Thursday, October 19, 2006

Affirmations, Si?

Little words make all the different to me. Having the confidence to throw in words that aren't directly word for word translations makes speaking a language much more pleasurable. Often these words are the kind of throw away words that have little meaning but make you stand out from other learners.

One such word in Spanish is Sí.

Perhaps the most common adverb of affirmation, one familiar to all beginning Spanish speakers, is sí. It is the simple affirmative answer to a question, usually translated as "yes": ¿Te gustan las fresas? —Sí. "Do you like the strawberries?" "Yes." Unlike the English words "yes," however, sí is commonly used ...

See Adverbs of Affirmation

technorati tags:, , ,

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Where is Spanish Spoken?

Looking at the list of countries below you realise how wide spread Spanish is. Reading the papers from these countries can really expand your mind.

Here is a list of countries where Spanish is the predominant language:

  • España (Spain)
  • México
  • Guatemala
  • El Salvador
  • Honduras
  • Nicaragua
  • Costa Rica
  • Panamá
  • Cuba
  • La República Dominica (Dominican Republic)
  • Puerto Rico
  • Columbia
  • Venezuela
  • El Ecuador
  • El Perú
  • Chile
  • Bolivia
  • El Paraguay
  • La Argentina
  • El Uruguay

technorati tags:, ,

Monday, October 16, 2006

Recipes in Spanish and English

Fancy making Tortilla de Patatas or Spanish Gazpacho by following a spanish recipe.

Visit Recetas Favoritas de España if you get stuck you can always switch to the english version if needed.

technorati tags:, ,

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Real Spanish Conversation Podcasts

Notes in Spanish was a delight to find. Aimed at more advanced learners it features podcasts of natural spanish chat around a particular topic. Each podcast comes with a worksheet that you can purchase for a small fee which includes a transcript of the conversation, all the important vocabulary and exercises to re-enforce important points. Podcasts are graded intermediate and advanced and are free to listen to.

Visit www.NotesInSpanish.com

technorati tags:, , , ,

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Spanish Lessons and Translations

DotLingo is an interesting site. It contains a mix of french and spanish lessons which cover the basics and also a blog of translations practice by the site owner. Here you can read translations of current events from pages like the bbc news site.

DotLingo: Spanish Index Page

Fancy a Spanish Tongue Twister?

Tongue Twisters are fun in any language. If you are learning Spanish then this list of Tongue Twisters can lighten the mood if it is all getting to serious in your study. For example, try...

Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal.

This one is from a whole collection of tongue twisters in different languages. For the spanish list see The Collection of Tongue Twisters - Spanish

Friday, October 13, 2006

Pictorial Spanish Vocabulary Builder

If you are serious about improving your vocabulary then take a look at the site below. The lessons are great for those of a more visual learning style as each contains a picture with several objects in a theme. You simply move your mouse over the picture to see the spanish word for the object. Many objects have an additional set of words highlighted with red circles. For example the elephant has trunk and tusk available too.

Spanish: Vocabulary Guide | Español: Guía de vocabulario

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Pronounciation - Even the word is difficult to say!

For those getting started getting your head around the different letter sounds in a language can be daunting. Later on in language learning it is something that is worth checking over for the little used sounds and letter combinations.


The following page has all the knowledge you need as well as example sound files for you to hear the sound yourself.


Spanish Pronunciation


technorati tags:, , ,

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

SpanishDICT.com - a long lost friend

I have to confess to having a break in learning spanish a year back. Before that break I was a regular visitor to SpanishDICT.com. The site is a nice english to spanish or spanish to english dictionary which is quick and easy to use.

One of the best features are its approximate tick box which allows you to be less accurate with you typing and offers you suggestion of what you meant. The other favourite feature is the audio button to hear what the word sounds like.

Glad to have rediscovered it again.

SpanishDICT.com - Dictionary of Spanish and English

technorati tags:, , ,

Use your spanish to get a feel of current affairs from around the world

It is very easy to just view the world from your own countries news. But a lot is happening that you don't hear about or hear difficult local versions of the story.

Using your spanish skills you should be able to pick up the basic themes of news from around the world. Even if you don't understand it all you should pick up the main idea especially since you know roughly but not exactly what the stories are about.

On Directory of Spanish newspapers in Spanish you will find a large list of countries and their spanish news paper websites. Some of my favourites include ELPAIS.es and Actualidad24horas.com.

I also love the bbc news in spanish which has lots of pictures and is in bite size pieces see http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/news/default.stm

Enjoy and don't worry if you don't understand it all. Just try and pick up a few new words for example and it is all worth while.

technorati tags:, , ,

Fancy testing your spanish vocabulary?

We all love quizes ... I found these english to spanish quizes that are designed as a resource for teachers of english as a second language. The cover a wide range of vocabulary divided by different situations and topics.

Topics include:


Food - fruits,Health,Clothing,Money,Medicine,Theme Parks,Adjectives you must know, and much more (1000+ words).


Why not visit the quizes at English-Spanish Vocabulary Quizzes



technorati tags:, ,

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Visually expand your vocabulary

The clever people at Thinkmap have created a nice visual thesaurus that works in a multitude of languages including spanish. It works by asking for an initial word and working out all the connected words. The result are shown in a graph along with definitions of words. You can then explore the other words by clicking on them and a new set of connected words related to that word appear.


Very neat way to increase your vocabulary. It is however a paid service after you have played with the free trial.

Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus

technorati tags:, ,

Sneak a peek at some songs to aid learning

Not sure what the hearing equivalent of 'Sneak a peek' is ... Anyway I found some interesting previews of songs to help you learn spanish. Reminds me of sing-a-long a spanish which was great for in car learning and for getting my kids involved in early language learning. While the snippets of songs are short ... they want you to buy the CDs it goes to remind you that everyone learns in different ways. For some hearing music helps it all go it better while others need to write things down.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

10 Mistakes to avoid while Learning Spanish

Found a great article on 10 Mistakes to avoid while Learning Spanish. About.com is a wonderful resource for spanish learning in general but this article gives so advice that must not be missed.

Mistakes include making assumptions about similar sounding words for instance embarazada usually means "pregnant", or always following english word order.

The full articles is found at About.com - 10 Mistakes To Avoid While Learning Spanish .



Great Free Spanish Learning Resource from BBC UK

A brilliant resource for any level of spanish learner. Why not try the gauge your level test to work out how good your spanish is?

The site contains many MP3 downloads as well as a free online start course at http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/lj/itinerary.shtml

The main BBC Spanish site can be found at

BBC - Languages - Learn Spanish

-Dave

technorati tags:, , ,

Spanish Verb Conjugator

This one will test your spanish. It is a Spanish Spanish Verb Conjugator. So it conjugates verbs given in Spanish for you... but the instructions are all in Spanish. Just a little challenge for you!

Web-Compjugador

Describing someones personality in Spanish

Being able to talk about people is an essential part of social conversation. I found this list of 50 adjectives very useful and will be trying to use some of the words today in conversations.

Adjectives to describe the personality in English and Spanish

technorati tags:, , , ,

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

free online Spanish-English translation dictionary

Just found a good free online spanish dictionary...

The American Heritage® Spanish Dictionary: Spanish/English, Inglés/Español

This free online Spanish-English translation dictionary is newly revised to include the most current computer, telecommunications, and Internet vocabulary and to include pronunciations in both English and Spanish. Featuring American English and Latin American Spanish, it contains 70,000 entries with more than 120,000 meanings.

Online Spanish-English Dictionary: definitions, translations, and pronunciations - Yahoo! Education

technorati tags:, , ,

Spanish word scramble - beginners vocabulary test and learning tool

For beginners - a lovely vocabulary checker. Pictures of six spanish words for you to learn are displayed with the letters of the word jumbled up. You simply have to rearrange the letters to spell the correct word for the picture. Simple and fun!

Spanish Language Exercises - Spanish Word Scramble - The Internet Picture Dictionary

technorati tags:, , ,

Need a new spanish word each day?

Just love this website which gives you a new Spanish word each day. The words are nicely defined with examples of using the word and clickable audio to help get the pronunciation correct. Nice to look at the start of each day.

Spanish Words. Palabra del Dia




Welcome to Just Spanish Words

Welcome to Just Spanish Words - A collection of spanish word resources for people learning spanish. If you find something useful I haven't please let me know.

Dave