Tag Archive | "words"

How To Learn Spanish: The Greeting

How To Learn Spanish: The GreetingIn your first attempt to learn Spanish, the first thing you will be taught about is greetings. What do you know if you don’t know how to say “hello?” Learning the greetings will help you to learn Spanish in its simplest form because you don’t have to worry about too many verb agreements or word orders. The greetings are taught in simple phrases. No extra words need to be looked up or added. As I said before, as you learn Spanish the first phrase you need to know is “hello.” In order to say that in Spanish, you would say, “Hola.”

“Hola” can be used formally or casually to say hello to anyone you might run into. If you are trying to say hello on the phone, you might use “bueno” or “diga. ”

If you would like to say “goodbye” in Spanish, you would say, “Adiós.”

If you would like to say, “How are you?” you would say, ” ¿Cómo estás?” To say, “Good afternoon.” you would say, ” Buenas tardes.” To say, “Good morning” or “Good day,” you would say, “Buenos días.” “Good night” in Spanish is buenos noches, and to ask what someone’s name is, you would say, “¿Cómo te llamas?”

Once you get these down, you will think it’s a breeze to learn Spanish, but you are in for some more complex terms a bit later on down the road. Other basics that you can start mastering are numbers, the alphabet, telling time, asking directions, gender, color, body parts, and family.

Learning these types of everyday terms will help you learn Spanish faster because you will able to practice these words everyday. People say hello and good night all of the time so you will feel comfortable practicing your Spanish often.

Later on, you will be able to form more complex greetings such as, “Hello, how are you are you doing?” or “Hi, the weather is pleasant today, isn’t it?”

You can begin to get a little more advanced by asking “What’s up?” or “What’s new?” To say that in Spanish, you would say “¿Qué hay?” If you want to say, “How’s it going?” you would say, “¿Qué pasa?” If you would like to say “nice to meet you” you would say “Mucho gusto.”

Those are just a few of the more intermediate level greetings that you will help you to learn Spanish while getting to know many different people.

In Spain, it’s often a common thing for people to kiss each other on both cheeks when they meet. However, men will usually shake hands. Even though people kiss each other often when they meet, they don’t do it all of the time. For instance in the context of a business meeting, you would not catch people kissing each other on the cheeks.

If you are in America, you may not want to try kissing anyone as you learn Spanish, even if it’s another Spanish person. Most people of different cultures have gotten used to the American culture, and American’s usually don’t kiss when they first meet. However, should you visit Spain, you may want to try this. It will add to the fun as you learn Spanish.

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Learn Spanish Language Secrets

Learn Spanish Language SecretsYou can learn Spanish to a certain degree and still have trouble with certain words and sentence constructions. It seems that you are saying them right, but you notice that Spanish speakers say them differently. If you learn Spanish language secrets, you will understand the subjects better.

One thing to remember is that you don’t always have to use the pronoun. If you say “yo,” meaning “I,” each time you could, you will sound strident. This is because using the pronoun is only necessary when you are emphasizing it. If you are constantly emphasizing it, you will sound foolish. Learn Spanish rules like this and you will sound more like a native speaker.

You can learn Spanish word order in its basic form quite easily. It is usually like English except adjectives tend to go after the noun they describe. However, if you spend the time to learn Spanish word order by listening to Spanish speaking people, you will find differences. Meaning can have subtle variations when you change the word order.

There is another secret people can come across when they learn Spanish. There are many Spanish words that look very nearly like English words that you know. Sometimes, they can be considered direct translations.

However, some words only look similar. They actually mean something quite different. Pay attention to the exact translations of words, as you learn Spanish. Using some of these words incorrectly can cause you embarrassment, or can even insult someone.

An interesting secret when you learn Spanish is that common phrases, or idioms, don’t always translate word for word. If you try to translate an idiom word for word, you might get the meaning, or at least an approximation of it.

However, there are many idioms that would seem to mean one thing that mean something else when translated as a whole. The only way to learn this is by experience, or to get a book of idioms. You must remember, though, that there are different idioms in different Spanish speaking countries.

Learn Spanish from textbooks if you like, but when you are put into the culture, don’t rely on them. This is another secret to know when you learn Spanish. Many people don’t speak like the textbooks are written.

That’s ok; English speakers don’t either, if you think about it. If you try to learn Spanish better in this informal way, you will likely make mistakes that the book has not prepared you for. Don’t worry; you can pick up the language from the conversation if you’re alert.

Another secret is that pronunciation is important. The way you pronounce your “b’s” and “v’s” will mark you as a person who does or doesn’t consider it necessary to learn Spanish well. If you don’t roll your “r’s” properly, you will sound like a toddler to the Spanish speaking person. All these little things can set you apart or help you fit in.

Learn Spanish with all the nuances and you will not be looked at as an outsider. Taking a few steps to improve your Spanish will be worth it in the long run.

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