El cuerpo

Today we continued practicing the family and the parts of the house.

Next week we will move on to the parts of the body.

In preparation for class, please practice some of the main parts of the body by watching these videos and doing the interactive activities in the links below.

I do not particularly care if you know ALL the parts. However, see how many you can learn and memorize for class

Play the videos and online activities as many times as you need to. Remember that in learning repetition can be helpful and that hearing them once may not be enough for you to remember.



THE FACE

VIDEO: The face




You can find an interactive activity to learn the face here  and an interactive game here.


THE BODY

The song in the video below is a fun way to learn and remember las partes del cuerpo (the parts of the body). Remember, you do not need to learn all of them, though.  Parts of the song you need to know:

Las partes del cuerpo         The parts of the body,
vamos a cantar                  we are going to sing,
y tú                                    and you,
las tienes que tocar            have to touch them


Las partes de la cara          the parts of the face

Empezamos otra vez          we start again.

Y no empezamos otra vez   and we do not start again.


VIDEO: Parts of the body in Spanish. 




You can find an interactive link to practice the parts of the body here and a game here.

¿Dónde está la casa?

Today we started studying the parts of the house.

We played with our Playmobil house and described where different family members were.

We used the estar form of the verb to be, which is the verb we use for location:




* ¿Dónde está el abuelo? (Where is the grandfather?)
* El abuelo está arriba (Grandpa is upstairs)
* El padre está en la cocina (the father is in the kitchen), or
* Los niños están en la sala (the children are in the living room)

To practice location, please go over these simple videos and practice how to ask where something (supermarket, church, phone, etc.) is.

VIDEO: Mahalo: Where is the supermarket?/¿Dónde está el supermercado?




VIDEO: Where is the museum?/¿Dónde está el museo?




VIDEO: Where is the church?/¿Dónde está la iglesia?




VIDEO: Where is the phone?/¿Dónde está el teléfono?



When you have practiced the sentences above, please watch the three videos below (the very last two are a link so you will have to click on them). They will help you learn the words for the different parts of the house. You do not need to learn every part, but maybe some of the basics: living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Please remember that like in English, some rooms can be referred to differently, depending of the country; for example, bedroom can be la recámara, la alcoba, la habitación, el cuarto or el dormitorio.

VIDEO: Around the House/En la casa




VIDEO: Magical Spanish: La casa 1. 

VIDEO: Magical Spanish: La casa 2..

Do not worry too much if you find all of this a little bit overwhelming. We will keep practicing it in the next few weeks.

 ¡Hasta el martes!

San Fermín or SanFermines

Today we reviewed some of what we learned before the break. We also discussed what we may be performing for our showcase

Below I have left a couple of videos of a song celebrating the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Navarre, in northern Spain. This yearly event happen's on July 7th and it coincides with the celebration of this area's co-patron: St. Fermín.


VIDEO: Iñaki Nebreda -Pamplona -SanFermines- Encierros 2013




You can also click here for a short video of the run. Watch it, it is worth it.

The song celebrating this festivity consists, basically, of a countdown followed by some lyrics that say something to the effect that they are ready to partake.

Uno de enero, (January, 1st)
dos de febrero, (Februrary, 2nd)
tres de marzo, (March, 3rd)
cuatro de abril,  (April, 4th)
cinco de mayo, (May, 5th)
seis de junio, (June, 6th)
siete de julio, (July, 7th)
San Fermín (Saint Fermín)

A Pamplona hemos de ir, (We must go to Pamplona)
con una media, con una media. (with a stocking, with a stocking)
A Pamplona hemos de ir, (We must go to Pamplona)
con una media y un calcetín (wiht a stocking and a sock)

See if you can recognized the words in the lyrics in the song as we may choose this song for the spring festival.

VIDEO: Albertiko García: Uno de enero, dos de febrero... (it goes fast but do not dispair)




VIDEO: cloudstosheep - Uno de enero (This is a much slower adaptation of the first half for younger audiences)




Also, some of you asked me about bullfighting and training. This is a short video of a bullfight school in Portugal. Spain and Portugal have different styles of bullfighting, the one you see here is the Spanish one. We can talk some more about it in class next week if you want.

VIDEO: Bullfight School for Kids.



Intermediate Spanish:

Today we explored the effect that Conquistadors had in the Americas. Please watch the video below on the role of Christopher Columbus on the colonization of the Americas. Also, please watch the videos above on Pamplona and bull-running


VIDEO: History vs. Christopher Columbus - Alex Gendler



Hasta el martes! See you on Tuesday!