If you are serious about learning Spanish and you don't know anything yet, this is the course for you. Drawing from five years of experience in teaching Spanish to foreigners coming to live in South America, the course has been set up in such a way as to tackle all typical problems English speakers have with Spanish.
It's great if you have at least a notion of grammatical terminology but it isn't necessary for the course. Don't get too hung up on grammar. It's a tool, and as all tools, they're meant to make the work easier.
In this course you will find many video lessons, overviews, presentations, and a huge amount of practice material. If you work on it every day, you should be able to complete the first level in just one month. Don't sweat it if it takes more than that. Anything you pick up is great, so you should take your time for it. We don't all learn at the same pace.
There are three levels in the entire course: beginner, intermediate and advanced. This is the first level. When you finish it, you should be able to understand and participate in about 75% of any everyday conversation.
Welcome to this Spanish course for beginners. Before we start, we need to talk about a number of basic ideas essential to language learning. Just sit back and enjoy the introduction.
We're getting started with the Complete Latin American Spanish Course. In this preparatory lesson we're making flash cards and learning a bunch of furniture items in Spanish. I will be showing you proper studying techniques to lead you to guaranteed success. Good luck!
Another vocabulary class about the house, the different types of rooms and some other spaces. Almost ready to start building sentences!
Now, let's start building our first sentences. This lesson is all about the word 'hay' which in English translates to 'there is' and 'there are'. In addition, we shall tackle Spanish sentence order and the three types of sentences that exist in almost all languages: affirmative and negative statements, and questions.
In this lesson we're adding a number of Daily Routine Activities to our flashcards. Study them well because in the next lecture, we'll be making sentences with them and starting regular conjugation.
Here's a necessary extra lesson on the Personal Pronouns for the Subject position. If you're not clear about Spanish pronouns, do check it out. It's the most fundamental thing, especially considering we'll be tackling regular conjugation in the next lesson. Good luck!
This is it! We're getting into regular conjugation of AR/ER/IR verbs in the Present Simple. This is where your Spanish adventure takes a leap forward. Have a clear understanding of how things work in Spanish and you'll be generating your own sentences in no time. Keep it up!
There are two parts for this lesson because it's a bit longer than the other lessons. Good luck and have fun with it!
This is Part 2 of Lesson 5. Practice regular conjugation with the game I'm showing you in this part. Get precise and fast at playing it. Good luck!
This is an extra lesson on the Four Sentence Types: Affirmative Sentences, Negative Sentences, Yes/No-Questions, and Content Questions. Also, we'll have a look at some more Question Words like what, who, when, what time, where, why, and how.
We're getting ready to tackle Reflexive Verbs, but before we do, we're adding some activities to our vocabulary which all contain Reflexive Verbs in Spanish. Study them well so you'll be ready to use them in conjugation in Lesson 7.
We're having a close look at how to conjugate Reflexive Verbs in Spanish. Remember to disconnect the '-se' from the infinitive and to use the appropriate Reflexive Pronoun, putting it in front of the Conjugated Verb. Practice until you do it automatically. Good luck!
We're looking at many new activities, most of them having to do with household chores, and making flash cards for them. While we're at it, we'll pay special attention to the activities with Stem Changing Verbs. Most activities in this lesson are completely regular and you already know how to conjugate them and build sentences with them. Next class will be about conjugating Stem Changers.
This is the second part of Lesson 8 about Household Chores.
Time to get familiar with Stem Changing Verbs. We'll even add one verb to our flashcards: pedir, to ask for something. You'll see that Stem Changers are not difficult to conjugate. It just needs a bit of practice.
We're nearing the end of our work with the conjugation of the Present Simple in Spanish. Today we're looking at Spare Time Activities and we're making flashcards for them. So, an easy class today to prepare you for Lesson 11 in which we'll have a look at how to conjugate GO, OY, and ZCO Verbs.
This lesson is all about the conjugation of GO, OY and ZCO Verbs. Learn how to use them correctly in sentences. We'll also be adding a lot of flashcards of ZCO Verbs because we haven't met any yet in this course. Good luck!
This is the second part of Lesson 11 about GO, OY and ZCO Verbs.
In this lesson we'll just be making flashcards for the activities with 'ir', 'ser' and 'estar'. We'll be looking at many places (with 'ir') and adjectives (with 'ser' and 'estar'). Memorize them well so you'll be ready to use them in conjugation in Lesson 13.
Only three verbs to have a look at in this lesson: 'ir', 'ser', and 'estar'. We'll also take some time to look at the inflection of adjectives for activities with 'ser' and 'estar'.
To round off the conjugation of Spanish Verbs in the Present Simple, we are only left with those verbs which have Minor Irregularities in their conjugations. Most conjugated forms for these verbs are regular but do keep your eyes open for any unexpected forms. Good luck!
Let's dive into the matter of those Spanish verbs which pattern like 'gustar'. 'Gustar' is possibly the most popular verb that behaves this way, but there are many, many others. We shall call them Object Oriented Verbs in the future, and they typically need Object Pronouns in use: me, te, le, nos, os, les.
This lesson is dedicated entirely to the topic of love. How do Spanish speakers express that that love, like, or don't like a person? Meet the verbs 'amar', 'querer', 'caer bien' and 'caer mal'.
Here's an extra conversational lesson about meeting people. We'll have a look at a very simple conversation between two girls who meet for the first time. They will be using basic questions and answers to exchange personal information. Have a close look at how they express themselves and try practicing the conversation with a partner!
A second, slightly more advanced conversation we'll have a look at takes place at the doctor's. We'll discuss some interesting expressions typically used in this situation. You'll have to know how to use verbs like 'gustar' and conjugate verbs in the present. Additionally, we'll mention the Subjunctive mode, here used to give polite orders.
In this extra lesson, we'll talk about reading texts. Now you know how to conjugate verbs, you should have very little problems starting with simple texts. Use the techniques I will show you in this lesson to gradually advance to more complicated texts. Have fun reading!
Before we say goodbye, I would like to give you a few handy recommendations for further study. I truly hope this course has been as much a pleasure for you as it has been for me. Good luck and enjoy the freedom of speaking Spanish.
Read the text and answer the questions. Good luck!
Saludos y fórmulas de cortesía
En todos los países existen fórmulas específicas para saludar a los demás y manifestar cariño o respeto. En general, el apretón de manos es el saludo más extendido en todo el mundo. Otra acción también muy frecuente en los países de habla hispana son los dos besos. Incluso en ciertas ocasiones hay abrazos y palmaditas en la espalda. Pero, ¿qué es más común y qué normas deben respetarse en cada caso?
Normalmente, en España e Hispanoamérica, los hombres se dan la mano. A veces acompañan el gesto de unos golpecitos suaves en la espalda o a la altura del hombro. Si ya se conocen desde hace mucho tiempo y tienen confianza, este tipo de saludo se puede sustituir por dos besos o por un abrazo. Esto suele pasar entre familiares – hermanos o padre e hijo -, pero también entre amigos muy cercanos. Ahora bien, no en toda Latinoamérica se aceptan los dos besos entre estos últimos.
Para las mujeres resulta más sencillo porque siempre dan dos besos a todo el mundo; a hombres, mujeres, jóvenes y mayores. También a personas que acaban de conocer y a amigas o familiares. Lo único importante es recordar que primero se besa la mejilla izquierda y después la derecha. ¡Cuidado! Un mal movimiento puede terminar en un pico desagradable… o agradable. El contacto físico es algo común para todos. En general, coger del brazo a alguien, dar un suave codazo o apretar el hombro son gestos habituales y, por supuesto, no guardan ninguna relación con un deseo más íntimo. Son simplemente muestras de cordialidad y amabilidad.
I still remember clearly getting started as a language teacher in a secondary school at the age of 23. With absolutely no experience, being thrown in front of the lions was, to say the least, a challenge. Some say all beginnings are hard. Mine felt like falling into the ocean with only basic knowledge of how to swim.
Many years have passed since then. I am now 40 years old and I've never stopped teaching since I got started. To me, teaching is not a job, it's a passion.
I've taught in an uncountable amount of different types of schools, ranging from secondary schools over adult evening schools, language schools, private classes to universities. I really enjoy teaching one on one. It usually delivers the best results and it allows me to adapt completely to the needs of my students. Every person is different and learns differently, so adapting to the circumstances is vital and essential to proper teaching.
I hope you enjoy my classes. Thanks for any feedback you are willing to share with me.