Learning Spanish is expensive
It’s common to believe that learning a new language is an expensive proposition. You might be surprised to know that there Let’s look at the available options. Books on the Spanish Language First, you could buy an old textbook, regular book, or book on tape. Most of these are written by PhDs who’ve spent years studying, but have never learned to teach the language to regular folks. If you’ve ever attended a college or university, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Professors who are too busy researching and writing that they fail to improve their teaching ability. Spanish language books might set you back anywhere from $10-40, but typically don’t offer much in terms of helping you speak Spanish. Most of these books will have you repeating phrases and vocabulary that have very little real-world application and certainly will not give you feedback on your speaking ability. Additionally, they won’t address your specific questions and definitely won’t help you overcome the topics that are most confusing to you. Finally, Spanish books really don’t provide any opportunities to practice what you are learning via conversation. Private Spanish Tutor or Community Education Your second option is to hire a Spanish tutor or take a community education Spanish course. Working one-on-one with a skilled tutor is effective, but will cost you from $20/hour and up. When I was tutoring high school students in southern California, parents were happy to pay my rate of $60/hour for quality tutoring. A community education course will cost from $80-$400, depending on a number of factors. Factor in as well the time and money you’ll spend traveling to meet your instructors. These options are somewhat effective, but will cost you time and money. Expensive Spanish Language Software Finally, you could purchase expensive Spanish language software and learn from the convenience of your home computer. The consensus on these courses is mixed because it’s difficult to determine which software courses actually teach the student to speak Spanish effectively. One well-known company offers a sleek-looking software package for more than $500 to learn Spanish 1, 2, and 3. I always find it interesting that despited the price tag and appearance of quality, the most expensive courses generate countless negative reviews online. Just do a Google search for “[insert Spanish course name here] course review”. You’ll get lots of result that will give you a better idea what to expect when you fork over hundreds of dollars to learn Spanish. There are countless products that claim to teach you Spanish. Unless you are absolutely convince that a certain product is right for you, don’t waste your money by purchasing expensive and ineffective language programs that won’t help you meet your goals. Look for a Spanish course that is reasonably priced and will teach you to speak Spanish effectively. "Ser" is perhaps THE most common verb in the Spanish language. In my Beginner Spanish course I explain that there are two types of verbs: simple and vague. The simple verbs are simple to understand because you can visualize them easily. These are verbs like "to run", "to play", "to eat". You can easily visualize someone running, playing, or eating. But the other type of verb, the vague verbs, are not as easy to understand because they don't have such a visual meaning. "Tener" as is "Ser". It just so happens that some of the most common Spanish verbs--to have, to be, to do, to know--are vague verbs. This is important to know as you learn all about Spanish verbs, but don't worry as it will come easily as you study the language and practice speaking Spanish.
The true meaning of "Ser" is "To be", however, the easier way to remember it is to think of it as the I am, you are, she is verb. It literally is the verb used to communicate is, are, and am. This is how the verbs is conjugated: Yo soy - I am Tú eres - You are (informal) Él es - He is Ella es - She is Usted es - You are (formal) Nosotros somos - We are Vosotros sóis - You all are (informal) Ellos son - They are Ellas son - They are (group of females) Ustedes son - You all are (formal) Here are some examples of phrases using the verb "Ser": Yo soy maestra. - I am a teacher. Tú eres bondadoso. - You are kind. Nosotros somos estudiantes. - We are students. Es la una. - It's one o'clock. This blog post is kicking off my new series on the most common Spanish verbs. These posts will contain useful and relevant help to all of you out there who are beginning to speak Spanish. Please let me know if there are verbs you'd like me to review. In Spanish verbs end in -AR, -ER, or -IR. Remember that verbs are action words. I have a unique perspective on Spanish verbs that I explain in depth in my Spanish course. I believe there are two types of verbs, simple and vague. First, the simple verbs are easy to imagine or visualize in your mind. It's easy to picture someone running, eating, or talking. And sure enough, to run, to eat, and to talk are all verbs. These are examples of the simple verbs and include nearly all verbs. The second group is what I refer to as vague Spanish verbs, or the verbs that are more difficult to imagine. Unfortunately, these are the most common verbs that are used multiple times in nearly every string of communication, such as to be, to have, to exist, and to be able to. The mastery of verbs--both simple and vague--comes with listening, practice, and confidence. For this post, I thought I'd address one of my favorite verbs, tener. Tener means 'to have' in Spanish, and you can use it to say things like "I have a meeting", or "You have to go", or "She has a pet cat". Here is a breakdown of the verb tener in the present tense: Yo tengo - I have Tú tienes - you have (informal) Ella tiene - she has Él tiene - he has Usted tiene - you have (formal) Nosotros tenemos - we have Vosotros tenéis - you guys have (informal) Ellos tienen - they have Ellas tienen - they have (group of females) Ustedes tienen - you all have (formal) Some examples of phrases using tener: Yo tengo un amigo - I have a friend Nosotros tenemos que ir - We have to go Ella tiene una cita - She has an appointment Tener is perhaps one of the top 3 verbs used in the Spanish language, so get used to it, memorize it, and start loving it! I speak with a lot of people who want to speak Spanish, most of whom ask questions about the language and wanting my recommendations for an effective Spanish course. It’s common for these people to be curious about how difficult it is to learn Spanish. They aren’t asking how difficult it is to learn the language in full. What they really want to know is ‘how long will it take me to learn enough Spanish to feel comfortable getting around in a foreign country or in a light conversation with a native Spanish speaker?’
How long it takes you to learn conversational Spanish depends on you. Are you someone who can recognize patterns, enjoys music, and understands basic math? If you said yes, then your chances of learning Spanish quickly are very good. Having an appreciation for patterns, music, and math are important because they help you understand the building blocks of the Spanish language—Verbs. Spanish Verbs, along with subjects, are some of the most basic elements of the Spanish language and having a clear understanding of them will help you speak Spanish more than any other concept. And once you understand the relationship between subjects and verbs, you ability to speak and grasp the more advanced concepts greatly improves. When setting out on their journey to learn Spanish, many students ask ‘where do I begin?’ Formal Spanish language courses taught by your community college or in a textbook will start by teaching you how to say things like ‘the’, ‘a’, and ‘and’. Then you’ll advance to—dare I say—nouns! By the end of week one you’ll be saying things like, ‘the dog’, ‘the food’, and ‘the house’. My Beginner Spanish course takes a different approach, however. The first four lessons of Beginner Spanish aim to solidify the student’s ability to match a subject with a verb and then create a basic sentence. After just an hour you’ll be saying things like ‘I eat the cookie’ and ‘we watch the movie.’ Shortly thereafter you’ll be able to ask and answer questions in complete sentences. This type of verb-based learning has two benefits. First, it puts a lot of Spanish words into your vocabulary very quickly so as to prepare you for actual conversations you might have. Second, it establishes a foundation in your brain that helps you understand all the subsequent Spanish language concepts that you will learn. With so many choices about which Spanish language course is best, how are you supposed to know which one to invest in? Many of the courses on the market today are databases of vocabulary that have been programmed to aid in word/phrase memorization, not language mastery.
Instead of teaching you how to speak, these courses will overwhelm you with lists of vocabulary words and common phrases, encouraging you to spend time memorizing them. For example, they'll teach you that Dònde estå el baño?' means Where is the bathroom?, but they don't teach you WHY it means Where is the bathroom? And what if you need to say Where are my friends? or Where is the bus station? Wouldn't it be much more effective to approach the "Where is..." topic by teaching how to ask about the location of things? Instead of that approach, unfortunately many courses are happy putting one single arbitrary phrase in front of the student and asking the student to memorize it? But they never actually present the Spanish language in an understandable and digestible way. I've taught Spanish for years and one of the first lessons I learned when teaching was the students need to understand language structure early. Unless students have a grasp of how communication is structured in the beginning, they will be lost. It would be like someone asking you to build a house, but not mentioning the order and organization required to complete the job (i.e. first dig a hole, then lay the foundation, next frame the house, etc). I hear similar complaints over and over again from my students who have used other courses. This is one of the worst ways to learn a language, especially Spanish. Despite what you may have read or heard, learning to speak Spanish should not be expensive. There are quite a few Spanish language courses available to you, but most usually cost $100 or more just to start, then they require another payment at a later time if you want to continue learning. Or some may charge an attractive lower up-front fee only to surprise you with a monthly charge to your credit card that you weren't aware of. Usually these courses are only trying to make a quick dollar and they don't offer support resources to their paying customers who are sincere about learning Spanish. So my suggestion is to be careful when researching which Spanish language companies are best. Read online reviews and if you can find a truly no-obligation trial, that's always best.
There's no doubt that learning a second language forces the student to understand the language structure of that second language. Language structure includes using correct grammar, forming sentences properly, making compelling arguments, and bringing life to the conversation. As you learn to do this in Spanish, this part of of your education will have a direct impact on your ability to communicate in English.
I frequently see native English speakers who aren't interesting speakers or who struggle to communicate complete thoughts in English. Many of them are also boring to listen to and lack the energy required to captivate their audience or whomever they are speaking to. As they learn to speak Spanish, their confidence grows and their English language speaking skills begin to improve. Over a short period of time, these people evolve from being boring and dry to lively and engaging. Learning to speak Spanish is not difficult. It requires understanding some basic language principles combined with consistent practice. In my Beginner Spanish language course, you'll get a lot of both and be well on your way to mastering the Spanish language. Find out more here. Learning Spanish as a second language will help you understand English better. The reason for this is that both English and Spanish have rules that come from latin origins and it's easy to use your understanding of English to support your Spanish language study as well as using Spanish to reinforce your understanding of English.
As you begin to familiarize yourself with the structure of the Spanish language—namely subjects, verbs, and object—you’ll start to see how the various parts of speech all come together to create a coherent message. You'll start to see how communication between two people is not just a string of random thoughts, rather a structure of organized word combinations. As you do this in Spanish, your understanding of the English language will increase. You’ll start to see how adjectives must agree in number with the nouns they modify and you’ll notice how verbs are conjugated differently with each subject. If none of this makes sense to you, don't worry because you aren't required to know it in order to speak Spanish properly. Your increased understanding of both languages is actually a result of you speaking Spanish, not a requirement. In the end, this knowledge will reinforce your understanding of both languages and make you a better Spanish student. Not only that, you’ll be better equipped to understand the more complex parts of the language, such as the Spanish subjunctive, that are crucial in order to speak Spanish fluently. How can I better understand the Imperfect vs. Preterite verb forms in Spanish? This is perhaps the most common question I get as a Spanish teacher. Let me take some time to clear up the confusion and help establish the meaning and uses of the two. Think about preterite as the simplest form of the past tense, such as "We ate lunch" or "she repaired the door". The emphasis in these two statements is that the verb (the action) occurred in the past, it happened relatively quickly, and now it's over. In fact, many times you will use the preterite verb tense when you want to emphasize that your action is over or not happening anymore. If you were to imagine a timeline with a single dot for the present, actions that happen in the preterite would be a similar dot on a timeline, but in the past (to the left of the present). Ok, now that we have established that the preterite is a single instance (a single dot) that took place in the past, lets now look at the imperfect. Instead of a single dot on a timeline, the imperfect is best represented by a span of time in the past. So it looks more like a mini timeline that happens in the past. If that's confusing, think back to our timeline and the dot that represents the present. To the left of that dot is the past. As opposed to a dot like we used for the preterite, the imperfect is best represented by a shorter line that represents a span of time in the past. People often use the imperfect when relating an event that happened in the past. Two examples are "We were eating..." or "She was repairing the door..." Both examples are happening in the past, but they are part of an event that lasts longer than a single instant. When you use the imperfect, you're not necessarily trying to emphasize that the action is already complete like you are when you use the preterite. With the preterite, the action is complete, it's over, and you are emphasizing the fact that it's finished. "We ate lunch" or "She repaired the door". Here is one final example that uses both forms that may help you understand: "We were eating lunch when suddenly the bell rang." We were eating = Imperfect the bell rang = Preterite Notice that this sentence is actually telling a story (or an event). First, you set up the story by saying "we were eating lunch". This is a perfect example of the imperfect. Then you finish the story with "the bell rang". The bell ringing is a perfect example of the preterite because it happened and now it's over. One more: "She was watching TV when the man screamed." "she was watching" = imperfect (setting up the story or event) "the man screamed" = preterite (it happened and now it's over) Before I go, there is one more use of the imperfect that you should know. If you ever did anything with regularity, that would be imperfect. I call this the "used to..." rule. For example, "I 'used to' run 3 miles every day". or "We would eat dinner together every night". Again you are telling a story of an event that happened with regularity over a length of time, but still in the past. What's the difference between por and para? This is another common question you'll likely have when learning to speak Spanish. In Spanish, in order to say "to" or "for", you would need to use the words "por" or "para". These words can be confusing so it's important to learn the definition and translation of each. Let's take a look:
Por - through, by, for, to, by way of, by means of examples: Vamos por coche. = Let's go by car. Gracias por la ayuda. = Thanks for the help. Para - to, for, in order to examples: Este regalo es para usted. = This gift is for you. Para hacerlo con éxito, hay que practicar. = In order to do it successfully, you must practice. Here is a great chart to help you visualize the difference between Por and Para: |
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