A website with videos for your level of Spanish

Hola a todos,

I recently came across this website VideoEle . VideoEle is a website with many videos for Spanish learners from complete beginner level (A1) to advanced level (B2). All the videos are about different current and cultural topics from the Spanish speaking world and the rhythm and content is suitable for the different levels. There are transcripts for every video and some of them also have guidelines and additional activities for you to check.

Qué disfrutes VideoEle
Saludos,
Fernanda

How to practice my listening skills in Spanish

Hola amigos,

Espero que todos estén muy bien.

Today I was thinking that mastering yous listening skills in a foreign language can be quite hard, especially if you don't enjoy learning languages using auditory methods. However, listening is a very important skill, you can become familiar with different accents, you can learn new vocabulary, and it can help your speaking skills in a huge way.

If you are not a big fan of learning languages by listening or if you are struggling a bit with it, here there are a few things that may help you find a way to do it:

• Watch youtube videos in Spanish
• Listen to music in Spanish
• Make your goal of the week to watch a movie or documentary in Spanish, there are many available on Netflix and youtube. Depending on your level you can watch them with subtitles on your language, Spanish or without any subtitles
• Listen to music in Spanish, it can be while driving, cleaning your house, or when you are working out. You can also listen to songs and look up their lyrics
• Go to salsa lessons
• Find a language partner who is a native speaker. Many language schools and universities offer this service for free
• Start watching a televovela, tv series or news in Spanish, even 5 minutes a week will make a huge difference

Here are some online links that can help you with your listening skills:

• News in Slow Spanish
• Coffee Break Spanish
• Telenovela Destinos for Spanish learners
• Informe Semanal
• Mi vida loca

Saludos,

Fernanda

Dichos en español - con las manos en la masa / Sayings in Spanish

Hola a todos,

The saying of the week is "con las manos en la masa". "Con las manos en la masa" is a saying used when you find someone doing something they are not meant to do or as said in English "catch him/her in the act.

Ejemplo:

La policía encontró al ladrón con las manos en la masa.

Saludos,
Fernanda

Recommended website to practice Spanish - Phone Lingnet Spanish

Hola amigos,

A lot of students learning Spanish will be using it to make phone calls to book a hotel, restaurant or for business purposes calls.

Phone Lingnet Spanish is a website with a lot of resources for phone calls made in Spanish for different purposes. It has samples of Spanish from different Latin American countries and for different levels.

I hope you enjoy your extra practice for listening in Spanish!

¡Qué disfruten la página!
Saludos,
Fernanda

How to do small talk in Spanish - Useful phrases in Spanish to meet people

Hola amigos,

When you are just starting learning Spanish, you always feel like you need some extra phrases (questions and answers) so you can start talking to the native Spanish speakers and communicate. Here you have a list of some useful Spanish phrases to use in different contexts when you are just starting meeting people.

Hola: Hello

¿Cómo estás?: How are you?

Bien, ¿y tú? : I am fine and you?

¿Cómo te llamas? / ¿Cuál es tu nombre?: What is your name?

Me llamo ..... : My name is ....

¿De dónde eres?: Where are you from?

Soy de Escocia / Inglaterra / Estados Unidos / Francia / Alemania / Los Países Bajos :
I'm from Scotland/  England / The United States/ France  /   Germany / The Netherlands

¿A qué te dedicas?: What do you do for a leaving?

Soy estudiante / profesor (a) / ingeniero (a) / camarero (a) / informático (a):
I'm a student    /   teacher     /    engineer   / waiter - waitress / IT

¿Tienes facebook/ móvil/ twitter/ instagram etc? : Do you have .....?

¿Te puedo agregar a facebook / twitter / instagram?: Can I add you to ...?

¿Me darías tu número de teléfono?: Would you give me your phone number?


*Remember that the LL sound in Spanish can be like a soft J sound in English or a Y sound in English.
*Remember that for the female version of a word most of the time you need to either add an A at the end, if the word finishes in a consonant, like in profesor / profesora, or you need to replace the last vowel for A, like in camarero / camarera.

 

 

Saludos,

Fernanda

La palabra de la semana - "pesado" / The word of the week in Spanish

Hola a todos,

The word of the week in Spanish is pesado. Pesado means literally heavy in English, however, it is commonly used to refer to a person who is not nice or annoying.

Ejemplos:

• Mi hermano es un pesado
• Mi jefe es muy pesado

Saludos,
Fernanda

Los sonidos de las vocales en español - Vowel sounds in Spanish for complete beginners

Hola a todos,

Once you learn the sounds of the letters in Spanish it can be a lot easier to pronounce new words.

Today we are going to check the sounds of the vowels in Spanish and compare them to similar sounds in English words.

• A in Spanish is like the a sound in CAT
• E is ike the initial e sound in ELEPHANT
• I is like the ee sound in the word KEEP
• O is like the short o sound in the word POT
• U is like the double oo sound in MOO (like the sound cows make)

Now read the following words outloud to practice your sounds in Spanish:

• CASA
• ELEFANTE
• ISLA
• OSO
• UVAS

Saludos,
Fernanda