Trocitos de Real Spanish archivos - Page 6 of 6

What’s New at Real Spanish

Hi everyone. I’m Elizabeth at Real Spanish. Happy New Year; I hope your New Year’s resolutions include improving your Spanish! We can help. Here is an overview of what’s available now at Real Spanish. Our multimedia courses Our multimedia courses are the heart of Real Spanish and we’ve adopted the slogan “Real Spanish: online courses for people who are serious about improving their Spanish”. Most of these courses focus on the colloquial language, grammar and vocabulary that arise in clips from popular TV programs and movies, but we also have some courses that focus on pronunciation. Good to know: You can sign up free to try some sample material. For more information on each course, click. We have special prices for schools and teachers: contact us for more information. Español con cine y televisión Each course consists of 4 -6 lessons. 5 complete courses now available: Español con cine 1: «Arrugas». 6 video-lessons based on a prizewinning animated movie. Español con cine 2: «Ocho apellidos vascos». 4 video-lessons based on a popular movie about an unlikely romance between a young Basque woman and a young man from Sevilla. Español con noticias y documentales 1: «Entrevistas y reportajes». 5 interesting video-lessons based on clips from TV news and documentaries. Español con noticias y documentales 2: «La historia de tres regiones bilingües de España». 6 video lessons based on interesting documentaries about the Basque Country, Galicia and Catalonia. Español con los Alcántara 1: «Un malentendido». 4 video-lessons based on clips from a popular Spanish TV series. Sign up or login to try a free sample lesson. Mejora tu pronunciación con Real Spanish Each course consists of 5 video-lessons plus an online practice component. Two courses now available, with more on the way. Problemas comunes: for example, how to pronounce R in Spanish; how to pronounce B and V. Las vocales: how to produce the tense vowel sounds of Spanish. Sign up or login to try a free sample lesson. Our Mini-lessons These video-lessons are freely available on our site and on YouTube and most are 3-5 minutes long. We plan to upload new videos every Monday. We have four playlists: Playlist: Real Spanish in Minutes These mini-lessons focus on colloquial language. Some explain the many different meanings and uses of common words such as leche, or various ways to express an idea or an emotion: for example, expressions for talking about speed, or expressions to reject a suggestion or a request. Others consist of excerpts from our full-length lessons based on clips from movies, TV programs, and documentaries. To help you get the most out of these videos we have developed a set of supplementary learning materials for each of these video-lessons. You’ll be surprised how much Spanish you can learn! Each set consists of A complete annotated transcription Grammar notes in English and Spanish Online practice activities Sign up or login to try a free sample lesson. Playlist: Real Spanish Pronunciation in Minutes: These mini-lessons are excerpts from our full-length pronunciation

19 de January de 2021

What’s going on at Real Spanish?

Hi. I’m Elizabeth at Real Spanish. Are you serious about improving your Spanish? I am, and that’s why, for more than three years, I’ve been working with a team of Spanish teachers, voiceover artists, and video editors from various Hispanic countries to develop Real Spanish. I have learnt so much Spanish, as well as new skills such as how to write a video script, how to make animated videos using online software, how to upload a video to YouTube, subtitle a video and research images that support comprehension. It’s been a real adventure. Today I’m going to update you about what we’ve been doing here lately. First of all, Real Spanish will soon have a new look. It will be more attractive, and easier to navigate. We’ll be celebrating the re-launch with special offers: stay tuned! Second, we plan to upload new videos on YouTube every Monday. We have four playlists: Real Spanish in Minutes: these videos are mini-lessons, mostly under 5 minutes long, that will help you to increase your vocabulary, learn lots of colloquial expressions, and polish your grammar. Some of these mini-lessons focus on the many different meanings and uses of common words such as leche, or various ways to express an idea or an emotion: for example, expressions for talking about speed, or expressions to reject a suggestion or a request. Others are excerpts from our full-length lessons based on clips from movies, TV programs, and documentaries. To get the most out of these videos, you’ll be able to buy a supplementary set of learning materials for each mini-lesson. You’ll be surprised how much Spanish you can learn! Real Spanish Grammar: These mini-lessons focus on common problems such as the use of the subjunctive. 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An interactive practice component is available to Real Spanish subscribers. Real Spanish: Information and Updates These videos consist of announcements about new mini-lessons and other updates from Real Spanish. Our September winner was Sabrina from Switzerland, who chose the course «Español con los Alcántara: Un malentendido» as her prize. I close with a reminder about the monthly prize draw that we conduct the first day of the month among all users who signed up on Real Spanish during the previous month. Sign up on Real Spanish today for a chance to win one of our complete Spanish courses! Watch this video to learn more. 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28 de September de 2020

Improve Your Spanish Grammar: «Me aburre» and other verbs that work like «gustar»

I’m sure you have used «gustar» to express your preferences and interests. And I’m sure you know that the best way to remember the grammatical structure is to translate «gustar» as “to please”, “to be pleasing” or “to cause pleasure”. Me gusta viajar = travelling gives me pleasure = I like travelling/to travel But when you want to express the preferences and interests of other people, you may make mistakes, right? That’s very common, because these verbs can be complicated even for students at an advanced level of Spanish. Let’s explain why. The first thing you need to know is that there are many verbs which function like «gustar». Here is a list of the most common: aburrir to bore, to cause boredom apetecer to appeal, to be appealing asustar to frighten caer bien/mal to be likeable/unlikeable Me cae bien Luis = Luis is likeable to me = I like Luis Yo le caigo bien a Luis = I am likeable to Luis = Luis likes me dar miedo (pena/asco/vergüenza etc.) to cause fear (sorrow/disgust/shame etc.) divertir to amuse doler to cause pain encantar to cause great pleasure enganchar to captivate, to hook, to seize someone’s interest faltar to be missing fascinar to fascinate fastidiar to annoy favorecer to favour; to suit (e.g., a haircut. clothing) importar to be important, to matter impresionar to impress interesar to interest molestar to bother parecer (bien/mal/raro…) to seem (good/ bad/ strange etc.) preocupar to worry, to cause worry quedar (bien/mal) to suit (clothes, shoes etc.) saber mal to make someone feel bad Me sabe mal que… it feels bad to me that… = I feel bad/sorry that… valer to be useful, to be worth it Actually most of these verbs (except apetecer, doler, favorecer, quedar bien/mal) can be used in two different ways, although this is the most common : «me gusta» (singular subject), or «me gustan» (plural subject). Me gusta el cine «El cine» es el sujeto de la oración = Cinema gives me pleasure Yo le gusto a Pedro «Yo» es el sujeto de la oración = I am pleasing to Pedro (A mí) me gusta/n Yo gusto (a alguien) (A ti) te gusta/n Tú gustas (a alguien) (A él/ella/usted) le gusta/n Él/ella/usted gusta (a alguien) (A nosotros/as) nos gusta/n Nosotros/as gustamos (a alguien) (A vosotros/as) os gusta/n Vosotros/as gustáis (a alguien) (A ellos/as/ustedes) les gusta/ Ellos/as/ustedes gustan (a alguien) So far so good, right? But students often have difficulty referring to other peoples’ preferences and interests, because they forget to use pronouns and the preposition «a». Mi padre gusta > A mi padre le gusta Also, with «a mí, a ti, a ella», etc., many students also forget to use the pronouns «me, te, le, etc.» because they think it is an unnecessary repetition. But you always have to use these pronouns! A Juan gustan los animales > A Juan le gustan los animales So the use of «a mí, a ti, a él, etc.» is not obligatory unless we

10 de August de 2020

Un poco de gramática: How to express wishes using the subjunctive in Spanish

This is the English transciption of the video above. Below we have a more detailed blog entry. Transcription: Today we are going to explain how to express wishes and desires in Spanish, using the subjunctive. To express a wish you can use «¡Ojalá!», always with the subjunctive. The expression comes from law šá lláh in Arabic (if Allah wishes). Look at these examples: ¡Ojalá no llueva el fin de semana! ¡Ojalá consiga un trabajo pronto! But you can also use it to express wishes about the past, usisng el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo. ¡Ojalá no haya habido ningún herido en el accidente! We can also express a wish for the present that is impossible, or very unlikely to come about, using el imperfecto de subjuntivo. ¡Ojalá me tocara la lotería! On the other hand, for an action that did not take place in the past, we use el pretérito pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo: ¡Ojalá no hubiera bebido tanto anoche! Tengo una resaca horrible. Another way to express wishes in daily situations, referring to the future, is to use «Que» + subjuntivo, which is understood to mean «Deseo que» o «Espero que». I'm sure you've heard some of these examples: ¡Que pases un buen día! ¡Que te diviertas! ¡Que tengas suerte! We can also use verbs like desear, querer, esperar, etc., using the subjunctive when we have two different subjects and the infinitive when there is only one subject. Look at these examples: Subjuntivo: Quiero que la gente recicle más. Infinitivo: Quiero reciclar más. Finally, with these verbs we can use el subjuntivo en presente, pretérito perfecto, pretérito imperfecto or pluscuamperfecto. Here are some examples: Tengo ganas de que llegue el verano. Espero que hayas terminado de trabajar. Antes siempre tenía ganas de que mis padres me visitaran. Deseé que hubieras venido a mi fiesta de cumpleaños. OK, that's all for today. In our blog you'll find more uses of the subjunctive. Our complete mini-lessons come with an annotated transcription, more detailed grammar notes where we explain examples of the subjunctive that came up in the video, and some interactive excercises. For example, we explain another example of the subjuctive in this mini-lesson. Un poco de gramática: some uses of the subjunctive We know that the use of the subjunctive is one of the most difficult features of Spanish grammar for speakers of other languages. So in this blog we will be uploading short explanations of various uses of the subjunctive, in present and past tenses, with examples that will help you understand this aspect of Spanish grammar. Today we’ll focus on using the subjunctive to express wishes, hopes, desires, preferences, etc. after fixed expressions like ¡Ojalá! or with verbs such as desear, querer, esperar, preferir, tener ganas de, apetecer, etc. 1.1. Fixed expressions: ¡Ojala! and Que…: These expressions are always followed by the subjunctive. ¡Ojalá te haya llegado ya mi regalo! This word comes from Arabic (law sha’a Allah) and the literal meaning is “God

30 de June de 2020

¡Ojalá me toque El Gordo! The Christmas Lottery in Spain

Around this time every year, people in Spain wait eagerly for the 22nd of December, the date of the special Christmas lottery under the auspices of the state organization Loterías y Apuestas del Estado. This lottery first took place on December 18, 1812 in Cádiz, but it wasn’t named the Christmas Lottery until 1892. This lottery takes place in the Teatro Real or the Palacio de Congresos in Madrid and crowds of people attend. Children from San Ildefonso school, one of the oldest in Madrid with more than 400 years of history, practise singing out the winning numbers. One child takes out a numbered ball from a rotating drum and the other takes out of another drum ball that announces the prize for that number. The first prize is known as El Gordo (The Big One) and the winner receives 400,000 euros. The ticket with the number is known as el decimo (one tenth), because each number appears on ten different tickets: that is, there are ten tickets with the same number. There are four other prizes as well as El Gordo, worth from 125,000 euros (second prize) to 6,000 euros (fifth prize). Then there is what’s known as La Pedrea, consisting of lots of smaller prizes. Crowds of people queue up at the lottery offices to buy tickets, which cost 20 euros each. The most famous place to buy tickets is Doña Manolita, en Madrid, which started in 1904 and became very popular because so many of the tickets sold there won prizes. Many people buy shares in a ticket; that is, a ticket is shared among friends and family. Sometimes local businesses sell shares to their customers. The cost of shares is much lower and the prizes are shared among all the participants. The television advertisement of the lottery is also interesting, with many moving stories which encourage solidarity. The message is: “The best prize is sharing.” If you are in Spain now, why not try your luck by buying a ticket or a share? Share the dream! Links to articles and videos: General information: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorteo_Extraordinario_de_Navidad Article on the lottery announcement: https://elpais.com/cultura/2019/11/14/television/1573726006_744458.html Full video of the 2018 Draw: Video of the 2018 announcement: http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/loteria-de-navidad/anuncio-loteria/4839403/ Video of the 2015 announcement:

19 de December de 2019