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 bonita vs 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.
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 altosbut Ellas son altas (altas is the feminine, plural form of alto).
Nosotros somos altosbut 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.
On Tuesday we studied the verb to be in the present tense.
Next week we will further explore the uses of the ser and estar forms of the verb to be while talking about ourfamilies, pets and/or friends.
Please come prepared to class so you can talk about yourself or your family using the verbs ser (e.g. mi hermano es alto, los abuelos son inteligentes, mi padre es de Argentina, mi familia no es muy grande, mi perro es negro y grande, etc.)
This week we have learned about likes (me gusta) and wants (quiero). One of the videos below teaches you how to say "I want to be your friend" in Spanish, so I decided to share it with you.
In the next few weeks we are going to practice how ser and estar (both verbs mean "to be" in English) are used differently in Spanish. You already know how to use ser and estar: El gato es blanco, Soy de Guatemala, ¿Qué hora es? Estoy bien, etc. We will get to practice this at Academy once we get back from our break. In preparation for our next few classes, please take a look at the info and the videos below.
Also, if you could, watch the video by Sr. Howard below. You'll learn how to express your feelings by using estoy (I am) and condition by using me duele (it hurst).
