Technorati Tags: spanish, reading Spanish news, reading Spanish books, spanish vocabulary

One of the best ways to improve your vocabulary will be to read whatever you can get your hands on. Make it a mix of literature and news articles. For literature, start with a book in which you’ll feel comfortable reading without having to look up every other word in the dictionary.

Some sites that I use to read articles in Spanish include:

MSN Spanish

Terra

The ultimate question comes down to this: Is it better to read and try to guess at the meaning of words you are unfamiliar with or to stop and look it up midstream?

The answer is it depends. There are benefits to both strategies. By reading fluidly without stopping every other minute to look up a word, you not will save time and be able to read more, you won’t frustrate yourself when it takes you 20 minutes to read one page. This, however, could be a sign that you’re not ready for that reading material.

The benefits of actually stopping, looking up the word and then continuing is that you’ll feel better understanding what you’re reading.

In the end, you have to do what feels most comfortable to you and not frustrate you at the end. Learning Spanish should be fun and you should enjoy what you’re reading.

In the past, I would read a page and when I came across a word that I didn’t know, I would simply just write it down, and like this, at the end of the page, I would have a list of words. Then I’d look them all up and re-read the page. Again, this can be a long process.

One thing you can do is look up only those words that you think will significantly change the meaning of the sentence.

In the end, reading will help you tremendously improve your Spanish vocabulary and expose you to many Spanish idioms and Spanish idiomatic phrases.

Technorati Tags: spanish, spanish time, telling time in spanish, ser

Another important use of the Spanish verb Ser is to tell time.

When telling time in Spanish, there are only two conjugations of Ser that you will use:

Es (singular)
Son (plural)

If you haven’t already studied numbers in Spanish, then do so now: Learn Spanish Numbers.

Okay, here’s how to you tell time in Spanish:

Es la una (It’s 1 o’clock)
Son las dos (It’s 2 o’clock)
Son las tres (It’s 3 o’clock)
Son las cuatro (It’s 4 o’clock) … all the way until … Son las doce (It’s 12 o’clock).

Now to express minutes:

Use Spanish numbers from 1-30, but for 15 (say “cuarto”) and for 30 (say “media”). For example:

Es la una y doce. (It’s 1:12)
Son las nueve y cuarto. (It’s 9:15)
Son las once y media. (It’s 11:30)

Now for minutes from 31-59, don’t use the corresponding Spanish number. Instead, you’re going to express the next hour and how many minutes you subtract to get to the time. Sounds complicated but it’s not. For example:

It’s 2:40. This would be: Son las tres menos veinte. (menos = minus or less).
It’s 5:45. This would be: Son las seis menos cuarto.

Now to express whether it’s A.M. or P.M. add the following:

de la mañana (in the morning)
de la tarde (in the afternoon/evening)
de la noche (at night)

Son las siete y trece de la mañana. (It’s 7:13 a.m)

For a more comprehensive discussion of telling time in Spanish, visit the OuterSpanish Telling Time page

Technorati Tags: spanish, spanish translation, how to say it’s you in spanish, spanish learners

A common mistake Spanish learners make when speaking Spanish is directly translating what they would say in English into what they want to say in Spanish. And one of the most common mistakes I see is when Spanish learners want to express: it’s me/you/him/her/us/you all/ them.

The common error I see is the following:

Es tú que tiene que prestar atención. (Literal translation: It is you that has to pay attention).

However, this is incorrect. It makes sense why one would translate “it’s you” this way, because we have learned that “es” means it is. But here are the correct translations when you want to express “its (somebody).”

Soy yo (it’s me)
Eres tú (it’s you)
Es él/ella/usted (it’s him/her/you)
Somos nosotros (it’s us)
Son ellos/ellas/ustedes (it’s them/you all)
So the sentence above that is incorrect should be written like this:

Eres tú que tiene que prestar atención.

Note: the verb following “it’s you” is always conjugated in the 3rd person singular (tiene) because it corresponds with the subject pronoun “it.”

Technorati Tags: spanish, language partner, spanish listening comprehension

Practice makes perfect. There’s nothing more to say. And the best way to do this is find a language partner. But caution yourself in finding a fellow classmate who is also learning Spanish with you. Because he/she will be around the same level as you, you risk yourself picking up bad habits or learning something incorrect.

The best language partner is going to be a native Spanish speaker, especially if he or she would like to improve his/her English. This makes for the perfect match because you’re going to improve your Spanish listening comprehension and you’ll have someone with whom you can ask questions, have doubts resolved, and more importantly, have someone to correct you so you don’t develop bad habits.

I recommend meeting up with a language partner 1 or 2 times per week for maybe 1-2 hours, generally speaking Spanish for 30-60 minutes. However, don’t limit yourself to just this. What happens is that the more you meet with someone and you can visually see them speaking, you will start understanding them really well, but only when you see them. That’s why it’s also important to set aside some time during the week to talk over the phone. It’s important to train yourself to listening to others without the visual image. These days with VoIP (voice over IP), you can find language partners from around the world and communicate this way, or through messenger services like MSN, Yahoo or Skype.

Speaking of these, you can practice your written Spanish by chatting with native speakers. This is also a great way to learn new vocabulary.

So in sum, do yourself a favor and find a language partner - but make sure that partner is a native Spanish speaker!

Technorati Tags: spanish, spanish listening comprehension, spanish movies

A great way to learn Spanish is to simply watch Spanish movies. For those who don’t get the chance to spend time in a Spanish-speaking country, the key is to surround yourself as much as possible with those who speak Spanish. Remember - it’s all about repetition! This is where movies come in. With subtitles, you accomplish two things: 1) you are training your head to Spanish sounds and pronunciation, especially how fast a native speaker might speak; and 2) by reading the subtitles, you connect the meaning of what is said with what you just heard in Spanish.

I recommend watching 2 spanish movies per week. It definitely makes for a nice break from the books, and if you choose a great movie, it’s entertaining!

There are a bunch of great movies in Spanish. I like The Motorcycle Diaries, Y Tu Mama También, Nine Queens, and there are a ton more out there!

A neat trick that I recommend in really improving your listening comprehension is watching one chapter in a DVD of a movie three times. Each chapter should be about 10-15 mintues, so you’re only going to spend about 30-45 minutes on this drill. Here’s what you do:

1) The first time you watch the chapter, turn on the subtitles and just follow them, understand what they are saying. Your goal is to end the chapter knowing exactly what is going on and what the characters said to each other.

2) Now watch the chapter again. This time, even though you are going to leave the subtitles on, you’re going to pay more attention to listening to what is being said in Spanish, and you’re going to try and guess what they are saying. Only if you feel you need to, look at the subtitles, but don’t rely on them like you did the first time.

3) Last time to watch this same chapter again - but this time, turn off the subtitles. You are going to listen to the dialogues 100%. By now you should already know the scenes and what is being communicated.

Basically what this drill does is train your brain to new sounds, but also connect these sounds and words with meaning. Do this 2-3 times per week and I guarantee your listening comprehension will develop quickly.

You can also try reversing the process. Watch the chapter without subtitles the first time, the second time with subtitles, but still just listening, and the last time, reading the subtitles.

Remember, the key learning any language is not just being able to communicate what you want to say, but understand what others are saying!

Technorati Tags: spanish, spanish verb ser, spanish verb estar

You have previously learned how to use the verb Ser to describe people, places and things, and also how to ask how or what someone, something or some place is like.

Another use for the Spanish verb Ser is to describe where someone or something is from.

Note: We’re not talking about someone or something’s current physical location (in which case you’d use the verb Estar), rather where someone or something is from - the origin.

For example: Where are you from? I’m from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In Spanish this would be:

¿De dónde eres tú? (Where are you from?)
Soy de Ann Arbor, Michigan. (I am from Ann Arbor, MI)
The literal translation is “From where are you?,” the “de” meaning “from.” (note: “de” means “of” also).
Now when you meet someone for the first time, you can ask them where they are from. This is a really great question because Spanish is spoken in so many countries. Therefore, it makes for a great icebreaker to find out where they are from.

Many people make the mistake of using the verb Estar (also means: to be) to describe where they are from. This mistake happens because in Spanish Estar is used to describe location. However, don’t fall for this simple trap — where you are from, your origination, is something permanent and cannot change, and therefore, falls under Ser, not Estar.

A really great way to improve your listening comprehension skills is by listening to Spanish music. The goal, however, is to be able to listen to it and write out the song lyrics in Spanish. This may take some time, and you may become frustrated as you listen to the same part a million times over and still can’t distinguish the word. But keep at it. Start with slower songs, songs in which the pronunciation is much clearer and where it is easier to distinguish the words.

This Spanish listening comprehension drill will really help you improve your listening abilities, especially when it comes to speaking with native Spanish speakers.

Good luck and please let me know if this helps!

Technorati Tags: spanish, spanish songs, listening comprehension, spanish listening drills, spanish song lyrics

What I recommend is purchasing a notebook with dividers and start organizing lists of spanish verbs, spanish adjectives, spanish prepositions, spanish idiomatic phrases as you come across them. This way you’ll always have a reference to go back to. And the best part of doing this is that you’ll start remembering that you had previously marked that word in your notebook and this will play into the previous study tip about repetition.Every now and then, I even like to review my old notebook and go down the lists. I started creating the lists as I came across new verbs and adjectives from my Spanish lessons, from looking them up in a dictionary in order to complete my Spanish homework, and later from reading Spanish books and novels.

Even if you believe you can rely on your memory to get you through, I still recommend making a list of words that you have the most trouble remembering.

Technorati Tags: spanish, spanish homework, spanish adjectives, spanish preopositions, spanish idioms, spanish idiomatic phrases, spanish books, spanish novels

For starters, you can improve your understanding of English. Yes, that’s right! A lot of the vocabulary of English has Latin origins, much of which came to English by way of French. Since Spanish is also a Latin language, you will notice that as you study the language you will gain a better understanding of your native vocabulary. Similarly, both Spanish and English share Indo-European roots, so their grammar are similar. There probably isn’t a more effective way to learn English grammar than by studying the grammar of another language, since studying forces you to think about how your language is structured. It’s not unusual, for example, to gain an understanding of English verbs’ tenses and moods by learning how those verbs are used in Spanish.

Make Traveling Fun!

How about traveling? Sure, it is perfectly possible to visit Mexico, Spain or South America without speaking a word of Spanish. But it isn’t close to half as much fun. By having an understanding of the Spanish language, it may allow you to see and do things that many other visitors don’t get to. Also, the best way to truly understand a culture is to be able to speak the language. Sure you can learn a lot through a Lonely Planet guide, but it’s being able to communicate with the natives and the locals that will give you the experience of a lifetime. Being able to read a Latin American or Spanish newspaper, for example, can give you great insight into the places you visit and a better vision of what is going on in other parts of the world. Not to mention, Spanish offers a wealth of literature, both modern and traditional.

Learn Other Languages

Interested in learning other languages? Well, if you can learn Spanish, you’ll have an edge in learning the other Latin-based languages such as French, Italian and Portuguese. It can even help you learn Russian and German, since both also have Indo-European roots and have some characteristics that are present in Spanish but not English. In the end, learning Spanish will help you learn any language simply because by simply learning the structure of one language can give you a reference point for learning others.

In learning a foreign language, you are not going to find any easier language to learn than Spanish. Much of its vocabulary is similar to English’s, and written Spanish is almost completely phonetic. Although mastering Spanish grammar can be a challenge, the basic grammar is straightforward enough that you will be able to communicate after just a few lessons.

Improve Your Career Opportunities

Being able to speak another language can also help you in your career. Without a doubt, if you live in the United States and you work in one of the “helping” professions like healthcare and teaching, your career options and opportunities will expand by knowing Spanish. But really, wherever you live, if you’re in any occupation that involves international trade, communications, or tourism, you’ll find similar opportunities to use your new language skills. There is a limitless range of things you can do with Spanish!

Make Life More Interesting!

And finally, whether you enjoy talking, reading, or mastering challenges, you’ll find all of them in learning Spanish. There’s something about being able to successfully speak another language that makes life more interesting. Maybe that’s why children often speak Pig Latin or create secret codes of their own. Learning a language can be work, well, a lot of hard work, but the efforts pay off quickly when you finally get to use your new skills!

We hope that OuterSpanish can make your journey into the Spanish language a more pleasant one!

When it comes to learning Spanish, or any language for that matter, it’s all about repetition just as if you were learning to play a musical instrument or improve your backhand in tennis - the more you do it, the better you’ll become. It’s all a matter of muscle memory, in this case the muscle being your brain.

A good way to memorize a new word or verb or new phrase is to use it and use it often. I remember when I started learning Spanish, everything I learned, I would immediately put it to use — even if that meant talking to myself or to the wall.

Other helpful tips to memorize vocabulary is to add post-it notes on various objects and things in your house. This way every time you see it, you’ll also see the Spanish translation of it. I did this to memorize things in my bedroom, like the t.v., the window, the door, the desk, etc. And it worked.

The point is this — studying a language involves layers, and to effectively move on to the next layer, you have to have been able to utilize the prior layer well. So it’s very important to learn what you learn quickly, but efficiently. And that’s why it’s all about repetition.

If you get stuck on a word or phrase or verb conjugation, write it down and then try writing it over and over again 20 times and each time say it outloud. Repetition!