Archive for October, 2009
Entrevista con Óscar Posted by Adir on Oct 29, 2009
Hey, I’m going to start a series of interviews with people who speak fluent Spanish. I asked them how they learned their second language (Portuguese, English, etc.) and they talked about other topics too, like their occupations, family, etc. The first interview is with Oscar Eduardo Gamboa. He’s Mexican and lives in São Paulo. He…
Study tip: learning irregular verbs in the past Posted by Adir on Oct 26, 2009
Irregular verbs are named that way because they are conjugated in unexpected ways. As a result, they are more difficult to learn and remember. They come in several present, past, and future tenses and there’s no magic way to learn them, but I devised a scheme here that might help you learn some verbs in…
Slang much? Posted by Adir on Oct 22, 2009
¡Huy! It’s very hard to talk about slang in Spanish. Do you know why? Just imagine how many differences can be found in US English alone. The same thing happens with Spanish, but in almost 20 countries. So here’s the deal: I found some very cool websites with Spanish slang from lots of countries. If…
Study tip: using DVDs (wisely)! Posted by Adir on Oct 19, 2009
There are hundreds of good Spanish-speaking movies and series/telenovelas on DVD these days and here are some tips so you can get the most out of them. 1. Get your materials ready: pen, notebook and a dictionary. If you’re watching the DVD on your computer, you can also use your text editor. 2. Choose a…
Word origins: terapéutica, jerga e indigente Posted by Adir on Oct 16, 2009
Terapéutica was first found in Spanish from 1555 on, when it appeared in Dioscórides, by Andrés de Laguna. The word terapéutica was taken by Laguna from vulgar Latin therapeutica, -orum (medicine treaties) and from Greek therapeutikós (the occupation of a service man who had to take care of someone, deriving from therapein). In Spanish, this…
Vocabulario: Los Cubiertos Posted by Adir on Oct 12, 2009
Here’s a list for words related to cutlery and setting the table. Click on the link below to listen to the pronunciation. los-cubiertos el cuchillo – knife el mantel – tablecloth el palillo de dientes, el escarbadientes – toothpick el platito para el pan – bread plate el plato – plate el plato para el…
Rodrigo Santoro Posted by Adir on Oct 9, 2009
Rodrigo Santoro is a Brazilian actor who’s had an international career in movies like Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Love Actually, 300, Redbelt, Che and The Post Grad Survival Guide. Rodrigo started his career in telenovelas and ended up with a part in Lost’s third season, as Brazilian cook Paulo. His role in two-part biopic Che…