Spanish Lesson Nine: Best Ways To Practice Your Spanish

It is Sunday morning and it's time for another Spanish Lesson! This week I thought I'd change the pace a bit, give everyone a chance to catch up for next week's quiz. Yep, that's right, a quiz. It's going to be REALLY easy and just going to help everyone see whether or not they've learned the information. Also, it's Open Note so no pressure that you're going to fail. I know it's hard working Spanish into your daily lives. That is the purpose of this week's lessons. I'm going to discuss 10 Ways To Incorporate Spanish Into Your Daily Life. There are quite a view things you can do during your normal routine to maintain your knowledge of the Spanish language. Let's hope you've been learning "A Little At A Time".

These lessons are meant to be short and help you gain a steady fluency in the Spanish language. For those of you who have been reading, I hope you have found this information useful and are indeed retaining some of it. For those of you joining in for the first time, take a look at the previous lessons you've missed. The link is below.

Last week we learned about Ser Vs. Estar. If you remember, you'll know that the two words both mean "to be" in Spanish. Though each one can only be used in certain circumstances. If you're having trouble with it, go back and check the previous lessons for more information. Knowing that aspect is definitely pertinent. If you're still at a loss after reviewing, contact me and I'll be glad to help!

Previous Lessons

Today we have no specific topic of discussion, but I want to add some vocabulary to your repertoire. The following words are Interrogative Pronouns that correlate to our English equivalent. Take note of this and try your best to remember them. It won't be hard. You'll soon know how to ask How? Who? What? When? Where? Which One? How Much? How Many?, etc.

6. Cuándo- When?

7. Dónde?- Where?

8. Cómo?- How? (Can also be used to say "pardon")

9. Por qué?- Why?

10. Cuál?/Cuáles?- Which?/Which ones?

1. Quién?/Con quién?- Who?/With Who?

2. A Quien?- Whose?

3. Quienes- Who all?

4. Cuánto?/ Cuántos- How much/ How Many?

5. Qué?- What?

Note: There are also other variations of interrogatives that can found at the provided links below. These listed are most commonly used. Also note that Cuánto takes on the gender it's modifying.

Today's warm-up is to find a song that is completely in Spanish. If you know one by heart, AWESOME!! If you don't, just look online for a slow moving song sung in Spanish. Listen to it once, while following along with the lyrics. That's all I want today, and in the coming weeks I'll explain why I asked this of you.

Recommendations:

Viveme by Laura Pausini

No by Shakira

Escucha Atento by Laura Pausini

La Fuerza Del Destino by Fey

Ángel by Belinda

Okay guys. I want to help everyone get Spanish into their lively lives. I don't mean sit at the computer for hours or reading a boring book on Spanish. I mean while you are actively out doing errands and at work. I know it sounds crazy, but with spanish, practicando pone el perfecto (practice makes perfect). Below is a list of 10 Ways To Incorporate Spanish Into Your Daily Life.

1. Find A Native Speaker: Native speakers may not know the grammar as best as those learning it from a book or instructor, but they are the most powerful resource at your disposal. If you have native Spanish speakers at your work, talk to them in Spanish on occasion and listen to their pronunciation. You might be surprised at your own abilities!

2. Make Up Sentences: Sometimes it helps to say little sentences in Spanish. Let them correlate to what you're doing. If you are walking go ahead and say "Yo Ando". If you say that on occasion it will stick. Also try it with other subjects and it'll help remember how to conjugate the verb.

3. Ask Questions: Ask yourself or your native speaker friend small questions. Let them be minute things like "Cómo estoy?"- How am I? Then think of some ways to answer. "Estoy cansado."

4. When You Don't Know, Look It Up: If you hear a word you don't know or want to know how to say something, look it up and find out. It won't be hard to find a translation online or with a Spanish-English dictionary. Keep the knowledge flowing!

5. Learn A Song: Find a kid's song or tongue twister in Spanish to help you pronounce better. There are tons of tongue twisters and kid's songs to help.

6. Pick A Reference: Find a reference book in the book store and do some of the daily practices in it. I know this isn't the most fun thing to do, but if you have the time, give it a shot! It could help in the long run.

7. Name Your Household Items: Good practice at home is awesome. If you know words for things in your house, name them daily on your way out so you can remember them. Examples: Door, sink, bathtub, bathroom, table, refrigerator, etc...

8. Watch Telemundo: Yeah, I said it lol. Watch some of those crazy soap operas in Spanish and see their facial expressions, listen to their words. Try to guess what they're talking about. Believe it or not, sometimes you'll know what they're saying without being able to translate it to English.

9. Watch A Favorite Movie in Spanish: Change the audio to your favorite Harry Potter movie to Spanish and lesson to how they speak and what words are used. Yeah, I did this once and the people that did those voices were awesome! I learned so many new words watching it! You can cheat and add English subtitles, though there isn't always a direct translation.

10. Read These Lessons Weekly: Make a good habit of being consistent with these lessons or any other weekly or daily lessons/tips/phrases/etc. Sometimes you have to make time if you're serious about learning!

Your homework for today is to watch the videos below that correspond with Spanish Lesson Five: Verbs and How They Work!! The first video is longer than the other two and provides a bit of practice with conjugation. Video #1 discusses -AR Verbs, Video #2 discusses -ER Verbs, and Video #3 discusses -IR Verbs. The guy is pretty awesome and informative. We can all learn from him!

Also in the coming lessons we will be discussing a great deal more about grammar and how to say things such as:

• What Are You Going To Do?
• What Do You Have To Do?
• What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
• What Do You Like And Dislike?
• And more...

Also I have some great themes lined up for the future, so stay tuned!! Have a great day everyone!!