Dicen que las jirafas – song
This is our second week learning the animals. This is the song we sang in class to sign and practise at home. It is a slightly longer version than the one we sing in class.
¿Te gusta? Si, me gusta! / No, no me gusta!
Animals
Un elefante se balanceaba – Free listen
The first topic of term 2 is animals. Among other activities, we have worked with this song, one of my favourites. Different age groups have worked this song in different ways. The topic is the same for all children courses but the activities are made to suit the children’s developmental stages.
All our classes for children have started this week and this is the first song we have been working with.
Un elefante se balanceaba
sobre la tela de una araña,
como veían que resistía
fueron a llamar a otro elefante.
Dos elefantes se balanceaban,
sobre la tela de una araña,
como veían que resistía
fueron a llamar a otro elefante.
Tres elefantes…
Cuatro elefantes…
Cinco elefantes…
English translation
An elephant swung,
On a spider’s web,
And when he saw that it held him,
He went to call another elephant.
Two elephants swung,
On a spider’s web,
And when they saw that it held them,
They went to call another elephant.
Three elephants…
Four elephants…
Five elephants…
Image from Fisica con amor
Listen to native Spanish speakers
Listen to native Spanish speakers and learners from different countries (with transcriptions) – Free material
Have you ever wondered if you would be able to understand other Spanish accents? Spanish is an official language in 21 sovereign states and one dependent entity, totalling around 423 million people.
The Catálogo de voces hispánicas offers videos of the main examples of the Spanish language from all different parts of the Hispanic world. It also includes some samples from learners of diverse geographic and language origin. All videos have transcriptions and information about specific cultural and custom of where it is spoken: its linguistic characteristics. There is also a map and extra details of the geographical areas.
An interesting link for those in Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate levels.
Click on the image to watch the videos from Spain, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. This link is from Centro Virtual Cervantes. Centro Virtual Cervates is an online service that was created in December 1997 by the Instituto Cervantes of Spain to contribute to the diffusion of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures.
Adult courses starting this week
Check our schedule in Adult classes. Please send us an email or use our contact form to enquire about available spaces.
info@speakspanish.co.nz
Hasta pronto!
April newsletter
Time is flying this year, Term 2 is only 2 weeks away! Term 1 courses are finished now but we are still receiving Term 1 end of the term tests: doing your test is a good way to finish your course and review all the content before you start with Term 2.
You can read our latest newsletter here.
Verb flashcards 1 – free download
Students from Beginners 1, 2 and 3 classes – and even at pre-intermediate level – find it very difficult to remember the verbs in Spanish. To make things easier we created a set of flashcards for you to start with. We will soon add more and more verbs used in the books Aula Internacional 1 and 2.
Click here to download the PDF file Flashcards verbos 1
Print all the copies and glue the pages together. Cut them out and you are ready to start using the flashcards!! Remember how we have worked with them in class. Note: some verbs don’t have an example, you’ll have to make them up. Ask your teacher to check them for you.
Why is it important to learn and remember verbs?
Yes! I agree it is boring and quite hard at the beginning but trust us, it is one of the pillars in learning Spanish. You do have to know the verbs (verbs are action words like cook, sleep, be, have etc) and their meaning; you then have to learn what conjugation goes with each pronoun (in English you say I am, you are, he is – I, you and he are pronouns and am, are, is are verbs… in Spanish you have the same, for each of the verbs you will have to remember the combination, you cannot say for example… I are).
It is very important to stick to the present tense and your teacher’s guidance. We know it is quite frustrating not to be able to speak in the past or the future but that is just a matter of time. If you concentrate all your efforts into remember the meaning of the verbs and the conjugation, the past and the future tense will be easier to learn and remember. If you try to learn all tenses at once (let’s say present, past and future tenses, you will feel it is an impossible task).
How to start with verbs (action words) in 5 steps
- Start with the irregular verbs, ‘ser’, ‘tener’, ‘estar’, ‘querer’, ‘ir’… etc what is the meaning? ‘ser’ means be, ‘tener’ means have, ‘estar’ means be, ‘querer’ means want to and ‘ir’ means go. In order to remember the meanings, it is perhaps a good idea to remember the first conjugation, the conbination for ‘I’ which is ‘yo’ in Spanish together with an example; it will be easier to remember the verbs with an example.
Yo soy Laura.
Yo tengo 32 años.
Yo estoy en mi casa.
Yo quiero aprender español.
Yo voy al parque.
- Go on with regular verbs such as ‘estudiar’, ‘comer’, ‘vivir’ and see if you can remember the first 3 conjugations in a context.
Yo estudio español
Tú estudias ingles en Australia.
Él estudia en la escuela de idiomas.
- Can you find other verbs that are similar to these 3? Can you remember the first 3 combinations?
estudiar conjugates as trabajar, caminar, hablar, etc.
comer conjugates as beber, leer, etc.
vivir conjugates as escribir, etc.
- Try to remember the other pronouns and conjugations
Nosotros estudiamos japonés.
¿Vosotros estudiáis griego?
Ellos estudian en la universidad.
- Little by little start adding other verbs.
gustar – like: Me gusta la pizza
interesa – interested: Me interesa la historia.
levantarse – get up: Yo me levanto a las 7 am.
Why is it crucial to learn in context rather than words from a list?
It is easier to learn from a context and at the same time you are learning other words and phrases. It does make it easier to remember too. You will see that it is quite hard to translate word by word; when you do that, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for a native speaker, that is why it is very useful to learn words in chunks and not in isolation – English works in the same way but you don’t have to think about it.
Learning words from a list is hard, boring and won’t make a lot of sense as you can’t associate the words with anything you’d like to say.
We hope you find them useful. We’ll be waiting for your comments. Hasta luego!
Beginners 1 & 2 courses are finishing for the term
Beginners 1 and 2 finished for the term. Students received a test ‘Evaluación’ on their final day of the course. The test has two purposes:
- give the students feedback on their knowledge in Spanish and revise all contents dealt in the course
- give the teacher some feedback on how the students are performing
The test is divided into 5 sections: reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammar. Some students have already handed in the test and the results are very positive! We think it is a good idea to do the test in your own time at home rather than do it during the course, we are only doing the listening part in class. On the last day of the course, the teacher will arrange a suitable time and place to meet the students to assess them, if the students can’t attend, they can send the answers back on an email.
Revise before starting your next course – here you have some material
¿Qué es un pincho? Why don’t you watch this video and find out? Pinchos are typically from Northern Spain especially the Basque country. This video is part of El DVD de Aula Internacional which you can buy from The Book Depository too as well as the books we use in class. This DVD is entirely in Spanish with Spanish subtitles as the sample you can watch here. It also comes with PDF exercises, you can download a sample to work with ‘Pinchos’ here.
This video is for all 4 Aula Internacional books from Beginner to Upper-Intermediate level. This sample here is perfect for those students doing any of the Beginners classes with us 1, 2 or 3.
We are still receiving tests from current students and placements tests for those wanting to join the classes in Term 2. Please email us to request a level test or a meeting with one of the teachers.
Last class children courses – Children courses are finished for the term
On the last class of all children classes we revise all the contents we worked with in Term 1. Everybody loved the story part. You can download the story – Android or iphone/ipad version in PlayTales. The story is called ‘Mil colores’ in Spanish and there is also an English version ‘A thousand colours’. you may need to change the search language to find the story in Spanish. This is a great story as it reviews a lot of the vocabulary and phrases we learnt during the term, especially the ‘Heladería’ role-play. You can choose to read yourself or to listen to the audio.
The story: Today is a beautiful day! Because it is so nice outside, Diana (la niña – the girl) and her grandmother (la abuela) decide to go on a walk. They have a great time together visiting the fish in the pond and buying yellow bananas (bananas in Spanish could be bananas & platanos) in the market (we called it ‘Verduleria’). They also watch the white clouds in the sky and enjoy some delicious ice cream (helado) in the park. Join Diana and her grandmother as they stroll through the city and discover all the beautiful colors around us. This is a perfect story for little ones who are learning their first words!
Remember to change the search language to Spanish when looking for the book in PlayTales .
We also listen and sing the song: A mi mono. Here you have the lyrics and the video in YouTube… in bolded are the words that ideally the children would sing.
A mi mono le gusta la lechuga
planchadita y sin una sola arruga.
Él la come con sal y con limón,
muy contento sentado en el balcón.
If you and your children came to one of the classes in Term 1, please remember to send back your feedback. Gracias!!!
Fruit & Vegetables
We have been working with fruits and vegetables the last couple of weeks in the children’s classes. Last two classes on Monday and Tuesday we have been role-playing a conversation at the Greengrocer’s ‘En la verduleria’ and at the restaurant ‘ En el restaurante’. Children love role-playing and even the little ones (3 years old) were up to the challenge: many children are shy during the classes, especially the youngest ones but role-playing was certainly very encouraging for them. Buying and selling vegetables and fruit help the children to put Spanish into an every day context. Choosing already known food from the menu was exciting too; of course most of them chose ‘postre’ – dessert!
Caillou is certainly one of my daughter’s characters (and mine too!) . Caillou is an educational Canadian children’s television series, based on the books by author Christine L’Heureux and illustrator Hélène Desputeaux. We watch them on You Tube where you can find the English, French, Italian & most important the Spanish version. This episode is called ‘Caillou se hace camarero’ – Caillou becomes a waiter. Click here to watch the English version. The books are fantastic resources for children learning Spanish as a second language.
Culture Galore
Culture Galore – Ray Blank Park, Ilam – 9th March 2013
See us in the Culture Galore in Ray Blank Park in Maidstone Road, Ilam. Experience the world and celebrate cultural diversity! More than 50 different cultural performances and demonstrations, a huge variety of ethnic foods, art and crafts for sale and loads of fun activities for the whole family.
Tempt your senses and delight your taste buds with the huge array of exotic smells and flavours to sample and purchase.
Children’s activities including A-MAC Bungy, bouncy castles, stone carving, soap carving, origami, face painting, Plains FM recording booth, and more.
BYO rug or chairs and make a day of it. Limited parking is available.
Listen to Plains FM and Newstalk ZM for cancellation notice.
FREE or low cost – Cancelled if wet
We’ll be there talking about our classes and lessons. Come to meet us.
Hasta luego!! – See you!!
