El pescador: presente simple y perífrasis ir + gerundio

Colombia is a country with numerous music genders. I am sure many of you have heard of Shakira, Juanes or Maluma.  But in this post I would like to show you a  folksinger called Totó la Momposina. Her songs are examples of the mixed race exiting in Colombia because you can see and hear the mixed of afro-colombian and indigenous rhythm. The song I have selected is quite easy to understand ,so it´s very useful for listening comprehension and you can study simple present and periphrasis ir + gerundio 
Let´s take a look to the lyrics. 

El pescador - Totó la Momposina.

Puerto de Turbo. Foto: SSClasespañol

                                           Va subiendo la corriente                                               

                               Con chinchorro y atarraya                               

                La canoa de bareque                     

                                    Para llegar a la playa                                    

Va subiendo la corriente

Con chinchorro* y atarraya*

La canoa de bareque*

Para llegar a la playa

Habla con la luna

(El pescador) Habla con la playa

(El pescador) No tiene fortuna

Solo su atarraya

Habla con la luna

(El pescador) Habla con la playa

(El pescador) No tiene fortuna

Solo su atarraya

Habla con la luna

(El pescador) Habla con la playa

(El pescador) No tiene fortuna

Solo su atarraya

Regresan los pescadores

Con su carga pa' vender

Al puerto de sus amores

Donde tienen su querer

Regresan los pescadores

Con su carga pa' vender

Al puerto de sus amores

Donde tienen su querer

Habla con la luna

(El pescador) Habla con la playa

(El pescador) No tiene fortuna...

Would you like to watch the video. Please, click here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wN5YcDTx0Y

Let´s start with the simple present. As you can see  in the lyrics appear verbs hablar (to speak)- Habla con la playa and regresar (to return) - Regresan los pescadores. You probably already know in Spanish we have three types of verbs according to the ending : AR, ER, IR. Well, this song shows good examples of verbs that belongs to the first category. 

 

 PRESENTE SIMPLE- VERBOS REGULARES TERMINADOS EN AR: CONJUGACIÓN 

Yo	regreso
Tú	regresas
Usted	regresa
Él/ella	regresa
Nosotros/as	regresamos
Ustedes	regresan
Ellos/as	regresan

In this song you can find a good example of periphrasis too. Periphrasis is a combination of two verbs. Usually the original meaning of the first verb can change or modified a little bit.  The singer repeats:  Va subiendo la corriente (the fisherman is going up the current). Why do you think she doesn´t just say: va por la corriente o sube la corriente? any idea? any hypothesis?  

PERIFRASIS VERBAL

IR  + GERUNDIO  

Yo     voy	hablando tonterías
Tú      vas	comiendo por la calle
Usted va	remando su canoa
Él/ella va	subiendo la corriente
Nosotros/as vamos	caminando por la plaza
Ustedes van	diciendo mentiras
Ellos/as van	corriendo a la escuela

In Spanish when you want to emphasis that the action implies movement you need to use this periphrasis. That is the reason the singer didn´t say : "va por la corriente o sube la corriente" saying that you can´t picture in your head the fisherman  rowing his canoe. But if you say in Spanish : " Va subiendo la corriente" actually you can picture the fisherman in his hard job rowing his canoe until he finds a good place to fish.

 

Vocabulario: 

Chinchorro*: another way to say  Hamaca-hammock

Atarraya* : another way to say red de pesca - fishing net

La canoa de bareque* : it´s a canoe built with reeds.

Would you like to know more about Totó la Momposina? click there Totó la Momposina

Remember. Read newspapers, magazines in Spanish. Listen music or watch TV in Spanish . You will learn a more realistic Spanish. 

#learnspanish #spanishtutoring #spanishlanguage #perifrasisverbales

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistake, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.. 

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Presentation in Spanish

This Elementary student makes a presentation where he talks about himself.  This was made in his second week of his Spanish course. There are many courses that promise you to learn a language in few weeks but there is no magic formula. Studying a language requieres time, motivation, hard working, using different learning strategies and the most important (at least for me ) to have fun while you are learning. This student applied all of them. If he could, you can. 

What would you suggest to other learners to make the language learning more fun?

What kind of learner are you?

What strategies have worked better for you?

Your answers can help other learners.

#spanishisfun #spanishconversation #spanishincartagenadeindias #spanishincolombia

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

¿ Can you understand Spanish native speakers?

Have you experienced the same? What strategies do you use when you don´t understand your speaker? What do you do to improve your listening comprenhension? 

Share your opinions, Maybe you will be helping other learners.

#learnspanishincolombia #learnspanishincartagena. 

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Pretérito imperfecto

Clase ELE. Foto: SSClasespañol

When we talked in past in Spanish , we can use different kind of past tenses:Pretérito perfecto (present perfect) ,Pretérito indefinido (simple past), Pretérito Imperfecto (past imperfecto) , Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto ( past pluscuamperfect).That is the reason the past could be very confusing for Spanish students. In this post I give you an example how to use Pretérito imperfecto when we describe in past or talked about feelings or emotions. 

Insoportablemente bella

Emmanuel

Sí, era bella,

Sí, era muy bella

Como una rosa,

Como una estrella

Como una hoja nacida en el aire de la primavera.

Sí, era muy bella

Y era orgullosa como una hiedra

Y me fingía un amor que jamás lo sentía de veras

Sólo quería sentirse halagada

Y oír que era bella.

Bella, bella,

Insoportáblemente bella bella

Bella, bella,

Inaguantáblemente bella bella

Bella, bella,

Insoportáblemente bella bella,

Bella, bella

Sí, era muy bella,

Sí, era muy bella

Pero vacía, pero tan fría

Que al abrazarla pensaba que estaba abrazando a una piedra

Sí, era bella,

Sí, era muy bella,

Para mirarla, para…

Fuente: https://www.lyricfind.com/

Click here to watch the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G6lDLGdUHc

Let´s take a look to some  verses. When the singer says:  : "Sí, era bella,Sí, era muy bella .Como una rosa.... era orgullosa como una hiedra" They are all examples of appereance and personality description. 

Now when he says : " me fingía un amor que jamás lo sentía de veras"Here the actions fingir (to pretend) and Sentir (to feel) are seen like in a process. He is evoked those moments like they were happening now.   

It is very common to express feelings and metal process in the past using imperfecto. " Sólo quería sentirse halagada" " Que al abrazarla pensaba que estaba abrazando a una piedra" Again he is evoking those moment like he was feeling them now, like he was watching himself in a movie.

Dear students and readers, all verbs in Spanish can be conjugated either in preterit or imperfect. I encourage you to listen or read real material like news so  you can get familiar how Hispanic explain history or anecdotes in past. 

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistake, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks.

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Verbo TENER para la edad, familia, sensaciones físicas

Click below to listen Rocky

Presentación de Rocky

Note: English is not my mother tongue. If you find any mistake , just leave the comment and I will correctly. Thanks

Saludar y presentarse

Click below to listen Chippy.

presentacion de Chippy

Would you like mastering your Spanish quickly? Well, Stop  studying only grammar. Grammar is important but you also need to know how the language works in real settings that´s why I encorage you to  listen music, watch Spanish TV or Spanish movies. I know that you will say : " But my Spanish is terrible, I barely can understand what people are saying in this language" However in a natural learning process we all start listening  then understanding and two or three years later we produce our first words. Listening music or watching TV will help you to get used to Spanish pronunciation and  gather vocabulary. That is the  first step. 

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistake, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks. 

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Expresiones coloquiales colombianas para comida.

Hi, Everyone

In this post I would like to show you and teach you some special vocabulary used in Colombia. As a Spanish learner, it is important to learn the different stage of a language. When you learn a new language , you will learn first the general language , in this case, you learn a general Spanish  with words , expressions and grammar rule that are used in every Hispanic country, However, when you advance in your knowledge and most important, you start traveling to hispanic countries, soon you will notice  some differences that maybe your textbook never mentioned. I am not talking  about the accent. It is normal the accent changes in different countries. What I am refering here is  every hispanic country has their own colloquial terms, slangs and even  different meanings of a same word depends on the zone. 

Today we will learn some colloquial terms refering to "comida" food. The following video is a parody of a popular hispanic song called "la Maldita Primavera" (the damn spring) , odviously the parody´s name is "la Maldita Tragadera" . Do you know what "tragadera" means? have you ever heard that word before? 

Vocabulary: Now below I will explain you the meaning of the special Colombian expressions:

• Galguería : Candies or those snacks that are  not really healthy. 

• Tragadera : this word has two meaning: A: being crazy in love and B. eating too much. In the video the singer uses it with the second meaning. 
• Arrocito: diminutive of Arroz (rice) notice that there is a change in the spelling. You change Z for C. Diminutive ( using the small version of a word) is very common in Colombian Spanish. 
•  Esa pega me la mando con huevo: I bet you are clueless about this long sentence but don´t panic, I will explain you. "Esa pega" refers to the rice left at the bottom of the pot. at the bottom of the pot rice turns crunchy. Eating "la pega" (crunchy rice) is a very tradition in Colombian Families. The second part of the sentence " me la mando con huevo" it is just saying she is going to eat the rice with egg. That is a very common food  among Colombian families, specially those ones with low- incomes.

• Tajadas: slices of green bananas.

• Salchichón de mil : a very cheap sausage. 

I hope the song parody is clearer now and you have found the joke inside the song. Would you like to listen the original song? Click here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCbNOproRo4

Remember. Read newspapers, magazines in Spanish. Listen music or watch TV in Spanish . You will learn a more realistic Spanish. 

Image sources: 

https://www.mercadoslpineda.co/es/mecato/888-mecato-natuchips-platano-maduro-x-28-g-x-12.html

https://www.knorr.com/co/ideas-knorr/tips/la-pega-del-arroz.html

https://co.pinterest.com/pin/515591857330812073/

https://www.exito.com/salchichon-cervecero-x-900-gr-252601/p

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistake, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks. 

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Verbo Estar- No estás solo.

Verbs Ser and Estar are very confusing for many foreigner students. In many other languages there is not a real different between ser and estar.  For instance ,  In English is just to be , in Dutch  verb zijn, in German is the verb  sein but in Spanish they are  two different  verbs. Many Spanish students struggle trying to understand the rules, specially that one which says that ser is for permanent characteristics and estar is used to talk about temporal characteristic. But have you, Spanish learner students, thought that everything is clearer if you study it in a real context? Yes, rules are importants but they are not the only way to learn a language. You need to get an approach to the language in a real setting. That is the reason in this post I would like to share with you this lyric ( at the bottom you will find a link to watch the video). This lyric belongs to a song called " No estás solo"( you are not alone). The latin singers, Carlos Vives and Ruben Blades dedicated this song to all those people who are sick with Covid-19 (be sick- estar enfermo) 

Capurganá.Foto : SSClasespañol

No estás solo - Canción de Carlos Vives y Ruben Blades

Hay vainas* que se aparecen cuando uno menos las piensa
Llegan y aunque no las quieran se quedan por unos día'
Nos dicen que estás enfermo y venidos para animarte. Un malestar no es eterno, y menos si se comparte

Y aunque interminable parezca la noche
Al final se irá con la luz del día
No pierdas la fe
Siempre ten presente

No estás solo, esa vaina se quita
No estás sola, ten paciencia y verás
No estás solo, y aunque eso mortifica
No estás solo, te vamos a cuidar
No estás solo, aquí están tus amigos
No estás sola, tu familia aquí está
No estás solo, y aunque eso mortifica
No estás solo, te vamos a cuidar

Pay attention: Ser una persona solitaria Vs Estar solo. When you want to express a person for some reason (maybe is introvert, don´t like to be surranded by people or has a problem with socializing) doesn´t like to have company or doesn´t enjoy company,  we say in Spanish: " él / ella es una persona solitaria ". Pay attention to the way to built the sentence : Ser+ artículo (una) + noun (persona) + adjetive (solitario/a) .

But when you say in Spanish: " Luis está solo" could mean two things: 1) Luis is alone in a literally way :  Luis is alone, There is noone else around him  or in his life . Or a more methaphoric meaning, Luis feels lonely.

See what I mean? it is not only about permanent o temporaly, you , as a speaker, need to have clear the situation and what you really want to express.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. I read your comments. 

Vocabulary: Vaina*: it is  a very coloquial expression using in  multiple ways. it is used to replace a thing or situation that is already known by the speaker. In this song is used to refer to the sick person´s problem. The sickness he/she  is dealing with. 

video:https://www.musica.com/letras.asp?letra=2510621

Remember : Read newspapers, magazines in Spanish. Listen music or watch TV in Spanish . You will learn  a more realistic Spanish. 

NOTE: English is not my native language, please if you find any mistake, please let me know and I will correct it. Thanks. 

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

El imperativo : formas usted y ustedes

Laguna de Iguaque. Foto:SSClasespañol

Some foreigner students connect the imperative only for commands or orders and they think if they talk in Spanish using  imperative, they are being rude. But not at all. In Spanish the imperative is used beyond the commands or orders. I dare to say closer the relationship is the imperative is more common to use among the speakers.
Let´s watch the video and pay attention  how this cute lady explains us some instructions to be safe during the Covid-19 crisis.

As you could notice , here the most important use of imperative is to give some instructions but at the same time, this lady gives us some advices about how to keep elderly people save during the crisis, then the imperative is used for :

1. Instructions

2. Recommendations

3. Offering something (this use is not on the video) 

Let´s look at some examples from the video: 

• Mantengan la distancia
• Muestren la berraca* información 
• Hablen con nosotros

The three verbs above , they all are conjugated in the form USTEDES. Forming usted o ustedes in imperative is not that complicated. You need to do this:

Hablar→presente → usted habla→imperativo → hable

Hablar→presente → ustedes hablan→imperativo → hablen

You just change  the ending vowel in present simple. If the verb finishes in _AR , in present simple the vowel is  A, in imperative changes to E       - A→E

 If the verb finishes in _ER/_IR , in present simple the vowel is  E, in imperative changes to A       - A→E

This rule applies even when the verb is irregular.

Mover →presente → usted mueve→imperativo → mueva

Mover→presente → ustedes mueven→imperativo → muevan

BUT

If the verb has an irregular YO (first singular person ) , the irregular root is kept in the imperative conjugation. LOOK:

Mantener→presente → yo mantengo→imperativo → mantenga

Mantener→presente → yo mantengo→imperativo → mantengan

When you need to say a negative instruction or recommendation. The rule above explain also apply 

( only if you are talking using USTED OR USTEDES- with the conjugation Tú is different)  

No visiten a los abuelos

IMPERATIVE WITH PRONOUNS

What happens when you need to include a reflexive pronouns or direct/indirect object pronouns?

Some examples are provided in the video too:

Affirmative:

Cuídenlos ( a los abuelos) - pronoun after the verb in imperative and it is only one word

Negative 

No nos dejen arrumados-  pronoun between NO and the imperative verb.

Is it clearer now? Remember that also you will need to gather more vocabulary and verbs conected to the instruction you would like to say, that is the reason I suggest to read , watch and listen real material, they will give you examples how we really speak. 

*Berraco/a: in Colombia means "difícil de resolver, valiente or bravo". Although in the video is more used to express: " tell the entire truth , it doesn´t matter how hard or cruel is"

 + English is not my mother tongue, Please if there is a mistake , let me know and I will correct it. 

SSClasespañol by Sirle Sarabia is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0