can help “speed up” and improve the process a little bit.
First I wanted to focus on vocabulary building.
When I was learning my first foreign language (Spanish), I had a few methods that I used to help me learn and retain vocab words.
1. Flashcards
Flashcards are my absolute favorite, because you can quiz yourself on vocabulary either English -> Spanish or Spanish -> English just by flipping the cards over. I think it’s really important to be able to do both. I get asked sometimes “Should I practice from Spanish -> English or English -> Spanish?” and my answer is that you should be practicing both ways!
2. Post-It-Note Labels
Another favorite of mine was putting up little post-it-notes on the objects I was learning vocabulary. [For example, "la cama" on a bed, "la puerta" on a door, etc.] The idea is that you are seeing the item “in real life” while processing the word in your mind. This is more effective for some people than others.
3. Using Vocabulary in Sentences
A good way to get a good working knowledge of a vocabulary word going is to use it in a few sentences as soon as you first learn it. Stimulate your mind a little further than just seeing the one word!
4. Vocabulary Lists
Lastly, I love themed vocabulary lists. It is so much easier to retain words when you are learning them with other similar words according to some sort of cohesive theme. I have made about 40 lists of Spanish words that you can check out: Spanish Words
April 16, 2010
Common Spanish Phrases: B
Here is a list of some common Spanish phrases and expressions that begin with “B”.
Bajo llave – Under lock and key
Bien me lo merezco - It serves me right
Boca abajo – Face down
Boca arriba – Face up
Bromas aparte – All joking aside
Buen provecho – Enjoy your meal
April 14, 2010
False Cognates
Being aware of false cognates is important, because you don’t want to say something without knowing it actually means something completely different!
Following is a list of some common false cognates (also known as “false friends”):
actual
actual meaning: present, current
asistir
actual meaning: to attend
balde
actual meaning: bucket
billón
actual meaning: trillion
carpeta
actual meaning: file
cigarro
actual meaning: cigarette
conferencia
actual meaning: lecture; meeting
contar
actual meaning: to tell, to relate (a story)
dirección
actual meaning: address
embarazada
actual meaning: pregnant
excitado
actual meaning: [sexually] aroused
éxito
actual meaning: success
fábrica
actual meaning: factory
largo
actual meaning: long
realizar
actual meaning: to achieve
recordar
actual meaning: to remember
ropa
actual meaning: clothing
sano
actual meaning: healthy
sopa
actual meaning: soup
suceso
actual meaning: event
April 11, 2010
Telling Time
To ask what time it is, use: ¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?)
To state the time of day in Spanish, the verb ser will be used, as will the feminine definite article (la, las). Use “la” for one o’clock and “las” for all other times. This means that “es” will be used for one o’clock, and “son” for all other times.
For example:
Es la una. It’s one o’clock.
Son las dos. It’s two o’clock.
Son las tres. It’s three o’clock.
Son las cuatro. It’s four o’clock.
Etc…
To add minutes past the hour, use “y”:
Es la una y cinco. It’s 1:05.
Son las dos y doce. It’s 2:12.
To say it is a quarter past or half past the hour, use “cuarto” and “media”.
Son las dos y cuarto. It’s 2:15.
Son las dos y media. It’s 2:30.
Common Spanish Phrases: A
Here is a list of some common Spanish phrases and expressions that begin with “A”.
a causa de – because of
a eso de – at about
a fin de que – so that
a pesar de – in spite of
a la vez - at the same time
a lo lejos – in the distance
a menos que – unless
a menudo – frequently
a no ser que – unless
a propósito - by the way
a tiempo – on time
a través de – across
a un lado – to one side
a una voz – unanimously
ahora mismo – right now
al aire libre – outdoors
al azar - by chance
al fin - at last
al menos – at least
al otro lado de - on the other side of
al parecer - apparently
al principio – at the beginning
ante todo – first of all
antes que - rather than
aparte de eso – aside from that
así pues - therefore
así y todo - in spite of that
aun así - even so
March 26, 2010
Spanish ALT Codes
If you are typing in Spanish and would like to add accents, a handy way to do so is with ALT codes.
To use these, you hold the “alt” key while typing the number that corresponds to the character you’d like to use. Remember that you must use the numeric keypad (the numbers on the right side of the keyboard, not the ones right above the letters).
alt + 160 = á
alt + 130 = é
alt + 161 = í
alt + 162 = ó
alt + 163 = ú
alt + 0252 = ü
alt + 0241 = ñ
alt + 0193 = Á
alt + 0201 = É
alt + 0205 = Í
alt + 0211 = Ó
alt + 0218 = Ú
alt + 0220 = Ü
alt + 0209 = Ñ
alt + 0191 = ¿
alt + 0161 = ¡
The Basics: Greetings/Introductions
One of the first steps to learning a language is of course learning how to greet people and introduce yourself.
Spanish has many different options for greeting others. Here are the universally understood greetings.
¡Hola! – Hello!
¿Cómo está? – How are you? [formal]
¿Cómo estás? – How are you? [informal]
¿Qué tal? – How’s it going?
¿Cómo se llama usted? – What’s your name? [formal]
¿Cómo te llamas? - What’s your name? [informal]
If you are in México, you might instead hear:
¿Qué onda? – how’s it going?
Some common answers are:
Estoy bien or Bien. – Good.
Muy bien. – Great.
And of course, you can add “thank you”:
Gracias. – Thank you.
Estoy bien, gracias. – I’m fine, thank you.
To state your name, say:
Me llamo… [name] – My name is… [name]
Soy de [country] – I’m from [country]
In response to meeting someone, you say:
¡Mucho gusto! – Pleased to meet you!
To say goodbye, you have several options:
¡Adiós! - Goodbye
¡Hasta luego! - See you later!
¡Hasta pronto! - See you soon!
Nos vemos. - See you soon.
¡Chau! – Bye! (informal)
One special note is that many native English speakers assume that one answers the phone by saying “¿hola?”, but you will usually hear people say “bueno”, “aló”, or “diga”.