Monday, February 23, 2015

Geography of Latin America

For the next few weeks we are going to shift to culture and learn about the geography, foods and customs of Spanish speaking countries.

As you well know, not all countries in Latin America speak Spanish. people in Brazil, for example use Portuguese (another Romance language) as their main language, and other countries, like Peru, recognize both Spanish and Quechua (the unifying language spoken in the Inca Empire) as co-official languages.

Countries, like the US, have no official national language and although English is the common language, Spanish and English coexist in many urban areas and parts of Florida and the American Southwest.

Please watch the videos and click on the interactive links below in preparation for class.


VIDEO: Countries of the World



Check this site to learn the flags of Latin American countries. Choose one flag you like, print it (or draw it) and color it so you can bring it to class and show it to your classmates. See if you can learn anything about the flag symbol (if any) and share it with class. Mexico, for example, has an eagle and a snake on a nepal cactus and the history around this symbol can be traced, according to some, to the Aztecs.

Also, if you wish, you can play some interactive games while learning geography:  North American countries/territories and capitals hereCentral American countries and capitals here, and South American countries and capitals here. Remember, you do not need to know all of them.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Personal Pronouns and verb SER

Today we practiced the verb to be (SER) in the present tense. We also reviewed some personal pronouns.

Please watch the videos below as we will continue using this verb in class next Tuesday.

When you are done, write a brief description  (about five sentences for intro students and 15 for intermediate Spanish students) of yourself or somebody (a pet will do, too) who lives in your household.

Example:

Fiona es una gata. Ella no es grande. Ella es naranja y traviesa. Fiona es buena. La gata es joven.

or

Sheryl es una mujer. Sheryl es mi madre. Ella es alta y rubia. Sheryl es de Nueva York. Ella es inteligente.

Three rules when writing your description: 1. keep it simple, 2. try to go beyond colors, and 3. keep in mind number and gender agreement between subject and adjectives (eg.  la gata es bonitvs el gato es bonito). Use a dictionary if necessary to find interesting adjectives. Lots of online dictionaries and free apps out there, both for the Android and iOS markets.

See you on Tuesday.

VIDEO: Personal Pronouns Song



VIDEO: The Verb Ser.


VIDEO: Personal Descriptions.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Verbos and ¿Qué es?

Yesterday we got some good descriptions in class of famous and not so famous characters.

We used the verbs SER (to be) and TENER (to have) in the third person (singular and plural).

Students should also know by now how to say I am  (yo soy). I was so impressed that I think we are ready to proceed with verb conjugations in the present tense.




INTRO TO SPANISH

I would like to ask from parents that students try to learn the chart in page 47 of their book.  The main personal pronouns I would like for them to learn are below (there are others, like usted, ustedes, vosotros, but let's not worry about those at this point).

Yo: I
Tú: You (singular) informal.
Él/ella: He/She
Nosotros/nosotras: We (masc./fem.)
Ellos/ellas: They



Watch the videos below if you find songs help you remember things.

VIDEO: Conjugating Spanish verbs. The SER song.



The video below is VERY repetitive.

VIDEO: Ser -To Be.


When you are done with all the above, please complete the exercises in pages 47 and 48 (you can check the answers at the end of the book). Just keep in mind that the adjectives need to agree with the personal pronoun they are modifying:  Example with alto (tall)

Él es alto but Ella es alta
Ellos son altos but Ellas son altas (altas is the feminine, plural form of alto).
Nosotros somos altos but Nosotras somos altas.

Next week we are going to practice how to use the verb SER (to be) and learn how to ask what something is ¿Qué es? or ¿Qué son? (What is it?, What are they?). We will be playing a couple of games where students have to guess what something is while blindfolded.

Please bring your dictionaries to class!

Oh, I almost forgot... In the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack has just found out about Christmas and is very curious about it. See if you can identify when Jack says ¿Qué es? throughout the song. Don't worry if you do not understand anything else, you are not supposed to at this point :)

VIDEO: ¿Qué es? 



ADVANCED SPANISH

Please read the info above and go over pages 36 and 37 in your books AS WELL AS page 38

We will be using some AR ending verbs and ESTAR in class next week to describe what our stuffed animal friends do and how they feel.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

El cuerpo: Descriptive Sentences.

La boca es grande
Today we practiced the parts of the face and the body with magnets and Mr. Potato pieces. Keep practicing those for next week.

We also reviewed that the definite article the translates into el/la (singular) and los/las (plural) in Spanish:

El Alamo (the poplar) / Los Angeles (the angels)
La Joya (the jewel) / Las Vegas (the medows)

Homework for both groups (intro and intermediate)

1. Please practice the videos and online activities on the parts of the body we have been studying for the past two weeks.

2. Find a picture of your favorite character, actor, hero (or draw one ) and bring it to class with a basic description of his or her face and or body. Be prepared to present your description to your group and the class. Use a dictionary if you want to find adjectives other than colors: eg. grande (big), bonito/a (pretty), interesante (interesting), feo/a (ugly).

Please use es (is) and son (are) or tiene (has) to make full sentences like the examples below. Remember that adjectives in Spanish agree in gender and number with the noun they modify:  bonito becomes bonita for femenine nouns and bonitos, bonitas in the plural.

El pelo es bonito,
La boca es bonita,
Los ojos son bonitos,
Las orejas son bonitas



Link es un elfo (an elf). Link tiene pelo amarillo o (or) rubio (blond); los ojos son azules. Link tiene dos orejas; las orejas son grandes (big). La nariz no es grande.


Other color coded examples from last week:

Mr. Potato tiene dos brazos rojos, dos pies amarillos y una boca grande
Mr. Potato has two red arms, two yellow feet and one big mouth

La boca de Mr. Potato es roja, la nariz es anaranjada y las orejas son verdes. 
Mr. Potato's mouth is redhis nose is orange and his ears are green.


3. Watch this "crazy fast" video if you dare and see if you can understand anything (clue: tiene muchas partes, means it has a lot of parts. Also un/una means a or one. Es muy especial means it is very special).

VIDEO: El Cuerpo




Hasta el martes.