Archive by Author
Giving directions Posted by Adir on Nov 9, 2009
Here are some very useful sentences for giving directions in Spanish. Siga todo recto … – Go straight ahead … Doble a la derecha … – Turn right … Doble a la izquierda … – Turn left … Entre en la 1ª sala … – Go into the first room … Baje la escalera ……
Entrevista con Ximena Posted by Adir on Nov 5, 2009
I first started studying Spanish when I was in high school. There were a boy and a girl from Chile who lived in my town and I was fascinated by their bilingual background and they were the first ones to teach me the basics. Tomislav’s dad was the manager of a hotel here and Ximena…
Chilean comedian: Coco Legrand Posted by Adir on Nov 2, 2009
Alejandro Javier González Legrand, “Coco Legrand”, is a Chilean comedian and his debut was at the Festival de Viña del Mar in 1972. The festival is known for its very demanding audience, called “El Monstruo” (The Monster). His humor is filled with social criticism towards the people of Chile and his texts always focus on…
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…