Spanish Teachers at edufire

Frases, refranes, dichos y diretes!

2010-03-20T13:33:00.000-04:00

De tal palo, tal astilla

Nuestra clase de literatura

2010-01-24T23:28:00.005-05:00

As we head into the final week of our literature class, I've been thinking about the work we've looked at.

We started with Máscaras Mexicanas, an essay in El laberinto de la soledad by the brilliant Mexican writer, Octavio Paz. My suggestion. Uh oh. Bad choice. Was the essay out of date? Were we in over our heads? Ni modo, time to move on...

Next we read the short story, Después del almuerzo, by Julio Cortázar of Argentina. Better for us, I think. We were intrigued by the nonspecific 'lo' the narrator speaks of in the story -- did it refer to a person, an object, a pet? Interesting treatment of shame, responsibility, adolescence. This is a writer I want to know more about.

Mario Benedetti of Uruguay was next on the list. His story, La noche de los feos, is a tale of two young people who think of themselves as outcasts because of their appearance but find solace in one another.

El árbol de oro, by the Spanish author Ana María Matute, is written, very convincingly, in the voice of a child; we were shocked by its ghostly conclusion.

Then we chose two stories by the great Colombian, Gabriel García Márquez. The first, Ladrón de sábado, was a sly and clever, although slight tale of two people who find themselves attracted to one another under the most unlikely circumstances.

The second, Sólo vine a hablar por teléfono, tells the story of a young Mexicana, María, living in Spain during Franco's regime. Her car breaks down, she is stranded in the rain, and is grateful when a rundown bus stops to give her a lift. But in this rather macabre and disturbing account, nothing is what it seems... We disagreed about whether Maria's sufferings were the result of deliberate malice; we did agree that prejudice and false assumptions led to enormous misery in this story and that the story itself may be read as a political allegory.

Thanks, Enrique, for teaching this class. And thank you Lauren and Lynne for hanging out with me in the classroom and sharing your awesome Spanish ability. It's been a pleasure!

Online Learning

2010-01-19T19:55:00.001-05:00

Spanish Classes at edufire

2010-01-09T18:16:00.001-05:00

Check the Spanish Classes at edufire http://edufire.com/classes/spanish

2010-01-05T00:06:00.001-05:00

La sonrisa es la distancia más corta entre dos personas :)

2009-12-30T11:56:00.000-05:00

Qué sea un año lleno de amor, paz, salud, & prosperidad! Feliz Año Nuevo a Todos!

Frases Filosoficas

2009-12-19T00:40:00.001-05:00

Un poco de inspiración

2009-12-19T00:30:00.001-05:00

Chiste del dia.

2009-12-17T11:53:00.001-05:00

…Chiste….Chiste….

Esta un borrachito tirado en la acera frente a una cantina. En eso pasa una señorita. El borrachito dice hic hic VIEJA FEA y la señorita responde Viejo borracho y el borrachito le grita otra vez hic hic…..pero a mi se me quita mañana…hic…..jaja

Frases, Dichos, Refranes

2009-12-07T14:13:00.001-05:00

Que significa para ustedes la frase "Alma Gemela"

Ojos que no ven. Corazon que no siente.

2009-11-30T18:41:00.000-05:00

Que opinan de esto? Ojos que no ven. Corazon que no siente.

Special Holiday Rates

2009-11-29T14:09:00.000-05:00

Special Holiday Rates on my English and Spanish Classes. http://edufire.com/users/27...

My Podcast

2009-11-28T16:58:00.001-05:00

My introduction

http://eckates.mypodcast.com/index.html

Español Practico

2009-11-25T22:53:00.000-05:00

Programa de Español Primera Parte

2009-11-25T22:48:00.000-05:00

Programa de Español Primera Parte

2009-11-25T22:39:00.000-05:00

Programa De EspañOl Primera Parte

View more presentations from Enrique Kates.

Hacer Caso Omiso

2009-11-24T23:27:00.000-05:00

Hacer caso omiso = no haga caso a, no preste atención a, no tome en cuenta, pase por alto

Spanish Video

2009-11-24T22:45:00.002-05:00

Check out this video

2009-11-13T12:16:00.002-05:00

Learning to Read in Spanish

This has been such a great adventure for me.

I picked up my first novels in spanish a year ago. I began with a trilogy written for young adults by Isabelle Allende: Ciudad de las Bestias, El Reino del Dragon de Oro, and El Bosque de los Pigmeos. I also picked up a copy in English to use as a reference.

I began by underlining all of the words that were unfamiliar to me and making notations and I was reaching for the dictionary constantly. It was a lot of work, but I had to start somewhere.

Here I am a year later, beginning to read novels written for adults. I am much more relaxed with my approach. Instead of looking up every unfamiliar word in the dictionary, I can now rely on understanding by context. The best part of all is that sometimes I forget that I am actually reading in a foreign language!

The Art of Rationalization -- ¡Qué mandón eres tú!

2009-11-13T10:17:00.005-05:00

or Telenovelas teach you how to boss people around...

Have you ever noticed how much time they spend telling people what to do on telenovelas? If you enjoy pushing people around, why not learn how to be bossy (mandón, mandona) in Spanish?

¡Lárgate! Get out of here! Leave!
¡Lárgate de mi casa, infeliz!

¡No te vayas! (Opposite of above) Don't leave!
¡No te vayas! ¡Eres el amor de mi vida!

¡Ven aca! Come here!

¡Ten cuidado! Take care; be careful.
This is one of the friendlier mandátos, often said to children or to friends upon parting.

¡Cuídate mucho! Take good care of yourself!
Similar to above but more affectionate. People use this in letters too.

¡Hazlo ya! Do it now! Stop procrastinating :)

¡Hazme caso! Listen to me! Take my advice!

¡Dime la verdad! Tell me the truth!

¡Cállate! Be quiet! Shut up!
I think callarse in Spanish is less harsh than shut up in English. What do you guys think?

¡Dame un abrazo! Give me a hug!

¡Suéltame! Let me go! Or if you are a fan of the old-fashioned melodrama-- Unhand me!

¡No me toques! Don't touch me!

¡No te preocupes! Don't worry!

¡No te enojes! Don't get mad!

¡No te pongas así! Don't be like that! (Often used interchangeably with no te enojes)

¡No te pongas en ese plan! Don't act like that! (Very similar to above)

¡Olvídalo! Forget it!

¡Ayúdame! Help me!

¡Anímate! Cheer up!

Note: All of these are in the second person singular (tú) form. Some are positive, some negative; some are regular, others irregular. The great thing is that they are such high-frequency expressions that you can learn them without worrying too much about the grammatical rules governing them. And that has always been my favorite way to learn!

Next time: ¡Hablemos de groserías¡ Let's talk about rude words!

Spanish Teachers at edufire: A fun way to learn/study (las Novelas)

2009-11-07T22:37:00.000-05:00

Spanish Teachers at edufire: A fun way to learn/study (las Novelas)

The Art of Rationalization

2009-11-06T09:45:00.003-05:00

or I watch telenovelas to improve my Spanish... ¡en serio!
Part Two

Last time we met la madrastra, el padrastro and all the little -astros. This time we'll take a closer look at the -astro ending, itself. According to A New Reference Grammar (1), this is one of a handful of pejorative suffixes (including -aco, -arraco, -acho, -uco, -ucho and -ejo) that take an inoffensive word and turn it into an insult. A casa, for example, may or may not be a home; but a casucha is no place you'd want to live. And I doubt you'd choose to stay in a hotelucho.

la casa: house
la casucha: pathetic little house
el hotel: hotel
el hotelucho: dingy hotel
el poeta: poet
el poetastro: poetaster

Poetaster? The American Heritage Dictionary (2) defines this as: a writer of insignigicant, meretricious, or shoddy poetry [New Latin poetaster: Latin poeta + Latin -aster, pejorative suffix].

In contrast, the prefix step-, as in stepmother, [from Old English steop-] is defined simply as "related by means of remarriage rather than by blood."

Now as any speaker of modern English can attest, step- has acquired its own negative baggage, not surprising given the complicated real world relationship it represents. It can be shorthand for describing dysfunctional relationships outside of the family as well. But when we use the term metaphorically, we'll usually talk about feeling like the neglected stepchild, or not wanting to play the part of the wicked stepmother.

Let's take another look at madrastra. Madre + -astra. Not likely to be a term of endearment.
In fact it has the 'wicked' part of the 'wicked stepmother' built right in. And even though my usually reliable HarperCollins Diccionario (3) defines madrastra as simply 'stepmother' and the online dictionary wordreference.com (4) concurs, here's what the Real Academia Española (5) has to say:

madrastra. Del despectivo de madre.
1. f. Mujer del padre respecto
de los hijos llevados por este al matrimonio.
2. (poco usada) Cosa que
incomoda o daña.

So the Royal Academy recognizes that the word is derived from a term of disparagement, although it is defined simply as 'stepmother.' It also cites a secondary, uncommon extension of usage: A thing which causes unease or which harms.

How does this play out in the real world? When I was in Mexico several months ago, I used the word madrastra to refer to the new wife of a friend's widowed father and she corrected me. We usually say madre postiza, she explained. Madrastra sounded harsh and negative to her ear. Madre postiza was a lot nicer, a lot more polite.

(Of course to my Anglo ear, postiza (false, artificial) doesn't sound all that great. It's the same word used to describe dentures (dentadura postiza); and used by itself as a noun, postizo means hairpiece. Go figure.)

So here I am nearly five years later and I finally get it. (¡Ya me cayó el veinte!) Poor Maria's story was called La Madrastra not just to describe her relationship to her hijastros but to show how much she was disparaged and despised. Me parte el alma sólo al pensar en eso. (Although as we were to learn in los últimos capítulos, she was La Verdadera Madre y no La Madrastra. But that, my friends, is a topic for another day!)

Resources mentioned above:
1. Butt, J. & Benjamin, C., A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, 4th ed. McGraw-Hill 2004. This isn't a textbook and isn't likely to help you very much if you are a beginner. But if you are an intermediate level student, this book is definitely your friend!
2. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed. Houghton Mifflin 2000. This dictionary is the amateur etymologist's dream. It is the thorough and expert treatment of word origins that makes this dictionary stand out in a crowd.
3. HarperCollins Spanish Unabridged Dictionary. I have the 8th edition. published in 2005, but there are several earlier editions and a few more recent ones around. Just try looking up one of the 'super' verbs like echar, read the two and a half columns of entries and examples, and you'll understand why I like this book so much. Sadly, there is absolutely no information on word origins included.
4. http://www.wordreference.com/. As great as this site is, just remember it doesn't have everything. But it is an amazing resource, especially when you are reading something online.
5. www.rae.es/rae.html. This is the website of the Diccionario of the Real Academia Española. You can also access this site through wordreference.com.

comentario - Saber vs Conocer

2009-11-06T02:56:00.003-05:00

Hi!

Well, I'm struggling with these words; thus, it cannot be that easy! ;) How do you say "I don't know this word?" Is a word a thing or is it a fact? There is a discussion on wordreference about this. Someone recommended: "no conozco esta palabra" but "no sé lo que quiere decir esta palabra".

Then I suddenly realized that the difference is obvious for me because in German I would say "ich kenne dieses Wort nicht" but "ich weiß nicht, was dieses Wort bedeutet", i.e. there is a very similar between the German words "kennen" = "conocer" and "wissen" = "saber".

So, I guess the difference is a lot easier to understand in German than in English. It's never bad to know more than one language. ;)

Martin

rezar y orar - comentario

2009-11-05T08:50:00.004-05:00

¡Gracias! No sabía lo de rezar y orar. Es interesante pero también es muy lógico, ¿no? Rezar viene del latín recitare (to read aloud, recite); orar viene del latín orare (to beg, ask for, pray, worship). Si quieres leer un poco más, aquí tienes un hilo en wordreference sobre el tema.

A fun way to learn/study (las Novelas)

2009-11-04T22:25:00.002-05:00

I enjoyed reading joyce post about the novelas as I was identifying with what she was describing. For me I was frustrating myself with learning this new second language spanish...everytime I thought I was making some progress I would listen to native speakers talking and could maybe pick out one or two words. I decided to watch and listen to the novelas and for me the talk was even faster then the maching gun fire that Joyce spoke about. I decided to put up the captions and began to read and suddenly what I have been learning in my edufire classes started to make sense. I know that verb, oh lo tengo= I have it lo comes before the conjugated verb, comprarlo oh lo is after the infinitive and he said it with force BUY IT. Now it's starting to make some sense when is my next class? Now I'm watching the novelas sitting by my computer with 3 windows open (dictionary,translator,conjugator) I am into the story I have more than a basic knowledge of whats going on, I am learning new verbs, phrases. I am having fun watching tv and really realizing that I am learning and studying at the same time. To be continued

Pedir vs Preguntar

2009-11-04T12:53:00.002-05:00

Pedir vs Preguntar
pedir: to ask (for an object or a service)
preguntar: to ask (a question, request information)

Saber vs Conocer

2009-11-04T12:52:00.002-05:00

saber: to know a fact, to know something thoroughly, to know how to do something
conocer: to be acquainted with a person, place, or thing

Saber vs Conocer
saber: to know (facts, information, how to do something, something by heart)
conocer: to know (to be familiar with people, places, things)

Orar y Rezar

2009-11-04T12:50:00.002-05:00

1.- Rezar: es repetir frases aprendidas y de memoria, en cualquier momento, es decir, sin importar si lo que se repite incansablemente es inherente a las necesidades o sentimientos del penitente en ese momento. rezar es repetir frases aprendidas de memoria dirigidas a muchas personalidaders, más o menos como a chorrocientas vírgenes, chorrocientos santos, habidos y por haber conocidos e inventados etc. en medio de toda esta lista, también se reza Jesucristo y a Dios... Hay rezos aprendidos para todos los gustos...
2.- Orar: Es conversar con Dios, elevar ruegos,. súplicas peticiones, acion de gracias a Dios y solo a Dios en el nombre de Jesucristo, y son palabras nacidas de la necesidad del momento del que ora a Dios. Son palabras nacidas espontáneamnete y reflejan los sentimientos que hay en el momento en el corazón y alma del que se dirige a Dios.

1.- Rezar: es repetir frases aprendidas y de memoria, en cualquier momento, es decir, sin importar si lo que se repite incansablemente es inherente a las necesidades o sentimientos del penitente en ese momento.

2.- Orar: Es conversar con Dios, elevar ruegos,. súplicas peticiones, acion de gracias a Dios y solo a Dios en el nombre de Jesucristo, y son palabras nacidas de la necesidad del momento del que ora a Dios. Son palabras nacidas espontáneamnete y reflejan los sentimientos que hay en el momento en el corazón y alma del que se dirige a Dios.

The Art of Rationalization

2009-11-03T01:47:00.005-05:00

or - I watch telenovelas to improve my Spanish...¡en serio!

La Madrastra (The Stepmother) was my first. The show had been running for about two months when I discovered it. Even if my ear had been more discerning, I would have been lost by the complex storylines already in play. At this stage in my studies, the spoken language still sounded like the rat-a-tat of a machine-gun. Did they really have to talk so fast? But when I followed along with closed captions in Spanish I saw that these people were spewing not bullets but words!

Over time, the broad strokes of the plot became evident; then gradually I began to fill in the details and I became more involved in the story. I found myself caring about the characters. I wept with Victoria Ruffo's sorrowful Maria; I swooned over the rich basso profundo of César Evora's Esteban. Well, you get the idea.

Since that time, I have tried to watch at least one novela daily. I kept using the closed captions long after I really needed them. These days I'm more comfortable without them. Reading them distracts me from listening.

Okay. So what can you really learn from telenovelas? From this parallel universe of freakish good looks, and wealth beyond imagining, where the improbable becomes probable and nothing has gone far enough until it has gone way way way too far?

Words. Telenovelas definitely expand your vocabulary (although sometimes in odd directions!) Consider the title: La Madrastra

Here's the whole family:

stepmother: la madrastra
stepfather: el padrastro
stepson: el hijastro
stepdaughter: la hijastra
stepbrother: el hermanastro
stepsister: la hermanastra

Tune in next week when we'll take a closer linguistic look at this unhappy clan...

Spanish Verbs

2009-11-01T00:20:00.000-04:00

http://smart.fm/lists/85596-100-most-common-spanish-verbs

Upcoming Spanish Classes

2009-11-01T00:07:00.001-04:00

Take a look at our Upcoming Spanish Classes
www.edufire.com/classes/spanish

Survival Spanish for Nurses and Medical Assistants

2009-05-08T17:06:00.002-04:00

The purpose of this class is to practice Spanish in settings in which Nurses are commonly involved. It is NOT a NURSING class. But, Please keep in mind that the main focus is Spanish for nurses.…
They will be conducted in the form of Situational Role Plays. Reflecting real life situations. Helping Nurses face their patients in their daily lives.
Every aspect will be discussed appropiately.

Why Learn Spanish

2009-05-01T22:44:00.002-04:00

The Spanish teachers at Edufire would like to share with you some of the top reasons why you should learn Spanish. We hope you enjoy.

Who's learning Spanish these days? For starters, residents of the United States , a bunch not known for conquering monoligualism, are studying Spanish in record numbers. Spanish, too, is becoming of greater importance in Europe , where it often the foreign language of choice after English.

With over 400 million speakers, it's the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world (after English, Chinese and Hindi), and according to some counts it has more native speakers than English does. It is an official language on four continents and is of historical importance elsewhere.

Better understanding of English: Much of the vocabulary of English has Latin origins, much of which came to English by way of French. Since Spanish is also a Latin language, you will find as you study Spanish that you have a better understanding of your native vocabulary.

Travel: While traveling in Mexico , Central America and South America doors will be opened to you simply because I speak Spanish, allowing you to see and do things that many other visitors do not.

Cultural understanding: While most of us can't hope to learn the languages of more than one or two cultures other than that of our own, those that we can learn help us to learn how other people learn and think. Reading Latin American or Spanish newspapers, for example, you will gain a sense of how other people think and feel

Learning other languages: If you can learn Spanish, you'll have a head start in learning the other Latin-based languages such as French and Italian. And it will even help you learn Russian and German, since they too have Indo-European roots and have some characteristics (such as gender and extensive conjugation) that are present in Spanish but not English. And I wouldn't be surprised if learning Spanish might even help you learn Japanese or any other non-Indo-European language, since intensive learning the structure of a language can give you a reference point for learning others.

It's easy: Spanish is one of the easiest foreign languages to learn. Much of its vocabulary is similar to English's, and written Spanish is almost completely phonetic: Look at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced. And while mastering the grammar of Spanish can be a challenge, basic grammar is straightforward enough that you can have meaningful communication after only a few lessons.

Employment opportunities: If you're in the United States and work in one of the helping professions including medicine and education, you'll find your opportunities expand by knowing Spanish. And wherever you live, if you're in any occupation that involves international trade, communications or tourism, you'll similarly find opportunities to use your new language skills.

It's fun: Whether you enjoy talking, reading, or mastering challenges, you'll find all of them in learning Spanish. For many people, there's something inherently enjoyable about successfully speaking in another language.

For many people, Spanish offers the most rewards with the least effort of any foreign language. It's never too late to begin learning.

Thanks to Gerald Erichsen, @ About.com for most of this information!

What would you like to see?

2009-04-18T17:23:00.000-04:00

Hello! What are your needs in the spanish language? How could we fill those needs?

Your feedback is deeply appreciated!

Por que aprender Español?

2009-04-17T13:34:00.001-04:00

Con la economía mundial cada vez para globalizada...y la población de hispano parlantes en Estados Unidos, cada vez mayor. Hablar español es cadia dia mas una necesidad.

Estos datos nos demuestran la importancia del idioma Español. http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/worldlang.htm

Business Spanish

2009-04-17T13:17:00.000-04:00

Business Spanish Conversation Classes are now offered at edufire.