Learning Spanish - Week 4

Happy Independence Day! ¡Feliz Día de la Independencia!

Time is flying! We have learned so much during these couple of weeks. We have learned about school and family. We will begin to learn soon about where we live: our houses.
This week we will continue practicing our writing and our understanding of other cultures. We have learned about Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador. Keep in mind that you have to select a country for your project. ¡Estudiamos mucho el español, clase! ¡Buen trabajo!

Ser vs. Estar

 I created a visual summary of Ser and Estar and I hope this helps you review and use "ser" and "estar" correctly.

 

Cuarto día - Fourth day

¡Hola a todos!

Hoy es el jueves 18 de junio. We practiced vocabulary and we used a student schedule to answer questions related to her classes and at what time she was taking those classes. In addition, we reviewed how to use questions words appropriately (Check post of tercer día to review this question words). It is important to practice the meaning of these words and the information they are asking. For example, if I have a sentence that "John lives in St. Louis" and you are asked to form a question, then, you could have used to options: Who? and Where? - Who lives in St. Louis?: John, and Where does John live?: in St. Louis. The same occur in Spanish. Yo estudio español en la mañana. I underlined the information that I want you to ask. "En la mañana" means in the morning so it is time. The best question word for this example is ¿Cuándo? - ¿Cuándo estudias (tú) español? Then answer: en la mañana.

Don't forget the question formation order:

Question phrase + verb + subject + complement     Textbook, p. 38

¿Cómo              llegas         (tú)      a la universidad?

Yo llego en autobús.

Another important concept we reviewed was the conjugation of verbs that end in -ar in the present tense. Practice these verbs because you will have to write about yourself using them. Textbook, p. 34

Tercer día - Third day

We had a busy day yesterday, martes, 16 de junio. Los estudiantes worked hard on their exams and after that, they learned about new vocabulario related to la universidad:

1. el horario - schedule
2. ¿Cuál es tu clase favorita? - What is your favorite class?
3. ¿Te gusta _(clase)?  - Do you like _(class)_?
4. ¿Por qué? - Why?
4. Me gusta (clase) porque es _____ y ______. - I like ______ because it is _(adjective)____ and _(adjective)____.
5. No me gusta (clase). - I do not like (class).

Question words:

¿Quién es? (singular) y ¿Quiénes son? (plural) - Who is/are
¿Cómo? - How?
¿Dónde? - Where?
¿Cuándo? - When?
¿Qué? ¿Cuál? ¿Cuáles?  - What?
¿Cuál? ¿Cuáles? - Which
¿Cuánto(s)? - How many? - countable (years, days, months, etc.)
¿Cuanto/a? - How much? - non-countable (sugar, flour, etc.)


We practiced pronunciation and we interviewed each other in Spanish. Everyday we practice vocabulario previously learned. This is important because it will help us remember the words.
In addition, we learned the conjugations for -ar verbs in the present tense.

Yo                      -a                       Nosotros/Nosotras                      -amos
Tú                      -as                      Vosotros/Vosotras                      -áis
Él, ella, usted     -a                       Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes                     -an

You can do a mental practice and conjugate the following verbs: hablar, llegar, cantar.

Segundo día - Second day

El jueves, el once de junio, we had an awesome day. We practiced more vocabulary to talk about ourselves and others. Yo soy alta. José es bajo. We learned about the agreement between noun and adjective. Adjectives need to agree in gender and number with the noun. We learned our numbers, days of the week, and months. Also, we studied definite and indefinite articles. We talked in Spanish. Gracias clase por un día muy bueno.

Vocabulario útil:

Yo soy... - I am... (nationality/profession/descriptive adjective)
Tú eres... - You (informal) are
Él/ella/usted es... - He/she/you (formal) is...
Yo tengo ___ años - I am ____ years old.
¿Cuál es tu día favorito? - What is your favorite day of the week?
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? When is your birthday?
Apellido - last name
Nombre - name
Hoy es el ______ de _______- Today is the (number/th) of (month)

Primer día - First day

Today we had a great class! We learned a lot of information in Spanish and we will continue practicing and rehearsing. I have posted the information about the workbook pages so you can start working on them step by step. Don't forget to continue practicing greetings and questions/answers in a conversation.

New expressions for classroom use

1. ¿Cómo se dice ______ en español? - How do you say _____ in Spanish?
2. Tengo una pregunta - I have a question.

La profesora está encantada. Los estudiantes son excelentes.