Congratulations to the 18 students that made it through the 1st week of Bootcamp!

We lost 4 the first week, but we hope that at least 10 of you make it to the end!  Will it be you?

A1: Chrystal M, Jean E, Jennifer G, Rechelle M

A2: Chris S, Lizzie S

B1: Anne M, Bill S

B1.5: Melanie T, Stephanie C

B2: Carol S, Roxie H

B2.5; Eva M

B3: Carolina F, Stephany F

Private Classes: Joy B; Lisa O, Rebecca H

When we asked them how week 1 went and if it was what they expected, this is what they said:

When we asked if they had any additional comments, this is what they said:

Congratulations chicos!  Keep it up!

La tarea opcional de esta semana es ver el video “Conditional Perfect” de Adriana Díaz-Ross en YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbbGq-NARr8).

(La tarea extra de la semana * para los que quieran más tarea * es seguir con el capítulo 11, Compound Tenses: the future perfect and the conditional perfect, en “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect.  Les recomendamos leer las páginas 123 a 125  y hacer los ejercicios 11.8 a 11.11)

Besos

Hola chicos,

Buenos días y feliz jueves :)

Today I want to address translations.

When you first start to learn a foreign language, you are pretty much translating from your native language, often word by word.  This is how you first start to learn to speak and it’s perfectly normal.

The issue is when you get to a more conversational level and are still doing it.

There comes a point when you need to pay special attention to how things are said in Spanish and learn phrases more than words.  

For example, in Spanish we “make” parties (hacer una fiesta), we don’t “have” them.  

We also “breakfast, lunch & dine” (desayunar, almorzar, cenar), we don’t “have” meals.  

We also don’t put an “s” at the end of a person’s name to show possession (my Mom’s house/mi mama’s casa), we say that it is “the x of (someone’s) x” (la casa de mi mamá).

These are the little nuances that you can pick up by listening to the language spoken by native speakers.

One more thing I would recommend is acceptance.  Students often get frustrated that Spanish is not like English.  Well guess what?  It’s a whole different language!  And Spanish speakers learning to speak English get frustrated too, by the 7 different pronunciations of the letter “a,” for example (there’s only 1 in Spanish).  But there’s nothing that can be done about it, as it is what it is.  So next time that you are reading subtitles and realize that the language used in Spanish is very different than in English, don’t get mad, use it as an opportunity to learn something new :)

Is there anything that you have recently discovered that is expressed differently in Spanish than in English?

Besos,
Caro

“Éxito aquí” means “Success here.”

Hola chicos,

¿Qué tal la semana?  Súper, espero :)

Today I want to address vocabulary.   

Most students want to improve their vocabulary and one way to do it is by learning some synonyms.  There is more than 1 way to say things!

Here are a few common words and a synonym you could use instead:

Common word: Quizás = maybe

Alternative frase: A lo mejor

Por ejemplo:  Quizás pruebe un nuevo restaurante esta noche.  /  A lo mejor pruebe un nuevo restaurante esta noche.

Common word: Muy = very

Alternative words: súper or re (which actually means very, very)

Por ejemplo: La película estuvo muy buena.  /  La película estuvo súper buena o La película estuvo re buena.

Common word: Estudiante = student

Alternate word = Alumno

Por ejemplo:  PBO tiene más o menos 200 estudiantes en este momento.  /  PBO tiene más o menos 200 alumnos en este momento.

Common word: Hablar = to talk/speak

Alternative words: Conversar or charlar

Por ejemplo: Quiero hablar con mi hermano.  / Quiero conversar con mi hermano o Quiero charlar con mi hermano.

Common word: Escoger = to choose

Alternative word: Elegir

Por ejemplo:  Escoge uno.  /  Elige uno.

What words do you use ALL the time?  Is there something else you could use instead?  A lo mejor puedan encontrar algo aquí:  http://www.wordreference.com/sinonimos/

Besitos,

Caro

Hola chicos,

Feliz viernes :)  For our blog posting today we are going to look at adjective placement.

Stephany F. from level B3 asks: Why does the adjective come before the noun in certain situations but not others. Are there rules for this?

Yes, Stephany, there are rules.  Typically the adjective comes after the noun in Spanish, but there are a few exceptions:

1 – Limiting adjectives come before a noun.  Limiting adjectives define a number or an amount.

For example:  Tengo 1 perro.  /  Hay muchos festivales durante el verano.  /  ¿Tienes suficiente dinero?

2 – Possesive adjectives (mi(s), tu(s), su(s), nuestro(s)) come before the noun.

For example: Mi casita está bien ubicada.  /  Tu hermana es simpática.  /  Nuestra escuela es grande.  

3 – Demonstrative adjectives (este/esta, estos/as, ese/esa, esos/as, aquel/la, aquellos/as) come before the noun.

For example: Este libro es buenísimo.  /  Esa camisa te queda chica.  /  Estos restaurantes están cerrados.

4 – There are also many adjectives that change meaning if placed before or after the noun.  It’s just a matter of learning which ones they are.  Here is a list: Adjectives that change meaning

For example:  

• Un viejo amigo = An old friend (someone you have been friends with for a long time), but Un amigo viejo = A friend that is old in age
• Un pobre amigo = A friend who is unfortunate in some way, but Un amigo pobre = A friend who does not have $$

I hope that answers your question chica!

If anyone has a question for our blog, leave us a note here: Questions for the Blog

Que tengan un buen fin de semana…

Besos,

Caro