Spanish 101

[misombra]

I love this thread... May I help?

of course!

[Sonrisa]

can we try teaching me some again, at a slower pace? i got lost.

[misombra]

yeah lol i figured. different tenses are difficult.

lol you want to know all the hard stuff!!!

why don't you tell me some things you say a lot... help me out here.

[Sonrisa]

How can I help you?

Let me find a spanish speaking person for you.

What time is your appointment?

The driver will pick you up in 30 minutes.

Thank you for not giving up on me

[misombra]

How can I help you? - formal is: como le puedo ayudar? informal: como te puedo ayudar?

Let me find a spanish speaking person for you. -a encontrar una persona que le puede ayudar en espanyol. or - ando buscar una persona que se puede conversar con usted en espanyol.

What time is your appointment? -a que hora esta su apontamiento.

The driver will pick you up in 30 minutes. -this one i don't know. maybe it's: que le va recojer en treinta minutos...? i think lol.

Thank you for not giving up on me -gracias que no me dejas!


por nada chica bonita!

[misombra]

ayudar= to help

yo ayudo
tu ayudas
el ayuda
ellos ayudan
nosotros ayudamos

yo te ayudo aprender espanyol.

[bluesummer]

Okay, I have a few questions now that I've started my course.

Why is it that 'v' sounds like 'b', and 'b' sounds like 'v'? It's almost like they're the same letter in sound but not in writing.

I've been reading your verb conjugation explanations and they've been helpful. However, when you have two verbs in a sentence, do you only conjugate the first and not the second? Como se dice 'I am going to dance' en espanol? In German, you usually conjugate the first verb and leave the second in its infinite form.

[lovesjoyajm]

Okay, I have a few questions now that I've started my course.

Why is it that 'v' sounds like 'b', and 'b' sounds like 'v'? It's almost like they're the same letter in sound but not in writing.

I've been reading your verb conjugation explanations and they've been helpful. However, when you have two verbs in a sentence, do you only conjugate the first and not the second? Como se dice 'I am going to dance' en espanol? In German, you usually conjugate the first verb and leave the second in its infinite form.

Same thing in Spanish, blue.
"I am going to dance" = Voy a bailar.

[misombra]

Okay, I have a few questions now that I've started my course.

Why is it that 'v' sounds like 'b', and 'b' sounds like 'v'? It's almost like they're the same letter in sound but not in writing.

I've been reading your verb conjugation explanations and they've been helpful. However, when you have two verbs in a sentence, do you only conjugate the first and not the second? Como se dice 'I am going to dance' en espanol? In German, you usually conjugate the first verb and leave the second in its infinite form.

well when you have an unconjigated verb, it's going to mean "to (verb)"

for instance: bailar- to dance. so if you say i'm going to dance you'd say voy a bailar. you conjugate one verb, and not the other.

it doesn't always work out that way though. when you get a little more advanced you'll learn things like, i want you to dance. in which case you would say quiero que te bailes. because it's more of a command. (i want that you dance) is the literal translation.

"a" means "to" in spanish. it's doubling the "to" but that's just how it's done.

[misombra]

in hearing normal people speak you would probably hear it more as "voa bailar."

[misombra]

i can't really explain the difference between the sound of b and v without actually saying it to you.

they are very very similar sounding. best way to learn pronunciation is to listen to spanish speakers. (however, even they get confused by it.)

check out this song. in the chorus she says "no se puede vivir con tanto veneno..." she just puts her lips together and it sounds like a soft bibir/ beneno..

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8UdRTLUqk0"]YouTube - Shakira - No (featuring Gustavo Cerati)[/ame]

also in this song she says, "voy a pedirte..." which means "i'm going to ask you." pedir- to ask. when you put the "te" behind it it means they're going to do that verb to you. just an example of two verbs being in a sentence...

[doppelgaenger]

Every language has stuff like that, B.

In Slavic languages, there is iotation and palatization. There is also voicing/unvoicing.

I am not sure what that phonetical term for this Spanish nugget is though.

[bluesummer]

It's always hard getting the pronunciation of a new language down, especially when there's sounds you don't typically use in English.

I found a couple of German sounds hard, and don't even ask me about Punjabi.....I had to contort my mouth in ways it just wasn't used to.

[doppelgaenger]

When I was learning Spanish, I could never get down the whole accent thing. I didn't understand it very well.

I did however catch on the German pronunciation very fast. I am good at imitating in general, that's probably why. However, I find slavic L and R very difficult to pronounce. I can roll my R but they do something different.

[misombra]

It's always hard getting the pronunciation of a new language down, especially when there's sounds you don't typically use in English.

I found a couple of German sounds hard, and don't even ask me about Punjabi.....I had to contort my mouth in ways it just wasn't used to.

listen to spanish music and watch some spanish tv. watch some of the videos i've posted in here. they will help you.