How to say Thank You & You’re Welcome in Spanish
Being able to say “thank you” and “you are welcome” is perhaps one of the first things anyone wants to learn to say in another language. It is the best way to show that you have good manners and appreciate what someone has done for you.
When you are learning Spanish and go to Spain on holiday you might need to say, “thank you” at the hotel when talking to the receptionist, when asking someone for directions in the street or when the taxi driver helps you with your luggage.
In this blog post we will teach you the most common ways to say thank you in Spanish: Continue reading
The Most Useful Languages to Learn in 2020!
One of your new year plans may be to learn a foreign language and you are wondering which language would be most worth learning.
Some people choose to learn a particular language because they have friends or family who are native speakers and they would like to speak to them in that language.
Another good reason to learn a language is to create more job opportunities for yourself or if your company has offices in other countries and you would like to work abroad.
Other people are simply interested in the country and the culture of where they speak that language.
However, if you just want to challenge yourself or do something new and are not sure which is the best language for you to learn, read on – in this blog post we will try to inspire you with the best languages to learn in 2020: Continue reading
10 New Year Traditions in Hispanic Countries
In Spanish-speaking countries most of the New Year traditions are aimed at bringing good luck for the following year. Most of these rituals take place amongst friends and family either during the day or around midnight on New Year’s Eve (la Nochevieja). Continue reading
How to say that you don’t understand or are unsure in Spanish
When you are a beginner language learner you are often unsure about what you are saying and whether a) it is correct and b) if you are pronouncing it correctly. It is probably the first time you have actually spoken the words that you have learnt to a native speaker. It is only natural for language learners to have these doubts when they first start speaking in the target language.
Similarly, when you listen to their reply you may think you’ve understood what they’ve just said to you, however you may not be 100% sure. You will probably find it difficult to keep up with what they are saying – as we all know how quickly Spanish people speak!
In this blog post we will go through some useful expressions for you to say that you don’t understand or are unsure of what someone has said to you. If you learn some of these phrases they will help you keep the conversation going. There is nothing to be embarrassed about when saying that you don’t understand or asking for clarity – Spanish people like helping learners improve their Spanish! Continue reading
Popular Spanish Grammar Resources
Why is it important to study Spanish grammar?
Grammar is the backbone of a language. It is said that, “It is the glue which binds a language together.”
Often people think they can learn a language without studying any grammar, mainly because they think it’s too hard and boring. To start with, yes you can quite happily do this, you could memorise a few phrases to just get by on holiday but to have a natural conversation with someone and to be able to say whatever you want to, you really need to study the key tenses, understand where adjectives and pronouns go and so on. This would help you understand how the language works.
Without studying grammar you will sound like you are just reciting phrases from your travel book. If you don’t understand how the sentences are structured you will find it more difficult to make up your own sentences and to memorise phrases.
In this blog post we will recommend to you the best Spanish grammar resources for learners: Continue reading
9 Simple Steps to Learn Spanish Grammar
When it comes to learning grammar people often panic and are put off from learning languages. They often think that learning grammar is boring and you don’t need to learn silly grammar rules to be able to speak a foreign language. You couldn’t be further from the truth! Everything we say is made up of some sort of a grammar rule.
In this blog post we will give you some tips to help you get to grips with learning Spanish grammar. Continue reading
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Learning Spanish on your own is hard.
Without a teacher or classmates it is easy to lose motivation.
You have no-one to make sure you are on the right track.
There are so many different resources and you don’t know which ones are good.
You don’t have time to research different resources.
This is why I created online Spanish courses to help people to teach themselves Spanish on their own!
My first online course “Study Spanish Solo” has been two years in the making. Continue reading
How to use the Spanish verb “Tardar” to talk about time
The Spanish verb “tardar” is one of the most used verbs in everyday conversation, therefore it is really worthwhile spending the time to study the different ways you can use this verb.
Firstly it is a regular –ar verb in Spanish so the good thing is, there are no irregular verb forms to learn in any tense.
There are 3 main uses of tardar:
1) To talk about the time it takes to do something.
2) To talk about delay.
3) To say “at the latest”.
In this blog post we will explain how to use tardar in these 3 contexts with example sentences. Continue reading
El Día de los Muertos – The Day of the Dead
This celebration is held in Mexico and South American countries and Spain starts on October 31st at midnight and finishes on November 2nd. It dates back to pre-Columbian times when people honoured their ancestors. The meaning behind it is to honour the dead and to celebrate life. It is also sometimes known as the “Día de Todos los Santos”.
What happens during the celebration?
People remember the dead by telling stories about them and they also clean the graves of their loved ones that have passed on and lay flowers.
1st November is a day to remember children and is known as the “Día de los Angelitos” (Day of the Little Angels).
2nd November is for remembering adults who have died. This is the official “Día de los Muertos”. People believe that the dead come to life again on this day. There is even a belief that if the dead see that they are not being honoured on this day they will haunt the living. Continue reading
12 Powerful Strategies to Improve Reading in Spanish
One of the best ways to progress in Spanish (or any foreign language) is to do more reading. By reading a variety of different materials in the target language you will not only learn more words and phrases but you will see how the language is used in different contexts.
As well as simply reading, there are certain methods you can use to maximise your reading time to make even more progress in Spanish.
The aim of this blog post is to give you a few tips as to how you can read in Spanish to help you improve the fastest.
1) Decide what to read carefully
* Read about something that you enjoy, something that interests you and that you care about. If you start reading something you aren’t really interested in, you will be much less likely to check what the words mean and learn anything from it. Reading something that interests you is the key to staying motivated.
* Think about your end goal. Why are you learning Spanish? If it is to do business you need to read more formal language. If it is to fully immerse yourself in the language you would try tackling a novel or a magazine. Continue reading
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