Spanish lessons wanted

ch1984

Hi,

My name is Chantelle and i'm looking to learn Spanish for numerous reasons and i've had excuses long enough.. It's very important to get going on it now.

My partner who lives in the US is quite good at it, she only ever learned the spoken word from her friends who are mexican.

I have been only learning the written by email from a woman i know in Spain, so in a nutshell i'm looking for someone to get some lessons off, written and spoken, i really want to get started asap and my vocab is growing but i need to learn how to form sentences, grammer, past tense, future the changes made to endings etc..

I live in wicklow but am willing to travel to surrounding areas, dublin/wexford etc..

Looking forward to replies

Thanks

Chantelle

BluntGuy

¡Hola!

I'm not sure many people with the available time and resources to teach Spanish would frequent the forum (it is lightly trafficked).

You could try advertising over on the "Services Wanted" section of adverts.ie.

Of course, while we can't take the place of an actual language tutor - help can be seeked on this forum as well.

I'm more than willing to give advice and help with things such a sentence structure and grammar, which you have pointed out, so if you do have a question - please, feel free to post.

ch1984

Great thank you, as i mentioned i'm learning quite a few words, haven't had opportunity to do any spoken word but in regards to the endings and past/present/future, any tips or advice for that? to make it easier in knowing yo, tu, el/ella/usted,nosotros,vosotros,ellos/ellas/ustedes.. for example tener: yo tengo, tu tienes etc..

BluntGuy

Advice for learning the tenses?

Well how much do you know of the tenses already? That would make it easier to lend a hand.

ch1984

ir /er- (present) - o, os, e, emos, éis, en

(past) - í, iste, ío, imos, isteis, ieron


ar - (present) - o, as, a amos, aís, an..

i'm open to learning anything, anyinvaluable tips/advice?

BluntGuy

Hmm... okay, I guess I'll just do a basic runthrough how the verbs work.

I'm sure by now you're well aware that verbs end in either "-ar", "-ir" or "-er" (eg. hablar -to speak, beber - to drink, vivir - to live).

That form of the verb is called the infinitive.

Basic Present Tense

To form the basic present tense you remove the ending from the verb (the "-ar", "-er" or "-ir") and you slap on the appropiate new ending depending on what person you want to put the verb in.

So for an "-ar" verb, the endings, as you already pointed out, are "-o", "-as", "-a", "-amos", "-áis", "-an".

So for a regular "-ar" verb such as "hablar" (to speak), you have as follows:

(Yo) Hablo - I speak
(Tú) Hablas - You (singular, informal) speak
(El/Ella/Usted) - Habla - He/She/You (singular formal) speak
(Nosotros) Hablamos - We speak
(Vosotros) Habláis - You (plural, informal) speak
(Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes) Hablan - They/You (plural, formal) speak

By the way, the yo, tú etc. are called subject pronouns which tell you the subject of the verb. However, they're not required most times as the both the verb ending and the context in which it is being used will suffice to tell you the subject of the verb.

So instead of saying:

Yo hablo dos lenguas. (I speak two languages)

You can simply use:

Hablo dos lenguas. (I speak two languages)

For "-er" verbs, same conventions apply, except with the verb endings being "-o", "-es", "-e", "-emos", "-éis", "-en".

So for example:

Beber (to drink)

Bebo - I drink
Bebes - You drink
Bebe - He/She drinks
Bebemos - We drink
Bebéis - You (pl) drink
Beben - hey drink

Another example:

Comer (to eat)

Como - I eat
Comes - You eat
Come - He/She eats
Comemos - We eat
Coméis - You (pl) eat
Comen - They eat

For "-ir" verbs, again, same rules, but use "-o", "-es", "-e", "-imos", "-
ís", "-en". (i.e pretty much the same as the "-er" except for the nosotros and vosotros forms).

My advice would be to practice with the basic present tense, first of all. Really familarize yourself with it, it'll help you learn the other tenses. Being familiar with the way verbs work and keeping it simple first of all is the best way. You can gradually expand on that solid foundation with new tenses later on. Trying to learn two or three tenses from the off will only confuse you. Focus on this one for the moment.

Look up some common regular verbs, I'll give a few:

Hablar - to speak
Charlar - to chat
Beber - to drink
Vivir - to live
Comer - to eat
Preguntar - to ask
Bailar - to dance
Comprar - to buy
Vender - to sell
Aprender - to learn
Andar - to walk
Escuchar - to listen

Verbs like "tener" which you pointed out are highly irregular and need to be dealt with seperately, I'm sure when you find a Spanish tutor they'll go through them. If you want me to, just post here again.

I can also do the past and future tenses, but it's best to go a step at a time.

Hope that helps,

All the best,

draoicht

I found the Michel Thomas courses great for quickly getting a grasp of the grammar of Spanish.

This is the grammar which he covers in the Basic course, (8 hours):
Present tense
Present Progressive (-ing tense)
Imperative
Reflexive verbs in the present tense
Future tense using “voy a”
Future tense
Conditional tense (would)
Past tense using have e.g. I have eaten (haber)
Past tense with –ing

In the Advanced course (5 hours), he reviews all the above and covers the subjunctives and the simple past.

He also covers cognates, asking questions, negations, pronouns and the difference between ser and estar.

You don’t get a lot of vocabulary but the courses are a good introduction to the language and will give you a firm grounding in Spanish grammar.

emka1984

If you decide you want classes, you know where to find me

Good luck with this beautiful language!

southsiderosie

Invest in a copy of "501 Spanish verbs". It covers all of the most used verbs in every tense.

Maybe get one grammar book that has exercises where you have to translate and construct sentences (and that has answers in the back!).

Read a Spanish-language newspaper every day, even if only one article. Try El Pais or El Mundo - both are Spanish. This will give you a better sense of sentence construction and grammar. Gossipy articles also tend to have a lot of adjectives.

I've seen postings for intercambios on Gumtree. You can also try stopping by an English-language school to see what is posted on their bulletin boards - many times people are looking for intercambio partners. And although the translations are often horrible, watching Spanish movies with subtitles is a good way to learn how people express themselves in casual conversation, rather than textbook conversations. Once you really get going, you can try watching them in Spanish with Spanish subtitles, so you get used to hearing certain expressions.

But to be honest, I learned more Spanish in six weeks of immersion in Central America than I did in 2 years of college-level español. Pretty much everyone has told me that 1) immersion or 2) novi@s are the best ways to learn...and I agree.

Good luck!

GoingBk2School

It would be a shame to get a 'novia' or, even worse, 'una esposa', just to learn Spanish! : o )

emka1984

GoingBk2School wrote: »

It would be a shame to get a 'novia' or, even worse, 'una esposa', just to learn Spanish! : o )

I agree and disagree - there are worse reasons to get novias or esposas

ballsymchugh

try coffee break spanish on itunes. free podcast lessons, they're really good and seem to explain things pretty good.

oMega_2093

BluntGuy's explanations are brilliant. I'm Spanish, I find them perfect. I can also try to help with things you don't understand. Just post 'em.

PS: don't understimate Spanish women. They will teach you Spanish and MUCH more

sabe

Hi! I know this is kind of advertising, and it shouldn't... But there is this new place in Kilkenny (might be a bit far away?), you can check the web site
www.spanglishkilkenny.webs.ie
I hoppe you find what you are looking for!
Suerte!

juanjo

oMega_2093 wrote: »

They will teach you Spanish and MUCH more

Yeah, like who's in charge!

spanishdublin

Private Spanish Lessons @ www.spanishdublin.com

BluntGuy

Just a reminder that while pointing out a helpful grinds website or offering services via PM if it comes up in a thread is fine, blatant advertising with little connection to the topic is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Gracias.

nenitadeparma

The Michael Thomas courses is not so good. He doesn't pronounce letter "c" correctly. Pay attencion with it. He say syllable "Ce" and "ci" as a "se" and "si", but you need say as a "th" in English".
"Ce, ci, za, ze,zi,zo,zu , They sounds as a "th"+ vowel.

southsiderosie

nenitadeparma wrote: »

The Michael Thomas courses is not so good. He doesn't pronounce letter "c" correctly. Pay attencion with it. He say syllable "Ce" and "ci" as a "se" and "si", but you need say as a "th" in English".
"Ce, ci, za, ze,zi,zo,zu , They sounds as a "th"+ vowel.

The "th" pronunciation is rarely heard in Latin America (maybe in some southern cone states), and would sound particularly odd in North American Spanish. So unless the recordings were made by a Spaniard, it is unlikely that there will be a "th" accent or (as I've always heard it referred to) a "Castillian lisp" - c/s/z will all sound relatively alike.

As a side note, it actually makes sense, since so many Spanish colonial settlers were from the Canaries and Andalucia, where the "th" isn't heavily used either. To my ears, people from the Canary Islands have a very similar accent to Cubans - no "th", and they tend to drop the "s" at the end of plural words.

Emoyeni

oMega_2093 wrote: »

BluntGuy's explanations are brilliant. I'm Spanish, I find them perfect. I can also try to help with things you don't understand. Just post 'em.

PS: don't understimate Spanish women. They will teach you Spanish and MUCH more

Ahora estoy muy interesado......;)

antinomo

20 HOURS BEGINNER COURSE

LOCATION: SAILING CLUB. BRAY

DATES: FROM 20/04 /10 TO 22/06/10

TIME: TUESDAYS FROM 7:30 TO 9:30

PRICE: 100 EUROS

learnspanishinireland@gmail.com.

Danrub

ch1984 wrote: »

Hi,

My name is Chantelle and i'm looking to learn Spanish for numerous reasons and i've had excuses long enough.. It's very important to get going on it now.

My partner who lives in the US is quite good at it, she only ever learned the spoken word from her friends who are mexican.

I have been only learning the written by email from a woman i know in Spain, so in a nutshell i'm looking for someone to get some lessons off, written and spoken, i really want to get started asap and my vocab is growing but i need to learn how to form sentences, grammer, past tense, future the changes made to endings etc..

I live in wicklow but am willing to travel to surrounding areas, dublin/wexford etc..

Looking forward to replies

Thanks

Chantelle

Hi Chantelle:
I can teach you spanish in Dublin or via Skype.
Contact me on www.facebook.com/dmoyav
See you

Apanachi

BluntGuy wrote: »

Hmm... okay, I guess I'll just do a basic runthrough how the verbs work.

...

I can also do the past and future tenses, but it's best to go a step at a time.

Wow!!!! Thanks a lot that's a great summary, would love to take you up on your offer to do the past and future tenses (whenever you have time )

earcandi

Hey, are there any Spanish lessons/grinds in Galway City? I'm failing Spanish at the minute... I'm rubbish at it and really need some help!