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

Viajando por el mundo hispano - La Catedral de Sal en Colombia - Traveling through the Spanish speaking world

Hola amigos,

Today we are going to travel the Salt Cathedral in Colombia, la Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá. This wonder of the world (maravilla del mundo) was built underground in mine tunnels. This beautiful attraction is not far from Bogotá and you can take the train to get there, so if you are ever in Colombia don't miss this maravilla del mundo.

Aquí les dejo algunas fotos cortesía del fotógrafo Cristian Escobar:

 

 

Saludos,



Fernanda

Websites recomendados para aprender español - ELE para niños

Hola amigos,

El website recomendado de esta semana es ELE para niños

This website is designed for children learning Spanish and also for teachers of Spanish for children. It has different ideas, activities, stories and material you can use at home to learn Spanish and teach Spanish to young learners.



¡Qué lo disfruten!

Falsos amigos en español - Discusión / False cognates in Spanish - Discusión

Hola amigos,

Today's false cognate or falso amigo en español is the word discusión.

Discusión looks very similar to the word discussion, and even though it can be used with that meaning, most of the times, the most popular use of discusión is used with the meaning of "argument". Discusión can be used to refer to a discussion as mentioned above, as long as it is used in the right context talking about a topic that is being discussed among several people.

Ejemplo: (discusión as argument) Los escuché discutir acaloradamente toda la tarde.

Ejemplo: (discusión as discussion) Los profesores discutieron los temas relevantes a los problemas de la educación

 

Saludos,

Fernanda

Websites recomendados para aprender español: News in Slow Spanish

Hola amigos,

El website recomendado de hoy es News in Slow Spanish . This free website is good for practicing your listening skills as you can listen to tons of news from all over the world in Spanish and make them faster or slower depending on your level, there are also some worksheets and special features for premium members.

Que lo disfruten
Saludos,
Fernanda

Falsos amigos en español - embarazado/a / False cognates in Spanish - embarazado/a

Hola a todos,

We are going to start checking false cognates in Spanish and English or "falsos amigos", these are words that are written very similarly in Spanish and English but mean things that can be very different.

Today's falso amigo is embarazado/a , embarazado/a may look very similar to the English word embarrassed, however, It means something totally different.

Embarazada is translated into English as pregnant, so do not mistake it with the word embarrassed. The translation of embarrassed in Spanish is avergonzado/a.

You can use the phrase "situación embarazosa" but always in this context  and to talk about an embarrassing or uncomfortable situation.

Saludos,
Fernanda

La llama

Hola amigos,

Hoy quiero compartir con ustedes un video que es muy gracioso y muestra como nuestras palabras en español pueden ser usadas en más de un contexto y con más de un significado.

Aquí les dejo el video de "la llama que llama"

 

 

Saludos,
Fernanda

Recetas hispanas: Cocadas con dulce de leche - Hispanic recipes: Dulce de leche sweets

Hola a todos,

Hoy en nuestras recetas del mundo del español vamos a ver la receta de las cocadas con dulce de leche (o manjar en Chile).

Las cocadas con dulce de leche son muy fáciles de hacer y no necesitan ser horneadas, así que es una buena receta para hacer con niños o cuando necesitas hacer un postre rápido y rico.

Ingredientes:

1. Un paquete de galletas blandas y fáciles de moler (de vino, mantequilla, etc.)
2. Un tarro de dulce de leche / Si no hay dulce de leche donde viven, pueden usar un taro de leche condensada, aquí les enseñaré como hacerlo.
3. Coco a gusto

A cocinar:

1. Muele todas las galletas en un bol

 



2. Si no tienes dulce de leche listo y estás usando leche condensada. Hierve un tarro de leche condensada por dos horas, recuerda revisarlo y agregar más agua de vez en cuando. Déjalo reposar después de las dos horas y cuando esté a temperature ambiente, poner en el refrigerador hasta que esté helado.

3. Mezclar las galletas molidas con al menos 3/4 del tarro de leche condensada hasta que esté todo mezclado y se vea como en la foto.

4. Con tus manos hacer unas bolitas pequeñas y bien apretadas.

5. Poner coco a gusto en un plato o bandejita y pasar las bolitas por el coco. Colocar las bolitas en el refrigerador hasta que estén frías y más duras.

¡Qué las disfruten!

Saludos,

Fernanda

Websites recomendados para aprender español: Rockalingua un website de español para niños

Hola amigos,

In our section for recommended websites for learning and practising Spanish, I am recommending today the website Rockalingua.

This website it is aimed for helping young learners practising and learning their Spanish skills, I have been using it with my young learner classes and every week they request to listen one of the Spanish songs, they are very catchy, even for adults, so if you are an adult young at heart and want to practise Spanish with some catchy music as well you can use these resources. It has different sections and it is good for different types of learners as well, as it has worksheets and games in Spanish.

I hope you enjoy it!

¡Qué lo disfruten!

Saludos,
Fernanda

Los verbos más usados en español

Hola amigos,

Here I am leaving for you a list of 22 out of the 100 most used verbs in Spanish for you to use.

Verbo	Traducción
Abrir   Beber/Tomar   Creer   Comer   Cerrar   Decir   Escuchar/Oir   Estudiar   Escribir   Entender   Hablar   Hacer   Ir   Leer   Necesitar   Preguntar   Poder   Poner   Querer   Salir   Tener   Utilizar/Usar	To open   To drink   To believe   To eat   To close   To tell/ to say   To listen / to hear   To study   To write   To understand   To talk / to speak   To do / to make   To go   To read   To need   To ask   Can/ to be able   To put   To want   To leave/ to go out   To have   To use

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saludos,

Fernanda

 

Vocabulario de fútbol en español- Football vocabulary in Spanish

Hola a todos,

Now that "la copa del mundo" or "el mundial de fútbol" has started and we have many Spanish speaking countries in it, I thought about leaving some vocabulary in Spanish related to football.

VOCABULARIO	TRADUCCIÓN
Fútbol Pelota / balón Arco / portería Jugadores Arbitro Partido Cancha / campo  de fútbol Estadio Gol / goles Entrenador o director técnico (DT) Fanático / hincha	Football                                     Ball                 Goal Players Referee Match Football field Stadium Goal / goals / points Trainer Fan

Let me know if you can think of any more words

Saludos,
Fernanda