Intro to Spanish! Lesson .1

[Findarto]

Introduction to Spanish:


¡Hola! Bienvenidos a Español!

Hello, welcome to Spanish!

This chapter is the introduction to Spanish, and is for the complete beginner.

In this introduction, we, will try and familiarize you with the basic-basics of the language.

When it comes to teaching, I (Findarto), have a particular outlook: Short and Simple.


What I mean is, I will try and make the lessons as short and as informative as possible.

The assignments might not be so easy, but the lesson should prepare you in the best way.

Now, this is my and some of the other people helping with the class, first time teaching like this.

I've taught young cousins, and random people Spanish, and I've also tutored high school and junior high school classes.


The Spanish that you will learn in this class is only based off of what I, and the people who help out know.

I'm from Puerto Rico, not Spain, Colombia, or Mexico.

Each country uses at least subtle differences in their speech, and to complicate it, American latinos use a different approach to Spanish as well.

If you've had some experience with Spanish before, good. If not, don't worry, you should be able to adjust well enough, and if you need some extra help there is a list in the COT: Spanish forum to help you.

If you have kids, I hope you will teach some of the things you learn in here to them. Or, if you have friends and relatives who you can teach it to as well. The BEST way to learn Spanish, is to teach someone else. If you can teach it, you know it!

By the end of this course, you should be able to do the following:

Meet and greet people in Spanish

Count

Tell time

Give and follow directions

Talk about activities and entertainment

Make simple to intermediate sentences

Be understood

Write a medium sized letter, which will serve as your FINAL! :p

Now, I won't go in too much to Spanish history on this intro. I will give some facts:

Around 400 million people speak spanish as a first or second language

Spanish is the second or third ranked language in terms of speakers

Official language in at least 24 countries

Different everywhere you go!

Now, if you don't mind, I've prepared a mini lesson for you, Greetings!





Greetings are the key to a first impression, and you should know how to make them in Spanish. Let's start with the basics!

Hola - I used this in the beginning of the lesson. It means 'Hello'.

Bienvenidos - Also used in the beginning, it means 'welcome'.

Como + Estar* - How are you
Muy bien - very well

Gracias - Thanks

Por favor - please

Mucho Gusto - Nice to meet you

Igualmente - The same, or you too

Asi Asi - in the terms of response to (Como+Estar) it means 'so, so'.

Adios! - goodbye

*Estar is our first verb. This ties in with the first assignment, that you will have to do.

Estar is one of the verbs that means 'To Be'. In some instances it can mean to be located, or to be in the mood of, etc. In this lesson it will mean 'to be feeling'. Ser can be used in place of or to respond to Estar sometimes, it will be your second verb.

Estar and Ser are arguably two of the MOST important verbs to learn. Learn them, and remember them, it will make Spanish very easy!

The Assignment:

Use the internet, or your dictionary. Come up with all the present tense conjugations of 'Estar', and 'Ser'.

Use the internet, or that Spanish-English dictionary I asked you to get if possible. Come up with at least six (6) ways to respond to 'Como Estas?'.

Then, list all the ways you can ask Como +Estar, each conjugation, I've given you one.

The assignment should be turned in, double spaced please, in a responding post to my thread 'Intro to Spanish'. I will post the answers a day after the lesson is posted in another thread so those who come late won't be spoiled.

Enjoy!

Words used:
Estar
Ser
Como
Hola
Bienvenidos
Asi
Gracias
Por
Favor
Adios
Mucho
Muy
Bien
Igualmente

[Dalia]

actually, it is como estas. Estar is the non-conjugated verb (or whatever you say that in english). The conjugation is:
(I) Yo estoy
(you, singular) Tu estas
(he, she) El/ ella esta
(we)Nosotros estamos
(you, plural) ustedes estan
(they) ellos estan

[Dalia]

Hola, bienvenidos al curso de espanol. I attached a file so you can hear me say the greeting LOL!

[Dalia]

Also, for SER the conjugation is
Yo soy
Tu eres
Ella/ El es
Nosotros somos
Ustedes son
Ellos son

[Findarto]

actually, it is como estas. Estar is the non-conjugated verb (or whatever you say that in english). The conjugation is:
(I) Yo estoy
(you, singular) Tu estas
(he, she) El/ ella esta
(we)Nosotros estamos
(you, plural) ustedes estan
(they) ellos estan

Yeah, I know. I thought I would teach the verb, and then let them figure out which form to use for it :p.

Thanks for the clips!

[LithiumViolets]

hello. I just wanted to say the way I was taught Spanish.....um...I always remembered what time to use ser/estar by being told that Estar was for "temporary conditions"--

--estoy en la biblioteca (i'm in the library....the person won't be in the library for the rest of their life)

--ellas esta muy cansada (she's very tired.....she's not always tired)

while Ser was for permanent traits--

--el rosa es rojo (the rose is red because it will always be red)

--soy muy alta (i'm very tall....because presumably, the person was born that way)

um.....was I taught wrong? or do you speak Spanish differently?

I get confused all the time becuase, as you said, people from SPanish countries speak it differently, have different rules, and it's just a mess. Not as big a mess as learning English is but you know :).....like I know the biggest thing to get over was "vosotros" becuase my first Spanish teacher was American but she lived in Spain for many years and they use "vosotros" however my next Spanish teacher for 2nd and 3rd year was from Cuba and she quickly let me know that they had no place for vosotros...even though it took a second to stop writing those forms....


ANYWAY: answer to the lesson

yo estoy
tu estas
el/ella esta
nosotros estamos
vosotros estais
ellos/ellas stan


yo soy
tu eres
el/ella es
nosotros somos
vosotros sois
ellos/ellas son

[Findarto]

hello. I just wanted to say the way I was taught Spanish.....um...I always remembered what time to use ser/estar by being told that Estar was for "temporary conditions"--

--estoy en la biblioteca (i'm in the library....the person won't be in the library for the rest of their life)

--ellas esta muy cansada (she's very tired.....she's not always tired)

while Ser was for permanent traits--

--el rosa es rojo (the rose is red because it will always be red)

--soy muy alta (i'm very tall....because presumably, the person was born that way)

um.....was I taught wrong? or do you speak Spanish differently?

I get confused all the time becuase, as you said, people from SPanish countries speak it differently, have different rules, and it's just a mess. Not as big a mess as learning English is but you know :).....like I know the biggest thing to get over was "vosotros" becuase my first Spanish teacher was American but she lived in Spain for many years and they use "vosotros" however my next Spanish teacher for 2nd and 3rd year was from Cuba and she quickly let me know that they had no place for vosotros...even though it took a second to stop writing those forms....


ANYWAY: answer to the lesson

yo estoy
tu estas
el/ella esta
nosotros estamos
vosotros estais
ellos/ellas stan


yo soy
tu eres
el/ella es
nosotros somos
vosotros sois
ellos/ellas son
Hey,
where is the quote in your signature from?

I know what you mean, my first writing tutor was from Valencia,
so I learned that when I learned to write in Spanish, but then when my parents taught me, they didn't use it, nor when I talked to adults at school in the US. It's weird, if you visit a Spanish class in Florida, a lot of the kids in there are kids who already speak the language and want an easy A lol.

[LithiumViolets]

Hey,
where is the quote in your signature from?

I know what you mean, my first writing tutor was from Valencia,
so I learned that when I learned to write in Spanish, but then when my parents taught me, they didn't use it, nor when I talked to adults at school in the US. It's weird, if you visit a Spanish class in Florida, a lot of the kids in there are kids who already speak the language and want an easy A lol.

ha the quote in my sig is something i wrote in a poem (not really a "poem" poem but....weirdness) awhile ago. and it's in quotations because someone was actually speaking that to the person in the poem. and the spanish part is probably all kinds of wrong because i made it up listening to a coheed and cambria song... in my poetry i tend to mix random spanish in with the english. and my friends get mad :) and are all like "i cant read the second stanza cuz it's spanish"

whatever. yeah in my spanish classes there were always spanish speaking kids who wanted A's. i never understood that.

[Findarto]

ha the quote in my sig is something i wrote in a poem (not really a "poem" poem but....weirdness) awhile ago. and it's in quotations because someone was actually speaking that to the person in the poem. and the spanish part is probably all kinds of wrong because i made it up listening to a coheed and cambria song... in my poetry i tend to mix random spanish in with the english. and my friends get mad :) and are all like "i cant read the second stanza cuz it's spanish"

whatever. yeah in my spanish classes there were always spanish speaking kids who wanted A's. i never understood that.
I do that, now! Haha, I'm taking Spanish Theory this year in school, which is supposed to be some sort of AP class that goes in to how it was created or w/e...

Most of my friends know some Spanish, I think most everyone knows some in Florida...

Which Coheed and Cambria song? I like some of their stuff, I saw them live once last year, pretty good...

[LithiumViolets]

I do that, now! Haha, I'm taking Spanish Theory this year in school, which is supposed to be some sort of AP class that goes in to how it was created or w/e...

Most of my friends know some Spanish, I think most everyone knows some in Florida...

Which Coheed and Cambria song? I like some of their stuff, I saw them live once last year, pretty good...


awesome!! there are few people who really appreciate Coheed. and the new trl kids who just jumped on the bandwagon are annoyin. i'm not that elitist and possessive over them but....you know...they're annoying. anyway the song was "The Willing Well I: Fuel for the Feeding End" (ha i had to go look it up cuz i don't know the titles, just the track numbers ont he cd)....

their second cd is the best IMO. though "delirium trigger" from the first is probably my all time favorie. ok, ok, it's a tie between that and "in keeping secrets...."

yeah luckily I have two friends who speak Spanish now-- my "son" who is half Jamacian, half Mexican (which is always fun :)) and my friend who wen to school with me and ended up in all my spanish classes. so we randomly speak Spanish with each other, which is good because it helps us get practice. I would expect alot of poeple from Florida, Texas, and California to know at least a workable amount of Spanish.

[Kahlil the Heretic]

I speak Spanish, can I help?

[Findarto]

awesome!! there are few people who really appreciate Coheed. and the new trl kids who just jumped on the bandwagon are annoyin. i'm not that elitist and possessive over them but....you know...they're annoying. anyway the song was "The Willing Well I: Fuel for the Feeding End" (ha i had to go look it up cuz i don't know the titles, just the track numbers ont he cd)....

their second cd is the best IMO. though "delirium trigger" from the first is probably my all time favorie. ok, ok, it's a tie between that and "in keeping secrets...."

yeah luckily I have two friends who speak Spanish now-- my "son" who is half Jamacian, half Mexican (which is always fun :)) and my friend who wen to school with me and ended up in all my spanish classes. so we randomly speak Spanish with each other, which is good because it helps us get practice. I would expect alot of poeple from Florida, Texas, and California to know at least a workable amount of Spanish.
Awesome!
Your, 'son' lol?

The only thing annoying about the TRL crowd is, they stop being fans after the hype. It's good for the artists though, more records sold. I think I've heard that song, I'll have to listen to it again to be sure. *Looks for CDs*

So, did you have fun in said classes ;)?

[Findarto]

I speak Spanish, can I help?
Yep,
it'd really help if you could sign-up to be a tutor :).

[LithiumViolets]

Awesome!
Your, 'son' lol?

The only thing annoying about the TRL crowd is, they stop being fans after the hype. It's good for the artists though, more records sold. I think I've heard that song, I'll have to listen to it again to be sure. *Looks for CDs*

So, did you have fun in said classes ;)?


yeah he's this kid...only a year younger but hes so cute and adorable and he has a bad family life so my friend Renee and I "adopted" him and talk to him alot, try to give him advice and room to vent or whatever. He's cool to hang out with.

Oh yes. Spanish class with Senora Pino was always fun. She was from Cuba and since the class was small and no one really did anything, I always finished my wokr first and we'd talk about Cuba and Communism and film (because I want to be a filmmaker) and she was really smart and supportive of my writing and filmmaking endeavors. And then Shane (my aforementioned friend) would just always make me laugh about randomness. Goodtimes.

[Mera_mera]

I took 3 years. Actually 3 1/2. 3 teachers from S. America, one from Puerto Rico. No offense but I'd really rather not do the stuff for extreme beginners I'll check in and everything, but it's kinda boring for me. I'll chime in, when I get to stuff that I don't know, or hardly remember.

[cloverleaf]

yo estoy soy
tu estas eres
el, ella, Ud. esta es
nosotros estamos somos
ellos, ellas, Uds. estan son

Um....what else was there?

[wolfspirit]

Yes, estar is more of a temporary status, while ser is more permanent.

I took 4 years of Spanish class...if I get some time after work I might start up a thread with some simple tables my teacher made that are very useful in learning basic spanish.

[Magion]

I'm Puerto Rican!
:boing:
Any Puerto Ricans in here??!?