About Spanish Language

¡Feliz Navidad a todos!

2009-12-25T00:22:14Z

Today, believers and their friends throughout the world celebrate a miracle — for Christians, Christmas marks the mortal birth of the Baby-God. Despite the secularization of the holiday, it continues to symbolize ideals that are greater than any of the day's abundant trappings such as trees, candles and gifts.

If you haven't had a chance to look over holiday lessons and other resources we have for the holidays, it's not too late. In particular, you can celebrate the holiday spirit with these:

Spanish-language Christmas carols: Several of them, such as the favorites Noche de paz and Oh pueblecito de Belén include notes to help you understand the possibly confusing grammar and vocabulary.
Spanish narratives of the Biblical Christmas story from the gospels of Matthew, Luke and John.
An explanation, in Spanish, of the Mexican custom of re-enacting the tale of Mary and Joseph looking for a place to say.
Improve your Christmas vocabulary in a fun way with a Christmas quiz.
A Christmas essay in Spanish reflecting on the meaning of the holiday.
A telling, in Spanish, of the Hanukkah story, recounting the historic victory against oppression that was celebrated by Jews and their friends earlier this month.
A Spanish song sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, although it doesn't have anything to do with New Year's.

Que tengan ustedes un día lleno de amor, amistad y paz.

¡Feliz Navidad a todos! originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 00:22:14.

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Read the story of Christmas, in Spanish

2009-12-24T07:01:36Z

Spanish has changed in the past four centuries, but not enough to keep old text from being understandable. To get a sample of what Spanish used to be like, I invite you on this Christmas Eve to reach the Christmas accounts from the Reina-Valera translation of the New Testament. The Reina-Valera translation was developed around the same time as the King James Version in English and, like the KJV, has become a literary classic.

Here you can find three accounts from the R-V along with notes on the translation to help make it more understandable, even for relatively new Spanish students:

Read the story of Christmas, in Spanish originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 at 07:01:36.

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How Would a Native Say That?

2009-12-23T11:59:03Z

It's one thing to learn to speak Spanish in a grammatically correct way. But to go beyond that, we'd like at some point not only to be "textbook correct" but also to sound unlike a foreigner to native speakers. This issue was raised recently in a letter to this site in response to a lesson on the verb caer:

I would like to know more about how to say things correctly, or more accurately, using the expression of my Mexican listeners. For example, for caer: "El avión cayó en el océano. The plane fell into the ocean." I would not say the airplane "fell" into the ocean, I would say it crashed into the ocean. So should I use chocar? What is the common way to express that idea? And how can I learn those common expressions that do not translate exactly?

How would you answer that question? You can see my answer in my article on finding out which words a native speaker might use. Please share yours in our newest Readers Respond feature on learning what native speakers say. Thanks!

How Would a Native Say That? originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 11:59:03.

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Approximating the Ñ

2009-12-22T05:12:45Z

If you familiar with Spanish-derived English words such as "jalapeño" and "El Niño," you have a pretty good idea of how the ñ is pronounced. Although the Spanish sound of the ñ isn't exactly the same as English speakers usually pronounce it, it's close enough for practical purposes.

Approximating the Ñ originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 05:12:45.

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Acclaimed Film Sin Nombre Offers an Unflinching Look at Central American Desperation

2009-12-21T11:52:12Z

If you're looking for a Spanish-language film that provides an unflinching look at the desperate life that too many people in Central America live, one worth buying or renting on DVD is Sin nombre, which has been recognized by critics as one of the top movies of 2009 and in my opinion is worthy of a best-picture nomination two months from now.

You can read About.com's review of Sin nombre on the World/Independent film site, so I won't go into detail about the film here. Suffice it to say that if you've traveled extensively to poor areas of Central America or Mexico, much of the film will have a look of familiarity. Read more...

Acclaimed Film Sin Nombre Offers an Unflinching Look at Central American Desperation originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 11:52:12.

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Many Ways To Say "Where": Donde, Adónde and More

2009-12-19T03:09:16Z

Donde and adónde are two of the Spanish words that can be used to mean "where" — and they aren't the only ones. As our new lesson on "where" explains, your choice of words will often depend on the structure of the sentence as well as whether "where" refers to a destination or mere location.

Many Ways To Say "Where": Donde, Adónde and More originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 03:09:16.

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Todo Sobre 'Sobre'

2009-12-18T09:02:33Z

Prepositions are probably the most difficult part of speech to learn, since they can have a variety of meanings that don't seem related to each other. Sobre, a common Spanish preposition, is no exception. Among other things, it can be the equivalent of the English "on," "about" and "over."

Todo Sobre 'Sobre' originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 09:02:33.

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Using the Future Perfect Tense

2009-12-17T06:41:27Z

Usually, as in English, the future perfect tense of Spanish refers to an action of some sort that will be completed at a future time. An example is a sentence such as "habrá vuelto para lunes" (she will have returned by Monday). But in Spanish, despite its name, the future perfect tense can also be be used to refer to something that has probably already happened. It's a special usage of the "suppositional future," the use in Spanish of the future tense to refer to probability.

Using the Future Perfect Tense originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 06:41:27.

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Venir a Highly Irregular Verb

2009-12-15T13:34:58Z

As you starting learning the conjugation of irregular verbs, one you should learn fairly early in the process the conjugation of venir. As the most common verb meaning "to come," it's used a lot — and generally the most common verbs are the most irregular. Venir holds true to that pattern, being irregular in nearly every tense and mood.

Venir a Highly Irregular Verb originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 13:34:58.

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LL Sound Not the Same Everywhere

2009-12-14T13:43:04Z

Probably more so than for any other letter of the alphabet, the sound of the Spanish ll varies from from region to region, even within a single country. Fortunately, as our lesson on the ll explains, if you use the most common pronunciation, you'll be understood wherever Spanish is spoken.

LL Sound Not the Same Everywhere originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 13:43:04.

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