A First lesson in Spanish : Stew Green

A First lesson in Spanish or Any Foreign Language

Relax It's easy even a child can do it ! If you go to a country you will see 5 year old children speaking.
Speaking a child level of the language isn't difficult. So begin like a child and build your language

Actually it's easier for adults cos so many of the concepts and vocabulary are similar to our own language. We can begin by finding which words are the same see my list. But after this first lesson Don't Translate

Spanish + English = CONFUSION
... 1. Different phonetics 2. Many things don't translate. 3. You'll remember the English and forget the Spanish

THINK IN SPANISH >>SPEAK IN SPANISH !!
Only Spanish so USE SIMPLE SPANISH Don’t try to be too clever or too fast
Begin with simple phrases like "What's your name ?, How old are you ? etc

Don't worry Of course everday adult street language is a different level. It has a big vocabulary and regional accents. At the beginning you will have a small vocabulary so you won't recognise the words. And it will take a while for your ears to become tuned. For me at first Spanish sounded like a blur, but then I was able to pick out a few words I recognised. Don't worry about the words you don't understand .. Ignore them , you will still often be able to understand the message.

  • Practice – If you are to improve your Spanish then practice is one of the best ways of improving it. The time outside class can be like FREE LESSONS : Things you can try: listening to music, watch movies, read books, watch TV : Novelas, Spanish CNN or listen to radio in Spanish, keep a diary or audio diary. (Just 2 sentences a day) write to a pen friend or e-mail friend visit a foreign country, talk Spanish with your friends, colleagues or people on the internet.

    Well Let's Start Speaking !

    Relax, make errors. Don't Be shy of making mistakes it's part of the learning experience
    Time : People who practice every day can learn in less than 1 year.

    50% Same as English : the alphabet and many of the words are the same , BUT the sounds and thinking can be very different.

    Firstly wheras English is a "stupid language" , where the sounds vary Spanish is completely pronounced as it's written.

    Vowels

    a - apple
e - egg
i - ee like feet
o- like O toe
u- like oo, Sue
ña - n- ya
au - like now
ai - like I, eye
ei - A, like day
    Consonants : Pronounciation is mostly the same as English... Except
    b and v = same sound halfway between the seperate sounds they are in English
    g - as in English except
    ge, gi - general= hen- eral
    h - always not pronounced
    j- h in English - jamon= ham
    y - j in English
    ll - like y, in other countries - sh or ch
    q - like k
    r - rr -roll your R's
    w - no w in Spanish

    Vocabulary

    30 % of the words are the same as English anyway See List of similar words

    vocabulary book when you hear a new important word write it down.

    Grammar basics..

    VERBS

    Don't need the subject (I, you, we, they, she, he, it etc) Drop it

    The endings can be complicated. Many verbs are irregular, but most are regular
    Basically for I end the verb with o e.g. amo, (and é in the past)
    for he, she and formal you cut the "r" : ama
    with you cut the "r" and use "s" : amas, comes etc

    note also the simple form means +ing e.g. ando = I walk, I am walking

    There are other tenses, but unlike English if you mention the time you can just use the present form.

    Like English you can use ir "go" to make the future Voy andar- going to walk

    - to be. There is are 2 verbs estar and ser
    Soy Britanico (always true)
    Estoy aqui (true right now)

    Note Also you can use Estar +ndo to make am + ing : estoy andando

    - tenir = to have : tengo, teines, teine

    - to make, to do use only one verb hacer : hago, haces, hace

    QUESTIONS - Simpler than English - keep the word order and use intonation raising the tone on the last syllable Ando mañana ?

    Question words : que (what), porque (why), quien (who), como (how), cuantos (how many) e.g. ?Cuantos años tienes ?

    Cuando (when), dondé (where), qual (which)

    More Grammar

    The adjective goes after the noun casa blanca -> White house.
    the adj must agree in gender and plural : tomatos rojos

    Superlatives ..use "más" : Más contente
    ...the "most" use el más : el mas contente

    Dates and countries don't have Capital letters. Only names..........Stewgreen@ hotmail.com