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Capítulo 8 - Las mensajes de texto en español

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Capítulo 8 - Las mensajes de texto en español

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Este elemento es una video de Youtube que explica las mensajes de texto en español, y es muy interesante para mí porque es muy útil. Cuando los jóvenes mandan las mensajes de texto, ellos usan un tipo de hablar que no usa las palabras o las frases completas. Este video "traduce" las palabras de texto a las palabras o frases reales. Es el mismo en inglés - pero hay abreviaciones diferentes. Este video es relacionada a este capítulo porque hay una pregunta en el libro de nuestra clase que habla de las mensajes de texto.

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Capítulo 8 - Las palabras de español que son palabras de inglés

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Capítulo 8 - Las palabras de español que son palabras de inglés

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Este elemento es un sitio de Web que habla de palabras en español que son originalmente palabras en inglés. Es relacionada a este capítulo porque en clase nosotros hablamos de las lenguas están cambiando constantemente, y habla de las lenguas influyen las otras lenguas cuando ellos hay interacciones. Este artículo se llaman las palabras "loanwords" y proviene ejemplos. Por ejemplo, básquetbol, golf, surf, Internet, y picnic son "loanwords".

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Are they speaking English?
No, they couldn't be. But that word sounded so darn familiar.

You're speaking Spanish with native speakers, and all of sudden something odd happened. You can hardly make sense of it. But-ah, again!-there's another strangely familiar word that sounds distinctly un-Spanish.

You start to question yourself. Are you mishearing? Are they trying to make it easier for you to understand? Are you in some sort of alternate universe? The answers are no, no and probably not.

The reason those words sound so un-Spanish is probably that they aren't Spanish at all-at least not originally. Spanish has borrowed a number of words from the English language.

So while you may study up on idioms, travel phrases and restaurant vocabulary for your impending trip, and you may even know slang to sound like a true Argentine, Mexican, Ecuadorian or Spaniard, you can also actually use some familiar English-language words while speaking Spanish.

What Are Loanwords and Why Are They Noteworthy?

It's no secret that all languages borrow words from other languages. After all, some very useful words begin in one language and other languages need them too.

These words that are taken from one language and used as-is in their adopted language are known as "loanwords."

More specifically, we can call words that originally came from English but are now borrowed by other languages "Anglicisms." This term indicates their English origin.

It's important to be familiar with loanwords, and Anglicisms in particular, because they make learning and remembering new vocabulary words much easier. After all, you already know the word in English, so memorizing the same word in Spanish will be a breeze!

Just take a look at the English loanwords that we've put together here, and you'll know what we mean!

The following words all came from English (most recently-they may have some deeper linguistic origins) and are now used in Spanish.

Some of these words have multiple spellings included. This is because they often appear spelled in multiple ways. There's no real proper way to spell it. One version is usually closer to the English language while the other is made more traditionally Spanish.

Keep in mind that, regardless of the spelling, you'll need to pronounce all of these words with a good, solid Spanish accent.
-Fashion and Lifestyle-
While this word will look familiar to English speakers, it actually has a slightly different meaning from its English-language counterpart. In Spanish, panty or panti actually refers to pantyhose or tights.

In English, "smoking" is a verb, but in Spanish it's a noun. Smoking or esmoquin refers to a tuxedo or dinner jacket. Need an easy way to remember this? Think of the English term "smoking jacket."

Both spellings refer to the synthetic fabric.

Though it's sometimes known as a perforación, the word piercing is often used to refer to-you guessed it-a piercing of any shape, size or body part.
-Sports-
Taken from the English word "football," this word is used to refer to soccer (or what everyone everywhere, aside from people in the U.S.A., calls "football").

6. Básquetbol

While it's sometimes called baloncesto, which uses the natural Spanish vocabulary choices for ball (balón) and basket (cesto), basketball is also known as básquetbol throughout Latin America.

No surprises here. Tenis means "tennis." Be sure to place the emphasis on the second syllable ( tenis) in Spanish.

This is another straightforward one. Hockey means "hockey" in both Spanish and English.

This is identical in meaning and spelling-but not in pronunciation, of course-in both Spanish and English.

10. Waterpolo

Here's a twist. Waterpolo is the Spanish equivalent of our "water polo." Note the slight difference in spacing. Captivating, no?

Yup, golf is still golf.

While the English word "surf" is usually used as a verb to refer to the sport, in Spanish surf is actually a noun referring to the sport, so it's more similar in meaning to the English word "surfing."

This one is a bit tricky. In English, "footing" usually refers to the placement of your feet. However, in Spanish, it's a noun meaning "jogging."

14. Spinning

This indoor cycling is exhausting in either language.

Gol means "goal."
-Computers and Technology-
"Tweet," "retweet," "twitter," "hashtag" and pretty much any other Twitter-affiliated term will be the same in both Spanish and English.

Though sometimes called correo electrónico, email is also frequently used to refer to email. Pronounce both the e and the mail strongly.

When referring to an online post (though not other types of posts), post is equivalent to the English word "post."

Chat is used to refer to online chats or chatrooms.

While this is technically a noun, it's used to refer to clicking anything online. Hacer clic means "to click."

Link can be used to refer to online links, but not other sorts of links such as connections or chains.

22. Internet

This is the same in both Spanish and English.

Again, the meaning is identical in both Spanish and English.

Though the abbreviation is the same, in Spanish the full name is actually disco de video digital.

Unlike the rest of the abbreviations yet to come, this one's letters are pronounced with a more Englishy accent, dee-vee-dee.

This abbreviation is taken directly from English. To say the full words in Spanish, you would say disco compacto, so clearly the abbreviation is derived from English or it would be DC.

This abbreviation, along with all of the following, must be read out loud in Spanish letters with classic Spanish pronunciation.

This abbreviation also comes from the English abbreviation. After all, sistema de posicionamiento global doesn't quite lend itself to the abbreviation GPS.

This is used to refer to a personal computer in both Spanish and English.

In both Spanish and English, this refers to "frequently asked questions" that webpages often post.
-Food and Drink-
What with margaritas, piña coladas and sangria, you'd think English had taken more drinks from Spanish than vice versa. However, drinks know no language boundaries and English-language drink names are now common in Spanish. Whiskey and güisqui are both used to refer to whiskey.

30. Gin-tonic

Gin-tonic is a gin and tonic.

31. Bloody Mary

This is a brunch favorite in either language.

Cocktail and cóctel are both used to mean "cocktail" or "mixed drink."

No matter which way you spell it, it's the same delicious dish that we English-speakers know and love all too well.

While tocino and tocineta are commonly used in Latin America, beicon, béicon and/or bacón are frequently used in Spain to refer to the salty meat.

In both English and Spanish, this refers to an outdoor meal beloved by cartoon bears.
-People-
Though historically used to mean a New Englander, this term in modern Spanish now usually refers to any American (sometimes as a pejorative).

In both Spanish and English, this term refers to someone trying to be trendy or superior to others.

38. Gángster

Gángster means "gangster."

39. Hooligan

While there are many Spanish terms that are equivalent to the English word "hooligan," the loanword hooligan is more used to refer to trouble-making students or young people.

This is the same in both languages. Peace, man. Both the i and y are pronounced like the Spanish letter i.

This is the same in both Spanish and English.

Líder is derived from the English word "leader."

While in English we more frequently call them "bartenders," the Spanish word barman comes from the old-timey English term "barman" or "barkeep."

These words can be used to refer to a rock musician or fan.
-Music-
This is the same in both Spanish and English.

Funk in Spanish refers to the style of music.

Blues in Spanish refers to the style of music, not the color group.

Pop in Spanish refers to the style of music but not soda, the noise or the verb.

This mostly refers to the music style though it can occasionally be used to refer to a person.

House refers to a style of music, but it does not mean "house" as in the place where you live.

Heavy is used to refer to heavy metal music.

52. Breakdance / Breikdans

Breakdance and Breikdans are used to refer to the dance style.
-Locations-
In Spanish, the word bar can be used to mean "bar," as it does in English, a place where people go to drink.

Club can be used to refer to virtually any type of club, from golf clubs to yacht clubs to nightclubs-most often nightclubs.

Pub means the same in both Spanish and English.

In Spanish camping and cámping can be used to mean "camping," "campground" or "campsite."

In English, "parking" is a verb to refer to the act of parking a car. However, in Spanish it is a noun used to refer to a parking lot.
-Other-
58. Bestseller / Béstseller

In both Spanish and English, this word is used to refer to popular books.

These terms are used to refer to comic strips and comic books.

Though sometimes referred to as pasatiempo, a hobby is often called a hobby.

Boicot comes from the English word "boycott."

Bol comes from the English word "bowl." Whether it's filled with helado (ice cream) or something else is a moot point.

In Spanish, this term refers to a heart bypass but not a road bypass.

64. Overbooking

This word has the same meaning in both Spanish and English. Once you've gotten bumped from a flight because of it, it's a term you'll never forget.

65. Marketing

Used exclusively as a noun in Spanish, this refers to the commercial field of marketing and the act of marketing a product or service.

Though sometimes called hostelería, catering or cátering can also be used to refer to caterers themselves, their businesses and the general services they offer.

Zapping is a colloquial term used for channel surfing

Whether in Spanish or English, this is an agreeable term.

As you can see, Spanish uses a lot of English words.

With new terms entering each language daily, the overlap between these two great languages will only grow with time.

Learn them as you go-they're basically freebie vocabulary words!

And One More Thing...

If you like learning colorful, memorable Spanish lessons like this one, then you'll love FluentU.

FluentU takes real-world videos like music videos, commercials, news, and inspiring talks and turns them into Spanish learning experiences.

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You'll learn Spanish as it's actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of videos-topics like soccer, TV shows, business, movies and even magical realism, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don't know, you can add it to a vocab list.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's Learn Mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you're on.

The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you're learning, and it recommends you examples and videos based on the words you've already learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they're learning the same video.

Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU App from the iTunes store. The Android app is coming soon!

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn Spanish with real-world videos.
Experience Spanish immersion online!

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Double Agents: 68 Sneaky English Words Undercover as Spanish Words

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Are they speaking English?No, they couldn't be. But that word sounded so darn familiar.You're speaking Spanish with native speakers, and all of sudden something odd happened. You can hardly make sense of it. But-ah, again!-there's another strangely familiar word that sounds distinctly un-Spa

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Capítulo 8 - Las palabras de inglés que son palabras de español

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Capítulo 8 - Las palabras de inglés que son palabras de español

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Este elemento es un artículo que habla de las palabras en inglés que son de las palabras en español. Un ejemplo muy importante es de las palabras de comida hispánica, sabemos que los Tejanos encantan la comida de español. Quesadilla, taco, queso, etc. son originalmente palabras de español, y inglés adopta las palabras para usar como las otras palabras en inglés. Es muy interesante para mí porque me fascina que los idiomas están cambiando y son muy relacionadas entre idiomas diferentes.

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Thanks to the popularity of Mexican cuisine around the world, there are plenty of Spanish words in English that you probably use daily: taco, tortilla, quesadilla, tequila and so on. But you may be surprised to learn that there are hundreds more Spanish words hidden in English. In fact, English has been borrowing from Spanish for a very long time.

Present-day California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada and Utah (plus parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming) were all part of Mexico until they were ceded to the United States at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Although the change in sovereignty meant a massive influx of English speakers, it also meant that thousands of Mexicans living in the region suddenly became Americans.

Even earlier, in 1819, Spain ceded their Florida colony (which included parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana) to the United States. As a result of a centuries of shifting borders, Spanish and English have had numerous opportunities to rub off on each other. Here are just some of the Spanish words that you probably use every day.

State Names

California - a mythical island from the 1510 Spanish novel Las sergas de Esplandián by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.

Colorado - "red-colored" (referring to the color of the river that is the state's namesake).

Florida - "flowery"

Montana - from montaña ("mountain")

Nevada - "snowy"

New Mexico - an anglicization of Nuevo México.

Texas - the Spanish adopted the word tejas from the language of the indigenous Cado people. It means "friends" or "allies."

Utah - derived from the name of the indigenous Ute people, by way of Spanish yuta.

Arizona - from Spanish Arizonac, itself an adoption of the word alĭ ṣonak, meaning "little spring," from the local O'odham language. Alternate etymology may be the Basque haritz ona (good oak).

Cities

Buena Vista - "good view"

El Paso - "the pass"

Fresno - "ash tree"

Las Vegas - "the meadows"

Los Angeles - a shortened version of the older name, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula, "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Porciúncula River"

Monterey - "king's mountain"

San Antonio - "Saint Anthony"

San Francisco - "Saint Francis"

Santa Cruz - "holy cross"

Cowboy Vocabulary

Nothing's more American than a cowboy, right? Well actually, the first people to herd cattle on horseback in North America were the vaqueros who introduced the ancient Spanish equestrian tradition to the Southwest. Their name is derived from vaca, the Spanish word for - you guessed it - cow.

buckaroo - anglicization of vaquero

corral - "pen" / "yard"

chaps - chaparreras: leg protectors for riding through

desperado - desesperado ("desperate")

hackamore - a kind of horse bridle taken from the Spanish jáquima ("halter")

quirt (a short horseman's whip) - a short horseman's whip from the Spanish word cuarta ("quarter")

ranch - rancho ("a very small rural community")

rodeo - from rodear ("to go around")

stampede - from estampida

Geography & Weather

Animals

Arts & Culture

aficionado - "fan," from aficionar ("to inspire affection")

bodega - "cellar"

fiesta - "party"

macho - "the property of being overtly masculine"

matador - from matar (to kill)

patio - "inner courtyard"

plaza - "public square"

piñata - Mexican Spanish, from Latin pinea (pine cone)

pueblo - "small town," derived from Latin populus

quixotic - derived from the name of Cervantes' famous, delusional knight Don Quixote

rumba - from Cuban Spanish rumba ("spree"), it was the name of a popular tango melody in the early 20th century and became a more general type of Cuban dance music

tango - this word comes to English from Argentine Spanish, but like originates from the Niger-Congo language Ibibio's tamgu ("to dance")

telenovela - "soap opera"

War & Conflict

armada - "armed," from Real Armada Española ("Royal Spanish Navy")

conquistador - "conqueror"

flotilla - diminutive of flota ("fleet")

guerrilla - "small war"

renegade - from renegado ("turncoat" or "traitor")

vigilante - "watchman"

Transportation

cargo - from the Spanish verb cargar ("to load")

embarcadero - "boat dock"

embargo - from the Spanish verb embargar ("to seize")

galleon - galeón, a large sailing ship with three or more masts

Food & Drink

burrito - "little donkey"

chorizo - "spiced pork sausage"

cilantro - "coriander"

daiquiri - named after Daiquiri, a port city in eastern Cuba

habanero - "from Havana"

jalapeño - "from Jalapa"

mojito - diminutive form of Cuban Spanish mojo ("sauce")

nacho - named after Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya, who is purported to have invented the dish in 1943

taco - "plug"

tequila - named after Tequila, the Mexican district where the spirit originated

vanilla - from Spanish vainilla

More Spanish Words In English

bonanza - "prosperity"

cafeteria - from cafetería ("coffee store")

incommunicado - estar incomunicado ("to be isolated")

jade - from piedra de ijada ("stone of flank")

nada - "nothing"

platinum - from platino (little silver)

pronto - "hurry up!" in Mexican Spanish

siesta - "nap," originally from Latin sexta hora ("sixth hour")

suave - "smooth," sometimes "cool" in Latin America

adobe - from Spanish adobar (to plaster), from Arabic aṭ-ṭūb ("the bricks")

cabana - from Spanish cabaña ("cabin")

Spanish Words In English That Are Actually Nahuatl

English isn't the only language with a penchant for absorbing words from other languages. Many words that English has acquired from Spanish originally came from other languages, mostly those of native American populations that were subjugated by the Spanish colonial empire. Here are popular examples that entered English vernacular through the Nahuatl language in Mexico.

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111 English Words That Are Actually Spanish

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Thanks to the popularity of Mexican cuisine around the world, there are plenty of Spanish words in English that you probably use daily: taco, tortilla, quesadilla, tequila and so on. But you may be surprised to learn that there are hundreds more Spanish words hidden in English.

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Capítulo 8 - Las diez lenguas que están más usada en el Internet

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Capítulo 8 - Las diez lenguas que están más usada en el Internet

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Este elemento es un artículo que habla de las diez lenguas que están más usada en el Internet. Las lenguas, en orden, son: inglés, chino, español, arabica, portugués, malasio, japonés, ruso, francés, y alemán. Es relacionada a este capítulo porque hay una pregunta en el libro de nuestra clase que habla de las lenguas que son más habladas en el mundo, pero el orden no es el mismo que está en este artículo. Por ejemplo, inglés es el idioma más hablada en el Internet, pero chino es el idioma más hablada en el mundo.

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Nikolaos Sitsanis Translation Industry

With so many languages available on the internet, the question about whether to translate or localize your website lingers at the back of many website owners. For some years now, the English language dominated the internet. The dominance has been relatively historically and is still is. However, there is a massive representation of other languages apart from English on the internet. The idea of multiple languages is fast changing the way websites operate now more than ever. Businesses and individual from all over the world should consider translating their websites.

Translating your website is one a great idea you should consider in 2018. There are many benefits of making sure your site is accessible in more than one language. To make things easier for everybody, there are language translation tools that can be used to translate your websites. You can download them from the internet for offline use and use them online, whichever works for you. To help you understand better the languages used on the internet, here are the top languages used according to Statista statistics.

Top 10 Languages Used On the internet Today

1. English

According to Statista statistics, English is the most represented language online. The English language has 25.3% of internet users worldwide. This is not a surprise as English has been dominating the internet languages for many years. It was the founding language of the internet, after which means most contents are in English then translated the language of your preference.

2. Chinese

It is assumed that Chinese is the fastest growing language in the world and going by the Statistics, it is true. Chinese take the second spot with 19.8% internet users using it. With a population of 1.35 billion and other people still learning the language, it deserves a second place on the log. It's better to translate your website using language Translation tools found online to make your website accessible to Chinese speakers.

3. Spanish

Believe it or not, there are more than 750 million people who speak Spanish worldwide. Around half of them are native Spanish speakers. This means if you want to access this population your need to translate or localize your website. The content chased in Spanish in ever growing. Spanish speakers are becoming more connected which means they need more content in their language. Statista places Spanish at number three with 8% of internet users using Spanish. The ranking is expected to grow in the coming years.

4. Arabic

Arabic was just a small language several years ago used on internet. In 2015, it did not feature even in the top ten languages used on the internet, but has grown to become one of the most used languages online. As of 2013, only 37% of Arabic speakers were connected to the internet, but today there are more than 168.1 million Arabic internet users worldwide. The language just misses out on the top three spot, but it is worth a try to translate or localize your website in Arabic.

5. Portuguese

Just like Arabic and Spanish, Portuguese content online has grown since 2011. In 2013, only 47% of Portuguese speakers connected to the internet, but things changed as time went by and now there are a whopping 131.9 million Portuguese speakers connected on the internet. This means at least 4.1% of Portuguese speaking people use the internet. Although the language may seem like a donkey in the race of horses, it manages to come fifth.

6. Indonesian/Malaysian

No one would believe these languages would take the sixth spot on the list. With more than 98.9 million users online, it is worth to translate your website to Malaysian/Indonesian to access them if they are your target group. You can also consider to translate or localize your website to these languages as these people want to find more information about foreign products and services. Use language Translation Tools. They offer better services.

7. Japanese

Japanese has been on the list of the most popular languages used online on internet since the year 2011. Similar to Spanish, the Japanese speakers are creating an amount of content online. However, there is much room for growth. Localizing your website to Japanese means more traffic, business and an increase in your ROI. 3% of internet users are Japanese which translates to 114.9+ million users.

8. Russian

The Russian language has grown considerably with 103.1+ million users online. It is seventh on the log since more people are using it to access content on the internet. In 2011, the population of Russian speakers accessing the internet increased at a rate of 41.5 percent and its still in the increase mode. Top language translation tools can help you translate or localize your website to the Russian language.

9. French

Now to the language that most people would have thought would take to top five on the list of the top languages used online. French surprisingly has a decent share of website users, considering the fact that it's an official language of 29 countries and France being notoriously known for its effort of preserving the French language. However, it is ninth on the log with approximately 2.8 internet users.

10. German

According to Internet World Stats, German was the tenth most common language used on the internet in 2015. The statistic has not changed much. Statista recent statistics show German as the tenth top language used online with 2.2% of internet users. It's easy to translate your website using language translation tools found online and you will be able to access German-speaking people who use the internet.

Translating or localizing your website offer an opportunity to reach a wider audience. For instance, English language websites gear US audience and other audience around the world, but if you are targeting people from different communities and culture, you will be more successful by translating your website into multiple languages.

Conclusion about the Languages Used On the Internet

Depending on your geographic area and target audience, you can decide to translate or localize your website. It is an important aspect of your marketing strategies because it allows you to reach specific audiences who speak different languages. Use the already available language translation tools found on the internet.

See also an article about What are the Highest Paying Translation Languages in the World

Source: Internet World Stats. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm

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Top 10 Languages Used On the internet today - Speakt.com

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Translating your website is one a great idea you should consider in 2018. To help you understand better the languages used on the internet, here are the top languages used according to Statista statistics. See the top 10 languages used internet

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Capítulo 7 - Hay diferencias entre español en España y Latinoamérica?

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Capítulo 7 - Hay diferencias entre español en España y Latinoamérica?

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Este elemento es un video de Youtube que habla de las diferencias entre el español en España y el español en Latinoamérica. Es interesante porque hay palabras o expresiones gramaticales que tiene variación, pero las personas en ambos lugares pueden entender que la persona otra está hablando en la mayoridad de situaciones. Este video es cómico porque hay títeres que explican las diferencias entre ambos tipos de español.

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Are There Differences Between Spanish In Latin America And Spain?

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Este elemento es un sitio de Web que habla de las variaciones entre los dialectos de español. Me gusta este enlace porque hay definiciones para siete diferentes tipos de dialectos de español, y translaciones para cinco diferentes tipos. También, tiene la translación en inglés, tan los estudiantes pueden ver las lenguas españoles a inglés. Es interesante para saber las diferencias en el vocabulario y con la gramática, y para saber las similares entre los dialectos diferentes.

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Spanish is one of the main Romance languages, which means that much of its vocabulary, sounds, and grammar comes from the language of Rome - Latin. An estimated 70% of Spanish is derived from Latin and the other 30% from Arabic. In Latin America, Spanish has also adopted a significant vocabulary from native languages and other languages such as English. Around the world about 450 million people speak Spanish as their native language, and over 300 million of these are in Latin America.

The form spoken in Spain is called Castilian Spanish, European Spanish, Peninsular Spanish or Spanish for Spain (while Spaniards would just call their language español, and not castellano); and there are many dialects spoken in the Americas.

Pronunciation varies from country to country and from region to region, just as English pronunciation varies from one place to another, but there are also general differences between how the language is spoken in Spain and in the New World:

Differences occur mostly in pronunciation and vocabulary, and less so in grammar.

In general, coastal dialects throughout Latin America show strong similarities to Atlantic-Andalusian (western Andalusia and the Canary Islands) speech patterns, while inland regions in Mexico and Andean countries are not similar to any particular dialect in Spain.

The distinction between the phonemes [s] and [θ] is maintained in northern and central Spain, while the two phonemes are merged in Latin America and most of southern Spain. The merged phoneme is realized as [s] in the Spanish of the Americas and Canary Islands, and as either [s] or [θ] in different parts of Andalusia in southern Spain. Depending on this realization, the use of the merged phoneme is called either seseo or ceceo, respectively.

In Latin American Spanish, direct loanwords from English are more frequent, often used without adapting the spelling to the traditional norms. The most notorious example is the use of the word "email" or "e-mail" in Latin American instead of the more literal translation, correo electrónico, used in Spain; or la computadora instead of el ordenador.

Indigenous languages have left their mark on American Spanish, which is particularly evident in vocabulary to do with flora, fauna, cultural habits and proper names.

Since Latin American Spanish is closer to the dialects spoken in the south of Spain, synonyms of Arabic origin are more common. Examples include alcoba along with standard cuarto, recámara, habitación, dormitorio, aposento or pieza (bedroom), or alhaja for standard joya (jewel).

Most Latin American Spanish dialects feature yeísmo-that is, there is no distinction between "ll" and "y", and both are pronounced [ʝ]. However, yeísmo is an expanding and now dominant feature also in European Spanish. Additionally, speakers of Rioplatense Spanish pronounce both "ll" and "y" as [ʒ] or [ʃ], so that for example the first sound of the word Yo ("I") is similar to either the English sound of "s" in vision or the "sh" in shop.

Most speakers of Caribbean and coastal dialects debuccalize syllable-final "s" to [h], or drop it entirely, so that está [esˈta] ("s/he is") sounds like [ehˈta] or [eˈta], like in southern Spain.

In some areas of Spanish America, final "n" is pronounced as velar [ŋ], so a word like pan (bread) is often articulated ['paŋ], a phenomenon known as velarization.

For the second person formal, virtually all Spanish dialects of Spain and the Americas use usted and ustedes (singular and plural respectively), but for the second person informal, there is regional variation-between tú and vos for the singular, and between vosotros and ustedes for the plural. The use of vos (and its corresponding verb forms) rather than tú is called voseo.

There are also different conventions in punctuation between Latin American countries:

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Paraguay, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela

Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Puerto Rico

Although there are significant differences between Latin American Spanish dialects, all speakers can understand each other without major difficulties.

Andean Spanish - The term Andean Spanish is commonly applied to the spectrum of speech types encountered in the highland area stretching from the equator to the Tropic of Capricorn. It has been influenced by long-lasting and intense language contact between Spanish and indigenous languages Quechua and Aymara.

Caribbean Spanish - This is a Spanish marked with idioms, influenced by those who speak Andalusian, Canarian and above all the African presence. It is spoken in the island territories of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, as well as the coastal areas and, by extension, the interior of Venezuela, northern Colombia and the majority of Panama. It is also the most common Spanish in Miami and New York in the United States and the form most used by Salsa singers.

Central American Spanish - The Central American republics of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, together with the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, have a shared colonial history. The territories in question originally formed a single administrative unit, the Audiencia of Guatemala. This along with common economic and cultural trends of decline and isolation throughout the colonial period and afterwards, has resulted in a broad linguistic unity throughout the area. Central American Spanish is characterized by a combination of archaism and innovation away from standard Spanish.

Chilean Spanish - Chile occupied a rather peripheral position in the Spanish Empire, isolated from the principle trading routes and administrative lines of communication. The Spanish spoken in Chile differs with other Latin American dialects in pronunciation, syntax and vocabulary.

Equatorial Spanish - Also called Coastal Colombian-Ecuadorian dialect or Chocoano, it is a dialect of Spanish spoken mainly in the coastal region of Ecuador, as well as bordering coastal areas of northern Peru and southern Colombia. It is considered to be transitional between the Caribbean and Andean Spanish.

Mexican Spanish - The territory of contemporary Mexico is not identical with Mexican Spanish usage. Firstly, the Spanish of the Yucatán peninsula is similar to the dialects of Central America, as is the Spanish spoken in the areas that border Guatemala. Secondly, the waves of 19th and 20th century migration from Mexico to the USA have caused Mexican Spanish to become the most widely spoken variety of Spanish throughout the USA. Mexico City, the capital of the country, hosts most of the mass communication media with international reach. Because of this, most of the dubbing identified abroad with the label "Mexican Spanish" or "Latin American Spanish" actually corresponds to the Central Mexican variation.

Rioplatense Spanish - The area around the Río de la Plata is now one of the most densely populated in Latin America, but throughout much of the colonial period it was in economic and cultural isolation. This is reflected in a variety of Spanish characterized by archaism and non-standard innovation. Main outstanding features of Rioplatense Spanish is widespread use of vos instead of tú, with their corresponding verb conjugation changed, especially in their accentuation, so that the words with "ll" sound like "ye" and in some regions like "sh".

After waking up, I went for a quick swim in the pool. Then I got dressed and had a fruit salad with bananas and pineapples for breakfast. I wanted to check my email before leaving home, but internet on the desktop computer was slow. I used the 3G on my smartphone instead. There were no important messages, but I took the opportunity to book a hotel room online and reconfirm my flight to LA. I grabbed the suitcase, went out of the apartment and drove my car to the airport. There was still some time left, so I used the restroom and waited in the business lounge reading a newspaper.

The flight was uneventful, and I slept most of the way in the spacious, first-class seating of the Boeing 787. I had a busy couple of days ahead of me filled with meetings and presentations for clients. I was woken up by the flight attendant on the PA system announcing we were landing soon and asking everyone to buckle up and adjust their seats and tray tables. As the wheels hit the tarmac, I breathed a sigh of relief and looked around for my suitcase. My heart missed a beat - it was gone!

What would you do in this situation?

Después de levantarme fui a nadar un rato a la piscina. De vuelta me vestí y desayuné ensalada de frutas con bananos y piña. Decidí revisar mi correo antes de salir de casa pero el internet de mi PC estaba muy lento así que usé mi celular 3G. No había mensajes importantes pero aproveché para reservar una habilitación hotelera y reconfirmar mi vuelo a LA. Tomé mi maletín, salí de apartamento y manejé hasta el aeropuerto. Como tenía algo de tiempo fui al baño y esperé en el Salón VIP leyendo un periódico.

El vuelo fue rutinario y dormí casi todo el vuelo en ese espacioso y cómodo asiento de primera clase del Boeing 787. Los siguientes dos días iba a estar bien ocupado con reuniones y presentaciones para clientes. La azafata me despertó al anuncia por el parlante que ya íbamos a aterrizar y nos pidió que nos ajustáramos los cinturones de seguridad, enderezáramos el asiento y guardáramos las bandejas. Cuando el avión tocó tierra, respiré con alivio y me paré a buscar mi maletín. Mi corazón se detuvo un instante... no estaba el maletín.

¿Qué haría usted en esa situación?

Después de levantarme, fui a darme un chapuzón a la pileta. Después me vestí y desayuné una ensalada de frutas con bananas y ananá. Quería mirar a ver si tenía mensajes de email pero el internet de la PC estaba muy lento. Así que usé el 3G del teléfono. No tenía mensajes importantes, pero aproveché para hacer una reserva online de un cuarto de hotel y reconfirmar mi vuelo a Los Ángeles. Agarré la valija, salí del departamento y manejé en auto al aeropuerto. Me quedaba algo de tiempo, así que fui al baño y esperé en la sala VIP leyendo el diario.

El vuelo no tuvo inconvenientes y me la pasé durmiendo casi todo el viaje en el espacioso asiento de primera clase del Boeing 787. Me esperaban un par de días muy agitados, llenos de reuniones y presentaciones con clientes. Me desperté cuando la azafata anunció por los parlantes que pronto aterrizaríamos, pidiéndole a todos los pasajeros que se abrocharan los cinturones, recolocaran los asientos y plegasen las bandejas. Cuando las ruedas tocaron la pista, respiré aliviada y miré alrededor buscando mi valija. Casi me da algo, ¡la valija había desaparecido!

¿(Vos) qué harías en esta situación?

Tras despertar, me di un rápido chapuzón en la piscina. Después me vestí y desayuné una ensalada de frutas con plátano y piña. Quería revisar mi correo electrónico antes de salir de casa, pero la conexión a Internet en la computadora de escritorio era lenta. Opté mejor por usar la conexión 3G en mi smartphone. No había mensajes importantes, pero aproveché la oportunidad de reservar un cuarto de hotel en línea y reconfirmar mi vuelo a LA. Tomé la maleta, salí del apartamento y conduje mi auto hacia el aeropuerto. Aún quedaba algo de tiempo, por lo que usé el baño y esperé en la sala de negocios mientras leía un periódico.

El vuelo no tuvo inconvenientes; dormí la mayor parte del camino en el espacioso asiento de primera clase del Boeing 787. Me esperaban un par de ajetreados días con reuniones y presentaciones para clientes. Desperté por la voz de la auxiliar de vuelo en el sistema de sonido anunciando que aterrizaríamos pronto y pidiendo a todos que abrocharan sus cinturones, ajustaran sus asientos y plegaran sus bandejas. Cuando las ruedas hicieron contacto con la pista de aterrizaje, respiré aliviado y miré a mi alrededor en busca de mi maleta. Mi corazón se detuvo por un instante: ¡había desaparecido!

¿Qué haría usted en esta situación?

Después de despertarme, me di un rápido chapuzón en la piscina. Luego me vestí y comí una ensalada de frutas con bananas y piñas como desayuno. Quería chequear mi correo electrónico antes de salir de casa pero la Internet en mi computadora andaba lento. Entonces, usé el 3G de mi teléfono. No tenía mensajes importantes, pero aproveché para reservar online una habitación y confirmar mi vuelo a Los Ángeles. Tomé la maleta, salí del apartamento y manejé hasta el aeropuerto. Todavía había tiempo, así que fui al baño y esperé en el Salón Vip mientras leía el diario.

El vuelo fue tranquilo y dormí durante la mayor parte del trayecto en el asiento espacioso, de primera clase, del Boeing 787. Tenía por delante varios días llenos de reuniones y presentaciones a clientes. Me despertó la azafata, al avisar a través de los parlantes que estábamos por aterrizar y que era necesario ajustar nuestros cintos de seguridad y poner nuestros asientos y mesas en posición. Al tocar las ruedas la pista de aterrizaje, di un suspiro de alivio y miré alrededor buscando mi maleta. Mi corazón se paró por un segundo: ¡mi maleta había desaparecido!

¿Qué harías en esta situación?

Tras despertarme, fui a darme un chapuzón a la piscina. A continuación, me vestí y desayuné una macedonia de plátano y piña. Mi intención era echar un vistazo al correo electrónico antes de salir de casa, pero la conexión a Internet del ordenador era demasiado lenta, así que en su lugar tuve que utilizar el 3G de mi smartphone. No había ningún mensaje importante, pero aproveché para reservar una habitación de hotel online y volver a comprobar mi vuelo a Los Ángeles. Cogí la maleta, salí del apartamento y me dirigí en coche hacia el aeropuerto. Llegué con tiempo de sobra, así que fui al cuarto de baño y esperé en la sala VIP leyendo un periódico.

El vuelo fue muy tranquilo, y me pasé casi todo el viaje durmiendo en el espacioso asiento de primera clase del Boeing 787. Me esperaban un par de días muy ajetreados, llenos de reuniones y presentaciones con los clientes. Me desperté cuando el auxiliar de vuelo anunció por el sistema de megafonía que pronto aterrizaríamos, pidiéndole a todos los pasajeros que se abrochasen los cinturones de seguridad y que recolocasen los asientos y plegasen las bandejas. Cuando las ruedas tocaron la pista, respiré aliviada y busqué mi maleta con la mirada. Casi me da algo, ¡la maleta había desaparecido!

¿Qué harías en esta situación?

Main sources:

The information is part of Andovar's Languages of Latin America white paper. Click here to download your FREE copy.
All information provided on this page is accurate at the time of writing as far as Andovar can ascertain. If you find any error or have comments you would like to share, please get in touch with us.

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Latin American Spanish Localization - Andovar

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Spanish is one of the main Romance languages, which means that much of its vocabulary, sounds, and grammar comes from the language of Rome - Latin. An estimated 70% of Spanish is derived from Latin and the other 30% from Arabic.

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Este elemento es un video sobre una cita que el libro, "101 Preguntas", habla de. La cita es, "A language is a dialect with an army and navy". Creo que este tema es importante en este capitulo porque en clase nosotros hablamos de que son las diferencias entre una lengua y un dialecto. Nosotros decidimos que no hay una definición claro, pero esta cita proviene una distinción. Un idioma es una fuente de poder, porque tiene la capacidad para pelear para su idioma, pero un dialecto no tiene poder ni la capacidad para pelear.

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A language is a dialect with an army and navy

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Capítulo 7 - El diez lenguas más hablada en el mundo 

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Capítulo 7 - El diez lenguas más hablada en el mundo 

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Este elemento es un lista sobre el diez más hablada en el mundo. En el libro de clase, una pregunta habla de las lenguas más habladas. Este sitio de Web tiene el lista que es similar a el lista en el libro, pero también hay las regiones dónde las lenguas está hablada. El primero cinco lenguas son: chino, español, inglés, hindi, y arábica. Para mí, es muy interesante porque podemos ver que inglés tiene más tierra, pero español tiene más habladores que inglés. Y también, chino solamente tiene un país con habladores, pero la populación en este país es más que las tierra españoles o ingleses.

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Determining what are the most spoken languages in the world is a more difficult task than you might imagine. We can say with some confidence that Mandarin, English, Spanish and Arabic will make an appearance (and roughly in what order), but there are some surprises, too! Would you have guessed that Bengali is in the top 10 most spoken languages?

One small caveat: Assigning hard data, in the form of "X million native speakers," to any of these languages is practically impossible. What constitutes a language or a dialect is hotly contested stuff. More troubling is the fact that what we refer to simply as "Chinese" is actually a whole family of languages conveniently lumped into a single category. "Hindi" is also used as a catchall term to cover numerous dialects and sub-dialects. We haven't even yet acknowledged the unreliability of data sources, collected at different times by different institutions. The numbers below are taken compiled by Ethnologue, which is widely considered the most complete language data source currently in existence.

But then again, who doesn't love a good list? So we've compiled two versions for you.

Top 10 Languages By Number Of Native Speakers

When tallied according to number of native speakers only, these are the most spoken languages in the world.

1. Chinese - 1.3 Billion Native Speakers

Numbers vary widely - Ethnologue puts the number of native speakers at 1.3 billion native speakers, roughly 900 million of whom speak Mandarin - but there's no doubt it's the most spoken language in the world. If you wish to learn a language that one in six people in the world speak, this is the one for you. Seeing as Chinese is a tonal language that uses thousands of logograms, it will certainly keep you busy.

2. Spanish - 485 Million Native Speakers

If we were only to look at native speakers, Spanish is in front of English with about 485 million speakers. If you want a language that will open up whole continents to you, Spanish is your best bet. As with all the languages on this list, the politics of language and associated identity are highly disputed: ask Catalan or Quechua speakers if Spanish is their local tongue and you will get a very different answer. But it is certainly the primary language of most of South and Central America, Spain, and, ahem, large swathes of the US.

3. English - 373 Million Native Speakers

If you're reading this article, you may be one of the 370 million-odd native English speakers, or one of the billion people who speak it as a second language. This indicates the remarkable success of English as the lingua franca of business, travel and international relations. The relative ease with which English can be picked up (especially compared with Chinese) and the pervasive soft power of U.S. culture means that English will continue to dominate the world stage for the foreseeable future. For some, English is still synonymous with opportunity and a better quality of life.

4. Arabic - 362 Million Native Speakers

Recent numbers put Arabic at around 362 million native speakers. But this is another instance of numbers not telling the full tale: Arabic, like Chinese, is so vastly different in its respective dialects as to be effectively a number of languages, grouped as one for the sake of convenience. Modern Standard Arabic is a primarily written form, closely related to the Classical Arabic of the Quran. However, the spoken forms of Arabic in, say, Oman and Morocco are so different that a couple of philosophy professors from these countries might be able to discuss the finer points of the ancient texts while still struggling to order lunch.

5. Hindi - 344 Million Native Speakers

India has 23 official languages, with Hindi/Urdu chief among them. Whether this is one language - Hindustani - or two dialects is still fiercely debated. Spoken mainly in northern India and parts of Pakistan, Hindi uses devnagri script, while Urdu uses Persian notation. If you ever travel in the Indian subcontinent, a little Hindi will get you a long way. Plus, this is the language that gave us shampoo, jungle, jodhpurs and bungalow - what's not to love?

6. Bengali - 234 Million Native Speakers

Admit it: you didn't expect Bengali to be on the list of most spoken languages. The Partition of Bengal by the British in 1947 divided (mainly Hindu) West Bengal, now part of India, from its (mainly Muslim) counterpart East Bengal, now Bangladesh. It is the language of Kolkata, the Andaman Islands, fabulous sweets and 130-odd million Bangladeshis - many of whom are extremely vulnerable to climate change. By the next century, the population is projected to double while 15 percent of the land area is expected to disappear below rising seas.

7. Portuguese - 232 Million Native Speakers

This is another language whose reach owes much to its colonial past. Starting in the 15th century, avid Portuguese traders and conquerors brought their language to Africa, Asia and the Americas. The spread of Portuguese may have initially been tied to European colonization, but the colonized countries developed their own vibrant cultures that transformed the language forever. Today, Portuguese is spoken by 232 million native speakers in countries like Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe. It's also the language of Machado de Assis, Bossa Nova, Mia Couto, Fernando Pessoa and Agualusa.

8. Russian - 154 Million Native Speakers

With roughly 154 million native speakers, Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world. Famed for its inscrutable grammar and quite lovely Cyrillic script, it remains one of the six languages spoken in the United Nations, and produced the literary likes of Dostoyevsky, Nabokov, Chekhov, Gogol, Tolstoy and Pushkin.

9. Japanese - 125 Million Native Speakers

Almost all of the 125 million native Japanese speakers live in Japan - certainly the most highly geographically concentrated of all the languages on this list. Japanese boasts two distinct writing systems, hiragana and katakana, as well making extensive use of Chinese Kanji characters. The largest groups of Japanese speakers living outside Japan can be found in the United States, the Philippines and Brazil.

10. Lahnda (Western Punjabi) - 101 Million Native Speakers

With varying estimates of around 100 million native speakers, the last spot on the list goes to... Lahnda, a Pakistani macrolanguage that primarily includes Western Punjabi! (Sorry, German - you got dumped from top world languages a few years back.) That doesn't even include Eastern Punjabi, which is spoken in India. The Punjab was sliced in two by the British when they left, and millions of people were forced to abandon their homes, businesses and families. But they're slowly taking their revenge, Bollywood-style: Punjabi songs now account for 50 percent of chart-toppers. That's a comeback if we've ever seen one.

Top 10 Languages By Total Number Of Speakers

When we count the top 10 most spoken languages according to the total number of people who speak them (whether or not the language is their mother tongue), eight of the 10 languages from the list above still make an appearance, but with a few major differences: English narrowly edges out Chinese for the top spot, Japanese and Punjabi lose their spots, and French and Indonesian join the top 10 thanks to the fact that more people speak them as a second language than as a native language.

1. English

1.452 billion total speakers

2. Mandarin Chinese

1.119 billion total speakers

3. Hindi

602 million total speakers

4. Spanish

559 million total speakers

5. Standard Arabic

274 million total speakers

6. French

274 million total speakers

7. Bengali

273 million total speakers

8. Russian

258 million total speakers

9. Portuguese

258 million total speakers

10. Urdu

231 million total speakers

Illustrations by Victoria Fernandez.
This article was originally published in 2015. It has been updated with more recent data and information.

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The 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World

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Almost half of the world's population claim one of only ten languages as their mother tongue. So who's in the Top 10 most spoken languages?

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Este elemento es un sitio de Web que habla de deixis, una palabra que nosotros discutimos en clase. Este palabra es una palabra nueva para mi, y a primer, no entiendo. Yo escogí este elemento porque el proviene una descripción buena para explicar los deixis, y cuando usar los deixis. "Los deixis son palabras que señalan la orientación o ubicación espacial o temporal de entidades o personas, tomando algún punto de referencia, generalmente el del hablante." Hay deixis personal, temporal, y especial.

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A deictic expression (or deixis) is a word or phrase that points to the time, place, or situation in which a speaker is speaking.

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En el tema de lingüísticas, hay roles sintácticos y semánticos para dividir una frase en partes. En clase el lunes pasado, nosotros hablamos de los tipos de partes: agente, paciente, experimentan, instrumento, causa, recipiente, beneficiario, vocativo, y temporal. Este elemento es un presentación como PowerPoint para describir los partes en una frase que provenir información sobre la idea principal de la frase. Para mí, es un poco confundido y necesito estudiar este tema antes del examen!

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Capítulo 6 - Definiciones de algunas relaciones semánticas

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Capítulo 6 - Definiciones de algunas relaciones semánticas

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En clase dos viernes pasados, nosotros hablamos de la introducción de la semántica y la pragmática. Este elemento es un sitio de web que explica las relaciones semánticas in inglés, y proviene ejemplos para describir. Hay seis tipos: sinonimia, antonimia, hiponimia, homonimia, poligamia, y extensión metafórica. No soy una buena estudiante de artes lenguas en la escuela secundaria, así que necesito ayuda en este categoría.

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Antonyms, synonyms, and homonyms are three sources of concern in classrooms. They can be confusing, so it's good to get a hang of them early. These words can add a lot of variety to speech and writing. Once you understand how each is used, you will be able to overcome many challenges in spelling and vocabulary.

Interrelationship of Words

When you're learning words, there can't help but be spots where things get a little murky. English vocabulary is especially full of pitfalls since the language is so vast. In English, there are several words that share one meaning or nuances of one meaning. Then there are tiny words like "set" and "get" that have so many meanings that their definitions take up multiple dictionary pages. Then, just to make it more daunting, the English language has over a million words. As far as word banks go, English is massive.
But don't let the enormousness of the language turn you off. Homonyms, antonyms, and synonyms can be used to learn new words and add a great deal to your diction and the way you talk about language in particular.

Knowing which words are similar or opposites helps people understand the same when it comes to ideas. Ideas are impossible without words, and words are impossible without ideas. The more you think about the interrelationship of one, the better you are able to think about the interrelationship of the other.

Antonyms

Antonyms are words that mean the opposite of other words. They are used to show a contrast between two things. The antonym of "big" is "small," for example. Some other examples of antonyms are full / empty, fail / succeed, and liquid / solid.
The English language also lets its speakers make antonyms just by adding a prefix. The following are examples of how prefixes can be affixed to some words to create antonyms.

Un: Official becomes unofficial. Dress becomes undress.

In: Flexible becomes inflexible. Complete becomes incomplete.

Im: Possible becomes impossible. Polite becomes impolite.

Ir: Rational becomes irrational. Regular becomes irregular.

Dis: Honest becomes dishonest. Advantage becomes disadvantage.

Il: Logical becomes illogical. Legal becomes illegal.

Mis: Fortune becomes misfortune. Behave becomes misbehave.

Keep in mind that adding a prefix does not always make the word an antonym. For example, flammable and inflammable are not opposites. They mean the same thing and are synonyms. There are always exceptions to the rules in the English language and some things just have to be learned through usage.

Synonyms

Synonyms are words that share meanings with other words. They are used to add variety to writing and speech and allow you to avoid repetition. The words amazing, astounding, and marvelous are all synonyms. Their meanings are similar and can be interchanged with one another. Another set of synonyms are big, large, and huge.

There are many reasons why synonyms are great. Here are three:

They make it possible for writers to create a certain mood with their subtle differences. "Walk" sets a different pace than "saunter," and "drink" implies a different style than "guzzle." The differences are implied by the word selected, and when a writer is trying to paint a picture in a reader's mind, those differences can make or break a writer's prose.

They give writers more rhythmic tools. "Absquatulate" means the same as "abscond," but they are rhythmically very different. Every serious writer thinks about the rhythm of what he or she produces. Synonyms give writers more control over that rhythm.

They sound fancy. Sometimes knowing a better-sounding word makes you sound intelligent, like choosing "utilize" instead of "use," but remember that a little of this goes a long way. If you don't want to use fancy synonyms, you should at least be able to know when someone else is. People may use argot that isn't immediately understandable, but if you know a lot of synonyms, you should never be lost. Plus, if someone fails to comprehend your own jargon, you can use a synonym they know to get your point across.

Once you have an arsenal of synonyms at your disposal, you can work on the tone of your writing and see how it is changed by saying, for example, "discharging a firearm" instead of "firing a gun," or "disenfranchised youths" for "kids without voices."

Homonyms

Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings. Because these words sound and look the same but mean something different they can be the source of entertainment, confusion, or even inspiration.

Some common homonyms:

Address can be a property location or it can be a manner of speaking to a group of people.

Bat can be an implement used to hit a ball or it can be a nocturnal flying mammal.

Bear can be an animal or it can mean to tolerate something or someone

Fire can mean a blaze or it can mean to terminate someone from a job.

Trip can mean to stumble or fall or it can mean to go on a vacation.

Watch can be a wearable timepiece or it can mean to look at something closely.

Expand Your Vocabulary

Learning antonyms, synonyms and homonyms can be tricky but having a few in your language belt will certainly help expand your vocabulary. Using a variety of these words will make your speech and writing more vivid and exciting, and can help you avoid being repetitive or stale.

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Antonyms, synonyms, and homonyms are three sources of concern in classrooms. They can be confusing, so it's good to get a hang of them early. These words can add a lot of variety to speech and writing. Once you understand how each is used, you will be able to overcome many challenges in spelling and vocabulary.

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Este elemento es un video que explica los roles semánticos que yo he mencionada en un elemento anterior. Creo que este elemento tiene instrucciones útiles para decidir cual palabra se asocia con cual tipo de rol semántico. La instructora tiene muchas detalles sobre el agente en una frase. Y también, la instructora tiene una voz muy tranquila y suave - para aprender los roles semánticos es fácil no difícil!

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Capítulo 5 - Un mapa de Península Ibérica 

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Capítulo 5 - Un mapa de Península Ibérica 

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Este elemento es un "gif" que mostró los cambios en la Península Ibérica. Sabemos que la lengua de español fue influenciado por los gobernantes de cada región, y aquí podemos ver que había cambios en donde se hablaba cada lengua, hasta el español / el castellano es el idioma más común. También, me gusta este gif porque podemos mirar los cambios de las lenguas con los años que los cambios se ocurren. Creo que es importante para mirar el desaparecido del arabic, está representando el termino del reinado de los musulmanes en español.

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Originating in Iberia, the most widely spoken Iberian Romance languages are Castilian (Spanish), Portuguese, Catalan and Galician. These languages also have their own regional and local dialects. Based on mutual intelligibility, Dalby counts seven "outer" languages, or language groups: Galician-Portuguese, Spanish, Astur-Leonese, "Wider"- Aragonese, "Wider"- Catalan, Provençal+Lengadocian, and "Wider"- Gascon.

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Basca, o se llama Euskara, es una lengua "misterio" para los lingüísticas. Por la mayoría de las lenguas, es posible para entender donde y como una lengua se hizo común, pero no es posible para basca. Los lingüísticos piensan que basca es una combinación de muchas lenguas: Catalan, Frances, Galicano, Italiano, Portugués, Romanian, y probablamente más idiomas en europea. Para mi, este elemento es largo pero interesante ver como basca y español son similares y diferentes.

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Ever since the first linguistic studies began in Europe, Basque, a language isolate spoken in the Pyrenees, has been a magnet for popular-but-shaky theories. An aura of mystery has descended over the language and its speakers because of the scores of fantastical histories which have been contrived by scholars and pseudo-scholars over the years, attempting to connect the Basques and their language to everyone, from northern Africans to alien invaders.

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Este elemento es una línea de tiempo de Al-Andalus, y Al-Andalus es conocida como la España musulmana. Al-Andalus floreció entre 711 y 1492 en la Península Ibérica. En este foto, podemos ver los eventos mayores que ocurren durante la historia de Al-Andalus hasta el España cristiana. Podemos ver el califato primero fue 1031 a 1094, y el califato segundo fue 1212 a 1252. Creo que este elemento es una descripción muy claro y fácil de entender que podemos usar para estudiar para el próximo examen.

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Check out Lost Islamic History's timeline poster of the History of Muslim Spain!

Click on the link to purchase:

http://www.cafepress.com/lostislamichistory.809931557

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Capítulo 5 - La pronunciación de vocales en Latin 

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Capítulo 5 - La pronunciación de vocales en Latin 

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Este elemento es como una guía para pronunciar las vocales en latín. Creo que este elemento es importante para este capítulo porque en clase nosotros hablamos de las diferencias de vocales entre de latin y español. Por ejemplo, latin tiene diez sonidos vocales, ambos largas y cortas, pero español solo tiene cinco sonidos vocales. Es un poco confundido, porque también, in inglés, solo hay cinco sonidos vocales. Español es una lengua romántica - es de latin - pero hay cambios para crear el español que nosotros hablamos hoy.

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The Latin Alphabet - Vowel Pronunciation

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The vowel in Latin is the most important part of pronunciation. This video covers the difference between long and short vowels, along with diphthongs (everyone's favorite word). a 0:37 e 0:50 i 1:03 o 1:18 u 1:28 y 1:40

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Capítulo 4 - Verbos más común como gustar 

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Capítulo 4 - Verbos más común como gustar 

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En Español, hay varios tipos de verbos que tienen un afecto al sujeto de la oración. Un tipo de verbo es una categoría se llama "verbos como gustar". Ejemplos de verbos en este categoría son: dar, hacer, parecer, interesar, y quedar. Con estos verbos, es necesario para incluir un pronombre objecto y indirecto - me, te, le, nos, os, les. Después de la tabla con la frequencia de los verbos como gustar hay ejemplos para usar los verbos como gustar populares en las oraciones.

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Did you know that gustar is not the most common 'verb like gustar'?

Before I tell you what the most common verb in this category is, I'll explain the question a little further and how I discovered the answer.

Spanish verbs can be grouped into 3 basic structures: normal, reflexive and 'verbs like gustar '.

It seems a shame that this third category doesn't have a better name. But, nonetheless, this verb structure is extremely useful and will be the focus of the rest of the post.
As an aside, this verb category likely gets its English name due to 'gustar' being the most commonly used verb to introduce this topic in Spanish classrooms.
So how do 'verbs like gustar ' work?

Printable Version: Download this PDF version of the most common verbs like gustar to use as a study reference.

How to form 'verbs like gustar'

At first look, the structure of these verbs appears strange but we actually have this sentence structure in English.

Two examples in English would be:

It occurred to me...

The idea seems strange to me...

In Spanish the structure is no different. All you have to do is mentally switch the action of the verb onto yourself (or whoever is receiving the action of the verb).

A few examples with gustar:
English: I like the movie.
English: I don't like cheese.
Literal translation: To me cheese is not pleasing.
Español: No me gusta el queso. Literal translation: The movie is pleasing to me (or more specifically 'to me the movie is pleasing').
Español: Me gusta la película.
If you want to apply these verbs to someone other than yourself, you need to use one of the following 'indirect object pronouns':

Here are a few examples with these indirect objects pronouns in action:

For more details on how to use this verb structure refer back to the podcast on 'How To Use Verbs Like Gustar To Express Your Ideas'. In that episode I go into a lot more depth on how to use these types of verbs.

The importance of high frequency

One of the guiding principles of Real Fast Spanish is that you should learn high frequency words ahead of low frequency words. That's not to say you should ignore low frequency words altogether but what you should do is make a strategic effort to learn high frequency words deliberately.

Moreover, this principle is used as a filter for decision making. It means that when you are first starting out there are hundreds of words you could learn but you can reduce the mental load and increase your ability to communicate more effectively by focusing on the most useful words first.

The reason that this idea is so important is because it speeds up the rate of reaching a conversational level of Spanish.

In this post, I'm going to continue with this guiding principle and provide the most frequently occurring verbs that behave like gustar.

How I determined the most common verbs like gustar

While researching this post I looked high and low to see if a ranking of 'verbs like gustar' had already been done somewhere on the internet.

I looked to the search engines, I looked to frequency studies I have used in the past, I looked in forums and I looked in a few books on the subject of Spanish word frequency.

In the end, I couldn't find what I was looking for.

One of the biggest problems with frequency studies is that often they don't take conjugation into consideration.

For example, in a typical frequency study the words quiero and queries count as two occurrences of the verb querer as opposed to one occurrence for two separate words. This approach makes it difficult to figure out the order of frequency for a specific verb structure such as the subject of this post.
As a matter of interest, the highest occurring 3-gram in English is 'I don't' or 'I do not'. In the data they still counted the contraction of 'do' and 'not' as two sequential words.
So what I decided to do was go about finding the most common 'verbs like gustar' by reviewing the data with the help of a person who has dedicated a career to data analysis- mi novia.

We used a set of data known as ' n-grams ' for the Spanish language.

Put simply, an 'n-gram' is a sequence of 'n' words in any given language. For example, the phrase or sequence of words 'I love you' is a 3-gram in English. And this 3-gram 'I love you' occurs more often than the 3-gram 'I love baskets' or a more random 3-gram 'red high curve'.

Said in another way, the study of 'n-grams' is the study of the occurrence of sequences of words as opposed to individual words on their own.

The next step in determining the frequency of 'verbs like gustar' was to look for 2-grams in Spanish with an indirect object pronoun ( me, te, le, nos etc.) in secession with a verb in the present 3rd person singular or 3rd person plural conjugations.

We then had to remove 2-grams such as ' me dice' which means ' he says to me' because it doesn't follow the structure we are looking for: ' it ___ to me'. Once we removed these 2-grams, we were left with the set of verbs we were looking for.

We later reviewed the data for past imperfect and past simple conjugations to make sure the list doesn't change drastically for different verb tenses.

The results: the most commonly occurring verbs like gustar

The results of the data analysis showed the most commonly occurring 'verbs like gustar' in Spanish in order are:

A few notes on the results:

Parecer is actually the most common 'verb like gustar' if you only use the data for the present tense.

Dar is the most common when you include past conjugations.

1. Dar - to give
So in the next section I will give a few examples to reflect the occurrence of these tenses.
2. Gustar - to like 3. Hacer - to do
How to use these verbs in a Spanish sentence
4. Parecer - to seem 5. Ir - to go 6. Permitir - to permit / allow 7. Interesar - to interest English: It doesn't interest me to go to the beach today.
8. Quedar - to remain Español: No me interesa ir a la playa hoy. 9. Pasar - to pass
This section is the most important part of this post because it's where you put all of the above information into action.
10. Llamar - to call English: What catches your attention in this book?
11. Ocurrir - to occur Español: ¿Qué te llama la atención de este libro? 12. Importar - to be important 13. Dejar - to leave English: This story leaves me with some questions.
14. Llevar - to take Español: Esta historia me deja con algunas preguntas. 15. Poner - to put
Choose a number of these examples and work through them for yourself. Create your own sentences then try them out in your next Spanish conversation.
16. Faltar - to be missing 17. Tocar - to touch 18. Costar - to cost English: What costs you the most to learn Spanish?.19. Venir - to come 20. Encantar - to love Español: ¿Qué es lo que te cuesta más aprender del español? 21. Ofrecer - to offer English: This weekend offers me an opportunity to relax. 22. Servir - to serve 23. Llegar - to arrive English: If a difficult time comes, remember your dream. 24. Resultar - to result English: I still find it difficult to believe his story. 25. Preocupar - to worry
Español: Todavía me resulta difícil creer su historia.
Español: Si te llega un momento difícil, recuerda tu sueño.
Español: E ste fin de semana me ofrece la oportunidad de relajarme.
You can learn about other uses of the Spanish verb dar here.

Learn about other uses of the Spanish verb hacer here.

Learn about other uses of the Spanish verb quedar here.

Learn about other uses of the Spanish verb pasar here.

Ocurrir and pasar are almost completely interchangeable when they are used in this structure. The only difference is that ocurrir is slightly more formal.

Learn about other uses of the Spanish verb llevar here.

Learn about other uses of the Spanish verb poner here.

When you love something or someone in a non-romantic way use this verb.

Verbs like gustar - Practice quiz

To test your knowledge of everything you have read above about verbs like gustar, I have written a practice quiz.

The quiz will help you practice constructions and conjugations with the verbs from the top 25 list.

You can access practice quiz by clicking on the image on the right, or this link:

Practice quiz: Click here to test your knowledge of 'Verbs Like Gustar'.

Summary

'Verbs like gustar' is a great topic to focus your Spanish studies on. And with this post, you now have list of verbs that are essential to know, practice and use.

The best thing about this verb structure is you only have to know the conjugations for the 3rd person singular and the 3rd person plural.

My challenge to you is:

1. Choose five verbs from the list that you haven't used or seen yet.

2. Learn the present, past imperfect and past simple conjugations in the 3rd person for these verbs.

3. Use them as often as you can for the next two weeks.

Once you have these verbs covered, come back and choose another five and go again. ¡ Te viene bien saber estos verbos muy bien!

What sentences can you create using 'verbs like '?

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Did you know that gustar is not the most common 'verb like gustar'? Before I tell you what the most common verb in this category is, I'll explain the question a little further and how I discovered the answer. Spanish verbs can be grouped into 3 basic structures: normal, reflexive and 'verbs like gustar '.

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Este elemento es un video de la sintaxis de espańol, usando los diagramas de arboles. Este video es muy beneficio, y voy a mirar este video antes del examen el próximo semana. El hombre en este video explica que el orden de las palabras es importante para prevenir confuso en las oraciones, y habla de "X Theory". Él forma un diagrama de árbol paso a paso, empieza con una palabra y añade una palabras para explicar un aspecto de el sintaxis de español.

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Capítulo 4 - Clasificación de oraciones simples y compuestas 

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Capítulo 4 - Clasificación de oraciones simples y compuestas 

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Esto es un powerpoint de "Prezi" y le enseña mucho sobre la clasificación de oraciones simples y compuestas. Es muy similar a que nosotros hablamos en clase reciente. Hay tipos de oraciones: simples y compuestas. En oraciones simples, solamente hay una sintagma nominal (el sujeto) y una sintagma verbal, y tienen un núcleo del sustantivo y un núcleo del predicado en el verbo. En oraciones compuestas, mas de una sintagma nominal con más de una sintagma verbal.

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CLASIFICACIÓN ORACIONES SIMPLES Y COMPUESTAS

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es aquella que tiene un solo sujeto y un solo predicado (verbo). Ejemplo La oración gramatical es aquella que expresa una idea o un pensamiento completo. A la parte de la gramática, encargada de estudiar el orden en que se acomodan las palabras en la oración, se le conoce como

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Capítulo 4 - Una guía para explicar los pronombres de directo y indirecto

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Capítulo 4 - Una guía para explicar los pronombres de directo y indirecto

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Este artículo es como "una guía" para entender la diferencia entre los pronombres directos y indirectos. Creo que este sito de Web es muy importante porque en clase estoy confudido a veces cuando hablamos sobre los pronombres. Pero, el conocimiento de los pronombres es muy imperativo en esta clase de lingüisticas, porque ellos proveen información sobre la estructura de oraciones. Esta enlace es beneficio para explicar los pronombres a mi.

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" At the moment I'm struggling massively with Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns." - Real Fast Spanish Subscriber.

This is a really common question.

Which makes sense because when you replace a Spanish noun with a direct or indirect object pronoun you have a lot of things to think about.

You have to consider sentence order, prepositions, when you can and can't replace objects, and a few special rules for combining direct and indirect object pronouns in Spanish.

What's worse, sometimes Spanish natives will use a different pronoun to what's written in the textbooks.

In this post, you'll learn everything you need to know about Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns including what they are, how to use them, when to use them, how to combine them, a rule you need to be careful with, and where Spanish natives get it backwards.

To start, let's first discuss the concept of an object pronoun in general.

Printable Version: Download this PDF version of the rules for the direct and indirect object pronouns to use as a study reference.

What is an object pronoun?

I'm first going to talk about how object pronouns behave in English because:

1. Learning about your own language helps you learn another language.

2. Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns behave in almost exactly the same way as English object pronouns except for sentence order.

So, what is an object pronoun?

A pronoun is a word that you use to substitute for a noun.

An object receives the action of the verb-either directly or indirectly (we'll get back to this).

Thus an object pronoun is a word that you use to replace the object of a sentence.

Let's look at an example of a simple English sentence:
I eat ice cream.

In this example, 'I' am the subject of the sentence because 'I' am carrying out the action of the verb (eating) and the ice cream is the object of the sentence.

(I know this is basic but I want to make sure we cover all bases.)

If you wanted to use an object pronoun in this sentence, you need to look for a word that can replace 'ice cream'.

If someone asks you:
Do you like ice cream?
You could then respond and say:

In this case 'it' is the English object pronoun for 'ice cream'.

Here are a few more examples in English:

- Have you seen my glasses?
- No, I haven't seen them.

- Can you give this parcel to Sara and Lucas?
- Yes, I will give it to them tomorrow.

As you can see, the object pronouns in English are 'it', 'them', 'him' and 'her'.

In the last example, I used a direct object pronoun (it) in combination with an indirect object pronoun (them).

Let's discuss these two types of object pronouns further.

What are direct and indirect object pronouns?

In this section, I'm going to interchange the terms 'object' and 'object pronoun' a lot (just a heads up).

A direct object receives the action of the verb.

An indirect object is indirectly affected by the action of a verb.

'Direct object pronouns' and 'indirect object pronouns' are the words you use to replace the direct and indirect objects of a sentence.

To understand this concept, I found one idea that was particularly helpful for me.

The idea is that there are certain verbs that cannot use indirect objects. And, there are verbs that commonly use indirect objects.

For example, the verb 'to see' cannot have an indirect object.

Person 1: Can you see my book?
Person 2: Yes, I see it.

Note here that 'it' is the direct object pronoun for 'book'.

But, most importantly, there cannot be an indirect object with 'to see' because when you 'see' something, the action of 'seeing' that thing does not affect anything else.

In contrast, the verb 'to give' often has an indirect object. For example:

Person 1: What did you give your mother for Christmas?
Person 2: I gave her a book.

In this example, the book is the direct object because it receives the action of the verb. And, 'her' is the indirect object pronoun because the mother is indirectly affected by the action of giving the book.

When you give, you generally give something to someone. And, if you know from context the thing being given and who is receiving it, then you can form a sentence with a direct and an indirect object pronoun like this:

This sentence translates really well to Spanish, let's see how.

Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns

Here is a table of the Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns and their English equivalents:

(Person)

English Object Pronouns

Spanish Direct Object Pronouns

Spanish Indirect Object Pronouns

As you can see from the table, there is a big challenge you have to deal with.

When using direct and indirect object pronouns in Spanish, you have to decide between ' lo' and ' le' for the translation of 'him' and 'it', ' la' and ' le' for the translation of 'her' and 'it', and ' los', ' las' and ' les ' for the translation of 'them'.

But, if you know the word you want to translate is a direct object pronoun or indirect object pronoun in English, then you will know which word to choose in Spanish.

This is why I spent so much time on the rules of object pronouns in English above.

If you want to translate an English sentence with the word 'them' to Spanish, and you know 'them' is an indirect object pronoun, then you need to choose ' les '.

If you want to translate an English sentence with 'it' to Spanish, and you know that 'it' is a direct object pronoun, and 'it' represents a male object, then you need to choose ' lo '.

That said, things are a little different with indirect object pronouns and verbs like gustar. You can read the article on verbs like gustar for more detail.

Next, let's look at some examples of how to use these Spanish object pronouns, starting with direct object pronouns.

How to use Spanish direct object pronouns

Remember that in order to use a direct object pronoun, you need to know what the direct object is from context.

Let's look at the example sentences from above.

Also, importantly, you need to put the ' lo ' before the conjugated verb.

Note how the sentence order is different. It feels strange coming from English to put the direct object pronoun before the conjugated verb. But, this is something you'll simply to have to get used to.

That said, if you have a ' compound phrase ' which is a conjugated verb followed by a verb in infinitive form, you can switch the order.

For example:

Note that the ' lo ' can go before or after the compound phrase. Which is useful because the second sentence is much closer to English.

Here's another example:

English: These boxes are very heavy, I can't lift them.
Español: Estas cajas son muy pesadas, no puedo levantarlas.
Español: Estas cajas son muy pesadas, no las puedo levantar.

Next, some examples with indirect object pronouns.

How to use Spanish indirect object pronouns

As I mentioned earlier, in order to use an indirect object pronoun, you need a special kind of verb.

You need a verb that can indirectly affect other things by its action.

A few of these common verbs in Spanish are: alquilar, dar, decir, dejar, echar, regalar, and vender.

One thing to keep in mind is that these verbs don't have to have an indirect object. It's just that they commonly they do.

For example:

Note the indirect object pronoun is 'him'. The action of leaving the 'car' is indirectly affecting 'him' because now he can use the car.

Another example:

Here 'you' are the indirect object because you are indirectly affected by 'her' telling the story.

Here is another example:

In this section, you have seen indirect object pronouns in isolation. Let's now look at how to combine Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns in a sentence.

Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns combined

This next part is where a number of Spanish students get into trouble.

I want to add a caveat that if this is really challenging for you, just use the direct object instead of the direct object pronoun (just like in the previous section).

Note that the direct object pronoun and indirect object pronoun will often combine after a relevant question.

For example:

Here the direct object pronoun ' la' represents the story and the indirect object pronoun ' me ' represents the speaker.

Next, we have to look at what happens when you combine the third person indirect object pronouns with direct object pronouns.

In Spanish, you never say ' le lo', this actually becomes ' se lo '.

It's so much easier to say ' se lo' than ' le lo '. That's why this change happens.

Here is a list of all of the changes for third person indirect object pronouns combined with direct object pronouns:

Let's look at these in action.

English: Yes, I have already thrown them in (it).

Also, if you have a compound phrase, you can change the location of the combined objects. For example:

English: Yes, I want to tell it to her.
Español: Sí, se lo quiero decir.
Español: Sí, quiero decírselo.

Note the small change you have to make with pronunciation when you move the object pronouns to the end. You have to put an accent on the last syllable of the verb.

As you can see, the best place to combine direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns is after questions.

Despite these structures being a little tricky, there is good news.

The good news is that when these pronouns come up in your Spanish conversations, you will have some control over context.

For example, if you are talking with someone in Spanish and they ask you a question, you can choose to use a direct and indirect object pronoun or not.

Moreover, if you ask a native speaker a question and they answer with a combination of direct and indirect object pronouns, you will know from context because you asked the question.

How to avoid mistakes with indirect object pronouns and the preposition 'a'

A common mistake we hear from students in our classes is leaving off the indirect object pronoun when it is required.

For example:

English: Have you given the gift to her?
Español: ¿Has dado el regalo a ella? ⊗

This isn't right, you absolutely need the ' le '.

Moreover, the ' a ella' is optional, the ' le ' isn't.

With normal Spanish subject pronouns ( yo, tú, ella, él, etc.), you can drop them from your sentences because you'll already know the person from the verb conjugation.

For example:

You can drop the ' él' because ' quiere ' tells you it is the third person. And, you probably know from context who you are talking about.

The ' a él' and ' a ella ' behave in the same way.

Note you could also put the ' a él ' at the start:

Thus, you can choose to put the 'a él' at the start, at the end, or leave it off completely. But you must remember the ' le '.

A few difficult verbs with object pronouns

The behaviour of the verbs in this section confuses both native speakers and students alike.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of difficult verbs with object pronouns. I just choose a few of the high-frequency verbs in this category.
1. Escribir - to write
We kind of have a problem with this verb in English as well. When you say 'I wrote him every day', is 'him' a direct or indirect object pronoun?

As is the case in both Spanish and English, when you 'write' you are 'writing something to someone'. Therefore, you need to use an indirect object for the person receiving the product of the writing.

But, it is also perfectly fine to drop the object.

You just need to keep in mind that when you drop the object, it is still there implicitly.

In addition, you can also say:
2. Llamar - to call
To cut a long and complicated story short, you should use the direct object pronouns ' lo' and ' la '.

This also applies in the context of 'calling someone a name' or 'calling out' to get someone's attention.
3. Molestar - to annoy
Molestar is also a challenging verb because, not only is it a Spanish false friend, but it can also use a direct or indirect object pronoun.

And, the decision of which pronoun to use depends on whether the subject of the sentence is an active agent of action.

In other words, is the subject actively annoying someone or passively annoying someone?

In the first case, you can say:
English: I don't want to annoy her.
Español: No la quiero molestar.
Español: No quiero molestarla.
Here the sentence subject is a person that can physically act to annoy.
English: This song annoys him a lot.
Español: Le molesta mucho esta canción.
In contrast, the subject of the sentence could be something that can't actively carry out a physical action. For example,
4. Pegar - to hit
In this second case, ' molestar' is acting like a verb like gustar. And, in this situation, the person receiving the action of the verb needs to be described with an indirect object pronoun.

Pegar can mean 'to stick' or 'to glue'. But, pegar can also mean 'to hit' or 'to strike' someone.

So, if you 'hit someone', should you use a direct or indirect object pronoun?

In Spanish, when you use pegar in the context of hitting someone, you actually need to use an indirect object.

In contrast, if you use the verb golpear, which also means 'to hit', then you need a direct object.

As I mentioned earlier, the behaviour of verbs like these confuse both native speakers and students.

So, how can you remember how to use pegar and golpear with the right pronoun?
To stick it to him.
Fortunately, there is an English expression that could help here:
Stick it to the man!
Or, a common version of this expression:

Here, you are sticking a direct object 'it' to the indirect 'man'. Coincidently, this works quite well with the Spanish verb pegar which also means 'to stick'.

However, note that in Spanish the direct object is often omitted with this verb, as in the example above ' le pego '.

But it doesn't have to be.

For example:

As you can see from the contrast of this example from ' le pego', like the case with escribir, the object of the verb can be dropped but remains implicitly.

In addition, if you are actually using pegar to mean 'to stick', then you need to use a direct object pronoun as follows:

Because of the confusion caused by verbs such as pegar and golpear, natives could get it wrong. We'll look at that next.

Leísmo, loísmo, laísmo - When a Spanish native might correct you

These uses are so prevalent, particularly in Spain, that they get their own name.

Moreover, due to how frequently these uses occur, they actually become accepted by the bodies that govern the use of the Spanish language such as the Real Academia Española.

What this means is that there could be a situation where you use the right object pronoun but a Spanish native actually tells you to use a different one.

Try not to get confused by this (which I know is hard)! Just note that there are potentially two accepted ways to use the pronoun.

For example:

Normally, you would say ' lo vi' (I saw him) because the verb ' ver' uses direct object pronouns. But, here in this instance of leísmo (where ' le' is used instead of ' lo'), since the speaker used the indirect object pronoun, the sentence may need ' a él ' for clarity on the object.

That said, it could be that the same speaker actually uses ' la ' for the feminine form.

In this situation, you wouldn't need ' a ella' because it is clear from ' la ' that the object of the sentence is female.
English: ...because she really likes to see us sweat in winter...
Español: ...porque a ella la gusta mucho vernos sudar en invierno...
An example of laísmo:

This use of a direct object pronoun in this example, of course, is quite irregular with the normal form being ' le gusta '.

This example comes from a book in a series for adolescents called 'Manolito Gafotas' (which I talk a little bit about here). It's about a boy growing up on the streets of Madrid where you can sometimes hear this laísmo with gustar. This book is the place where I first learnt about the concept of laísmo.

Your turn

Have object pronouns been a challenge for you?

The best thing to do is to start thinking about sentences in English with 'him', 'her', 'it', 'them' and asking yourself if they are acting as direct object pronouns or indirect object pronouns.

Then translate these sentences into Spanish.

What sentences you can form with Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns?

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The Definitive Guide to Spanish Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

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" At the moment I'm struggling massively with Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns." - Real Fast Spanish Subscriber. This is a really common question. Which makes sense because when you replace a Spanish noun with a direct or indirect object pronoun you have a lot of things to think about.

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Este elemento es un artículo sobre las palabras más común en español, como nosotros hablamos en clase. Lo tiene las palabras en inglés y en español. Creo que este artículo es interesante porque yo sé todas las palabras en este lista, entonces, yo puedo formar muchas oraciones de español con las palabras más común, y probablamente más importante. Este lista is muy importante para estudiantes de español que no son hispanohablantes nativos.

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When time is a limited resource and you are trying to learn a new language it pays to be efficient. Being efficient in learning Spanish means making sure you learn the right things that will help you the most in the "real world".

When it comes to vocabulary, it's important to learn the words you are most likely to encounter in Spanish texts or conversations, so why not begin with a list of the most common Spanish words. Textbooks often rely on thematic terms like animals for learning, however the most common Spanish words are not what you may think. Words like "all" ( todo #22) or "thing" ( cosa #78) are much more common Spanish words than words like "tiger" ( tigre #4,582).

Below a table of the 250 most common Spanish words taken from popular written text and conversation, in a study by Mark Davies. See how many you know and fill in the gaps of the ones that you don't, as you're likely to come across them soon!
*We've separated the most common Spanish pronouns from the list of common Spanish words. Pronouns are quite commonly used, but for studying purposes they fall into grammar lessons more than vocabulary you should memorize.

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Learning Spanish? Start with the 250 Most Common Spanish Words

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When time is a limited resource and you are trying to learn a new language it pays to be efficient. Being efficient in learning Spanish means making sure you learn the right things that will help you the most in the "real world".

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Capítulo 3 - Los afijos y sufijos de Español

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Capítulo 3 - Los afijos y sufijos de Español

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Este elemento es un artículo general sobre los afijos - los sufijos y prefijos. Me gusta esta artículo porque tiene información general que yo puedo usar para el examen en dos semanas. Hay una tabla aquí que mostra los afijos, con sus interpretaciones, sus origines, y sus translaciones en inglés. También, hay definiciones para las clases de los sufijos - los flexivos y los derivativos. Es similar a este capítulo porque en clase, nosotros hablamos sobre los afijos de español por mucho tiempo.

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Get our free email course, Shortcut to Conversational.

Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster.

Learning the most common Spanish Prefixes and Suffixes is a fantasic shortcut to unlocking hundreds of new Spanish words overnight.

Before we list these words out, it's important to understand a little more about Spanish prefixes and suffixes.
(we'll aim to avoid using as many complicated grammar terms as possible)
The first thing to know is that suffixes and prefixes belong to a group called affixes, and this group contains the smallest grammatical unit in a language - so small that they cannot be considered words since don't have any meaning by themselves, and only make sense when they are added before or at the end of a word to form a derivative.

In simple terms, prefixes and suffixes are used in conjunction with pre-existing words to either create new words, or else, change and adapt their meaning.

Since both English and Spanish share Latin roots, it's likely that you will instinctively already know many of the words we'll cover, due to their similarity.

Words like impatient (impaciente), illogical (ilógico) and irreplaceable (irremplazable) are just a couple of examples of this.

That's the boring theory lesson out of the way.

Now it's time to explore some lists of the most common prefixes and suffixes.

Spanish Prefixes

As the name indicates, pre fixes precede a base word, to which they can grant different meanings.

Spanish prefixes are not considered words, but "affixes" that have no meaning by themselves, and can only be used in conjugation with pre-existing nouns or verbs.

Below is a list of the most commonly used Spanish prefixes.
(scroll over the see the entire table)
Spanish Suffixes

Just like prefixes, Spanish suffixes are not words, since they cannot be used on their own. Instead, they must be added at the end of a base word, to which they grant different meanings.

In this case, a suffix does not change a word entirely, but adapts it to an alternative use.

Suffix Classes

As promised, we won't bore you with too much grammar lingo.

However, it's worth knowing that suffixes can be categorized into two groups.
1) Flexive suffixes
This group is more commonly used but tends to be overlooked, since they don't really create new words or alter the grammatical category the word is placed

A flexive suffix is what happens when we change the gender of a noun, and adjective or even the way verbs are conjugated in every tense. For example, when we decide to use blanco vs blanca depending on the gender of the adjective.

Let's have a look at the most common examples of this.
Nouns Adjectives Verb conjugation
The parts in bold can be considered flexives suffixes.
2) Derivative Suffixes
This group essentially refers to endings that are used to create a new word, derived from another existing one.

For example, the word nación (nation) is a base noun, but when we add the suffix -al, we get the adjective nacional (national) as a result. As you can see, the original word has been altered from its original meaning.

In the next part, we will outline the most commonly used derivative suffixes.
(scroll over the see the entire table)
As you can already see, the base word that a suffix modifies could be it a verb, noun or even another adjectives.

There are also some suffixes that grant more subtle changes to words, in most cases adapting them and making them nouns or adjectives.

Spanish Prefixes And Suffixes: Practice

Can you identify the prefixes and suffixes in these sentences?
(scroll down for an explanation on how a prefix/suffix altered the original base word)
1) Creo que es algo contraproducente.
(I think it is a bit counterproductive)
2) Es un proceso bastante antihigiénico.
(It is a very unsanitary process)
3) El festival se celebra bianualmente.

(The festival is celebrated bianually)

4) Viajar es sencillo cuando vives en una región fronteriza, como tú.

(Traveling is quite easy when you live on a frontier region like you)

5) Ve y dile al panadero que necesitamos tres docenas de su mejor pan.
(Go and tell the baker we need three dozens of his best bread)
6) Conozco a un autor que escribe novelas sobre escenarios post-apocalípticos.
(I know an author that writes novels about post-apocalyptic settings)
7) Necesitan fondos para financiar una expedición submarina.
(We need funding to finance a submarine expedition)
8) Necesitamos mejorar nuestra pronunciación en español.
(We need to improve our Spanish pronunciation)
9) Lamentablemente el país pasó por una época de hiperinflación.
(Regrettably, the country went through a period of hyperinflation)
10) La bebida tiene un sabor caribeño difícil de identificar, como una mezcla de frutas tropicales.
(The drink has this Caribbean flavor hard to pin down, like a mix of tropical fruits)
Answers

1) Contra producente. (the opposite of being productive)

2) Anti higiénico. (denies the original meaning of the word, ending up as "dirty" instead of "clean")

3) Bi anualmente. (something happens twice a year, instead of annually)

4) Fronter iza (changes the noun "frontera" to use it as an adjective, describing the region)

5) Panad ero. (Reorients the nouns "Pan" and its derivative "Panadería" as another noun, involving a person)

6) Post- apocalípticos. (changes the apocalyptic adjective into a scenario where this event is over)

7) Sub marina. (makes it so the exploration refers to that that is under the sea)

8) Pronuncia ción. (expresses the idea of the action of pronouncing, but as a noun derived from the same verb)

9) Hiper inflación. (heightens the meaning of the original word, inflation)

10) Carib eño. (This suffix simply indicates that something is relative or belongs to the base word, in this case, the Caribbean)

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Spanish Prefixes And Suffixes: Unlock Hundreds Of Spanish Words

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Have conversations faster, understand people when they speak fast, and other tested tips to learn faster. Learning the most common Spanish Prefixes and Suffixes is a fantasic shortcut to unlocking hundreds of new Spanish words overnight. Before we list these words out, it's important to understand a little more about Spanish prefixes and suffixes.

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Este elemento es un video de Youtube que habla sobre los sufijos de inglés. Creo que este elemento es interesante porque en clase, nosotros habíamos hablado de los afijos en español, y nosotros comparamos las palabras de español a las palabras de inglés. Pero aquí, tenemos el opuesto, un hombre compara los sufijos de español a los sufijos de inglés para explicar la gramática de inglés. Ejemplos de español en clase son "-ito" y "-azo", y ejemplos de sufijos de inglés son "-ful", "-y", "-ess" y "-dom".

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Los SUFIJOS en INGLÉS / Suffixes In English

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Capítulo 3 - No caigas la regla de género

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Capítulo 3 - No caigas la regla de género

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Este elemento es un video muy cómico, es una canción sobre las reglas de género de español al ritmo de una canción popular y repetitivo. No es alta cantidad de intelecto, pero me gusta y me hizo reír un poco. Hay frases que yo puedo usar para recordar las reglas de género de español, y por las excepciones. Al final del video, hay unas pocas listas que tienen las excepciones de las reglas, y que aparecen al ritmo de la música. Espero que yo puedo recordar el ritmo y las reglas para el examen!

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Don't drop that...(gender of nouns in Spanish)

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Este elemento es un video se llama "English Phonetics." El tiene una tabla con todas las fonéticas de inglés y una persona pronuncia los sonidos. Es interesante para mi porque en una clase de una lengua extranjera, todos podemos aprender más sobre su lengua nativa. Pienso que hay palabras en inglés que yo no dijo correctamente, cuando quiero pronunciar todos los sonidos perfectamente. Es necesario para aprender más de ambos idiomas.

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English Phonetics (Symbols and Pronunciation)

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Capítulo 2 - Una guía para entender la pronunciación de español

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Capítulo 2 - Una guía para entender la pronunciación de español

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Este artículo es como "una guía" para pronunciar las palabras de español. Aquí, puedes leer las reglas para producir los sonidos. Es muy interesante porque en nuestra clase hablamos de los sonidos diferentes de español, y este artículo tiene una tabla que tiene las letras, con los sonidos y ejemplos de la fonética. También, hay una diagrama similar a la diagrama de clase que mostró donde los vocales están en la boca.

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Most Spanish pronunciation guides are really only about pronunciation rules for the language. They tend to fall short of teaching you how to actually hear and pronounce said sounds. Here at The Mimic Method, we think this latter part is even more important than just recognizing the location of a sound in word spelling.
By the end of this Spanish pronunciation guide, you should be familiar with most of the sounds associated with the Spanish alphabet in their phonetic form. You may even discover a few tricks to overcome things like 'rolling your R's'.
In general, Spanish pronunciation is quite regular. You can tell how to pronounce a word from the way it's written once you know what sound each letter (or group of letters) represents.

Luckily, the sounds almost always match the spelling. Many speak the consonant sounds in a similar way to English. The main differences are with c, g, h, j, ll, ñ, qu, r, v, z. Vowels are pronounced the same wherever they occur - unlike English, in which each vowel can be spoken in several distinct ways (i.e., through vs. tough vs. though).

Spanish Alphabet vs. Sounds

There are 27 scripted letters in the modern Spanish alphabet. But there are at least 39 phonetic sounds in modern Spanish speech. It is important to understand that even though English and Spanish have almost identical alphabets, the same characters do not always represent the same sound in both languages. Spanish pronunciation is about the speech itself, which you'll end up speaking if you want to truly learn the language. The challenge will be to rewire the your brain so you can produce sounds for letters that sound different from what you're used to. The reason why there are more sounds than letters is that these sounds are used for the same combination of letters - or syllables - when spelled at different places in words. For instance, take the difference between the words "guardar" (gwar-dar) and "gente" (hen-teh). The pronunciation is different because of the vowel that comes after the letter G. The same idea applies in English with the word "going" /go..iŋ/. It is just a matter of hearing these patterns and incorporating them into your own speech. The other reason has to do with regional dialects, which introduces new sounds to spoken speech. For instance, "gracias" (gra-syas) changes in Castilian dialect (gra-thyas). And this pattern continues for other similarly spelled words in the dialect.

* These letters appear only in words of foreign origin.

As said earlier, most guides just teach you things like the alphabet and make you miss out on the nuances of sounds which really give you better pronunciation. This traditional approach is a "learn by eye" approach. At The Mimic Method, we like to use a But to make things easier for you, we're going to be talking about Spanish alphabet pronunciation as well as "learn by ear" approach to language learning. the sounds behind the patterns in the alphabet starting with the most important group - vowel sounds.

Spanish Alphabet Pronunciation

Vowel Letters

Vowels are created by completely opening the vocal tract and allowing air to flow out unobstructed. What determines the sound of a vowel is the position of your tongue within your mouth. To help in this process, you will first develop a physical awareness of your tongue's location in your mouth. In Spanish, vowel sounds account for only five letters but make up over 80% of the actual speed sound you will produce. So it's very important to spend time getting these right, unless you want to keep your Gringo accent ;). The chart here is a Vowel Chart. A vowel chart plots the location of a vowel sound in your mouth. The three vowel sounds on this page are the extremes in Vowel Height and Backness. In other words, the other vowel sounds for a given language are going to occur at some point between these three extremes. You will rely mostly on your ear to do this. But it can help you a great deal by starting on the nearest English vowel and going in the right direction from there.

Do as the speaker in the audio file and alternate back and forth out loud to yourself: EEEE! -> UUUU! -> AAAA! -> UUUU! -> EEEE! -> UUUU! etc. Look at at the chart and try to create a mental connection between the visual directions on the chart and your tongue movement in the mouth.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Vowel-Extremes.mp3

There are three unique features which make the vowel sounds distinctively .

1. The tongue positions are more extreme

2. Vowels sound crisper, shorter in length

3. Vowels sound the same regardless of location in a word

Since we all speak our native languages without thinking about the movements in our mouth, you probably can't feel what direction your tongue is moving when you speak. That's why the first steps to improving spanish pronunciation is developing an awareness and control over your tongue's movement. Let's start by examining the vowels in more detail.

Fixed Vowels

The A vowel is towards the bottom-back part of our mouth. For this, our tongue needs to come further down and further

forward than in English.

This sound is slightly more open (tongue lower in mouth) and frontal (tongue closer to teeth) than the vowel sound in the American English words This audio compares the English and Spanish Pronunciation of the name "Ana." Mimic my pronunciation so that you can feel the difference. jot, poppa, Ana . It's common for people to have the tendency to close this vowel (as explained in the next section). So be sure to always exaggerate its openness by lowering your jaw as much as possible when saying this sound. Try to exaggerate and lower your jaw as much as possible when creating the A vowel.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/a-vowel.mp3

This sound is more open (tongue lower in mouth) than the vowel sound in the English words Typically, the hey, bay, say, lays.

E vowel in the words hey, bay, say, lay glide up near the I vowel. This does NOT occur in Spanish (as explained in the next section). The audio compares the English and Spanish pronunciation of the words "se" and "sed." Notice the movement with the English "say" and "said." Mimic my pronunciation so that you can feel the difference. Remember to keep your E vowel short and crisp.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/e-vowel.mp3

This sound has the exact same tongue position as the vowel sound in the English words . Typically, it is shorter see, knee, he, she in length than in English. The audio example below reviews this vowel sound then compares the pronunciations of the English word "see" and the word "sí." Remember to keep your I vowel short and crisp. It helps to smile wide when creating this I vowel.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/i-vowel-1.mp3

This sound is more open (tongue lower in mouth) than the vowel sound in the English words no, so, go, toe. When this sound occurs in English, it glides towards the U vowel forming a diphthong. This does NOT happen in Spanish. The English version is also rounded, meaning you will curl your lips at the end of the sound. Rounding does NOT occur in Spanish. The audio compares the English and Spanish pronunciation of the word "no." Mimic my pronunciation so that you can feel the difference. Remember to keep this O vowel short and relax your lips (do not round them).

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/o-vowel.mp3

The U vowel has the exact same tongue position as the vowel sound in the English words who, shoe, two, Sue.Listen to the audio example between the words "two" and tú. When native speakers make this sound, it is shorter in length than in English. This sound is usually rounded in English, meaning you will curl your lips at the end of the sound. Rounding does NOT occur in Spanish. Remember to keep this sound short and crisp and keep your lips relaxed to avoid rounding the vowel.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/u-vowel.mp3
Note: The vowel u is silent in 4 cases. Don't sound it in: que, qui, gue, gui
So to review, here are all five vowels of Spanish with the ways we tend to pronounce them in English.

For vowel pairs, the same rule applies for each letter in the alphabet. They do not change at all depending on where they are in a word and will always be the same. When spoken at normal speeds, some movement vowel pairs will be spoken so that they will blend together to make a W sound. For instance, fuiste becomes "fwi-ste" and bueno becomes "bwe-no." As a general rule of thumb, remember to keep these movement vowel pairs short and crisp. Use the list below to identify the movement vowel pairs in the words for numbers one through ten.
Closing/Reducing Vowels
A, O and E are more open than in English. This means that your tongue is lower and further back to the extremes of your mouth. Because of this, you'll tend to close these vowels. To reverse this tendency, exaggerate the physical openness of your mouth for these vowels. It will seem silly at first, but it will become more natural with practice.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/English-Vowel-Reduction-Example.mp3
Gliding/Diphthongizing Vowels
In English, diphthongizing is a fancy word meaning we add an additional vowel at the end of words as we close our mouths. For O we glide it near to U as in the word "hello!" (He-lo->u). For E we glide near to I as in the word "Hey!" (He->i). This does not happen in Spanish. These sounds are short and sweet with no additional vowels added on the end. The audio below demonstrates.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/E-diphthong-example.mp3 https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/O-diphthong-example.mp3
Rounding Vowels
When English speakers say the vowels U and O, they tend to curl their lips in at the end which alters the sound. In Spanish, there is no rounding so your lips should never curl like this. To avoid doing this, you will want to keep these vowels short and crisp. Imitate the audio and try to build an awareness of this lip motion.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/vowel-rounding-examples.mp3

Again, these five tendencies will account for 80% of your pronunciation errors. Develop an awareness of them now and you can drop them from your speech patterns quickly. Be sure to return this page regularly as you improve your pronunciation.

Consonant Letters

Unlike vowel sounds, you create consonant sounds by blocking air from coming out of your mouth. In this section, we'll review some important differences between English and Spanish consonants.

Spanish Consonants Chart

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Baca-Vaca.mp3

For this letter, there is a soft and a strong sound. It sounds like a K (hard) next to the vowels A, O and U (ban co , capital ). It sounds like an S (soft) when next to the letter E and I (cir ca , Mar ce llo, gra ci as).

In many parts of Spain, the soft C sounds like TH in the English word "thick." So "gracias" (thank you) becomes "gra-theas."

Similar to the CH sounds in the English words "cheese" and "chocolate."

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/blade-vs-tip.mp3

Exact same as the sound in the English words "fence" and "effect."

There is a soft sound and strong sound G. In general, soft (like English H) sound when before E or I (i.e. gente, general). In other cases, hard G sound is identical to the English sound (i.e., gato).

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/g-word-list.mp3

Always silent except for when you see the letter c next to it like in the word "chocolate."

This letter sounds close to the English H sound, but it varies in softness or hardness depending on the country (a hard version of this would be the sound of Darth Vader breathing or the hissing of a cat) like in words "mu j er" and "o j o." Listen below and try to imitate my speech.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/The-Voiceless-Velar-Fricative.mp3

Most people say this character is pronounced the same as it usually would be in English. But English actually has two "L" sounds: the "dark L" and the "true L." In Spanish, there is only the "True L." A common tendency for English speakers is to use both as if they were speaking English.

Some tips for this consonant:

Keep the same speed when going up and down (la/al, li/il)

Exaggerate by having your jaw as low as possible

Give more love to the consonant, dwell on the L sound

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/l-new.mp3
LL (doble ele) - pollo, allí

In general, this "double-l" is associated with the Y sound in the English word "yes." Certain dialects in Latin-America will make this sound more like the letter S in the English word "vision." A well-known example is the Antioquian Colombian accent. This consonant is important to pay attention to in order to sound more authentic.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/colombian-ll.mp3

M (eme) - mala, mamá

Pronounced similar to the English words "map" and "melt."

In the beginning of words, make this sound exactly the same as in English (noche, nada). Before the letters C and G, N becomes like NG as exists in English words "walking" or "ink." In the middle of words and when next to a vowel, it is pronounced with the blade of the tongue like T or D in Spanish (see above).

Note that in the third case, native speakers are actually using the blade of their tongue rather than the tip to create this sound. This is because combining certain sounds together (i.e., an-tes) is impossible to do with any kind of real speed unless you do it with the blade of your tongue. The acoustic differences between these sounds is small, but the physiological effects are huge.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ngnan.mp3
Letter Ñ (eñe) - piña, mañana, año
The diacritical mark over this letter is called a tilde. It is not used with any other letters in Spanish. It sounds like the "ni" in "onion. This creates the "n-y-ah" "n-y-oh" "n-y-eh" sound which is common in all words with the letter ñ.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/nya-word-list2.mp3

Pronounced the same as if it were spoken as the English words "please" and "poor."

Q (ku) - qué, quizas

This letter is silent if is next to the letter U and sounds like a K next to the letter E and I.

The letter S is more or less the same as you would pronounce in English. However, in some dialects the S sound is often dropped or replaced by an H sound, allowing people to talk more quickly.

People sometimes find it difficult to understand Caribbean (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, etc.) varieties. It is not that difficult to process, once you tune your ear to it.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Dialectal-S-drop.mp3

W (doble ve) - whiski, fuiste

This letter only appears in words of foreign origin. However, native speakers will sometimes say moving pairs of vowels quickly, resulting in a blended sound of W rather than an isolated two sounds (i.e., "fui" -> fwee).

X is usually pronounced like the English KS sound when between vowels.

You say the letter Y just like you would say the word "yes" in English.

Technically there is no Z sound in Spanish, so this letter is always replaced with an S sound like in the English word "salt." In parts of Spain, Z is replaced with a sound similar to TH in English (i.e., zapato becomes "tha-pa-to").

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/spanish-z-rep-sounds.mp3

The most difficult movements to master are the Rhotic (Spanish R) consonants. This sound does indeed exist in some dialects of English, but with limited usage. As a Spanish learner, you may have a strong tendency as an English speaker to replace the Spanish / ɾ/ with the English /ɹ/ sound. Even more important, they are also one of the most common speech sounds in the language. As you saw in the vowel section, English speakers already have a tendency to "R-Color" in between vowel sounds as well. Doing this wrong is perhaps the biggest giveaway of whether you have a bad accent. Acoustically, the English /ɹ/ sound is completely different from the Spanish R / ɾ /. Yet this is still the most common pronunciation error that English speakers make. Persist in saying the English 'r' in your Spanish, and you will NEVER achieve Spanish fluency.

How do I roll my R's?

There are actually TWO distinct sounds in Spanish pronunciation patterns that people refer to as "The Spanish R." Referring to it as an 'r' may make people think that it has some relationship to the 'r' sounds of other languages like English and French, but these sounds are completely different.

This is actually a very common sound in English. We actually replace the T and D sounds with this sound when we talk fast, like in the words "butter" and "better."

In the recording below, I say the phrase "Got to eat a matador" two times. The first time I say it slowly and enunciated, the second time I say it quickly and naturally. If you can't the alveolar tap sound yet, replace it with a fast D. In other words, the Spanish R is just a really fast D sound.

https://www.mimicmethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/gotta-eat-a-matador.mp3

If you can't yet make the sound yet, replace it with your fastest /d/. In the recording below, I demonstrate how to do this by saying some Spanish words with a fast /d/.

If you replace your alveolar taps with fast D sounds, your mouth and ear will eventually fall into place and start creating the alveolar tap naturally. In the recording below, I demonstrate this by repeating the syllable "da" several times slowly, then gradually building speed. By the end of the recording, my tongue is moving too fast to make the D sound, so I am effectively saying "&a".

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Most of the time, you can replace the trill (rr) with a tap (r) and you'll be fine. Of course, I strongly encourage you to strengthen that sound since it can be tricky to use in Spanish at normal speed.

This covers all of the consonant letters in the Spanish alphabet. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we need to ultimately look behind the letters on paper and figure out the actual sound they represent. Use the chart below to see how these sounds appear in both English and Spanish speech.

Intonation

How Intonation Works

Intonation has to do with the emphasis or stress of some syllables or words over others. If we keep the rhythm and phonemes the same for a phrase, a change in intonation will result in a change in meaning.

In the English phrase, "Great, we're having steak for dinner again" I seem to be expressing a genuine feeling of excitement, but with a different tone it seems sarcastic and perhaps suggestive of the exact opposite meaning.

Most language programs focus exclusively on vocabulary and grammar and completely overlook the question of intonation. As a result, most language-learners maintain their native intonation patterns when speaking a foreign language.

Intonation is the most characteristic element of an accent That's why when people make fun of accents, they tend to exaggerate the intonation more than anything else.

I know many adults are embarrassed about speaking with a foreign intonation. Our personalities are closely linked to the intonation patterns of our voice, so completely changing them requires stepping out of our comfort zone. You might feel "silly" stepping our of your comfort zone and sounding like someone else, but trust that you will look even sillier if you don't.

Spanish Intonation Patterns

Spanish Pronunciation: The Conclusion

Like we said earlier, becoming aware of these nuances is the first step towards fluency. And that prompts the question: Why do you want to learn Spanish in the first place?

At The Mimic Method, we teach that the goal of learning a language is to connect with people and cultures. So that's why we make the first step to learning a language about learning what the people actually sound like so you can sound like them, too.

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Spanish Pronunciation: The Ultimate Guide | The Mimic Meth

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Most Spanish pronunciation guides are really only about pronunciation rules for the language. They tend to fall short of teaching you how to actually hear and pronounce said sounds. Here at The Mimic Method, we think this latter part is even more important than just recognizing the location of a sound in word spelling.

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Capítulo 2 - Pronunciación es diferente en una lengua dependiente de donde estés 

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Capítulo 2 - Pronunciación es diferente en una lengua dependiente de donde estés 

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Este es un video con un hombre muy extrovertido y energético. Él habla de los dialectos diferentes de español que ocurren in países diferentes en todo el mundo. El verano pasado, viajé a España para estudiar español, y el español que aprendí allí (español de España) era muy diferente que el español que aprendí aquí (español de Latinoamérica). Para mí, este elemento me recordó de los memorias de España y estaba aprendido español allí.

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Este elemento es un artículo sobre un idioma, "Taa" o "!Xoon", que habla en Botswana y Namibia. Taa tiene sobre 164 consonantes y 44 vocales, mientras que inglés tiene solamente 45 sonidos. Hay cinco tipos de "clicks" en esta lengua, y cada tiene un símbolo y una fonética distinto. Combinaciones con los "clicks" y los símbolos crean un lengua muy interesante y que tiene dificultad para aprender para los nativos y los extranjeros.

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What in the World

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Speakers of Khoisan languages, like the San people in Namibia, use click consonants, packing a lot of information into brief words. Credit Credit Eric Lafforgue/Gamma-Rapho, via Getty Images

Taa, also known as !Xoon, is part of the Khoisan language group, spoken in the Kalahari Desert and hardly anywhere else. All Khoisan languages use click consonants, which were featured in the hit 1980 film " The Gods Must Be Crazy."

The five click types in !Xoon are the dental click (written with the symbol ǀ), which is something like the tut-tut sound English speakers make; the alveolar click (written ǃ), made with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge); the palatal click (ǂ), made with a flat tongue broadly placed on the palate; the lateral click (ǁ), like the sound equestrians use to communicate with horses; and the rarest click of all in the Khoisan languages, the bilabial click (ʘ), made with both lips.

Combining these basic click types with other sounds yields about 43 distinct click consonants.

"Once clicks, which are difficult to produce in articulatory terms, are integrated in the sound system, and speakers are accustomed to utter them frequently, they are ideal speech sounds with very distinctive acoustic properties," said Christfried Naumann, a linguistics researcher at Humboldt University in Berlin.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A7 of the New York edition with the headline: For Range Of Sounds, 1 Language Is the Victor. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Which Language Uses the Most Sounds? Click 5 Times for the Answer

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What in the World Taa, also known as !Xoon, is part of the Khoisan language group, spoken in the Kalahari Desert and hardly anywhere else. All Khoisan languages use click consonants, which were featured in the hit 1980 film " The Gods Must Be Crazy."

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Qué idioma se hablaba más común en la Península Ibérica en el siglo XI?

a. portugués
b. inglés
c. castellano
d. arabic

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Este elemento es un video de Ted Talk. Es muy interesante y provee conocimiento sobre las mentes de niños y adultos. Yo elegí este elemento para este capítulo porque está relacionada a la pregunta del libro, "Is it too late for me to learn Spanish?" Claro, los bebes tienen más tiempo y horas en contacto de la lengua, pero los adultos pueden aprender una lengua nueva a algunas edades. Es muy importante para mi porque no soy una hispanohablante nativa, pero quería ser un buen hablante de español.

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Why We Struggle Learning Languages | Gabriel Wyner | TEDxNewBedford

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Que es afasia transiente?
a. Cuando una persona no puede movar
b. Una sociedad de linguistica
c. Una lengua
d. Cuando una persona no puede hablar por una periodo temporal

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Capítulo 1 - Sociedad linguística de America

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Capítulo 1 - Sociedad linguística de America

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Este elemento es un artículo del 'Linguistic Society of America' y habla sobre como niños aprenden un idioma de una sociedad. El miércoles, nosotros miramos un video de TED Talk en clase que hablaba sobre como niños usan estadísticos y son oyentes atados de lenguas, y este artículo habla sobre la adquisición de lenguaje como el TED Talk en clase.

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How do children acquire language? Do parents teach their children to talk?

No. Children acquire language quickly, easily, and without effort or formal teaching. It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not.

Although parents or other caretakers don't teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role by talking to their children. Children who are never spoken to will not acquire language. And the language must be used for interaction with the child; for example, a child who regularly hears language on the TV or radio but nowhere else will not learn to talk.

Children acquire language through interaction - not only with their parents and other adults, but also with other children. All normal children who grow up in normal households, surrounded by conversation, will acquire the language that is being used around them. And it is just as easy for a child to acquire two or more languages at the same time, as long as they are regularly interacting with speakers of those languages.

The special way in which many adults speak to small children also helps them to acquire language. Studies show that the 'baby talk' that adults naturally use with infants and toddlers tends to always be just a bit ahead of the level of the child's own language development, as though pulling the child along. This 'baby talk' has simpler vocabulary and sentence structure than adult language, exaggerated intonation and sounds, and lots of repetition and questions. All of these features help the child to sort out the meanings, sounds, and sentence patterns of his or her language.

When do children learn to talk?

There is no one point at which a child learns to talk. By the time the child first utters a single meaningful word, he or she has already spent many months playing around with the sounds and intonations of language and connecting words with meanings. Children acquire language in stages, and different children reach the various stages at different times. The order in which these stages are reached, however, is virtually always the same.

The first sounds a baby makes are the sounds of crying. Then, around six weeks of age, the baby will begin making vowel sounds, starting with aah, ee, and ooh. At about six months, the baby starts to produce strings of consonant-vowel pairs like boo and da. In this stage, the child is playing around with the sounds of speech and sorting out the sounds that are important for making words in his or her language from the sounds that aren't. Many parents hear a child in this stage produce a combination like "mama" or "dada" and excitedly declare that the child has uttered his or her first word, even though the child probably didn't attach any meaning to the 'word'.

Somewhere around age one or one and a half, the child will actually begin to utter single words with meaning. These are always 'content' words like cookie, doggie, run,and see - never 'function' words like and, the, and of. Around the age of two, the child will begin putting two words together to make 'sentences' like doggie run. A little later on, the child may produce longer sentences that lack function words, such as big doggie run fast. At this point all that's left to add are the function words, some different sentence forms (like the passive), and the more complex sound combinations (like str). By the time the child enters kindergarten, he or she will have acquired the vast majority of the rules and sounds of the language. After this, it's just a matter of combining the different sentence types in new ways and adding new words to his or her vocabulary.

Why did my daughter say feet correctly for a while, and then go back to calling them foots?

Actually, she hasn't 'gone back' at all; she's gone forward. When she used the word feet as a toddler, she was just imitating what she had heard. But now she has learned a rule for making plurals, which is that you add the s sound to the end of the word. So she's just applying her new rule to all nouns - even the exceptions to the rule, like foot/feet. She'll probably do the same thing when she learns to add ed to verbs to make the past tense, saying things like he standed up until she learns that stand/stood is an exception to the rule. She'll sort it all out eventually, but for now, rest assured that this is progress; it's evidence that she's going beyond imitation and actually learning the rules of the English language.

How can a child who can't even tie her own shoes master a system as complex as the English language?

Although the 'baby talk' that parents use with small children may help them to acquire language, many linguists believe that this still cannot explain how infants and toddlers can acquire such a complicated system so easily.

It's far easier for a child to acquire language as an infant and toddler than it will be for the same child to learn, say, French in a college classroom 18 years later. Many linguists now say that a newborn's brain is already programmed to learn language, and in fact that when a baby is born he or she already instinctively knows a lot about language. This means that it's as natural for a human being to talk as it is for a bird to sing or for a spider to spin a web. In this sense, language may be like walking: The ability to walk is genetic, and children develop the ability to walk whether or not anybody tries to teach them to do so. In the same way, children develop the ability to talk whether or not anybody tries to teach them. For this reason, many linguists believe that language ability is genetic. Researchers believe there may be a 'critical period' (lasting roughly from infancy until puberty) during which language acquisition is effortless. According to these researchers, changes occur in the structure of the brain during puberty, and after that it is much harder to learn a new language.

Linguists have become deeply interested in finding out what all 5,000 or so of the world's languages have in common, because this may tell us what kinds of knowledge about language are actually innate. For example, it appears that all languages use the vowel sounds aah, ee, and ooh - the same vowel sounds a baby produces first. By studying languages from all over the world, linguists hope to find out what properties all languages have in common, and whether those properties are somehow hard-wired into the human brain. If it's true that babies are born with a lot of language knowledge built in, that will help to explain how it's possible for a very small child - with no teaching, and regardless of intelligence level - to quickly and easily acquire a system of language so complex that no other animal or machine has ever mastered it.

For further information

Pecchi, Jean Stillwell. 1994. Child Language. London: Routedge.

Pinker, Steven. 1994. The Language instinct. New York: W.W.Morrow.

"Playing the Language Game." Program Two: Acquiring the Human Language. The Human Language Series. Videocassette. New York: Equinox Films, 1995.

Smith, Neil. 1989. The Twitter Machine: Reflections on Language. Oxford: Blackwell.

FAQ by: Betty Birner
Download this document as a pdf.
Interested in more on this topic? Check out Language in Children and more books from LSA here.

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No. Children acquire language quickly, easily, and without effort or formal teaching. It happens automatically, whether their parents try to teach them or not. Although parents or other caretakers don't teach their children to speak, they do perform an important role by talking to their children.

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Capítulo 1 - La adquisición de lenguajes 

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Capítulo 1 - La adquisición de lenguajes 

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En este elemento, del sito de web Khan Academy, es una descripción de los sistemas de aprender las lenguas. Soy una estudiante de biología porque quería ser una doctora, y ahora estoy estudiando por mi examen para ir a la escuela de medicina después de mi licentura. Yo uso esto sito para estudiar por mi MCAT. Este tema es muy interesante para mi porque es el biología de lenguajes. Elegí este artículo para este capítulo porque en el libro de clase, hay texto sobre maneras para aprender lenguas.

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What is language?

Language is the primary method of human communication, but there are also other ways to communicate without the use of language. When asked to define language we tend to think of a verbal and written system in which certain sounds and symbols come together in a specific way to convey meaning. Language in its most complex form is unique to humans, although some animals have been found to have basic communication patterns. Languages often have verbal and written components, but how we classify something like American Sign Language? Animals manage to communicate - do they have language? How did language evolve? How do we learn enough language ourselves to begin to answer this question?

Why is it so surprising that we can learn language?

If you've ever tried to learn a new language, you know it's not easy. There are new rules of grammar which come with many exceptions, new sounds that are hard to make, endless lists of vocabulary to commit to memory and so on. And yet, you managed to learn the basics of your very first language around the time you were two years old; no textbooks in sight.

Not only are children able to absorb the complicated rules of grammar without formal teaching, they do so from a limited vocabulary. Regardless of how much a child is spoken to, they will not hear every possible word and sentence by the time they begin speaking. Yet when they do start to talk, children begin to follow grammatical rules and apply them to form new, innovative phrases. This level of information processing is incredibly impressive in anyone, much less someone still figuring out counting and skipping!

What do we know?

As is often the case in psychology and sociology, it's hard to get what we normally think of as data about language acquisition. It's not a chemical we can test for or a distance we can measure (imagine asking a 2 year old how many words they know - not a particularly useful or productive task, right? ). However, there are some facts that are generally agreed upon by the scientific community. The first couple years of life are the critical period for language learning, which becomes a much harder task as people age. Children usually say their first words around 10-18 months of age, and graduate to phrases sometime before they are two years old. In fact, studies have shown that 18 month olds can tell the difference between correctly formed verb pairs (is jumping) and incorrect ones (will jumping). Somewhere between four and seven years old children begin to be able to tell stories that more or less make sense.

We also know that learning a language is not like walking up the steady increase of a ramp, but more like walking the hills and valleys of a country road. Usually when we learn a new skill, the more we practice the better we get. However, this isn't always true in the early stages of language development. When children are first learning to talk, the verbs they use are usually the most common such as go, eat, talk, give, run, etc. These are often irregular in the past tense. Although at first they use the past tense properly ("I ran", "he went", etc), kids typically regress for a while. They often over-follow rules, saying phrases like "I runned" instead of "I ran". As their vocabularies expand rapidly (known as vocabulary burst), some researchers believe children notice patterns in language, and that leads to over-correction as described in the example above. Eventually, children begin to understand where the rules apply and where they don't, and then properly form the past tense once more. This is known as a U shaped learning curve, because the language mastery started high, dropped for a period of time, and then improved again. Thus, there appears to be a mimicking (copying) phase first and then a time of broad generalizations before children settle into language.

What are the major theories about language acquisition?

The most well-known theory about language acquisition is the nativist theory, which suggests that we are born with something in our genes that allows us to learn language. It proposes that there is a theoretical language acquisition device (LAD) somewhere in our brains that is responsible for learning a language the same way the hypothalamus is responsible for maintaining your body temperature. If language was partly biological, it could explain why humans seem to have far more complicated communication patterns than any other species .

Although no physical "language organ" exists in the brain, language acquisition can be hampered if certain parts of the brain are damaged during critical periods of language development. Damage to the left hemisphere, for example can lead to aphasia - a disorder which causes problems with language, while leaving intelligence untouched. For example, in Wernicke's aphasia, patients with damage in a certain region of the brain can no longer understand language. Although they can still form normal sentences, neither what they say nor the words of others make any sense to them. Patients with Broca's aphasia on the other hand, have problems forming language but no trouble understanding what is said to them. Studies have shown that young children with damage in similar regions of the brain can actually grow up with only slightly impaired language ability - implying that the brain can develop new language pathways that are good, but not quite as good as the original (Reilly, 1998).

Nativist theory also suggests that there is a universal grammar that is shared across differing languages, because this grammar is part of our genetic make-up. The majority of world languages have verbs and nouns, although this is not true in every instance, as well as similar ways to structure thoughts. Language is thought of as having a finite amount of rules from which we can build an infinite amount of phrases, and the core of these rules is somehow programmed into our brains. This is an ideal theory for explaining how young children can learn such complicated ideas so quickly, or why there are so many similarities in language around the world. This theory is comparable to how we think of numbers; regardless of cultural background, math always works the same way.

Another way to look at language learning is to treat it like learning a new skill. The learning theory of language acquisition suggests that children learn a language much like they learn to tie their shoes or how to count; through repetition and reinforcement. When babies first learn to babble, parents and guardians smile, coo, and hug them for this behavior. As they grow older, children are praised for speaking properly and corrected when they misspeak. Thus, language arises from stimuli and stimuli response. While this is logical, it fails to explain how new words or phrases come about, since children are only parroting the things they have heard from others.

The interactionist approach (sociocultural theory) combines ideas from sociology and biology to explain how language is developed. According to this theory, children learn language out of a desire to communicate with the world around them. Language emerges from, and is dependent upon, social interaction. The Interactionist approach claims that if our language ability develops out of a desire to communicate, then language is dependent upon whom we want to communicate with. This means the environment you grow up in will heavily affect how well and how quickly you learn to talk. For example, infants being raised by only their mother are more likely to learn the word "mama", and less likely to develop "dada". Among the first words we learn are ways to demand attention or food. If you've ever tried to learn a new language, you may recognize this theory's influence. Language classes often teach commonly used vocabulary and phrases first, and then focus on building conversations rather than simple rote memorization. Even when we expand our vocabularies in our native language, we remember the words we use the most.

It's important to keep in mind that theories of language acquisition are just ideas created by researchers to explain their observations. How accurate these theories are to the real world is debatable. Language acquisition is a complicated process influenced by the genetics of an individual as well as the environment they live in.

How do scientists today study language learning?

Many of these theories initially came about as a result of what is called "armchair psychology"; that is, sitting and thinking about a problem. It is extremely difficult to collect objective and accurate data on what's going on in the brain in terms of its direct relationship to a behavior such as language. That said, some computational models of language acquisition have been gaining traction in the past several decades. A computational model is a mathematical way to recreate complicated systems we see everyday; from how water flows in a river, to how children learn languages. The model is built to represent the way we think something happens. For example, in the model of the learning theory approach, a word would be learned faster if it came up a lot or the subject received a lot of input about it. Then, linguists change how different variables work to see what affect that would have on the system. If the model behaves and "learns" the same way that we do, it's a good sign that the model is on the right track. These models have helped to identify and measure linguistical features such as the critical period for language learning, the vocabulary burst, and the U-shaped learning mentioned earlier.

New brain imaging technology, such as MRIs and fMRIs have also allowed scientists to look at the brains of children and patients with language-acquisition disorders to understand this complicated event. An fMRI can track where and when our brains use energy. If a certain part of your brain lights up while you're learning a language, that part of your brain is using energy, and in this context might be related to language-acquisition. Of course we learn over time and not all at once, so there is a limit to what we can learn via imaging which represents the brain in a single moment.

While we still have a ways to go before we completely understand how we learn a language, we definitely know enough to know that it's a pretty incredible feat. So give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back and just remember that the phrase "it's so easy, a child could do it!" doesn't always apply.

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Theories of the early stages of language acquisition (article) | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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A mí, me interesa el tema de la memoria y como funciona el celebro. Es interesante porque hay personas que pueden recordar y hablar con todas las palabras y experiencias, pero hay personas que no pueden hablar cuando ellos podían hablar en el pasado. Este artículo habla sobre una tiempo cuando las personas no pueden hablar por un pequeño periódico, se llama afasia transitoria, "transient aphasia."

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It's an unnerving experience to lose your ability to communicate, but it's not that uncommon. Aphasia can occur anytime the speech center of your brain is obstructed in some way. Permanent aphasia is the result of brain damage, while transient aphasia can be caused by any number of fleeting environmental conditions. Although most cases of transient aphasia are not serious, temporary aphasia sometimes suggests an underlying health problem.

Transient Aphasia Symptoms

Aphasia can affect your ability to use verbal or nonverbal communication. It can affect your comprehension of both. Depending on the underlying cause, the effects can be mild or severe. Someone with aphasia may struggle to read, write, speak, and understand others. It's also common to experience a loss of feeling in the left side of the body, reflecting the side of the brain involved with speech.

Transient aphasia symptoms include speaking in short phrases, using sentences which only make sense to the speaker, using incorrect words or nonsense words, and using words in an incorrect order. Someone suffering from aphasia may misunderstand figurative language or have particular difficultly with fast-paced speech. But it's important to understand transient aphasia doesn't impair intelligence, only the ability to communicate.

Causes of Temporary Aphasia

A severe migraine can cause you to temporarily lose half of your vision. That's because the human brain is like an electrical circuit. Disrupting the brain's circuitry can produce any number of effects, including temporary loss of vision and temporary aphasia. Although most cases of temporary aphasia are the result of migraines, aphasia can be caused by any number of things that create electrical interference in the brain.

For example, another cause of temporary aphasia is a transient ischemic attack. Sometimes called a mini-stoke, TIA describes when blood becomes blocked to a part of the brain for several minutes. The short duration of the attack means damage is unlikely, but TIA can be a warning sign of a more serious problem. Suffering from a transient ischemic attack means you're at much greater risk of stroke, which is the most common preventable cause of permanent aphasia.

Temporary aphasia can also be caused by an extradural abscess, which is an infection causing pressure on the speech center of the brain. Even seizures produce electrical interference, causing temporary aphasia.

And otherwise healthy individuals can experience aphasia. Transient expressive aphasia is a special form of aphasia that can occur when someone travels to a high altitude. When our bodies are not acclimated to breathing at higher altitudes, breathing lower levels of oxygen in the air can create an electrical disruption in the brain. The result is usually a fairly mild form of temporary aphasia.

Treating Temporary Aphasia

Depending on the source and severity of the temporary aphasia, it may not require treatment. For people who do require treatment, antiepileptic medications are sometimes prescribed as a preventative measure. People who suffer from migraine aphasia can sometimes seek relief with Botox injections.

If you or a loved one experience bouts of temporary aphasia, consider carrying a card explaining the condition. It may also be useful to have a pad and pencil if reading and writing skills are unaffected. Depending on how frequently temporary aphasia occurs, diagnostic procedures may be necessary to look for an underlying cause, like infection. In other words, be sure to keep tabs on how often temporary aphasia occurs, and then keep your doctor in-the-know when it happens.

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Transient Aphasia: Causes of Temporary Aphasia

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It's an unnerving experience to lose your ability to communicate, but it's not that uncommon. Aphasia can occur anytime the speech center of your brain is obstructed in some way. Permanent aphasia is the result of brain damage, while transient aphasia can be caused by any number of fleeting environmental conditions.