Colombianismos parte 2

Do you know what "sapo " means? If you look up in the dictionary probably the first meaning that you will find is " toad or frog" but this word or this animal has a totally different connotation in Spanish, specially the Spanish spoken in Colombia.  Even in Colombia "sapo" can be a verb "sapear". 

Below you will find the three most common uses.

This word become even more popular when some drug dealer decided to betray their partners to get some reduction in their sentences. You can see an example in the  2008  Colombia  TV series called "El Cartel de los Sapos". It is also a book writen by Andrés López López.

I hope you have enjoyed this short lesson.

What do you think of these meaning you learnt today? is it weird? funny?logical?Leave your comment

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

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

Colombianismos Parte 1

 ¿ Would you like to sound more Colombian? There are many words and expression you won´t be able to learn in a Spanish class or with an app because this language has so many varieties like speakers. There are some expression you will be able to get familiar only if you talk with locals. 

That´s why in this post I have selected some basic vocabulary you maybe can hear from a Colombian person. If you like the Spanish spoken in Colombia, I invite you to practice and to start using this words. More than one will be surprised how you have advance.

Are you not sure about the pronunciation of these words? Don´t worry. Link below to listen the pronunciation:

Audios de colombianismos

#colombianismos #learningspanishincolombia #spanishvocabulary #spanishforbeginners #spanishlanguage. 

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

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

Expresiones coloquiales con comida.

You have not gotten an advance level in a language until you start using some coloquial expressions. They are many and maybe not easy to master them but you can start memorizing the most commom. 

Food like music is very important in Colombian people life that might be a reason many colloquial expressions used in Colombia involve food . 

Below you will learn few of them. 

#expresionesenespañol #spanishslangs  #learnspanish #spanishblogs  #spanishlessons #spanishincolombia

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

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

Ser o Estar : Esa es la cuestión

Hi, My readers. 

Suiza foto de SSClasespañol

In today´s post you will learn some basic expressions with ser and estar. These two verbs can be used with some adjectives and according to the verb you select, ser o estar, the meaning can change. Stop thinking about temporal or permanent. Remember the key is to learn by context. 

#seroestar #seryestarconadjetivos #spanishlessons #spanishincolombia

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

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

Combinaciones con el verbo SALIR

Belize foto de SSClasespañol

Hi my dear readers, In todays post I would like to share some frequent combination that hispanic people use with the verb "Salir ". Learning vocabulary is as much important as talking or learning grammar. How are you goint to keep a conversation if you don´t have the words ? How are you going to practice the grammar if you don´t have the vocabulary to do it? But many time language students and teachers think that memorizing long list of isolated words is enough. Sorry to say that is not the case. To memorize sucessfully a new vocabulary 

you need it to learn it in context, make groups or like in this post, learn the different and more frequent combinations with that new word. 

Below you will find 5 common combination with the verb "salir" because this verb doesn´t only mean to leave

#spanishlesson #vocabulario #verbosalir #spanishisfun "spanish4foreigners.

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

Reflexivo o directo- Me llaman calle

Have you ever been confused about when to use a reflexive pronoun or  an direct  object pronoun ? Yes, I understand it can be frustrated.These pronouns are so similiar, they are only different in third singular or plural person ( se, lo/la/ ) it´s soooo confusing, right? .

In this post I am going to  help you to make the difference when it´s a reflexive pronoun and object pronoun.  

Manu Chao is here again to please us with another great song called "Me llaman calle". 

First, let´s take a look to the lyrics. 

ME LLAMAN CALLE de Manu Chau 

Centro-Cartagena de Indias. Foto: SSClasespañol

Me llaman calle, pisando baldosa
La revoltosa y tan perdida
Me llaman calle, calle de noche, calle de día
Me llaman calle, hoy tan cansada, hoy tan vacía
Como maquinita por la gran ciudad

Me llaman calle, me subo a tu coche
Me llaman calle de malegría*, calle dolida
Calle cansada de tanto amar
Voy calle abajo, voy calle arriba
No me rebajo ni por la vida
Me llaman calle y ése es mi orgullo
Yo sé que un día llegará, yo sé que un día vendrá mi suerte
Un día me vendrá a buscar, a la salida un hombre bueno
Pa toa* la vida y sin pagar, mi corazón no es de alquilar

Me llaman calle, me llaman calle
Calle sufrida, calle tristeza de tanto amar
Me llaman calle, calle más calle

Me llaman calle la sin futuro
Me llaman calle la sin salida
Me llaman calle, calle más calle
La que mujeres de la vida
Suben pa* bajo, bajan para arriba
Como maquinita por la gran ciudad

click me to read the whole lyric

I love the lyric and the rythm of this song.  As you already may notice  when the singer say : " me llaman calle " He is using the verb "llamar" ( to call ) not the verb "llamarse " ( ones name is ) . The first version is not reflexive but the second does. 

To evoid confusing what you need to do is to  identify a reflexive verb from one  that needs object pronouns. Look the following slides:

As you can notice in the slides above , many reflexive verbs has a transitive option but every time the verb is reflexive its pronouns never change and  always mach with the subject and the conjugation of the main verb. A different thing happens with the transitive verbs. You can try to do examples with the other verbs as well. 

EG:

•  Luisa se levanta tarde los domingos vs mamá, ¿ Me levantas mañana a las 6 ? 
• Luisa wakes up late on Sundays        vs mom ¿ Can you wake me up at 6 ? 

Now, Can you answer:

•  ¿ Cómo te llamas ? (what´s your name)  
•  ¿ Cómo te llaman tus amigos? (how do your friends call you?) 

Please write in the  comment section. 

Can you try more examples like mine?. If you have more questions or needs more examples don´t hasitate to leave your comment. 

#spanishlessons #privatetutoring #spanish4foreigners #spanishincolombia #colombianas #spanishlanguage #lovespanish

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 Gustar- ¿ por qué es "me gustas tú" y no " me gusta tú "

Hi, everyone in today´s post I would like  to share one of my favorite song to work in class " Me gustas tú". I like this song because it gaves the chance to practice  verb "Gustar". This verb  can be a tough cookie. Spanish learners need some time to get used to the idea this verb has a different conjugation: only singular or plural (gusta/n)  in addition this verb needs some special pronouns ( a mí me, a ti te, a él/ella le, a nosotros nos , a ellos-as /ustedes les ). But what happens when you like a person and you would like to tell him/her. Well Manu Chao has the answer. Let´s take a look.

ME GUSTAS TÚ de Manu Chao

Me gustan los aviones, me gustas tú
Me gusta viajar, me gustas tú
Me gusta la mañana, me gustas tú
Me gusta el viento, me gustas tú
Me gusta soñar, me gustas tú
Me gusta la mar, me gustas tú

¿Qué voy a hacer? Je ne sais pas
¿Qué voy a hacer? Je ne sais plus
¿Qué voy a hacer? Je suis perdu
¿Qué horas son, mi corazón?

Me gusta la moto, me gustas tú
Me gusta correr, me gustas tú
Me gusta la lluvia, me gustas tú
Me gusta volver, me gustas tú
Me gusta marihuana, me gustas tú
Me gusta colombiana, me gustas tú
Me gusta la montaña, me gustas tú
Me gusta la noche

¿Qué voy a hacer? Je ne sais pas
¿Qué voy a hacer? Je ne sais plus
¿Qué voy a hacer? Je suis perdu
¿Qué horas son, mi corazón?

Doce un minuto

Me gusta la cena, me gustas tú
Me gusta la vecina, me gustas tú
(Radio reloj)
Me gusta su cocina, me gustas tú
(Una de la mañana)
Me gusta camelar, me gustas tú
Me gusta la guitarra, me gustas tú
Me gusta el reggae, me gustas tú

¿Qué voy a hacer? Je ne sais pas
¿Qué voy a hacer? Je ne sais plus
¿Qué voy a hacer? Je suis perdu
¿Qué horas son, mi corazón?

Me gusta la canela, me gustas tú
Me gusta el fuego, me gustas tú
Me gusta menear, me gustas tú
Me gusta la Coruña, me gustas tú
Me gusta Malasaña, me gustas tú
Me gusta la castaña, me gustas tú
Me gusta Guatemala, me gustas tú

¿Qué voy a hacer? Je ne sais pas
¿Qué voy a hacer? Je ne sais plus
¿Qué voy a hacer? Je suis perdu
¿Qué horas son, mi corazón?

As you could notice in the lyrics the rule how to conjugate the verb gustar changes if you express your like directly to a person.

If you feel a crush for someone  and you confess that feeling  to your best friend, in Spanish you would say:

"Me gusta mucho el nuevo chico de la clase." (I like a lot the new boy)

But if you confess directly to the person you feel that crush, you wouldn´t say : "me gusta". you would say : "me gustas". Why?

"Pablo necesito decirte algo... me gustas mucho" ( Pablo, I have something to tell you... I like you)

How do I ask him if he feels the same? 

this is the answer: "¿ y yo te gusto?"

As you can see when you are talking directly to a person or a group the conjugation is no more " me/le/ nos...etc gusta or gustan" 

Look below, I explain you better.

All examples above are in simple present. In a different post we can discuss the past of this verb.

I hope this post has been useful to understand better how the verb "gustar " works. Let a comment or share this post. See you next time. 

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

#gustarinspanish #conjugationspanish #learnspanish #spanishtutoring #spanishlanguage

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