mi vida loca - episodio diez

encantada(o) - nice to meet you

mucho gusto - my pleasure

¿Cómo te llamas? - what’s your name

me llamo - my name is...

el trabajo - work in

trabajo - work

tengo hambre - i’m hungry

la ventana - the window

el váter - the toilet

el lavabo - the sink

la cama - the bed

la silla - the chair

la cortina - the curtain

la almohada - the pillow

el ropero - the wardrobe

la fruta - the fruit

In this episode, it's all about introduction and learning about vocabulary in the house...but I am including a film that I really want to see soon :)

I wonder whether they show the dubbed Spanish version or English version. I got the tickets to see it in IMax on March 22!!!

mi vida loca - episodio nueve

Following the adventure...i learned to book my hotel room today

habitación - room

baño - bathroom

ducha - shower

noche - night

persona - person

desayuno - breakfast

completo - full

¿hay un hotel? - is there a hotel?

por aqui? - around here?

¿Hay otro? - is there another?

Quiero una habitcaión - can i have a room

¿para cuantas personas? - for how many people?

para una persona - for 1 person

¿cuántas noches? - how many nights?

para una noche - for 1 night

la posada - the inn

¿dónde está? - how far?

cerca - close

lejos - far away

un hostal - guesthouse

la oficina de correos - post office

la parada - the stop

la esquina - corner

too much excitement...let's end with a Pocoyo! I like this one, urging people to turn off the light on March 27 :)

Mi vida loca - episodio ocho

un taxi

libre - free

ocupado -occupied

la estación de autobuses

un poco loco - a bit crazy

¿para dónde va? - where are you going?

cincuenta - 50

cuarenta - 40

diez - 10

veinte - 20

treinta - 30

cuarenta y cinco con diez - 45,10

el primero sale - first one leaves at

a las diecisiete treinta - at 17:30

y llega - arrives

a las veinte veinticinco - at 20:25

un billete de ida - single ticket

un billete de ida y vuelta - return ticket

It's getting more difficult with the number...time to get some other videos on numbers...

Vamos...episodio siete, otra vez...

This episode is all about telling time/date...the time telling part is really difficult...i am still a bit confused. Need to work on it more tomorrow...another puzzle is mañana (tomorrow) ...with la mañana (morning)

sábado - Saturday

domingo - sunday

lunes - monday

martes - tuesday

miércoles - wednesday

jueves - thursday

viernes - friday

museos - museum

quiero información sobre museos - i’d like information about museum

¿Cuándo abre? - when does it open?

de nueve de la mañana - from 9 in the morning

a tres de la tarde - to 3 in the afternoon

tiendas - shops

para compras - for shopping

muy cerca - very close

¿Cuándo abren? - when do they open?

el horario - opening hours

los grandes almacenes - department stores

cierran a mediodia - close for lunch

¿algo más? - anything else?

el monumento - the monument

el mediodía - midday/ lunchtime

hoy - today

mañana - tomorrow

está cerrado, cerrada - it/they are closed

gratis - free

la entrada - entrance

a las - at (time)

y media - half past

de ....a - from to

mi vida loca - episodio siete

after 9 solid hours of meetings and teaching, my brain is a bit fried tonight, so i just watched episodio siete on date and time without making a strong attempt to learn. i just want to let the spanish talking washed over me. and watched this lovely shakira's video

Mi vida loca - episodio seis

Un regalo...yes, present!!!!

Everything you need to know about shopping! I really do like mi vida loca

¿Cuánto es, por favor? - how much is that?

quiero esta pulsera

el anillo - the ring

unos pendientes - earrings

un collar - necklace

una pulsera - a bracelet

un abanico - a handheld fan

para ti - for you

la vista - the view

pequeño, pequeña - small

plural - add ‘s’ after vowel

plural - add ‘es’ after consonant

Coffee Break Spanish 1 & 2

I downloaded this series a while ago from iTune...I listened to the first 2 episodes to revise and consolidate.

The first lesson was all about saying hello...ok, hola, ¿qué tal?

The second lesson was about introducing myself...

The iTune version is free, so there are not a lot of vocabulary or phrases, and the two hosts kind of keep talking, so it was not as much fun. It was more of a drilling type. I do like Mi Vida Loca much better. Will go back to that program tomorrow.

I think I am going to watch that high school program again...to catch more words :), buenas noches!

¿qué tal?

muy bien - very well

fatal - awful

estupendo - great

fenomenal - great, brilliant

¿y tú? - and you?

hasta luego - see you later

hasta pronto - see you soon

hasta mañana - see you tomorrow

me llamo - my name

encantado(a) - nice to meet you

Reflection

I have to admit that I didn't do enough over this weekend. When I was in Japan I watched Pocoyo happily on the first night. Then the whole next day was written off with conference presentations and dinner outside with new friends. Sat and yesterday was awful, and I was down with something (bones aching...sigh...), and there was absolutely no appetite for life (not to mention learning anything).

It just dawned that it is so easy to come up with an excuse for not doing anything. Anyway, I got new episodes and Spanish Coffee breaks to listen to this afternoon.

sobre el permiso

I will be going away to Japan for a conference in the next three days, so I don't want to start another episode. I actually don't know whether I will have internet connection in my hotel room, or is it going to cost me a fortune. So I downloaded three episodes of Pocoyo on my laptop for my revision. I am setting the target that I will be able to memorize some phrases from the three episodes: what a pain (have seen this before), messy guest and hidden treasure.

Tonight I turned to my favorite pasttime at the moment, video gaming for help.

I went to Digital Dialects to play some Spanish games...I got all the colors right, adding 1-12 correctly, and then went onto fruit, veggie and food...it's quite mechanical, but I do like it...



las uvas – grapes
la patata – potato
la piña – pineapple (pina colada)
el repollo – cabbage
la calabaza – pumpkin
la fresa – strawberry
el champiñón – mushroom
el limón – lemon
la zanahoria – carrot
el tomate – tomato
el huevo – egg
la ensalada – salad
el queso – cheese
la salchicha – sausage
el vino – wine
la sal – salt
la leche – milk
el café – coffee
el zumo de naranja – orange juice
el sándwich – sandwich
la carne – meat
la mantequilla – butter
el pastel – cake
la cerveza – beer
el pan – bread

Revision + el internado

My friend suggested El Internado, and I found some YouTube videos with English subtitle. Actually this is an excellent idea, I can listen and try to catch some words and still be able to follow what's going on. At the moment, I can only hear some simple words (e.g. quien es ese?, vamos) and the telephone number. Of course, I am at the mercy of others and can only start in the middle of the show! But I do know that there are a lot of really popular Spanish TV series.

I also revised the previous two lessons from Mi Vida Loca, getting myself ready to read some menu online.

Mi vida loca - episodio cinco

Finally, in episodio cinco I learned about ordering tapas in restaurant! If I am going to Spain, this is what I want to do! I really love Spanish food...there are quite a lot of vocabulary, I better revise tomorrow!


una tapa - a small portion
una ración - a larger portion
yo quiero - I want
una caña - draught beer
un vino de la casa - house wine
un vino tinto - red wine
un vino blanco - white wine
un bocadillo - a sandwich
unas aceitunas - some olives
unas albóndigas - some meatballs
unos pimientos - some peppers
unos calamares - some squid
unas gambas - some prawns
un pulpo - octopus
una tortilla - a Spanish omelette
un brindis - a toast
¡que aproveche! - enjoy your meal
la llave - the key
la agenda - the diary
en casa - at home
qué
perdón, ¿el servicio? - where is the bathroom?
al fondo - at the back
invito yo - I invite you
¿para beber? - to drink
¿para comer? - to eat

mi vida loca - episodio cuatro

Episode 4...yeah!

el nombre - first name
el appellido - first surname
¿Qué tal? - how are you?
Bien, gracias
¿Cómo te llamas? - what's your name?
¿Y tú? - and yours?

it seems that Spanish people do use 2 surnames...

yo - I
tú - you
inglés. inglésa - Englishman/woman
ahora - now
cerca de - close to
el periodista, la periodista - journalist
la salida - exit
tomar - to have a drink
una copa - a drink
un bar
¡Salud! - cheers
trabaja - s/he works
para - for (a person, a purpose)

Finally, the teaching of pronunciation in Episode 4...the pronunciation is really a bit difficult to remember!
es aquí - it’s here
es periodista - s/he is a journalist
es biólogo - s/he is a biologist

Revision

Today I am just revising the lesson and vocabulary I learned yesterday, because this morning, I found that I can't remember how to pronounce many of the words. It's better to consolidate.

Plus counting 1 to 10

uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve diez

One thing that I noticed from our little group of foreign language learners is that we all ended up following self-instructional materials on the web. Jenifer did say that it's important to have some grammar and the basics first before venturing into something else. Kitty said it's difficult to enjoy if there is no comprehension. Perhaps I am a bit too optimistic to believe that we can enjoy something in a foreign language without some comprehension. One exception appears to be pop music. I do enjoy listening to Spanish songs, it's better that there is lyric accompanying, but I do like listening to the music and the sound of Spanish. PB said it's important to have the pronunciation correct right from the beginning. I wonder whether it is true. Actually I am happy to have more vocabulary so I can recognize words and the sound.

mi vida loca - episodio tres

Just finished writing a paper on vampire...so the Spanish word is 'vampiro' (m), but I like 'vampiresa' (femme fatale) better!

OK, back to Mi Vida Loca, episodio tres

wow...there are so many more words in this episode and learning the direction and words related to taking a metro...

episodio tres

¿el metro, por favor?

todo recto - straight ahead

a la derecha - on the right

a la izquierda - on the left

la estación de metro - the metro station

uno, dos, tres,

cero - zero

un sencillo - single

un viaje - a journey

la línea - a line

próximo, próxima

el tren - the train

el billete - the ticket

el convento - the convent

la iglesia - the church

el palacio - the palace

¿todo bien? - is everything ok?

todo - all

de - of, from

enseguida - right away

un minuto - one minute

el crusasán - the croissant

el, la - the o (m), a (f)

exception...el mapa (map), la radio

This is the funny one...wrong accent may mean you will get the wrong thing!

carne - meat carné - ID card

I also got a phrase from the newspaper in the program

¿especulación urbanística o desarrollo sostenible? - real estate speculation or sustainable development

PB suggested that I should just listen to Spanish...so I went back to Pocoyo TV channel on YouTube...but it doesn't allow embedding...

Here's another song that I really like...Beyonce's Si Yo Fuera un Chico

mi vida loca

This morning i revised the first two episodes of BBC's Mi Vida Loca. It's like watching TV and just have to stop from time to time to answer some questions. I quite like it and the actor, Loca, doesn't seem to be slowing down a lot in her speech (at least to my ears). I also like that I am learning something slightly more interesting than words in pictionary...Will probably go to Episodio Tres later today...

no entiendo - don’t understand

quién - who

también - also

la casa - the house

el piso - the flat

el dormitorio - the room

una terraza - the terrace

una plaza

una siesta - a nap

aquí - here

la calle - the street

la puerta - the door

¡Pasa! - come in

¡hasta luego! - see you later

último, última - last

llamo - name

pues - well

¡mira! - look!

un regalo - a gift

tortilla espanola...

Need to take a break from Pocoyo...too hyperactive for me today...

Following the photos on Spanish food, I continued the lesson in BBC Spanish Steps, and learned some phrases...

tortilla Espanola - Spanish omelette
el plato combinado numero dos - set meal number 2
pan - bread
la cuenta - the bill
por favor - please

Then followed by Episodio dos Mi Vida Loca
un agua con gas - sparkling water
un agua sin gas - still water
un te - tea
un cafe - coffee
una cerveza - beer
una tostada - toast
un piso - a flat
una hermana - sister
un hermano - brother
una palmera - butterfly pastry (my favorite!!!!!)

(there is a grammar focus: un/una)

otra vez Pocoyo

I am still watching the same video as last time...

Donde ha ido - where does he do?

vale vale de acuer do - ok, ok, agreed

Meanwhile I got directed to a BBC Spanish learning website, mi vida loca

perdon - excuse me

no, entiendo...i don't understand

The conversation is really going a bit too fast for me!

Hacerlo de nuevo, Pocoyo

I am still fixated with Pocoyo, the happy tune and hyper activeness in the video is perfect for the rainy weather today!

Here are random sentences that I learned from the bilingual subtitle...

¿Qué pasa Pajarito? - what is that?

Vale vale - ok, ok

¿Qué es eso? - what's that?

Pajarito dice que empujar a Pocoyo es su tarea Elly - Pajarito said pushing Pocoyo is his task

te verá luego - will see you then

para vete - stop, go away

es un pesado - it's heavy

triste - sad

vamos vamos - come

lo siento - I am sorry

***************

I also learned from Kitty about the foreign language page from BBC, she was looking for Korean learning materials.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

the phrase of the day: la carne...I was so happy that I already knew the word...beef, from chili con carne! After taking the test, I am classified as a complete new beginner...so, I am now taking 'The Spanish Steps' and completed 'Taxi' today. I like it that all the words were pronounced clearly, with Spanish or English subtitles.

Muy Bien! Pocoyo

I discovered my current new fav - Pocoyo with Spanish and English subtitles!

It's so funny, and there are many phrases that I began to recognize, muy bien, adios, hola...I think I will be watching tons of these!

But I did find myself reading aloud with the Spanish subtitle, imitating the pronunciation. There are a number of Pocoyo videos with bilingual subtitles, but I started out with the one without any subtitle, and it was impossible. With bilingual subtitles, I do find it easier to match the Spanish words and sentences with what I read in English. It's also less intimidating.

I do hope that I will soon be able to watch the children's program without subtitle!

I also did some digging about Pocoyo, it's originally in Spanish! That's so cool! Pocoyo runs his own blog as well! I visited his official site, but there appeared to be some advertising...not quite the thing I expected from children's program.

Pocoyó es un niño curioso, simpático y al que le encanta divertirse y aprender cosas nuevas todos los días. Ya sea en la búsqueda de misterios del espacio exterior con sus amigos o recogiendo las piezas de construcción, siempre está embarcado en una aventura.

(From Google Translate) Pocoyo is a curious child, friendly and who loves fun and learn new things every day.Whether in search of mysteries of outer space with friends or picking up the pieces of construction, provided it is embarking on an adventure.

Alice Feb 5

Alice is posting this ahead of the scheduled start of Feb 8 to lay the ground>

Language - Spanish
I have been (unsuccessfully) learning Spanish on my own for the last 6 months. Unsuccessful because I did not have the will power to keep doing something for 30 minutes every day. I have two guys in the house and friends speaking Spanish with different degrees of proficiency, so this is one motivation to join the club. I also want to enjoy my favorite Shakira songs more. I also love Spanish and Mexican food, so would like to be able to read menu with better efficiency.

Target -

1. learn the basic pronunciation
   
2. learn some basic grammar
3. can read a restaurant menu
4. can catch some words in lyrics
5. can understand some words/phrases from children's picture book (I already had a Spanish version of 'Where the Wild Things Are').
   

This is the Spanish verison of Roy Orbison's Crying, by Llorando - Rebekah del Rio, enjoy!






Lyric (from hotlyrics)
Yo estaba bien por un tiempo,
volviendo a sonreír.
Luego anoche te vi
tu mano me tocó
y el saludo de tu voz.
Y hablé muy bien de tu
sin saber que he estado
llorando por tu amor (x3).

Luego de tu adiós sentí todo mi dolor.
Sola y llorando,
llorando (x3).

No es fácil de entender
que al verte otra vez
Yo seguiré llorando

Yo que pensé que te olvidé
pero es verdad es la verdad
que te quiero aún más,
mucho más que ayer.
Dime tú qué puedo hacer
no me quieres ya
y siempre estaré
llorando por tu amor (x2).

Tu amor se llevó
todo mi corazon
y quedo llorando
llorando (x5)
por tu amor.

Reviving foreign language learning

Alice's foreign language learning project for the next 4 weeks (Feb 8 to Mar 7) with 3 other keen learners will be revived.

Alice - Spanish
Kitty - Korean
Jenifer - Italian
William - French

The interesting thing is that Kitty, Jenifer and William all have a 3rd foreign language learning experience, but Alice doesn't (she is not counting Chinese dialect).

For the next 4 weeks, we are going to learn a language for free with the following rules:

1. 30 minutes of learning a day;
2. use only free materials (that means access to uni libraries will be discounted because membership is required);
3. use only legal materials available (ok, leaflet will count).

We all have different targets, so keep reading!