When I tell most people I’m a Spanish teacher, their reaction is, “Wow, I wish I had learned more in my Spanish class. It’d be so helpful now.” They’re right. Whether or not you’re a fan, experts predict that the US will be the largest Spanish speaking country in the world by 2050. So instead of waiting till it’s too late, why not start practicing now? The trick to Spanish is to learn a little bit at a time and repeat it often. Learning languages is like working out muscles. Yeah you can do a few quick sprints and memorize a bunch of words and phrases, but it’s not likely to help you much in the future. The other option is to do lots of moderate reps with the material on a regular basis and you’ll be more likely to see long term gains. |
That’s why I’m starting “Let’s Learn Lunes!” Every Monday I’ll be posting a quick Spanish lesson to get your brain working. I challenge you to try to use it throughout the week (even if it’s just to your fur baby) to help it stick.
So let’s get started! Most people are well-versed with the words “Hola” (pronounced: oh-la) = hello. And “adios” (pronounced: ah-dee-oh-s) = goodbye. Yesss I’m aware that my pronunciation examples aren’t traditional. Most of my students prefer them though.
If you don’t know those two, time to get to work!
Since hola and adios are pretty common, the phrase for the week is “me llamo” (pronounced: may ya-mo) = My name is….
So if someone asks you:
¿Cómo te llamas? (pronounced: coe-mo tay ya-mah-s) = What is your name?
Your answer is:
Me llamo _______(your name)_________
Easy right?
For those of you that are a bit more advanced, the verb “llamar” actually means to call; therefore, when you say “me llamo,” you’re really saying “I call myself.” And “¿Cómo te llamas?” means “How do you call yourself?”
Obviously, that’s not how we say it in English, but not everything can be a direct translation.
So good luck practicing and feel free to e-mail me with any questions or suggestions for next week’s mini-lesson. Who knows? In a few weeks your dog could be fluent in Spanish ;)
So let’s get started! Most people are well-versed with the words “Hola” (pronounced: oh-la) = hello. And “adios” (pronounced: ah-dee-oh-s) = goodbye. Yesss I’m aware that my pronunciation examples aren’t traditional. Most of my students prefer them though.
If you don’t know those two, time to get to work!
Since hola and adios are pretty common, the phrase for the week is “me llamo” (pronounced: may ya-mo) = My name is….
So if someone asks you:
¿Cómo te llamas? (pronounced: coe-mo tay ya-mah-s) = What is your name?
Your answer is:
Me llamo _______(your name)_________
Easy right?
For those of you that are a bit more advanced, the verb “llamar” actually means to call; therefore, when you say “me llamo,” you’re really saying “I call myself.” And “¿Cómo te llamas?” means “How do you call yourself?”
Obviously, that’s not how we say it in English, but not everything can be a direct translation.
So good luck practicing and feel free to e-mail me with any questions or suggestions for next week’s mini-lesson. Who knows? In a few weeks your dog could be fluent in Spanish ;)