LANGUAGE MATTERS: I want to learn Spanish because ...

When I start a new class the first thing I do is to ask my new students ... 'Why do you want to learn Spanish?'

Over the years I have been given a great number of answers, ranging form the very serious to the very trivial. Any reason, however, is a valid reason to me, who would struggle to give a reason of  why I love languages so much. I just do. 

So, here is a sample of valid reasons:

• I want to travel to Latin America.
• I want to travel to Spain.
• I am travelling to Latin America / Spain soon.
• I want to do el Camino del Inca. (The Inca Trail)
• I want to do el Camino de Santiago.
• My boyfriend  or girlfriend is a (native) Spanish-speaker.
• My daughter or son is marrying a Mexican (or a Peruvian ... or Argentinian ...) 
• I love the sound of the language. I'd love to speak it.
• I have always wanted to learn a second language.
• I've just come back from a holiday in Europe and I was so embarrassed, everybody seemed to be at least bi-lingual over there...
• It's a language that seems easy.
• I'd like to read in Spanish.
• I am bored.
• I studied the language many years ago. I now have the time to continue learning it.
• If you speak English and Spanish you can travel the world.
• I'd like to read Lorca or Neruda ...
• I want to get my brain working.
• I think I was a Spanish gypsy in a previous life.
• I'd love to be bi-lingual.
• I want to do something different, something new.
• I watch films in Spanish on SBS and I would like to understand what they say.
• My grandfather was Spanish.
• I dance flamenco and I want to go to Sevilla to do a course.
• I want to teach English in Latin America.
• I love Spanish art.
• I want to do a cooking course in Spain.
• I am in love with Penelope Cruz.
• I do business in Uruguay
• I do business in Chile
• I am going to Buenos Aires to learn to dance the tango.
• I want to see Game of Thrones in Spanish

It is a splendid list as far as intentions is concerned. The hardest part is, of course, to start learning and not giving up at class number three, when one realises that this pursuing with this activity will require commitment, perseverance, passion and (these days) it costs a lot of money as well. 


 

Spanish neologisms from English: escanear, resetear, tunear y customizar

  

SPANISH IDIOMS: Estar en las nubes > to have one's head in the clouds

Idiomatic expressions enrich and colour languages.

Here are some expressions using NUBE (cloud) with examples in English & Spanish:

·        ESTAR EN LAS NUBES (to have one's head in the clouds)

o   Pepe no escucha, siempre está en las nubes.

o   Pepe never listens, his head is always in the clouds.

·        ANDAR POR LAS NUBES (to have one's head in the clouds)

o   No te escucha, anda por las nubes.

o   He/she is not listening, his/her head is in the clouds.

·        VIVIR EN LAS NUBES (to live in the clouds)

o   Ana vive en las nubes, nunca se entera de nada

o   Ana lives in the clouds, she never knows what's going on

·        ESTAR EN UNA NUBE (to be on cloud nine)

o   Míralos, están en una nube.

o   Look at them, they are on cloud nine.

·        BAJAR A ALGUIEN DE SU NUBE (to take someone down a peg)

o   El jefe lo ha bajado de su nube.

o   The boss has taken him down a peg.

Beginning of One Hundred Years of Solitude (in English & Spanish)

Gabriel García Márquez, escritor colombiano, nació en Arataca el 6 de marzo de 1927 y falleció el pasado 17 April 2014, Jueves Santo, en Ciudad de México.  Este es el primer párrafo de su novela más conocida: 'Cien Años de Soledad' publicada en 1967; según Wikipedia la novela ha sido traducida a 37 idiomas, habiéndose vendido hasta le fecha 30 millones de copias de la misma.

Gabriel García Marquez was born in Arataca Colombia on the 6 of March 1927 and died in Mexico City on 17 April 2014. Below is the beginning of his most well-known novel: 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' published in 1967. According to Wikipedia the novel has been translated into thirty-seven languages and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.

CIEN AÑOS DE SOLEDAD
Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su padre lo llevó a conocer el hielo. Macondo era entonces una aldea de 20 casas de barro y cañabrava construidas a la orilla de un río de aguas diáfanas que se precipitaban por un lecho de piedras pulidas, blancas y enormes como huevos prehistóricos. El mundo era tan reciente, que muchas cosas carecían de nombre, y para mencionarlas había que señalarlas con el dedo.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE (opening lines)
Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point.

SPANISH GRAMMAR: Preposition "on" in Spanish

Spanish-speakers when speaking in English use 'in' and 'on' incorectly, and they say for example

• 'the book is in the table'  (en la mesa)
• 'the book is on the draw' (en el cajón
• the keys are on the car'    (en el coche/auto)

 
The reasons for this are simple: the preposition 'en' can convey 3 spatial positions 'on' 'in' and 'inside':

• La cámara está en la mesa (the camera is on the table)
• El libro está en el cajón     (the book is inside the draw)
• El árbol está en el parque  (the tree is in the park)

Prepositions are the hardest thing to master in any language, so learners should not worry too much. In fact, I notice that when I am tired or excited telling a story or I have drunk a little too much "my prepositions fail me". I have a friend who finds this statement hilarious so I use it with her and it is now part of our personal lingo.

Learn this today: 

 






















There are, of course, other words that can express 'on' in Spanish like 'encima de' and 'sobre'. I will deal with those another time.

Now it is YOUR TURN: write in Spanish

1. The cat is on the bed.
2. The bottle of wine is in the fridge.
3. The students are in the classroom.
4. The cat is on the roof.
5. The ship is on the water.
6. The swimmer is in the water.



(click on 'comment' below to see the anwsers)


 

SPANISH GRAMMAR: Direct Object Personal Pronouns / Pronombres personales de Objeto Directo

Direct Object Personal Pronouns (Pronombres Personales de Objeto Directo)

 SINGULAR

1st pers.        me
2nd pers.       te
3rd pers.       lo, la

 PLURAL

1st pers.        nos
2nd pers.       os
3rd pers.       los, las

See how they work:

Miguel, ¿tienes el libro?                            Sí, lo tengo
Miguel, do you have the book?                 Yes. I have it

Ana, ¿esperas una invitación?                   Sí, la espero
Ana, are you waiting for an invitation?     Yes. I am waiting for it


Cristina, ¿compras los zapatos?                Sí, los compro
Cristina, are you buying the shoes?          Yes. I am buying them

Oscar, ¿has visto las estrellas?                  Sí, las he visto
Oscar, have you seen the stars?                Yes. I have seen them

•  We use pronouns to avoid repeating a noun.
•  In Spanish they go before the verb. In English the go after the verb.
•  In Spanish they have the gender of the noun they replace. In English they are gender neutral.

YOUR TURN:

Miguel, ¿tienes las llaves de casa?            Sí, ......................... tengo

Miguel, do you have the house keys?        Yes. I have ...............

Ana, ¿buscas el diccionario?                      Sí, ......................... busco

Ana, are you looking for the dictionary?   Yes. I am looking for ...........

Cristina, ¿has comprado las revistas?         Sí, ........... he comprado

Cristina, have you bought the magazines? Yes. I have bought ..........

Oscar, ¿bebes la cerveza?                            Sí, ..................... bebo

Oscar, have you seen the stars?                  Yes. I drink ....................