Spanish http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/categories/spanish/feed.rss Wed, 22 May 13 00:09:29 -0400 Spanish en-CA Spanish Homework: Direct Object - Advanced Unit 1 http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/382/spanish-homework-direct-object-advanced-unit-1 Wed, 01 May 2013 19:00:39 -0400 Anna 382@/community/discussions Hello!

I had one of my students, UWE, asking for some exercises to substitute the direct object in a sentence by the appropriate pronoun. Here are some examples. Highlighted in blue you will find the Direct Object (Objeto Directo). 

-The direct object answers the question "what?" or "whom?" with regard to what the subject of the sentence is doing.

- Compraré la camisa azul    I will buy the blue shirt. 
- What will you buy?  La camisa azul

- Juan come la comida
- Juan la come 
- Juan eats it.

- María tiene el libro
- María lo tiene
- María has it.

If you want to practice how to use the pronouns lo/la/los/las as direct object. end out the answer and we will review

- El chico compra la calculadora.

- La chica ve el edificio.

- Ustedes leen el periódico.

- Juan ama a Marta.

- Nosotros tenemos dos televisores.

Buena suerte con el ejercicio!
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Is limón lemon or lime? http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/383/is-limon-lemon-or-limes Sun, 05 May 2013 19:02:35 -0400 acostello 383@/community/discussions ]]> First conversation in Spanish outside http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/347/first-conversation-in-spanish-outside Fri, 08 Mar 2013 21:37:31 -0500 Carrie 347@/community/discussions a spanish joke http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/305/a-spanish-joke- Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:46:38 -0500 shay 305@/community/discussions un dia un hombre encuentra una chica, ella le pregunta que' haces en tu vida?
e'l le dice trabajo en Hitech.
ella dice cool, que' hace alli?
le contesta tomo la basura.
despues una semana e'l encuentra y habla con otra chica y ella le pregunta a que' te dedicas?
le responde trabajo en microsoft.
ella le dice que lindo, que' hace ahi?
ventanas

one day a person meets a girl and she asks him what do you do for a living?
he tells her i work in hitech. 
she asks cool what do you do there?
he says i take the garbage.
after a week he speaks to another girl and she asks him what do you do for a living?

 he says i work in microsoft
she says sweet what do you do there?
he says windows

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Spanish "d" in puedo pronounced as English "th"??? http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/365/spanish-d-in-puedo-pronounced-as-english-thsss- Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:10:44 -0400 Warthog 365@/community/discussions
But when I listen to pronunciation puedo on CD's,  the Latin American Spanish Platinum, I hear the "d " which comes between two vowels as in puedo, I hear the "d" pronounced like the American "d"! Am I not hearing it correctly?

And when if ever do Latin American Spanish say "th"? .
Thanks,
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Spanish food - Advanced Unit 2 complementary vocabulary http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/375/spanish-food-advanced-unit-2-complementary-vocabulary Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:57:20 -0400 Anna 375@/community/discussions A lot of vocabulary is already covered in Advanced Unit 2  however I'd love to expand this unit with a little bit more of vocabulary and useful expressions:

¡A comer! - Let's eat! 
Estoy hambriento - I am starving
Tengo hambre - I am hungry
carne - Meat
la ternera - Beef
el bistec - steak
la carne de res - Beef 
la hamburguesa de res - beef burguer
el cordero - Lamb
el pollo - Chicken
el jabalí - Boar
el postre - Dessert
pescado - fish
marisco - Sea food
los camarones - Shrimp
las gambas - Shrimp
la langosta - Lobster
las ostras - oysters
los mejillones - mussels
el calamar - squid
el pulpo - octopus
la ensalada - salad
la sopa -  soup
dulce - Sweet (adjective)
salado - Salty (adjective)
agrio - Sour (adjective)

More vocabulary available here: 

¡Se me ha abierto el apetito!



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Useful Expressions for your first eTutor session http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/356/useful-expressions-for-your-first-etutor-session Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:19:46 -0400 Anna 356@/community/discussions
After you complete the materials (for instance Essential Lessons 1 and 2) you will be ready to enroll in your first eTutor session. If you already took an Orientation session, you may know a few useful expressions in Spanish.

Don't worry and don't be shy! Here are a handful of expressions that can be very useful for you and you have them ready in case you need them:

Greetings:
- Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Hello, How are you?
- Yo estoy bien, gracias. ¿Y tú? I am good, thank you. And you?
- Gracias. Thank you

AID:
- Más despacio por favor. Please slow down
- No entiendo. I don´t understand
- Repite por favor. Can you repeat that please?
- Repite otra vez, por favor. Can you repeat one more time please?
- Cómo se dice...? How do you say ... ?
- No lo se. I don't know.
- Un momento, por favor. One moment please.
- Tengo una pregunta. I have a question.

These are some expressions you will hear from your eTutor:
- Escucha. Listen.
- Repite. Repeat.
- Escucha y repite. Listen and repeat.
- Pregúntame. Ask me.
- Pregunta a Juan. Ask Juan (the other student)
- ¡Muy bien! Very good
- ¡Bien! Good

I hope to see you soon!
¡Hasta pronto!
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Essential Spanish lesson 10: me, te, ? http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/345/essential-spanish-lesson-10-me-te-s Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:08:05 -0500 Carrie 345@/community/discussions Delayed Homework Submission - Essential 1 and 2 :P http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/331/delayed-homework-submission-essential-1-and-2-p Wed, 27 Feb 2013 01:29:19 -0500 Mahima 331@/community/discussions During one of our discussions/practice sessions, you had given this homework after a discussion on the use of gustar. I missed answering in time and then the discussion became a little advanced for me. Attempting it now -

Complete the following:
I like Spanish
- Who is liking? Yo
- What's the reflexive pronoun? Me
- What is being liked? Spanish
- What is the conjugation for gustar? Gusta
Full sentence in Spanish: Me gusta espanol
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Questions from Essential Spanish Lessons 3, 4, and 5 http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/332/questions-from-essential-spanish-lessons-3-4-and-5 Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:29:51 -0500 Chase1 332@/community/discussions Hola, tengo mas preguntas :)

 

1) "Ellos viven in la Florida", why is the "la" necessary? Is it necessary? "Mi color favorito es el gris", why the "el"? Same question.

2) Habitacion vs Cuarto........are they the same thing? Is there a difference in usage from Latin America to Spain?

3) What is the difference in nino, chico, and muchacho?

4) Antiguo vs Viejo.......is there a difference?

5) Contento vs Feliz.......any difference?

6) Tranquilo: is this rude to say? Does it mean calm down or be quiet?

7) When is "tambien used"? Is it usually before the verb? Or at the end of the sentence?

8) "Me gusta mucho el precio": Can you also say "Me gusta el precio mucho"? Or does that sound weird in Spanish?

9) "Economico", what exactly does this word mean and in what context is it used?

10) "De que color es", is it also ok to say "Que color es"? Or is the "de" necessary?

11) "HablA mas despacio por favor", can you also say "HablE mas despacio por favor"? Note I just changed the a and the e. If you can say both, what is the difference?

 

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Difference between bien, bueno, buen http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/335/difference-between-bien-bueno-buen Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:15:51 -0500 Carrie 335@/community/discussions Hola!

What are the differences between bien, bueno, and buen?  In what types of cases do you use one or another?]]>
Questions from Essential Spanish Lessons 1 and 2 http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/330/questions-from-essential-spanish-lessons-1-and-2 Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:58:58 -0500 Chase1 330@/community/discussions Hola, I had a few questions that came up when I was going through both of these lessons. If anyone could answer some or all of them, it would be greatly appreciated.

1) Is it really necessary to say "Yo" before a verb? As in "Yo necesito"? Is it necessary to ever say el, or nosotros,  etc. before a verb since the verb explains who it is talking about?

2) "Habla usted ingles?" Is usted necessary? Would I ever need to use it? Or is "Habla ingles?" ok?

3) When should I use the formal and informal tense? Is formal really used that often in real life? Would it seem weird to use it to someone who is around my age?

4) Saludos vs Hola......what is the difference and when would one be used over the other?

5) Encantado vs mucho gusto.....any difference?

6) Que tal vs que pasa......any difference?

7) What time should I start using noche instead of tarde?

8) "La Senora Martinez".......I saw this written in the book. Why the "la" before Senora?

 

 

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the price of formal education? http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/318/the-price-of-formal-educations Sat, 09 Feb 2013 12:06:48 -0500 shay 318@/community/discussions in the educational system we learn the language in a very dry way just like science is taught to us.
there are a lot of a reading and answering parts,grammer knowledge, a lot of mishmash subjects with vocabulary memorization lists.
students have a lack of speaking and listening skills cause they don`t speak and hear the language and learn step by step.   

the mind works in a way of installing and price processing the date and developing skils.

what pice do we pay for learning in this way and what living language improves and adds to our learning process?

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Spanish Advanced Unit 1 - Exercise: Pronouns http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/325/spanish-advanced-unit-1-exercise-pronouns Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:16:06 -0500 Anna 325@/community/discussions
Yesterday two students were taking the Advanced Unit 1 e-tutor session and we practiced an exercise substituting the direct object* in a sentence using the proper pronoun.

See example below:
Direct object(Tú) llevas el libroYou take/carry the book
Direct object  (Tú) lo llevasYou take/carry it
* Direct object: The noun or noun phrase that a verb is directly acting upon, for example "the watch" in "Jimmy looked at the watch"

If you reached Living Language Advanced Unit 1, here you will find an exercise to master your direct object pronouns in Spanish. Please substitute the
direct object for the correct pronoun. Feel free to send your answers to the Forum to be reviewed.

1. Ella rompe la silla.  (She broke the chair)
2. Él interrumpe la fiesta. (He interrupted the party)
3. Nosotros compramos limones. (We buy lemons)
4. Carlos escucha programas de radio. (Carlos listens to radio shows)
5. Sólo tú sabes la verdad. (Only you know the truth)
6.
Ellos tienen miedo. (They are scared  - Lit. They have fear)
7.
La abuela padecía una enfermedad. (Grandma suffered from an illness)
8.
Dame las llaves (Give me the keys)
9. Mi jefe gana mucho dinero (My boss makes a lot of money)
10.
Ella no sabe qué hacer (She does not know what to do)

Good luck with the exercise!


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using the preposition a http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/272/using-the-preposition-a Mon, 17 Dec 2012 03:34:46 -0500 shay 272@/community/discussions Yo compro a Daniela
Yo amo a daniela

In the first phrase i used a as a replacment for por/para and a always comes after the verb. Can it be used without coming after a verb and replace the word para/por
Yo voy a viajar a francia a verte
And not say voy a viajar a francia para/por verte

Also do we not use a after posesivos?
Like on the phrase
Él busca una persona para cuidar su apartamento.
And not Él busca una persona para cuidar a su apartamento.
I wad thaught that the first option is a grammer mistake]]>
grammer question http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/311/grammer-question Thu, 31 Jan 2013 02:08:09 -0500 shay 311@/community/discussions why we use a before the verbs and not just the infinitive so it will be lavarla,acariciarla,darla.
and why darla de comer and not darla a comer cause i am doing the action on the dog and de doesn`t come built in after dar like it is with the verb dejar.
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aqui, alli, aca, alla, ahi http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/313/aqui-alli-aca-alla-ahi Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:54:36 -0500 uwe 313@/community/discussions Favor de explicar ¿Qué (cual?) es la diferencia
entre aquí, allí, acá, allá y ahí? Muchas gracias, Uwe]]>
¡Bienvenidos a todos! http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/16/bienvenidos-a-todos Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:20:33 -0400 Enrique 16@/community/discussions
My name is Enrique and I'm one of the Living Language Spanish E-Tutors. Let me tell you a little bit about myself.  My passion for languages started at an early age. I was born in Puerto Rico to Cuban parents. As a child I always found it amusing to hear the differences between variations of the same language. After graduating from New York University, I moved to Madrid, Spain where I got my Master's Degree in Spanish language. I have been teaching for over 15 years. I have been a Living Language contributor for many years as well, having worked on several books and language courses. In other words, teaching languages is my passion and what I love doing!  I am very much looking forward to sharing my enthusiasm for my language. Pero por ahora...  ¡bienvenidos a todos!  (But for now... welcome everyone!)
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soy, yo soy? http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/298/soy-yo-soys Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:01:29 -0500 gkim 298@/community/discussions This might be a silly question but I just started the Beginner's Spanish course and was wondering what the difference was between soy and yo soy. Also, does estoy mean the same thing? Thank you.
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pronunciation http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/307/pronunciation Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:19:06 -0500 Hunter1234 307@/community/discussions When i first started learning spanish in school, we first had to learn our alphabet. My teacher kept saying if you can say it you can spell it. Is that true for other languages like italian and french? is i all phonetics like spanish is or when i move on to italian will i have to learn more than the alphabet to know how to pronounce words?

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questions and negation in spanish http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/301/questions-and-negation-in-spanish Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:05:18 -0500 shay 301@/community/discussions
In spanish there are many options to say things.
A) Ella es para mi
In contraction Es no para mi
In question of inflection
Ella es para mi?
Es para mi?

In common way
Es ella para mi?
Es para mi?
There is a duplication between the inflaction question and the common way of asking.
Now the hardest part is negation

b) Ella no es para mi.
No es para mi.
Inflaction: Ella no es para mi?
No es para mi?
Can we say. Es ella no para mi?
And again we have es no para mi?
Or es no ella para mi? Like the negation scale ella no es but backwards like in a question es ella.
So we will get in contraction
Es no para mi?

I ask cause it is not common to see the form
Es no instead of no es
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Essential lesson 2: when to use indefinite article? http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/294/essential-lesson-2-when-to-use-indefinite-articles Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:53:25 -0500 wolfkouji 294@/community/discussions An example sentence is: Él es abogado. (He is a lawyer). I do not understand why it is not "Él es un abogado"? Especially earlier in the book there is another sentence "Es una familia", and the article is used.
Similarly, why is the first article used in the sentence "La señora Martínez es la madre"? So what is the rule for article usage when talking about persons?
Thank you very much! Gracias!

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Translation http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/296/translation Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:00:45 -0500 Traveler 296@/community/discussions Buenas noches!


I have a friend who is going to visit Nicaragua in a couple of weeks with their church to help build new homes for four families.  They are bringing prayer shawls for each family and have a verse they need translated so they can put them in frames and hang them in the person's home.  Is it possible for someone to translate this?  We don't know anyone who speaks Spanish fluently.  Gracias!


                                             The Knitter's Prayer


May this shawl be for you a sign of God's loving, healing presence.  May it warm when you are weary.  May it surround you with encouragement when you are discouraged.  May it assure you of God's care and comfort when you and your loved ones are troubled.  May it remind you that you are always safe in the arms of Jesus, and that you are surrounded by the prayers of others.

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Question on Lesson 6 flashcard in Essential Spanish http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/289/question-on-lesson-6-flashcard-in-essential-spanish Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:53:27 -0500 Carrie 289@/community/discussions as"?]]> cultural spanish thing: Ladino http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/293/cultural-spanish-thing-ladino Sun, 13 Jan 2013 06:44:18 -0500 shay 293@/community/discussions The lost almost unknown of an old spanish form that was spread and talked all over Europe in small communities was the Ladino or her second name Spanyolit.
In modern Spanish it's called Judeo Español.
Ladino was the language of the Balcan jews in the days of the turkish otman empire after there forefathers were expelled from spain and portugal in the 15 hundreds.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RLqIzWvi_4c]]>
Introduction to accents marks in Spanish http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/292/introduction-to-accents-marks-in-spanish Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:06:54 -0500 Anna 292@/community/discussions The Spanish language is not The one with most accents. There are only two diacritical marks in Spanish! 

- The accent (á, é, í, ó, ú) which we use to mark the stress of the word in some cases

- The umlaut a pair of dots (ü) above a vowel, which is place in the ü when we have to pronounce the u, between the g and the vowels i and e. For instance: pingüino.

 
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¡Feliz Año Nuevo! http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/280/feliz-ano-nuevo Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:43:47 -0500 Anna 280@/community/discussions
In Spain we welcome the New Year eating 12 grapes in 12 seconds! it might sound weird or unbelivable but is a tradition to seat in front of the TV with your family and or friends and watch a clock tower bell to ring 12 times at midnight. According to the tradition to eat the 12 grapes in time brings good luck and prosperity.

Each bell ring is a one bite, one grape. I have never been able to eat mine in time but I swear everyone does.

Check out this funny video for the 12 grape tradition:

¡Feliz y próspero año 2013!

 

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¡Felices Fiestas! Happy Holidays! http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/263/felices-fiestas-happy-holidays Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:04:25 -0500 Anna 263@/community/discussions Are you already writing your Christmas cards and wishing happy holidays to your beloved ones? If your answer is "Sí", you may want to learn how to wish happy holidays and cheers in Spanish as well. I hope you find yourself practicing this greetings this Holiday season:

Happy Holidays!¡Felices Fiestas! [feh-LEE-sehs fee-EHS-tahs] 

Merry Christmas! - ¡Feliz Navidad!   [feh-LEES nah-beeh-DAH]

Happy Hanukkah! - ¡Feliz día de Hanukkah!  [feh-LEE-sehs DEE-ah de Hanukkah]

Happy New Year! - ¡Feliz año nuevo!  [feh-LEES AH-nyo noo-EH-boh]

Peace on Earth! - ¡Paz en la tierra! [pass ehm la tee-EH-rrah]

Cheers! -  ¡Salud! [sah-LOOD]

Good luck for the new year! - ¡Próspero año! [PROS-peh-roh AH-nyo]

There are other words in Spanish that may be useful to know for the Holiday season, specially if you are planning on a little vacation in Central or South America.

feast - festín
gift - regalo
winter - invierno
snow - nieve
presents - regalos
party - fiesta
Christmas tree - árbol de Navidad
candle - vela
snowman - muñeco de nieve
Let's go iceskating! - ¡Vamos a patinar sobre hielo!
Let's build a snowman! - ¡Vamos a hacer un muñeco de nieve!
Let's have a party! - ¡Hagámos una fiesta!

Is there any Holiday vocabulary or sentences that you want to learn? Let us know!
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Online Verb Conjugation Tool http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/273/online-verb-conjugation-tool Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:32:43 -0500 Christopher 273@/community/discussions We like to teach you verb tenses gradually, but once you get a sense for the whole system those big verb conjugation tables like the ones we have in our Grammar Summary can be helpful. There's also this online verb conjugation tool. You can enter a verb, and choose which tenses you'd like to see. Some of the tenses seem to be missing, but the most common ones are there. 

I haven't tested it to see if I could trick it into making a mistake with spelling changes or other irregularities. But, I have entered verbs like fofofofar and mxyplyzyker, which are dutifully conjugated according to the regular rules. (In other words, there's something of a blind algorithm at work, so I wouldn't count on absolute perfection!)


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Do you want some Spanish homework? Essential 1-2 http://www.livinglanguage.com/community/discussion/248/do-you-want-some-spanish-homeworks-essential-1-2 Sat, 17 Nov 2012 23:20:04 -0500 Anna 248@/community/discussions Hello students!

If you finishes lessons 1-2 of Essential you should be able to complete this short homework to practice what you've learnt.

We will practice "there is and there are" (hay) and articles (el/la/los/las). Remember that in Spanish all words have gender and the article and the noun should match (eg. la casa, el apartamento).

Ready?

Complete the following sentences. Please see the translation below each one.

- _____ un hombre en ___________.
- There is a man in the house

- _____ una mujer en _____________.
- There is a woman in the apartment.

- _____ un gato en ______________.
-There is a cat in the window.

- _____ unos libros en ______________.
-There are some books on the table.

- _____ una familia en______________.
-There is a family in the car.

- _____ dos niñas.
-There are two girls.

- _____ una cocina.
- There is a kitchen.

- _____ tres baños.
- There are three bathrooms.

Hay express there is and there are (singular and plural). 

Send me your answers and we will correct them and send more homework!


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