Gift of Words

This site provides words from A - Z. Study them at leisure. Words are basically a bank, a word bank. Study them, hold onto them, and construct sentences, phrases, or communicate with them. The more you know, the more you can use the words, and you can increase communication.

http://spanish.speak7.com/spanish_vocabulary4000_t_z.htm

In a previous post, I talked about words being likened to beads. Each one is a separate bead that you string together to form meaning and shades of meaning. You then convey the meaning to another. Words are your wealth that you store within yourself and tangibly inside notebooks or books.

You can also develop your own lexicon of words that are meaningful to you. Others can learn these words from your collection.

The list provided will give you words from "T - Z." You can click on the appropriate letters for "A - S."

Increase the knowledge of your vocabulary today!

Pronunciation

http://spanish.about.com/od/spanishpronunciation/Learn_Spanish_Pronunciation.htm

I spent part of a day pronouncing Spanish words and getting my tongue acclimated to the sounds. That is a way you can assess if you are having problems with the sounds in the language, and what sounds are more problematic for you.

Later, I thought of pronouncing English words with Spanish pronunciation just to be a bit silly. It actually helped me place the sounds in Spanish next to English sounds, and my brain was able to study how the mind and tongue worked together to pronounce foreign sounds.

For instance, I pronounced "State and Lake" (train station) as "stahtay y lahkay."
Even though it didn't make sense to the ear, and in print, it looked so incorrect, I was able to see what Spanish speakers may be doing when they pronounce English words.

It helps you to put yourself in their shoes.

On the other hand, what would happen if they pronounced Spanish words with an English accent or an English pronunciation? It would be humorous. For example, "casa" may turn out to be "quesay" or "cahsay." (If you took each letter phonetically and literally, that is.) "Casa" is a common word in the United States, and so most people pronounce it 'as is.'(with the Spanish pronunciation intact)

If you ever meet young children that first arrive to the states or their families, you will hear the Spanish pronunciation being used for English letters and vowel sounds. That is what gives them an accent. Even after years of staying in the states or learning English, you will hear the subtle accents of their original tongues.

Write down a few words in Spanish and English. Reverse sounds for both groups. Try to formulate how and when your brain wants to use English and when it wants to use Spanish. It will be informative to you about your own choices regarding sounds, and you will be able to see the accent you bring to the language, whether it is an English one or a Spanish one.

Have fun with it!

If you want actual pronunciations of letters, go to the link at the top of the page from a site called, "About.com," and you will be able to hear them in certain instances as well.

Best wishes and good luck with all the Spanish you are learning!

Readings

Reading is a silent skill that often aids in our comprehension. At times, no one will know if you are reading or gleaning from reading. Most people read on their own and don't involve others or tell others. That is why it is a silent skill.

If you share with others, then most probably people know that you are learning and comprehending things outside of your arenas. If you receive a newsletter that helps you learn, that is shared knowledge, although you do the readings on your own time. Newsletters in your inbox or email also stimulates your reading and increases your reading and knowledge slowly and surely.

Here's a site that gives you links and websites that will strengthen your learning skills through reading.

http://www.ihes.com/bcn/spanish/reading.html

If the material is a bit too difficult for you, note that and save the website for later when you are ready for it. Explore the sites that are recommended and at leisure. If you need to find other sites search for some that interest you individually.

Some people think reading intimidates the reader because of academic or rigorous study, but reading can be a very fun hobby, especially if it involves foreign language study. It is your overall attitude that brings you to read or stimulates you to read. It helps you work with patterns in words, sentences, phrases, and also gives you a chance to learn a particular country's idioms and other colloquial speech.

Browsing some sites for readings in Spanish will allow you to give yourself time to read. Reading is possessing power over subject matter. Only you can understand what to do with the material you are learning, and it puts Spanish in your court.

Try some newspapers in Spanish too!

Reading is literacy!

Practice Spanish on Twitter

If you use twitter, you may be familiar with pages that use Spanish.  Here's one for example.

https://twitter.com/spanishlanguage

The Tenses

http://www.learnspanishtoday.com 

Browse on the above link/ site and look at the categories. Then take a visit to this blog's supplemental page to practice the tenses.

You will work with the present, the past, and the future tenses.

Happy practicing!

Punto y Coma Magazine

http://www.pyc-revista.com/index.php?page=main&idioma=EN&idioma=ES&idioma=EN

Errors in Spanish


Making mistakes is fine in a self - study program or a correspondence course.
I am thinking of using the mistakes in my notebook and learning from them or developing a track of all the common mistakes I tend to make. That journal or notebook I asked you to use for the supplemental blog is something you can use to jot down your most frequent errors in Spanish.

Self - study programs are kinder in that you can go your own pace and return to the same points you want to review. You can bookmark pages in your notebook or journal, or write down which features of this blog you want to review. Reviewing may seem like a tedious task at first, but actually, it is fun. What it does is get you to think about your level of learning.

"Oh, so that's the mistake that keeps me back, or now, I know this part, and I wonder why I kept getting stuck just there." You may even slap your forehead for not
seeing it through the first time.

I was on Craigs List the other day, and I found people that wanted conversations more, or to meet someone to practice Spanish face to face. I understand their rush. Most of the time, people wish to meet face to face, because they figure they can learn faster, and they will find discipline if they meet with others on a regular basis as they once did in classes at school. The only difference is that you have to email a stranger and start to work with strangers almost immediately. Unless you have a great email manner, you may not even stick with this process. This is another reason, I thought of this Self - Study journey for all of my random students that stumble upon my blog.

You may wonder what happened to the people that took Spanish with you in a high school or college level class. Did they keep it up? Did they practice with others continuously, or did they let it all slide?

The part of home study or a correspondence class by mail or by email is that you can work with time allotments that don't have to do with face to face meetings or depending on the other person's reliability. In this day and age, things come up frequently. People have to go to places, be at work, and usually do not keep the scheduled appointments, unless they are paying by contract or for tutoring.

Contracts are fine, and I would advise using them, if you do meet face to face with someone. In this case, We are taking the learning of Spanish in a pace that we can all tolerate. Even if you and I don't show up to read this blog or read it together, it will still be up and still be available. So, that meets the part of reliability.

If you do feel as if you need personal attention or coaching, facilitation of English to Spanish, please comment below the posts. You are most welcome to ask questions or ask the writer here to clarify or assign more lessons or readings.

Are you ready to look at readings in Spanish? How about newspapers in Spanish?

There is http://elpais.com

If you browse, there will be the perfect one for you.

http://newspaper-world.com/language/spanish.asp

Here's a site for English speakers. http://www.world-newspapers.com/spain.html

Mostly, I read newspapers in my mind, but I can also practice the words out loudly. What I think is lacking is the ability to forgive yourself if you don't get every single word. Well, when you first spoke English, did you know every single word? It's all pacing of yourself and pacing it with a group of other like individuals, whether it be in school or out of school.

If you're suffering a real emergency, you can always contact me at
writeinspire@yahoo.com (Ms. A., I need some email feedback or time to work this Spanish out in writing back and forth to a live person.) If you don't, that's fine, too.

Have fun this summer! I will still continue posting. If you decide to take a vacation or time off, don't forget to look up Solitaire and Spanish Solitaire up again. (www.spanishsolitaire.blogspot.com or www.solospanish.blogspot.com)

Enjoy the Home Study Option or the Correspondence Course option I am offering
on some other sites.

Again, contact me at writeinspire@yahoo.com

English speakers, never fail to remember your ENGLISH can help you learn Spanish better. Practice both well.

Bye for now!

Okay, so you have been exploring the language through visual and audio means. You may have looked at flash cards or practiced using them. How about writing the spanish you see or hear? At first, you might be afraid. What word is that? If you hear a word that you hear frequently, but you don't know what it is yet, try writing it and practice the spelling. Start sounding out each letter little by little until the word looks like the one that you are hearing. If you don't hear Spanish usually, try listening to a song again. You tube will do. There are plenty of singers such as Iglesias, Pausini, Chayanne,or others that sing in Spanish as a hobby instead of a profession. Try listening to the words. We suggest using a notebook and writing things out in Spanish as well. A simple conversation such as "How are you?" "I am fine, thanks." What about a notebook in which you record what level your Spanish is at present. Write sentences and phrases. Keep it dated and up to date. Later, take all the errors, mistakes or even correct words and phrases and use them as a supplement. Start to correct mistakes you note in time. For example, did you use "ser" instead of "estar" in a sentence? Write down why you didn't know it before, but now you do. Did you mix up shades of meaning? Did you use "excuse me" instead of "pardon me?" It varies from state to state, or from different terrains, what is more commonly used, that is. After, look at your notes as a resource and a supplement to your studies or readings. You can attempt the notebook method even if you are at beginning or basic levels. Use words first. Go to sentences later. Let us know if this method works for you. Remember, if you make a mistake in writing, that works for you! You will have ample workbook(s) to make corrections in time. Then you will notice improvements and level advancement as time goes by. Good luck this month! We will wait for any questions or comments as usual. Gracias! Happy learning of Spanish!