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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Emergency Situation Phrases
Please visit www.myspanishconnection.com for the study guide to this episode! Gracias y buena suerte!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
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Learn Spanish 1.1 - Greetings and Introductions
Ready to start a conversation in Spanish? This lesson will teach you how to greet someone, tell them your name, and carry a basic conversation. We will also learn how to use the verb "estar" (to be) to describe how you are feeling.
At the Supermarket
Please visit www.myspanishconnection.com for the study guide to this episode! Gracias y buena suerte!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
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Notes in Spanish Intermediate 11 - Quejas
Do people complain a lot in your country? Plus how to complain in restaurants and more... see notesinspanish.com for full details and the accompanying worksheet.
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Notes in Spanish Advanced 55 - Mi Diario
Is the diary a thing of the past? Will our grandchildren have photos to remember us by? See notesinspanish.com for full details and to pick up the accompanying transcript and worksheet.
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Learn Spanish 1.8 - Numbers and Time
Start counting, buying, telling time, reciting phone numbers and more when you learn your numbers and how tell time in Spanish.
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Monday, January 30, 2012
NIS Int 038 - Ole por Radiohead
As Radiohead shake up the music industry, we look at how the big record labels treat us like criminals, and how it isn't going to do them any good in the long run... See notesinspanish.com for a full transcript on our accompanying worksheets.
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NIS Beginners 009 - Cambios en Casa
Ben and Marina decide it's time to make some changes around the house. See notesinspanish.com for more details and accompanying worksheets.
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Learn Spanish 2.6 - The Preterit and Travels
Get ready to for story telling, globe-trotter! Next time you travel, you'll be able to tell everyone what you saw, what you did, and where you went using the simple past, or preterit, with some style.
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Meeting with Parents
Please visit myspanishconnection.com/store for the transcript to this show. Thanks for your continued support!
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Notes in Spanish Intermediate 2 - Mitos de Madrid
Ben and Marina discuss the myths surrounding the city of Madrid. Is it really true that there are more bars in Madrid than in Belgium? See notesinspanish.com for accompanying worksheet and full details.
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Lesson #3 - Getting What You Want Using Spanish
Learn Spanish travel phrases with SurvivalPhrases.com! A little Spanish can go such a long way! Whether you’re traveling, visiting, or sightseeing, SurvivalPhrases.com has all the essential travel phrases just for you! Today we cover a high frequency Spanish phrase sure to be of use on your trip, travels or vacation to Spain.
Today we learn how [...]
Today we learn how [...]
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Notes in Spanish Intermediate 6 - La Lluvia
It's been raining for days, and the Spanish aren't coping too well! See notesinspanish.com for full details and accompanying worksheet.
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NIS Adv 067 - Fidel
The ethics of tourism... see notesinspanish.com for a full transcript/worksheet and to comment.
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Working with Children 2
Please visit www.myspanishconnection.com for the study guide to this episode! Gracias y buena suerte!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
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Welcome to Innovative Language Learning
Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! SpanishPod101.com is an innovative and revolutionary approach to mastering the Spanish language at your own pace - take the classroom with you, and spend as much time as you need on each lesson!
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Gengo Spanish #27 - On My Own in Latin America
Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Your friend asks you in Spanish what you did over the weekend in Latin America. As you?re about to answer in Spanish, your mind goes blank. Your friend comments knowingly in Spanish that your weekend must have been mind-blowingly good if you can?t remember anything. You protest in Spanish that it?s [...]
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NIS Adv 068 - Violencia domestica
Ben and Marina discuss the subject of domestic violence in Spain and beyond.See notesinspanish.com for details and to pick up the transcript/worksheet.
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NIS Beginners 017 - Epocas Felices
We look at which past tense to use to talk about things we used to do in the past. See notesinspanish.com to pick up the accompanying worksheet.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Keith Lard Makes a Valuable Contribution
"I've been watching a lot of Friends dubbed into Spanish, which is good
because I already know who everyone is and what's going on because I've
seen most of them before in English. They do speak very fast, and the
deadpan delivery makes it hard to tell which bits are meant to be
funny, but the canned laughter helps. I'm picking up lots and lots of
little phrases and fragments, and I get excited when I understand a
whole chunk at once. I think there are two skills involved in
listening: the first is actually decoding a continuous stream of speech
into its component words, and the second is knowing what those Spanish
words mean. It's the first skill that really benefits from a lot of
listening. What used to be high-speed noise seems to magically
crystallise after a while into well-formed Spanish sentences. Even if
you don't understand the sentences completely, you can get valuable
context to help you guess the words you don't know.
And as he points out, you always get things in context. Certain phrases
and constructions crop up absolutely all the time, and you just learn
them as blocks or templates which you can use to build sentences. If
you start off by learning grammar, and you know past participles are
formed by taking the infinitive stem and adding '-ado' for -AR verbs
and 'ido' for -ER/IR verbs, you might have trouble remembering whether
it's 'he olvidado' or 'he olvidido' for 'I forgot'. You have to
remember which kind of verb the infinitive is and work forwards from
there, and you could still get it wrong. On the other hand, if you
listen to a lot of Spanish, you've probably heard people say 'he
olvidado' a million times, and you never once heard them say 'he
olvidido', so you just know.
It's this 'just knowing' which gives you a big confidence boost. Words,
phrases and sentences arrive in your brain fully-formed and correctly
pronounced, without you having to laboriously construct them from
grammatical rules and then double-check that all the adverbs agree and
so on. Similarly with listening comprehension, after a while you start
understanding things as blocks of meaning, not individual words.
Translating word by word into English is much too slow when people are
speaking at full speed - you need to hear the Spanish, understand
what's being said without mentally working out an English translation,
and immediately be ready to listen to the next bit.
It's a little bit Zen because you need to stop trying so hard to
understand and just let the sounds come in. I could liken it to Magic
Eye for the ears, because it's when you stop struggling and let your
subconscious brain get on with it that it suddenly happens. At first in
flashes, but then in bigger and bigger chunks until you can understand
whole sections of dialogue. When you're not focusing on mentally
translating into English, you've got time to absorb context and body
language and facial expressions which all help convey what's being said."
because I already know who everyone is and what's going on because I've
seen most of them before in English. They do speak very fast, and the
deadpan delivery makes it hard to tell which bits are meant to be
funny, but the canned laughter helps. I'm picking up lots and lots of
little phrases and fragments, and I get excited when I understand a
whole chunk at once. I think there are two skills involved in
listening: the first is actually decoding a continuous stream of speech
into its component words, and the second is knowing what those Spanish
words mean. It's the first skill that really benefits from a lot of
listening. What used to be high-speed noise seems to magically
crystallise after a while into well-formed Spanish sentences. Even if
you don't understand the sentences completely, you can get valuable
context to help you guess the words you don't know.
And as he points out, you always get things in context. Certain phrases
and constructions crop up absolutely all the time, and you just learn
them as blocks or templates which you can use to build sentences. If
you start off by learning grammar, and you know past participles are
formed by taking the infinitive stem and adding '-ado' for -AR verbs
and 'ido' for -ER/IR verbs, you might have trouble remembering whether
it's 'he olvidado' or 'he olvidido' for 'I forgot'. You have to
remember which kind of verb the infinitive is and work forwards from
there, and you could still get it wrong. On the other hand, if you
listen to a lot of Spanish, you've probably heard people say 'he
olvidado' a million times, and you never once heard them say 'he
olvidido', so you just know.
It's this 'just knowing' which gives you a big confidence boost. Words,
phrases and sentences arrive in your brain fully-formed and correctly
pronounced, without you having to laboriously construct them from
grammatical rules and then double-check that all the adverbs agree and
so on. Similarly with listening comprehension, after a while you start
understanding things as blocks of meaning, not individual words.
Translating word by word into English is much too slow when people are
speaking at full speed - you need to hear the Spanish, understand
what's being said without mentally working out an English translation,
and immediately be ready to listen to the next bit.
It's a little bit Zen because you need to stop trying so hard to
understand and just let the sounds come in. I could liken it to Magic
Eye for the ears, because it's when you stop struggling and let your
subconscious brain get on with it that it suddenly happens. At first in
flashes, but then in bigger and bigger chunks until you can understand
whole sections of dialogue. When you're not focusing on mentally
translating into English, you've got time to absorb context and body
language and facial expressions which all help convey what's being said."
Popular Phrases 1
Please go to www.myspanishconneciton.com/store for the text to this episode! Gracias!
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NIS Adv 079 - Polici�a Armada
Gun crime is rising in the UK, but the police still don't carry guns! Is the tazer the answer? Check out notesinspanish.com for a full transcript on our accompanying worksheets.
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Learn Spanish 2.11 - Negative and Indefinite Words in the Classroom
It's about time you study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country! Learn the basics of your new classroom along with negative and indefinite words to really broaden your vocabulary.
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NIS Adv 086 - Feliz Navidad
Happy Christmas from Notes in Spanish! Today we have a special festive episode for you! See notesinspanish.com to pick up the accompanying worksheet.
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Shopping at the Deli
Please go to www.myspanishconnection.com for the text to this episode! Shopping for deli items at the grocery store.
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Bad Editing on Really Learn Spanish 5
Having uploaded the last cast and having listened to it (in that
order!) I now realise how appalling the editing is - my apologies. I
will rerecord and re-edit it and upload it again at the same time as I
upload the next podcast.
One of my other options was to fix it straight away which would have
been the best but I have to go to work now and I anticipate a busy week
ahead. The other option I discarded was to upload it next weekend, for
example, but then people may think they've downloaded podcast no. six
and might be disappointed or angry or whatever at discovering all they
got was another version of no. five.
order!) I now realise how appalling the editing is - my apologies. I
will rerecord and re-edit it and upload it again at the same time as I
upload the next podcast.
One of my other options was to fix it straight away which would have
been the best but I have to go to work now and I anticipate a busy week
ahead. The other option I discarded was to upload it next weekend, for
example, but then people may think they've downloaded podcast no. six
and might be disappointed or angry or whatever at discovering all they
got was another version of no. five.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Learn Spanish 1.3 - Food and Articles
Everyone wants to talk about the food! This lesson uses food to introduce singular and plural nouns. You will also learn about the difference between definite and indefinite articles.
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Telling Time
Learn to tell time in this episode !
Check out iTunes app Spanish2Go.
It's awesome !
Gracias!
Check out iTunes app Spanish2Go.
It's awesome !
Gracias!
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Learn Spanish 1.10 - The Family and Ages.
Everyone's pride and joy is their family, so why not learn how to talk about them? In this lesson, learn all your family members and how to describe a person's age using the verb Tener.
Learn Spanish 4.3 - Diminutives for Tiny, Cute, or Baby Things
Talk about the cute, tiny, and baby things around you using a special suffix.
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NIS Beginners 012 - Yo Que Tu
In this episode we look at ways of giving advice in Spanish. See notesinspanish.com for full details and to pick up the worksheet.
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NIS Beginners 006 - El Verano en Madrid
Ben and Marina discuss the effects the summer and the heat have on life in the capital. See www.notesinspanish.com for more details and to find the accompanying worksheets.
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This Crazy Life
Here we go again!
Check out Spanish2Go app in iTunes! Awesome!
Check out Spanish2Go app in iTunes! Awesome!
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
NIS Int 040 - Huertas Solares
Ben and Marina discuss the use of fields of solar panels to overcome energy problems in Spain, but wonder about the future of our landscapes... see notesinspanish.com for the accompanying worksheets.
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Spanish prepositions: EN vs. SOBRE
I got a special request from Mike Daye, aka @EvilPundit, one of my people on Twitter, for an explanation of the Spanish prepositions EN and SOBRE, so here goes. ?EN? is a frequently-used preposition. It can be translated with various meanings in English such as in, by, at, or on, depending on the context. Here?s [...]
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Notes in Spanish Advanced 57 - Lepe
Did you here the one about the snow in Lepe? See notesinspanish.com for full details and for the accompanying transcript worksheet.
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At the Restaurant 3
Learn "What do you recommend?" and more !
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Learn Spanish 2.2 - The Informal Future and Holidays
Holidays are one the best reasons to learn a new language. Now you can talk about which places you are going to go and what you are going to see there using the informal future.
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Verbs like GUSTAR
I originally wrote this for my other blog, Voices en Espa�ol. Gustar is one of the first verbs you learn when you start studying Spanish. But it?s the type of verb that frequently trips up English speakers because of the way it is conjugated. With gustar, the person that would be the subject in English [...]
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Learn Spanish 1.11 - Ser vs. Estar
One of the hardest things you learn in Spanish is now the easiest. Learn the difference between the two "to be" verbs Ser and Estar.
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Learn Spanish 2.4 - Comparisons and Superlatives
Who's taller than him? Who's more popular than her? What's the best type of music? What's the most interesting sport? Learn to speak in comparisons and superlatives to describe your interests to the extreme.
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Lesson #11 - Eating Out in Spain
Learn Spanish travel phrases with SurvivalPhrases.com! A little Spanish can go such a long way! Whether you?re traveling, visiting, or sightseeing, SurvivalPhrases.com has all the essential travel phrases just for you! Today we cover a high frequency Spanish phrase sure to be of use on your trip, travels or vacation to Spain.
Today we?ll learn how [...]
Today we?ll learn how [...]
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NIS Beginners 014 - Quedar
How to arrange to meet someone, and how to make excuses to get out of meeting someone! See notesinspanish.com for more details!
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Lesson 4 :: Spanish audio course by Maria Fernandez - Spanish Bookworld
Contents: Lesson 4 - Dialog - Audio flashcards - Grammar - Pronunciation - Numbers - Listening and speaking drills - Role playing exercises - Quizzes - Learning tips - This Spanish course can be found at http://www.spanish-bookworld.com/mp3-spanish-course/lessons.html
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Learn Spanish 2.15 - Healhty Recommendations in the Subjunctive
Jump all the way in to the subjunctive by learning how to give and receive recommendations the healthy way, at the doctor's office!
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Really Learn Spanish - Podcast 4 (17:21)
Direct and indirect object pronouns explained
Pronunciation tip for beginners
Pronunciation tip for beginners
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Test Your Skill !
Bonus worksheet in this episode ! Check it out on our app or on our website.
www.myspanishconnection.com
Spanish2Go app
www.myspanishconnection.com
Spanish2Go app
NIS Adv 075 - Doreana y Argentina
Ben and Marina talk to their Argentinian friend Doreana about life in Argentina and Spain. See notesinspanish.com for the full transcript/worksheet.
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La cuesta de Enero
En Espa�a tenemos un refr�n que dice ?A perro flaco, todo se le vuelven pulgas?, y no es por ser pesimistas, pero hoy mismo le� una noticia con el siguiente titular: La ?cuesta de enero? llega a febrero. Hace algunas semanas que terminaron las navidades. En esas fechas todos tenemos un gasto m�s elevado, por [...]
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Lesson #7 - How to Say ?I Don?t Understand Spanish?
Learn Spanish travel phrases with SurvivalPhrases.com! A little Spanish can go such a long way! Whether you’re traveling, visiting, or sightseeing, SurvivalPhrases.com has all the essential travel phrases just for you! Today we cover a high frequency Spanish phrase sure to be of use on your trip, travels or vacation to Spain.
Today we learn how [...]
Today we learn how [...]
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Bad Editing on Really Learn Spanish 5
Having uploaded the last cast and having listened to it (in that
order!) I now realise how appalling the editing is - my apologies. I
will rerecord and re-edit it and upload it again at the same time as I
upload the next podcast.
One of my other options was to fix it straight away which would have
been the best but I have to go to work now and I anticipate a busy week
ahead. The other option I discarded was to upload it next weekend, for
example, but then people may think they've downloaded podcast no. six
and might be disappointed or angry or whatever at discovering all they
got was another version of no. five.
order!) I now realise how appalling the editing is - my apologies. I
will rerecord and re-edit it and upload it again at the same time as I
upload the next podcast.
One of my other options was to fix it straight away which would have
been the best but I have to go to work now and I anticipate a busy week
ahead. The other option I discarded was to upload it next weekend, for
example, but then people may think they've downloaded podcast no. six
and might be disappointed or angry or whatever at discovering all they
got was another version of no. five.
Learn Spanish Now Learn Spanish Easily Learn Spanish Quickly Learn Conversational Spanish Learn Spanish
Lesson #14 - Restaurants: Ordering Food in Spanish
Learn Spanish travel phrases with SurvivalPhrases.com! A little Spanish can go such a long way! Whether you?re traveling, visiting, or sightseeing, SurvivalPhrases.com has all the essential travel phrases just for you! Today we cover a high frequency Spanish phrase sure to be of use on your trip, travels or vacation to Spain.
Today, we?ll finally learn [...]
Today, we?ll finally learn [...]
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NIS Advanced 092 - Las Olimpiadas de China
As China prepares from the Olympics, protests erupt around the world. But are we all blameless these days? See NotesinSpanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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Notes in Spanish 41 - Sol, Sexo y Sangria
Ben and Marina talk about tourism in Spain, and the Spanish view of different types of tourists from around the world. Comments in the notesfromspain.com forums!
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Notes in Spanish Intermediate 1 - Bienvenidos!
Welcome to Notes in Spanish Intermediate! In our first episode we talk a bit about ourselves, what we do, and how we ended up in Madrid!Check out notesinspanish.com for full details and for info on the accompanying worksheet!
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Update - Slapcast
Hola amigos y amigas:
No podcast as I had hoped I'm afraid. I have been agonizing about
bandwidth. As podcasting becomes more widely known my traffic has
increased exponentially. I used to expect about 2.5GB of downloads
during the week following a new episode of Really Learn Spanish and
just a healthy trickle thereafter. For the past three weeks though I've
been dropping about 1GB every two days and that's been without any new
posts! I was using Streamload to host the mp3 files at a cost of $9.95 a month for unlimited storage but only 10GB worth of bandwidth.
I was at the point of making an announcement that I was going to cease
podcasting until I've figured out how to use cheaper but much more
technically demanding web hosting when I came across a reference by Dave Winer about Roger Strickland's Slapcast.
This is an excellent service albeit still in beta. I now get 1GB of
storage space for $4.95 (that should be good for about 200 podcasts)
and, best of all, unlimited bandwidth.
So now this technical hurdle has been dealt with I'm hoping to do the
fourth instalment during the course of this week and upload it by the
end of next Monday, 7th March.
On the comments to this blog and via some direct emails there have been
a number of suggestions for topics and in the next few episodes I will
be dealing with:
Mastering the use of indirect and direct pronouns;
Reflexive verbs;
Conversation skills for "sitting round the dinner table"
(Eddis Jefferson)
How not to translate phrasal verbs into Spanish (Drew Domkus)
Usage of the different forms of the past tense in Spanish (Paul Wilson)
More on what novels to read in Spanish (Ian McCallum)
More on regional pronunciation (Erich Viedge; Andres Corral)
¡Hasta pronto!
No podcast as I had hoped I'm afraid. I have been agonizing about
bandwidth. As podcasting becomes more widely known my traffic has
increased exponentially. I used to expect about 2.5GB of downloads
during the week following a new episode of Really Learn Spanish and
just a healthy trickle thereafter. For the past three weeks though I've
been dropping about 1GB every two days and that's been without any new
posts! I was using Streamload to host the mp3 files at a cost of $9.95 a month for unlimited storage but only 10GB worth of bandwidth.
I was at the point of making an announcement that I was going to cease
podcasting until I've figured out how to use cheaper but much more
technically demanding web hosting when I came across a reference by Dave Winer about Roger Strickland's Slapcast.
This is an excellent service albeit still in beta. I now get 1GB of
storage space for $4.95 (that should be good for about 200 podcasts)
and, best of all, unlimited bandwidth.
So now this technical hurdle has been dealt with I'm hoping to do the
fourth instalment during the course of this week and upload it by the
end of next Monday, 7th March.
On the comments to this blog and via some direct emails there have been
a number of suggestions for topics and in the next few episodes I will
be dealing with:
Mastering the use of indirect and direct pronouns;
Reflexive verbs;
Conversation skills for "sitting round the dinner table"
(Eddis Jefferson)
How not to translate phrasal verbs into Spanish (Drew Domkus)
Usage of the different forms of the past tense in Spanish (Paul Wilson)
More on what novels to read in Spanish (Ian McCallum)
More on regional pronunciation (Erich Viedge; Andres Corral)
¡Hasta pronto!
Learn Spanish 4.15 - Final Conversational "Exam"
Using everything you have learned, try a conversation with me from introductions to past events to future plans.
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At the Restaurant 3
Learn "What do you recommend?" and more !
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Fun and Flirty!
Check out our new app in iTunes called Spanish 2 Go.
It's AWESOME
It's AWESOME
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Travel Spanish Lesson 1
In podcast, we learn asking for help and information about the resort.
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NIS Beginners 009 - Cambios en Casa
Ben and Marina decide it's time to make some changes around the house. See notesinspanish.com for more details and accompanying worksheets.
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Notes in Spanish Intermediate 5 - La Familia
Ben and Marina chat about family life in Spain. See notesinspanish.com for full details and to get the accompanying worksheet.
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NIS Intermediate 045 - Vacaciones en Espana
What's the best way to travel round Spain in Summer? Where should you sleep, what towns should you visit? See notesinspanish.com for the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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At Home
Learn Spanish - Survival Guide podcast series.Host - Dave SpencerLet my 12 years of teaching Spanish be your guide to proficiency in learning to speak Spanish! We've had millions of downloads to date and we can help you learn to speak Spanish too! Glad to have you aboard!www.myspanishconnection.com/store
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NIS Beginners 001 - Hola!
Hola and Welcome to the first Notes in Spanish Inspired Beginners Podcast! See notesinspanish.com for full details and to pick up the accompanying worksheet pack.
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Practice Conversation
Test your listening and speaking skill in this episode !
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Spanish Wordz, daily Spanish vocab on Twitter
One of my 2010 New Year’s Resolutions is to expand my Spanish vocabulary. In the past, I’ve made a mental note or jotted down new, interesting words in my trusty Moleskine notebook. But in recent weeks I’ve come across some real gems and decided I would start tweeting a Spanish word daily. Don’t worry, I’ll [...]
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The Art of Bargaining 2
Check out our app in iTunes
Spanish2Go
It is awesome
Spanish2Go
It is awesome
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Gengo Spanish #26 - So Many Good Latin American Memories
Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Another day, another delicious dinner at your host family?s house in Latin America! You could really get used to this lifestyle-maybe it?s not too late to change your tickets home?!
In this lesson, you will learn about absolute superlatives in Spanish. Our Spanish conversation takes place at a homestay in Cozumel, [...]
In this lesson, you will learn about absolute superlatives in Spanish. Our Spanish conversation takes place at a homestay in Cozumel, [...]
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Learn Spanish 3.3 - Past Participles as Adjectives in the Restaurant
Using the past participles you learned last week, use them in a whole new way to describe what you want for dinner!
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Notes in Spanish 34 - Kids on holiday
Flying home, and chatting about holidaying with kids in Spain.
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At the Restaurant
Go to www.myspanishconnection.com for the text to this episode on our blog! Register for the blog on the site and take the survey!Please consider going in to iTunes and give us a 5 star rating! It will help us get more exposure and we'll be able to expand our teaching.Thanks!
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Inside the Classroom
Thanks for your continued support of the show! We appreciate it!
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NIS Beginners 027 - Por y Para 1: Por
It's Por and Para time! In this episode we start with a complete rundown of Por. See NotesinSpanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet, including all of the key grammar notes for Por.
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Funny Classroom Tales
Enjoy this collection of funny tales from inside my classroom. These are snippets of conversation that have taken place over the course of the year that are memorable. Enjoy!
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NIS Advanced 088 - La Canada Real
Once a Royal cattle trail, this stretch of land just outside Madrid has turned into Europe's biggest shanty town. See NotesinSpanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Learn Spanish 2.14 - Formal Commands in the Restaurant
Let's learn some manners! You can't go around telling everyone one to do using the informal tú all the time. Learn how to politely tell someone to do something with formal commands which is another section of the subjunctive.
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Expressing Opinions 2
Check out our new app in iTunesSpanish2GoGreat information, great learning
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NIS Int 018 - Harry Potter
Ben and Marina talk about the success of Harry Potter in the adult world... See notesinspanish.com for a full transcript/worksheet.
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Spanish Sayings
Learn "Don't let the door hit you....." and more !
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The Hail Mary
Learn to say the Hail Mary prayer.
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More delay!
Amigos oyentes:
Dear listeners,
I'm afraid the third edition of Really Learn Spanish needs to be
postponed a little bit more. Unfortunately I recently came down ill
with a temperature of 38.9 at one stage. The third edition
will be out in the next few days but I am reluctant to make a specific
promise. I will be responding to the many kind people who have been
commenting positively on this series. I have yet to receive any
negative comments but please note I will reply to both positive
and negative feedback as soon as I can.
Regards,
Johan van Rooyen
Dear listeners,
I'm afraid the third edition of Really Learn Spanish needs to be
postponed a little bit more. Unfortunately I recently came down ill
with a temperature of 38.9 at one stage. The third edition
will be out in the next few days but I am reluctant to make a specific
promise. I will be responding to the many kind people who have been
commenting positively on this series. I have yet to receive any
negative comments but please note I will reply to both positive
and negative feedback as soon as I can.
Regards,
Johan van Rooyen
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
NIS Intermediate 042 - La Mafia
We look at the extraordinary range of mafias in Europe and discover just how many there are, and what they are up to, in Spain. See notesinspanish.com for the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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Christmas Traditions in Spanish - Speaking Countries
Learn the traditions and celebrations of Christmas in Spanish-speaking countries! Feliz Navidad!
NIS Advanced 087 - Notes from Spain
When a blog post went very very wrong! - See NotesinSpanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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Learn Spanish 3.5 - Demonstrative Adjectives & Pronouns in the Office
Which one? This one? That one? That one over there? Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns can help you out!
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Bad Editing on Really Learn Spanish 5
Having uploaded the last cast and having listened to it (in that
order!) I now realise how appalling the editing is - my apologies. I
will rerecord and re-edit it and upload it again at the same time as I
upload the next podcast.
One of my other options was to fix it straight away which would have
been the best but I have to go to work now and I anticipate a busy week
ahead. The other option I discarded was to upload it next weekend, for
example, but then people may think they've downloaded podcast no. six
and might be disappointed or angry or whatever at discovering all they
got was another version of no. five.
order!) I now realise how appalling the editing is - my apologies. I
will rerecord and re-edit it and upload it again at the same time as I
upload the next podcast.
One of my other options was to fix it straight away which would have
been the best but I have to go to work now and I anticipate a busy week
ahead. The other option I discarded was to upload it next weekend, for
example, but then people may think they've downloaded podcast no. six
and might be disappointed or angry or whatever at discovering all they
got was another version of no. five.
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NIS Int 037 - Birmania
Marina and Ben look at recent events in Burma, and the crucial role played by bloggers in letting the world know what was going on. See notesinspanish.com for the accompanying worksheets
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
SpanishPod101.com - Learn Spanish for Free
SpanishPod101.com - Learn Spanish for Free
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Learn Spanish 1.13 - Chores and Basic Commands
When you need something done and you don't want to do it yourself, you need to know how to tell other people to do it! Learn how to give basic commands using chores, hay que, and tener que.
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Expressions and Exclamations
Visit www.myspanishconnection.com/store for the transcript to this show. Thanks for your continued support.
A Trip to the Beach 2
Learn "Are any rooms available?" and more !
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dejar a alguien plantado: to stand somebody up
expression. Example sentence:�Me dejaste plantado!Translation:You stood me up!
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Office Supplies
Remember to visit www.myspanishconnection.com for all of the notes to the show! Gracias y buena suerte!
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Monday, January 16, 2012
Ready for a more comprehensive course? Try SpanishPod101.com for Free
Ready for a more comprehensive course? Try SpanishPod101.com for Free
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NIS Beginners 003 - Tu Ciudad
Ben and Marina talk about Madrid, where they live now, and Ben's old city, Oxford. Have a look at notesinspanish.com for more information, and to pick up the accompanying worksheet.
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NIS Adv 066 - Las Tres "Erres"
Marina talks to Isabel, an expert in the conservation of natural resources. See notesinspanish.com for the transcript/worksheet.
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NIS Beginners 021 - Intercambios
We look at great conversation openers in Spanish to help you out at parties, when you meet new poeple, with intercambios and more. See NotesinSpanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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NIS Advanced 089 - El Camino
Marina talks to her friend Isabel about the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrims' route across Northern Spain followed by 50,000 people every year. See NotesinSpanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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How to find the definitions of Spanish idioms and expressions
How many times have you heard or read a Spanish expression and then consulted a dictionary for its meaning and turned up empty? Maybe you found the answer right away. But perhaps there have been a few occasions where it took a little bit of digging to find the definition. There is an easy way [...]
The Hail Mary
Learn to say the Hail Mary prayer.
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Sunday, January 15, 2012
Pimsleur Spanish Program Comparison updated Fri Dec 31 2010 2:20 pm EST
There's no doubt that Pimsleur programs are among the best audio programs available for beginner's learning Spanish or for that matter any other language.
But what about the student that already has the basics down, completed the <a href="http://www.usedpimsleur.com/spanish?b=1">Pimsleur series</a>, or needs a text and transcript to accompany their audio lessons? Also what about the course content, methodology and the price? Both courses are excellent and are increasingly well known. The key is to find out what method suits you the best.
In addition to our comparison, we have also provided a variety of additional recommended Spanish learning resources, videos, rss feeds, and more.
But what about the student that already has the basics down, completed the <a href="http://www.usedpimsleur.com/spanish?b=1">Pimsleur series</a>, or needs a text and transcript to accompany their audio lessons? Also what about the course content, methodology and the price? Both courses are excellent and are increasingly well known. The key is to find out what method suits you the best.
In addition to our comparison, we have also provided a variety of additional recommended Spanish learning resources, videos, rss feeds, and more.
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NIS Int 040 - Huertas Solares
Ben and Marina discuss the use of fields of solar panels to overcome energy problems in Spain, but wonder about the future of our landscapes... see notesinspanish.com for the accompanying worksheets.
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NIS Beginners 006 - El Verano en Madrid
Ben and Marina discuss the effects the summer and the heat have on life in the capital. See www.notesinspanish.com for more details and to find the accompanying worksheets.
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Notes in Spanish Advanced 49 - Pasarela de Cibeles
Ben and Marina discuss this weeks fashion show in Madrid. See notesinspanish.com for full details of this podcast.
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NIS Adv 078 - Silvia, Bolivia y Madrid
Today we chat to Silvia, who moved to Madrid from Bolivia around 7 years ago after reading a very inspiring book... See notesinspanish.com to pick up the transcript on the accompanying worksheet.
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Learn Spanish 3.14 - "To Become" with Ponerse, Volverse, Hacerse, & Convertirse
"To become" and "to get" can be a little tricky when there are four different translations involved. Well, no longer!
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A Trip to the Beach 2
Learn "Are any rooms available?" and more !
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Saturday, January 14, 2012
Ver vs. Mirar
The definitions of these two verbs are clear in any dictionary: VER means “to see” while MIRAR is defined as “to look at” or “to watch” That may lead some English speakers who are studying Spanish to say things like� “Miro la tele” or “Me gusta mirar pel�culas” in Spanish. This is incorrect. In Spanish, [...]
NIS Advanced 090 - La Oficina
Does any work get done in a Spanish office? And how do you cope with the boss? See NotesinSpanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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Learn Spanish 3.11 - Hopes and Dreams with the Imperfect Subjunctive
Learn to talk about your dreams and wishes, no matter how outlandish, using the imperfect subjunctive and even the conditional.
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Notes in Spanish Advanced 59 - De Rebajas
It's sales time, and Ben is in trouble over his ageing wardrobe! See notesinspanish.com for the full transcript/worksheet.
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NIS Adv 063 - Gemelos
Do you think it's OK to have twins at 67? The press does... see notesinspanish.com for full details and to pick up the accompanying worksheet.
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Learn Spanish 2.2 - The Informal Future and Holidays
Holidays are one the best reasons to learn a new language. Now you can talk about which places you are going to go and what you are going to see there using the informal future.
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Really Learn Spanish - Podcast 3 (10:57)
Making mistakes
Some serious grammar!
Differences in Spanish across the world
Dave Slusher is back...briefly
Related links:
The Real Academia Española has an excellent query answering serviceDave Slusher leads a discussion on reading in Spanish
Some serious grammar!
Differences in Spanish across the world
Dave Slusher is back...briefly
Related links:
The Real Academia Española has an excellent query answering serviceDave Slusher leads a discussion on reading in Spanish
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Friday, January 13, 2012
NIS Beginners 020 - El Kindle
This week we discuss Amazon's Kindle, a revolutionary device that could change the way we read. See NotesinSpanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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Notes in Spanish 40 - El destape
Marina and Ben discuss the effect of the bikini on life in Spain after Franco died. See www.notesfromspain.com for more details.
News #83 - These Holiday Deals Are Only Once A Year!
Christmas and New Years are fast approaching! And so is the end of the 10 Day Holiday Countdown! It?s tough to make a decision when deals are so good. Kind of like being a kid in a candy store again! Make sure you get the language gift you want and start 2012 with a bang! [...]
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Announcement
We are on a short break till middle of July due to move out of state. Been busy, but be back soon! Keep up with your learning and good luck!!
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Working with Children 1
Please visit www.myspanishconnection.com for the study guide to this episode! Gracias y buena suerte!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
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NIS Beginners 001 - Hola!
Hola and Welcome to the first Notes in Spanish Inspired Beginners Podcast! See notesinspanish.com for full details and to pick up the accompanying worksheet pack.
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Numbers 1 - 100
Hi everybody! Here are the numbers that we told you about on the central button of your iPod! 1-uno 2-dos 3-tres 4-cuatro 5-cinco 6-seis 7-siete 8-ocho 9-nueve 10-diez 11-once 12-doce 13-trece 14-catorce 15-quince 20-veinte 30-treinta 40-cuarenta 50
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
At the Hospital 2
The written transcript to all of our episodes can be purchased at www.myspanishconnection.com/storeClick on the all PDF's bundle for only $12.99. That's over 70 lessons for a low price! Thanks for your continued support of our show.
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azar: chance
noun. Example sentence:No dejar� mi futuro al azar.Translation:I will not leave my future up to chance.
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A Trip to the Pharmacy
Please go to www.myspanishconnection.com for the text to this show. Please take the survey on the left hand side of our website www.myspanishconnection.com. It takes less than 60 seconds! We're interested in finding out who is listening!
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NIS Beginners 024 - Ir de Tapas
Ben and Marina look at words and phrases connected with eating, ordering, and dealing with waiters in Spanish bars and restaruants, plus a rundown of the best Spanish tapas. See notesinspanish.com to comment and pick up the accompanying worksheet.
Keith Lard Makes a Valuable Contribution
"I've been watching a lot of Friends dubbed into Spanish, which is good
because I already know who everyone is and what's going on because I've
seen most of them before in English. They do speak very fast, and the
deadpan delivery makes it hard to tell which bits are meant to be
funny, but the canned laughter helps. I'm picking up lots and lots of
little phrases and fragments, and I get excited when I understand a
whole chunk at once. I think there are two skills involved in
listening: the first is actually decoding a continuous stream of speech
into its component words, and the second is knowing what those Spanish
words mean. It's the first skill that really benefits from a lot of
listening. What used to be high-speed noise seems to magically
crystallise after a while into well-formed Spanish sentences. Even if
you don't understand the sentences completely, you can get valuable
context to help you guess the words you don't know.
And as he points out, you always get things in context. Certain phrases
and constructions crop up absolutely all the time, and you just learn
them as blocks or templates which you can use to build sentences. If
you start off by learning grammar, and you know past participles are
formed by taking the infinitive stem and adding '-ado' for -AR verbs
and 'ido' for -ER/IR verbs, you might have trouble remembering whether
it's 'he olvidado' or 'he olvidido' for 'I forgot'. You have to
remember which kind of verb the infinitive is and work forwards from
there, and you could still get it wrong. On the other hand, if you
listen to a lot of Spanish, you've probably heard people say 'he
olvidado' a million times, and you never once heard them say 'he
olvidido', so you just know.
It's this 'just knowing' which gives you a big confidence boost. Words,
phrases and sentences arrive in your brain fully-formed and correctly
pronounced, without you having to laboriously construct them from
grammatical rules and then double-check that all the adverbs agree and
so on. Similarly with listening comprehension, after a while you start
understanding things as blocks of meaning, not individual words.
Translating word by word into English is much too slow when people are
speaking at full speed - you need to hear the Spanish, understand
what's being said without mentally working out an English translation,
and immediately be ready to listen to the next bit.
It's a little bit Zen because you need to stop trying so hard to
understand and just let the sounds come in. I could liken it to Magic
Eye for the ears, because it's when you stop struggling and let your
subconscious brain get on with it that it suddenly happens. At first in
flashes, but then in bigger and bigger chunks until you can understand
whole sections of dialogue. When you're not focusing on mentally
translating into English, you've got time to absorb context and body
language and facial expressions which all help convey what's being said."
because I already know who everyone is and what's going on because I've
seen most of them before in English. They do speak very fast, and the
deadpan delivery makes it hard to tell which bits are meant to be
funny, but the canned laughter helps. I'm picking up lots and lots of
little phrases and fragments, and I get excited when I understand a
whole chunk at once. I think there are two skills involved in
listening: the first is actually decoding a continuous stream of speech
into its component words, and the second is knowing what those Spanish
words mean. It's the first skill that really benefits from a lot of
listening. What used to be high-speed noise seems to magically
crystallise after a while into well-formed Spanish sentences. Even if
you don't understand the sentences completely, you can get valuable
context to help you guess the words you don't know.
And as he points out, you always get things in context. Certain phrases
and constructions crop up absolutely all the time, and you just learn
them as blocks or templates which you can use to build sentences. If
you start off by learning grammar, and you know past participles are
formed by taking the infinitive stem and adding '-ado' for -AR verbs
and 'ido' for -ER/IR verbs, you might have trouble remembering whether
it's 'he olvidado' or 'he olvidido' for 'I forgot'. You have to
remember which kind of verb the infinitive is and work forwards from
there, and you could still get it wrong. On the other hand, if you
listen to a lot of Spanish, you've probably heard people say 'he
olvidado' a million times, and you never once heard them say 'he
olvidido', so you just know.
It's this 'just knowing' which gives you a big confidence boost. Words,
phrases and sentences arrive in your brain fully-formed and correctly
pronounced, without you having to laboriously construct them from
grammatical rules and then double-check that all the adverbs agree and
so on. Similarly with listening comprehension, after a while you start
understanding things as blocks of meaning, not individual words.
Translating word by word into English is much too slow when people are
speaking at full speed - you need to hear the Spanish, understand
what's being said without mentally working out an English translation,
and immediately be ready to listen to the next bit.
It's a little bit Zen because you need to stop trying so hard to
understand and just let the sounds come in. I could liken it to Magic
Eye for the ears, because it's when you stop struggling and let your
subconscious brain get on with it that it suddenly happens. At first in
flashes, but then in bigger and bigger chunks until you can understand
whole sections of dialogue. When you're not focusing on mentally
translating into English, you've got time to absorb context and body
language and facial expressions which all help convey what's being said."
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Returns and Exchanges
Learn to converse about making returns and exchanges in a store! Go to www.myspanishconnection.com for the PDF files study guides to the show.
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More delay!
Amigos oyentes:
Dear listeners,
I'm afraid the third edition of Really Learn Spanish needs to be
postponed a little bit more. Unfortunately I recently came down ill
with a temperature of 38.9 at one stage. The third edition
will be out in the next few days but I am reluctant to make a specific
promise. I will be responding to the many kind people who have been
commenting positively on this series. I have yet to receive any
negative comments but please note I will reply to both positive
and negative feedback as soon as I can.
Regards,
Johan van Rooyen
Dear listeners,
I'm afraid the third edition of Really Learn Spanish needs to be
postponed a little bit more. Unfortunately I recently came down ill
with a temperature of 38.9 at one stage. The third edition
will be out in the next few days but I am reluctant to make a specific
promise. I will be responding to the many kind people who have been
commenting positively on this series. I have yet to receive any
negative comments but please note I will reply to both positive
and negative feedback as soon as I can.
Regards,
Johan van Rooyen
Learn Spanish Easily Learn Spanish Quickly Learn Conversational Spanish Learn Spanish Speak Spanish
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
NIS Beginners 015 - La ultima vez
When was the last time you...? We look at how the Preterito Indefinido past tense is used to talk about things that happened in the past. See notesinspanish.com for more details and the accompanying worksheet (includes transcript and translation of the Spanish section and full grammar and vocab notes).
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Working with Children 1
Please visit www.myspanishconnection.com for the study guide to this episode! Gracias y buena suerte!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
Don?t forget to leave a 5 star rating in iTunes for us! Thanks!
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Notes in Spanish Intermediate 15 - Cambio Climatico
Is climate change going to leave Spain's Mediterranean coast without tourists in 30 years time? See notesinspanish.com to pick up the accompanying transcript/worksheet.
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Top 25 Spanish Questions You Need to Know #2 - Where are you from?
Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! You?re just about to meet up with your friend who is visiting from Spain. You figure this will be a perfect chance to practice your Spanish conversation skills before your big move to Spain. Here?s hoping your friend?s patient! In this lesson, you will learn the question Where are you [...]
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Top 25 Spanish Questions You Need to Know #2 - Where are you from?
Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! You?re just about to meet up with your friend who is visiting from Spain. You figure this will be a perfect chance to practice your Spanish conversation skills before your big move to Spain. Here?s hoping your friend?s patient! In this lesson, you will learn the question Where are you [...]
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Notes in Spanish 35 - Topicos
Ben and Marina talk about the stereotypes associated with Spain and the Spanish. A transcript for this podcast with vocab and exercises is available via Notesfromspain.com
Notes in Spanish 40 - El destape
Marina and Ben discuss the effect of the bikini on life in Spain after Franco died. See www.notesfromspain.com for more details.
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Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Let's review !
A review of two episodes in this lesson !
Review Expressing Opinions 4 and Did you see that episodes?
Spanish2Go app now available in iTunes !
Review Expressing Opinions 4 and Did you see that episodes?
Spanish2Go app now available in iTunes !
Learn Conversational Spanish Learn Spanish Speak Spanish Learn Spanish Now Learn Spanish Easily
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