Blog

31 Advanced Speaker Mercedes on the Spanish Learning English

Posted by

The Great Pushschool-books-scale

Thanks to the ongoing crisis, there is a enormous wave in Spain of the Spanish learning English. Why? Well, what they know is that if they are going to find work in their own country, then they will have to have something extra to offer the hiring company.

In addition to that, what is at the forefront of most of the Spanish learning English is that if they are to escape the crisis by heading off to other countries, then they must first have a good level of English to have any chance of getting the most basic of jobs.

All the major cities in the UK are now quite literally echoing with Spanish voices as they arrive in search of any kind of job that might be available.

Most times, the only jobs that they can get are minimum wage roles in restaurants. This may seem to be highly unfair, especially when you realise that most of the Spanish that arrive here are educated to degree standard. However, when faced with the choice  between maybe finding a minimum wage job in Spain, or working in the UK, the  logical action to take is to come to the UK.

Minimum wage in Spain is calculated monthly and equates to around 21 pounds per day. So, in an average 8 hour day they will earn less than 3 Euros per hour. Compare that to £6.50  an hour in the UK for those over 21.

No wonder, then, that so many of the Spanish youth are packing their bags and flying over the the UK with most major cities as their destination.

Parents are learning, too.

Another result of this mass exodus from Spain is that many parents are having to learn English, too? Why? Well, it’s inevitable that many of their children, once in the UK, are finding partners and settling down to have family.  Therefore, many Spanish parents need to learn Spanish so that they can communicate with their grandchildren, their daughter or son-in-law and, even more worrying for them, with the rest of the in-laws.

The one thing I do admire is the willingness of the Spanish to ‘have a go’. They always seem to make an effort to give it their best shot, even if they don’t always make it.

Now, in Spain, many English classes are filled with many parents in their fifties or more all trying to brush up, or start from zero with their English skills. In this podcast, we hear a similar story from Mercedes, my suegra (súper simpática) who is now attending English classes to better communicate with my English family.

I really admire her efforts and wish her every success. Who knows, one day we may even be able to interview her on LightSpeed English! jaja.

Enjoy the interview.

Gordon:)

 

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:53 — 9.1MB)

32 Abs Beginners Spanish Test your Level The Mónica Naranjo Concert

Posted by

monica-naranjo-scaleYour Listening Spanish Test.

In this Podcast we offer you a story about a concert that we went to in Barcelona. It was a show put on by Mónica Naranjo to celebrate her 40th birthday.  Mónica has probably the best, strongest voice in the whole of Spain and yet during her career her music has maintained a cult status in the world of pop. Her fans adore her and she has gained a massive gay following which is palpably visible in the audience of her concerts. Mónica’s style is theatrical, avantgarde and at times almost operatic and Cynthia and I love her.

Our short story with which we give you a Spanish test is centred around our journey to the concert, the poor directions that the hotel receptionist gave us and our subsequent 30 minute walk up what seemed to be a cliff face. Finally, after a great deal of stress, questions to passers by and about two pints of sweat, we finally made it to the Club San Jordi.

The concert was fabulous and Mónica sang all of the songs that we had hoped to hear. The only downside was the pain in our backs that both Cynthia and I were suffering due to having walked around Barcelona all day only to then have to scale a mountain in order to reach the event.  Still, it was worth it and the concert will remain in our memories as one of the highlights of 2014.

Once we move to Madrid in Spain we will undoubtedly have the opportunity to see many more of our favourite Spanish artists. ¡Qué ilusión!

Why have a Spanish test?

It’s good to make a Spanish test of your listening abilities as often as you can to give you a good gauge on how well tuned in you are to the language. However, it’s not always the level of the Spanish that’s being used that trips us up. More often than not it’s the person that is speaking that makes it easy or very difficult  for us to understand.

In any language, the effort that the person puts into their speech to make themselves understood is paramount to the listener. In my view, the speaker has a more important job to do than the listener. The reason I say that is that I have learnt that there is a certain kind of person that exists in every place in the world that cannot be understood and, at the same time, there are those that can be understood perfectly.

This is why:

Good communicators:

Enunciate all words fully.

Use generous gestures and facial expressions.

Observe their listeners closely, ensuring they are getting all the right signs of understanding.

Speak with a musical, expressive tone neither too high nor too low.

Maintain eye contact and speak toward their audience.

Speak in a measured, medium to slow pace.

Poor communicators:

Swallow their words or barely open their mouths.

Have minimal or non-existent body moments.

Speak in a monotone fashion with little or no expression.

Pay little attention to their listeners.

Often speak down to the floor or away from their audience.

Speak quickly or with a mixed rhythm, trailing off and speeding up toward the end of each sentence.

 Where do you fit in?

So, the question is: Which category does your speaking style fit into? Do you consider yourself to be a good communicator?

Like everything, it’s all about intention. If you really want your audience to understand what you are saying, then good communication comes naturally. However, it doesn’t do any harm to work on the above points so that you can become a master communicator.

After all, if no one understands what you are saying, it’s hardly worth talking. Ha ha.

 

Enjoy the podcast.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:30 — 12.4MB)

34 Abs Beginners Spanish Culture Gestures

Posted by

Spanish Culture and Gestures.fingers

I recall one of the very first times I went to Spain to visit my wife’s family and was introduced to her ‘tía Maribel’. Maribel was chatting animatedly with me and mid flow, without any warning she stuck her two fingers up at me.

My immediate reaction was one of shocked surprise. Why? Because in the U.K., that gesture can have three meanings. Two are wonderful, one is terrible and it all depends on which way your hand is facing.

Peace/Victory or Vete a la Mi…da.

If the palm of the hand is facing the listener, then the gesture can mean Peace or Victory. In the U.K. you could go around all day sticking your fingers up at people that way and no one would take offence. However, turn your hand around with your palm facing you and the gesture is the same as ‘flipping the bird’ and in essence you are saying: ‘Go away in jerky movements’.

The Big Difference.

In Spain, and in the Spanish culture, the self same gesture simply refers to the number ‘two’.  So, all Maribel was doing was explaining that there were two of whatever it was that she was describing.

What struck me about that moment was that I realised that my own British culture had inbuilt into my psyche an unconscious reaction to that gesture. Even though I knew that Maribel wasn’t telling me to get lost, so to speak, I couldn’t help feeling quite put out about it all.

Andar con mucho cuidado. Proceed with caution.

It was that experience that partially inspired this blog. You see, if you are in Spain, or any other country for that matter, and you get the gesture wrong, using something that is very negative or rude without knowing it, you can cause quite an unconscious reaction. And that can happen even if the people know you are not doing it on purpose!

Because of our conditioning, we can’t help but to take offence.

This Podcast.

So, with that in mind, it really is worthwhile learning these insights into the Spanish culture and understanding which gestures are the most offensive. That way, if you have a similar kind of gesture in your culture that means something else, you can avoid using it whilst in Spain.

Flipping the Bird.

What is interesting is that raising the middle finger has exactly the same meaning in Spain as it does in the USA and other European countries. So, if someone is rude to you or cuts you up in traffic, this is the perfect one to show them your displeasure. Jaja.

 

Gordon 🙂

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:40 — 11.6MB)

35 Early Intermediate Spanish Podcast Parecer in Spanish How to use it properly

Posted by

Parecer in Spanish. To seem/look/appear like.keira scale

Cynthia and I have often asked ourselves: What is it that makes this verb so confusing to so many students of the Spanish language? Perhaps it’s because, running alongside Parecer in Spanish is it’s close cousin, Parecerse.

Quite often, when we are faced with multiple options, everything gets a little blurry. What doesn’t help is that the verb Aparecer which means ‘to appear’ (out of nowhere) is just like the English verb ‘to appear’ (to seem).

We’ve lost count of the times when a student has chosen Aparecer instead of Parecer in Spanish to say that a person seemed like something. For example:

Mi amigo aparecía triste. = My friend used to appear (out of nowhere, sad).

This sentence creates a strange imagery in our mind of some miserable friend who had the habit of turning up to events and bringing everyone down. jeje.

 

So, what is the difference between Parecerse and Parecer in Spanish?

As we explain in the podcast, Parecer in Spanish means to seem or to look like something. That’s not to say that you can use it to say that someone looks like someone else. No! That’s the job of Parecerse.

Parecer in Spanish is used like this:

Ella parecía bastante contenta. = She looked/seemed quite happy.

¿Qué te pasa? Pareces enfadado. = What’s up with you? You look/seem angry.

 

Parecerse a.

However, if you want to say that someone resembles another person, you use parecerse in this way:

Mi primo se parece a George Bush. = My cousin looks like/resembles George Bush. (Pobrecito.)

Entró una mujer que se parecía mucho a Keira Knightly. = A woman came in who looked a lot like Keira Knightly.

 

The Personal ‘a’.

What is important to note is that with Parecer in Spanish, there is no personal ‘A’ but with Parecerse, there is.  Without going into a long discussion as to why, just understand that the ‘A’ shows an interaction between two or more people, which exists in parecerse (She looks like Him.)

However, with Parecer in Spanish, there is no interaction (you seem pensive) between multiple people, so there is no need for the ‘A’.

Watch the Podcast.

The best way to really get this concept in you mind is to firstly, watch the podcast and listen to our examples live. Then, start practicing it as often as you can. It’s easy! Every time you see a Spanish speaking friend tell them they look great. Then tell them who they look like.

People love compliments so as long as you choose someone attractive to compare them to, you’ll be on to a winner. jeje.

‘Hola, Julía. ¡Qué guapa pareces hoy! ¿Sabes qué? Creo que te pareces a Keira Knightly. También es muy guapa ella.’

That can’t be so difficult, can it?

 

Gordon y Cynthia:)

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:45 — 9.8MB)

35 Beginners Spanish Prepositions The small, important words.

Posted by

question-marks-2215Spanish Prepositions….What the devil are they?

Basically, these words are the glue that sticks sentences together. They are words like: with, without, for, from, between, to, along with many, many more.

They are the words we use in our own mother tongue with grace, heightened ability and class. However, when it comes to using them in Spanish, everything seems to go a bit ‘patas arriba’.

They are the little words.

Without even knowing that they were talking about Spanish prepositions, so many of my students have said to me at one time or another: “I’m okay with conjugating verbs. it’s those damn little words that cause me the most trouble.”

What they really meant was that it was those damn Spanish prepositions that were causing them the problem.

But why are Spanish prepositions so troublesome?

Really, it’s their behaviour that catches us on the hop a little. You see, they don’t always behave like English prepositions. That’s to say, sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t.

What is more, many, many Spanish prepositions are attached to verbs and most times, there’s no real pattern that we can see and follow.

For example: The verb Aprender has the preposition ‘a’. So, when we want to say: I learn to swim. we have to say:

Aprendo a nadar.

Yet, when we use Querer to say ‘to want to’ we don’t use any Spanish preposition. For example:

Quiero nadar. = I want to swim.

Why? I have no idea….because….that’s just what they do…(or, you can spend hours looking through forums to find out why).

That’s just the way it is.

Basically, this is the real answer: Because they do. so, our suggestion is that you to set about learning the melody of the language so that you ‘just know’ when a verb has a preposition. Is it a big job? Yes!! Is it possible to do? Yes!!!!!!

One of the best ways to learn when you should use a Spanish preposition is by listening to spoken Spanish or to read Spanish books.  That’s how you will learn, through dogged repetition, just how to use Spanish prepositions well.

Can I just miss them out?

Absolutely! You do not need to use Spanish prepositions if you don’t want to. However, your Spanish will be stilted, tarzanesque and difficult to follow at times. Like anything in life, you can choose to do it a different way and you will be certain to get a different result. However, as we have said, Spanish prepositions are the glue that holds your sentences together and so, if you made a model aeroplane without any glue, it would probably fall apart on its first flight (if it flew at all).

So, our best advice is to get on to learn them well. Be patient with yourself, however, it’s a long job with many variations. The end result, though, will give you and your listeners great comfort, so it’s really worth going for it. You can make a great start on this by watching our Podcast on this very subject.

 

Buena suerte,

Gordon y Cynthia:)

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:51 — 9.9MB)