Learn Spanish by Stories: 2019

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Posting again, it works!

Last May, I found myself unable to post new pages. In September, I figured out why. So, go ahead, you'll find my latest class notes right where they ought to be.

Monday, September 2, 2019

OLLI Fall 2019 - Still Advancing in Beginning Spanish

Hola, queridos estudiantes. Welcome to class. We start on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 9 am. Notice that this term we meet on the SOU campus, in the Stevenson Union / Student Union, in Room 319 (on the third floor). Remember also that we meet twice a week, on Fridays also at 9 -11 am. Bring your ears and willingness to participate. See you soon!

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Problems with this blog - sorry

I can edit all the pages, but when I try to update/ publish, they don't show up. If anyone can help, please let me know.

Meanwhile, a friend has suggested this video, Extra, to help you learn Spanish. It's funny and generally comprehensible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfb9-ZTCA-E

Sunday, February 17, 2019

OLLI Class: Spanish for Advancing Beginners 2019, Spring Term

Welcome / Bienvenidos OLLI students

a la clase de Spanish for Advancing Beginners

Spring / Primavera 2019

Wednesdays /miércoles and Mondays /lunes,

May 8 - June 5

3:30 - 5:30 pm

This class will be held in the Campbell Center at SOU, Room C, on Wednesday and Monday afternoons, for two hours, 3:30 - 5:30, for a total of 8 sessions. Note that this is TWICE A WEEK. Each class is different and builds on the ones before. We start on May 8; there is no class on May 27, Memorial Day; the last class is June 5.

This is NOT a class for people who have never studied Spanish before at all. However, if a few years have passed since your last exposure to Spanish, that's OK. It will come back. If you've had some classes in basic Spanish and have a general grasp of grammar, you'll be fine in this class. Knowing about verb conjugation (in present tense, at least), common vocabulary, gender endings, and approximate pronunciation will be very helpful.

(Just a note to folks who've done some serious study of Spanish and can function on your own -- you would be better served by enrolling in a class more appropriate to your needs.)

No textbook is required. Your primary way of acquiring the language is through listening and reading. In class, you'll listen (and contribute fun details to our stories); then, at home, you can read the notes I post here as well as the stories we create together in class.

I'm looking forward to seeing you in class!

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Cognates: words that are similar in two languages, in both spelling or sound and meaning.

Words that end in "or" are often identical in both English and Spanish. So, you already know these words! Spanish words that end in "r" are stressed on the last syllable (doc-TOR).
actor
doctor
color
director
doctor (also médico)
error
exterior
honor
horror
humor
motor
opresor
superior
tumor
vigor

PERSONALITY COGNATES:

The words below are all related to personality characteristics, so you can use them to describe someone. You might notice that most can end in -o (masculine) or -a (feminine). But others don't change their endings, they can refer to either a masculine or feminine person. For example, artista or dentista = an artist or dentist (m. or f.) idealista, optimista. Words ending in -l or -e don't usually need to change endings for m. or f., although they do add -s or -es for plurals. (Ellos son sociables y joviales. Sus amigos son elegantes.)

temperamental

- generoso, -a

- elegante

- creativo, -a

- organizado, -a

- independiente

- entusiasta

- idealista

- activo, -a

- energético, -a

- versátil

- sociable

- sentimental

- romántico, -a

- persistente

- agresivo, -a

- serio, -a

- práctico, -a

- selectivo, -a

- artístico, -a

- tímido, -a

- jovial

- reservado, -a

- intuitivo, -a

- optimista

- impulsivo, -a

Al cine / At the movies

El ciudadano ilustre, de Argentina. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4562518/

Me gustó mucho. La recomiendo. Besides being a fun and interesting film to watch, with plenty of twists and turns, it's really good for listening to Argentine Spanish dialect.

Warehoused (Almacenados) 2015 en Netflix

This occasionally absurd dramedy works on all levels. TWITTER

I really enjoyed this film about a young man reporting for work at his new job and his retiring boss, who has only a week to teach the new man all the details of the job. It's in understandable Spanish, with very little dialog, and wonderful repetition of several stock phrases.

Medianeras (Sidewalls) (Argentina) 2011

"Separated by the wall their apartments share, Mariana and Martin are the perfect couple. They have the same quirks, same tastes, same ideals and even the same neuroses--they're a match made in heaven. There's just one problem -- they've never met. " - Netflix.

Chico y Rita (Cuba)
An animated film about love, time and distance. Quite delightful, and I barely noticed it was animated. On Netflix.

La misma luna (Under the same moon)
This drama centers on a young boy's journey across the U.S./Mexico border to be reunited with his mother. Adrian Alonso stars as Carlitos, a Mexican boy living with his grandmother while his mother works as a maid in the U.S., hoping someday to send for her child. But when the grandmother dies unexpectedly, Carlitos must sneak across the border and seek out his mother.
This is a film for the whole family and it puts a very human face on the immigrant story.
Try watching it in Spanish with or without English subtitles. Then, find a scene you understand and play it several times to practice listening.

The Way, 2011
This film, directed by Emilio Estévez and starring his father Martin Sheen, is not in Spanish. But it is filmed in Spain, and France, and shows a man walking The Way, el Camino de Santiago. This is a pilgrimage to the supposed burial site of St. James the Apostle, Santiago de Compostela, a town in northwest Spain in the area of Galicia. One pilgrim from Ashland told me she had stayed in some of the same "albergues" (shelters) as Sheen and that the movie was very authentic in presenting the experience. I liked it very much and recommend it as a treatment of father-son relationships and personal growth as well as for the wonderful scenery. ¡Buen camino!

Even the Rain / También la lluvia

In my opinion, this is an outstanding film in every way. For students of Spanish, the contrast between the Castilian Spanish of the film crew and the Bolivian Spanish is wonderful to hear. You might also catch some local Quechua dialect. Available on Netflix.

What's it about? Read the info I lifted from the official website, www.eventherainmovie.com:

"A Spanish film crew led by idealistic director Sebastian (Gael García Bernal) and his cynical producer Costa (Luis Tosar) come to Bolivia to make a revisionist epic about the conquest of Latin America - on the cheap. Carlos Aduviri is dynamic as “Daniel,” a local cast as a 16th century native in the film within a film. When the make-up and loin cloth come off, Daniel sails into action protesting his community’s deprivation of water at the hands of multi-national corporations.

This fictional Fitzcarraldo-like quest to make a film against all odds is set against the back drop of the real life “Water Wars,” fought against the privatization of Bolivia’s water supply in the year 2000 and is anchored in the philosophies of historian Howard Zinn, as well as the stories of 16th century priests, Fathers Bartolome de las Casas and Antonio Montesinos, the first radical voices of conscience against an Empire."

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