About Spanish Language

How Many? How Much?

2009-11-11T03:56:49Z

Ask questions like those in a headline, and you might expect a number in the answer. But you might also answer with an adjective of quantity — words like "many" or "few" in English, muchos or pocos in Spanish. Our recently revised lesson on adjectives of quantity lists the ones you'll use the most often and gives examples of how they're used.

How Many? How Much? originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 03:56:49.

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Another Easy Prounciation: I

2009-11-09T16:40:50Z

After last week's challenge of learning to pronounce the g and j, we're back an easy letter: i. Despite what you might initially think, it basically has what we call the long-E or "ee" sound of English. And once you've mastered the i — it's not hard — you'll also have learned the y.

Another Easy Prounciation: I originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 16:40:50.

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What's Past Is Past — or Is It?

2009-11-07T02:23:13Z

Without more context, it isn't so easy to translate a simple sentence such as "When I was a child I went to Disneyland" to Spanish. You could say "Cuando era niño fui a Disneyland" or "Cuando era niño iba a Disneyland" — and they don't mean the same thing. If you don't know the difference, be sure to check out recently updated lesson on distinguishing the past tenses of Spanish.

What's Past Is Past — or Is It? originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 02:23:13.

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Language Learning May Begin Before You're Born

2009-11-06T12:54:05Z

How early does language learning begin? It may begin even before we're born, a newly published study suggests. The study, in this month's issue of Current Biology, compared the cries of newborns in French-speaking homes with those in German-speaking homes. According to the researchers, the differences in their cries correspond to differences in the intonations of the two languages. So the assumption is that they picked up the sounds while they were in the womb.

So next time you're jealous when you run across a 2-year-old who speaks Spanish better than you do, remember that she may have been learning the language longer than you have!

Language Learning May Begin Before You're Born originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 12:54:05.

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Conjugating the Conditional Tense

2009-11-05T16:40:59Z

Things that can make verb conjugations tricky — there are quite a few irregular verbs and verbs need to be "taken apart" before the ending is added — don't really apply to the conditional tense. Indeed, the conjugation of the conditional tense is one of the easiest to learn. With few exceptions, just add an ending to a verb and you're ready to go.

Conjugating the Conditional Tense originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 16:40:59.

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The Spanish J: a Challenging Sound To Master

2009-11-03T16:58:38Z

Many Spanish student find the trilled RR sound the hardest sound in Spanish to learn, but I've long thought that the J sound is more difficult.

Many people learn that the j is pronounced like the English "h" sound, but while that's close it's not entirely accurate. Read more...

The Spanish J: a Challenging Sound To Master originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 16:58:38.

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What You Might Not Know About Spanish (But Should)

2009-11-01T01:18:27Z

Did you know that there are more people who speak Spanish as a first language than speak English as a first language? Or that there's a family relationship between Spanish and German? For these and other interesting details about Spanish, be sure to check our our new feature, "10 Facts About the Spanish Language."

What You Might Not Know About Spanish (But Should) originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 01:18:27.

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¡Feliz día de brujas!

2009-10-31T01:28:41Z

As readers informed me to my chagrin after I answered a question about how to say "Halloween" in Spanish, there is a not-so-awkward Spanish phrase to refer to the holiday, and it's día de brujas or noche de brujas, the day or night of witches. Either those terms or "Halloween" is well understood among Spanish speakers in the U.S., although the English term may need some explanation abroad.

Halloween as celebrated in the U.S. is part of American culture, but there are variations of the season that are observed elsewhere. One of the best-known is the Day of the Dead observed in Mexico, which has different origins than Halloween despite is superficial similarities.

¡Feliz día de brujas! originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 01:28:41.

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An Easy Pronunciation: F

2009-10-28T03:44:35Z

Finally in our series of pronunciation lessons, we've come to a letter that is pronounced the same way nearly all the time in both Spanish and English. So our lesson on pronouncing the f is the easiest in the series so far. So you can relax a bit this week; next we'll cover the letters g and j, which can be fairly difficult for native English speakers to pronounce well.

An Easy Pronunciation: F originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 03:44:35.

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Since When Was It a Crime To Speak Spanish?

2009-10-27T14:25:55Z

Another sign of language frictions in the United States surfaced this week when the Dallas News reported that at least 20 Dallas police officers since 2007 wrote tickets to at least 38 drivers for not speaking English. According to the newspaper, nearly all of those 38 were Spanish speakers. Read more...

Since When Was It a Crime To Speak Spanish? originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 14:25:55.

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