This week we started learning the past tense - also called El pretérito indefinido. This is a tense used to express past events in a specific moment.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Elementary 2 - class 2 (19/02/24)
Friday, February 9, 2024
Leaving Cert course - Class 2 (7/02/24)
This week we looked at the verbs in present tense. We started by revising the verbs SER and ESTAR on page 6:
Los verbos de cambio vocálico - Stem changing verbs
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Upper - intermediate class 2 (7/02/2024)
This week we started the topic of the Present Subjuntive on pages 5 and 6. This is a tense to express feelings, orders, doubt or uncertainty.
To form the present subjunctive:
- we take the first person of the verb in present simple.
- we get rid of the -o.
- we add the correct ending according to its group.
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Beginners - class 1 (6/02/24)
In our first class, we introduced ourselves and we talked briefly about our knowledge of the Spanish language and culture.
We also talked about the Spanish pronunciation and we saw some examples of words with those particular pronunciations.
“ñ” in España (Spain), uña (nail), niño (child)
“ll” in lluvia (rain), llave (key), llamar (call, ring)
“j, g” in mujer (woman), gente (people) genio (genious)
“q” in queso (cheese) que (what)
“r, rr” in perro (dog) borracho (drunk), ratón (mouse)
“h” in hola (hello) hielo (ice), hermano (brother)
“v” in volver (go back, come back), volar (fly), ver (see)
“c, z” in cien (one hundred), zapato (shoe), diez (ten)
We learnt the basic introductions and we practiced them in pairs.
Hola – hello
Buenos días – Good morning
Buenas tardes – Good afternoon / evening
Buenas noches – Good night
¿Qué tal? – How are you?
Bien, gracias. ¿y tú? – Fine, thanks. And you?
Muy bien, gracias. – I’m good, thanks.
Estoy fenomenal – I feel great
Estoy más o menos – I’m so-so
Estoy mal – I feel bad
Estoy fatal – I’m really bad
Adiós – Bye
Hasta luego- See you!
¿Cómo te llamas? – What is your name?
Me llamo Liam – My name is Liam
Encantado/encantada – Nice to meet you
¿De dónde eres? – Where are you from?
Soy de España, ¿y tú? – I am from Spain, and you?
Soy de Irlanda – I am from Ireland
To conclude, we revised the numbers 1-10 in Spanish:
1.uno 11.once
2.dos 12.doce
3.tres 13.trece
4.cuatro 14.catorce
5.cinco 15.quince
6.seis 16.dieciséis
7.siete 17.diecisiete
8.ocho 18.dieciocho
9.nueve 19.diecinueve
10.diez 20.veinte
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Upper-Intermediate - class 1 (31/01/24)
This week we introduced our upper-intermediate class with a revision of present, past and future tenses by talking about our last Christmas and our plans for the year.
We started by reading the comprehension on page 2:
¿Cómo fueron las vacaciones de Navidad? - How did your Christmas holidays go?
Acabo de volver - I have just returned
tras - after
Sin lugar a dudas - Without a shadow of a doubt
nos vemos de higos a brevas - We see each other once in a blue moon
¡Qué barbaridad! - That's too much!
Lo pasamos bomba - We had a great time
Pedí un deseo - I asked for a wish
Espero que se cumpla - I hope it comes true
la cabalgata de reyes - the Three Kings parade
¡Qué daño! - how sore!
tengo muchas ganas - I look forward to it
In pairs, we talked about our last holidays and what our holidays were like in the past:
Pasé unas vacaciones fantásticas porque vi a mi familia y pasé tiempo con mis amigos. Lo pasé bomba - I spent a great holidays because I saw my family and I spent time with my friends. I had a great time!
En mi casa tenemos la tradición de visitar a nuestros vecinos el día de San Esteban para tomar un café y jugar a juegos de mesa. ¡Es muy divertido! - In my house we have the tradition of visiting our neighbours on Stephen's Day to have a coffee and play board games. It is very fun!
Cuando era joven, pasábamos la Navidad en casa de mi abuela. Nos reuníamos toda la familia y caminábamos por el campo después de la comida el día veinticinco. - When I was young, we used to spend Christmas at my grandmother's house. The whole family used to meet and we would walk in the countryside after lunch on the 25th.
Tengo muchos planes para este año: voy a asistir a una boda y voy de vacaciones a España este verano. ¡Tengo muchas ganas! - I have a lot of plans for this year: I am going to attend a wedding and I am going on holidays in Spain this summer. I look forward to it!
Lista de propósitos típicos de Año Nuevo - List of typical New Year's resolutions
aprender un idioma - to learn a language
beber menos alcohol - to drink less alcohol
dejar de fumar - to quit smoking
perder peso - to lose weight
viajar - to travel
entrenar para una maratón - to train for a marathon
pasar menos tiempo en el móvil - to spend less time on the phone
leer más - to read more
aprender a tocar un instrumento - to learn to play an instrument
trabajar menos - to work less
pasar más tiempo en el jardín - to spend more time in the garden
New words we learnt this week:
palabras en negrita - words in bold
coches de choque - bumper cars
misa - mass
peleas - fights
enhorabuena - congratulations
¡Qué guay! - How nice!
tacaño - tight (money)
estar apretado - to be tight (for space)
la propina - the tip
una pancarta - a banner
canciones - songs
cantantes - singers
el compromiso - the commitment
la luna de miel - the honey moon
Actividad de escucha - Listening comprehension
1. La nochevieja - New Year's Eve
2. La gente se reúne en la plaza principal del pueblo - People meet in the main square.
3. El reloj está en el Ayuntamiento - The clock is in the Town Hall.
4. La gente lleva ropa interior roja - People wear red underwear
5. No es una tradición extraña - It is not a strange tradition
1. Una boda - A wedding
2. Llevar perlas en una boda trae mala suerte - Wearing pearls in a wedding brings bad luck
3. Los invitados cortan la corbata del novio y dan los trozos a otros invitados a cambio de dinero - The guests cut the groom's tie and give the pieces to other guests in exchange for money
1. Pasean el ataúd por las calles por donde solía pasar el difunto - They walk the coffin in the streets the deceased used to walk by.
2. Cuando el coche fúnebre pasa, la gente se calla - When the hearse passes by, people would remain quiet.
3. La gente tapaba los los cuadros y los espejos y se paraban los relojes - People would cover the paintings and mirrors and would stop the clocks.
Leaving Cert course - Class 1 (31st January)
This week we introduced our Leaving Cert course. We started with a brief introduction about ourselves.
Rompiendo el hielo - Breaking the ice
Me llamo María, tengo diecisiete años. Mi cumpleaños es el doce de marzo y nací en dos mil seis. - My name is María, I am 17. My birthday is on the 12th of March and I was born in 2006.
Vivo en un apartamento en el centro de Sligo con mi familia - I live in an apartment in the centre of Sligo with my family.
En mi tiempo libre me gusta hacer deporte y leer. Me encantan los libros de ciencia ficción - In my free time I like to do sports and reading. I love science fiction books.
Agreement
Spanish articles, nouns and adjectives need to agree in gender - male and female, and number - singular and plural.
Actividad 1:
a. El chico alto - The tall boy
Los chicos altos - The tall boys
b. La ciudad bonita - The pretty city
Las ciudades bonitas - The pretty cities
c. Un libro caro - An expensive book
Unos libros caros - Some expensive books
d. Ese coche feo - That ugly car
Esos coches feos - Those ugly cars
e. Esa mujer interesante - That interesting woman
Esas mujeres interesantes - Those interesting women
Actividad 2:
a. Marta es muy bonita - Marta is very pretty
b. La película es muy aburrida - The film is very boring
c. Nosotros somos irlandeses - We are Irish
d. Mi libro es amarillo - My book is yellow
e. Pablo y sus hermanos son personas muy inteligentes - Pablo and his siblings are very interesting people.
f. Los campos son verdes - The fields are green.
g. Luis vive en una casa blanca - Luis lives in a white house
h. Los hombres son fuertes - The men are strong
i. Tengo una amiga española - I have a Spanish friend
In the second part of the class, we looked at three questions for the oral exam: Sobre mí - myself, mi familia - my family, mis amigos - my friends.
Sobre mí - About myself
Bueno, como ya sabes, me llamo María - Well, as you know, my name is María
Tengo dieciocho años y mi cumpleaños es el veinte de febrero. - I am 18 and my birthday is on the 20th of February.
Cumpliré diecinueve años en tres semanas. Tengo muchas ganas - I will turn 19 in three weeks. I look forward to it.
Nací en dos mil cuatro - I was born in 2004.
Me considero una persona extrovertida y trabajadora, aunque a veces soy un poco cabezota. - I consider myself an extroverted and hard-working person, although sometimes I am a little stubborn.
Soy baja y delgada. Tengo el pelo rubio, corto y liso. Tengo los ojos grandes y marrones - I am short and slim. I have straight, long blond hair. I have big brown eyes.
Me han dicho que me parezco mucho a mi padre - I have been told that I look a lot like my dad
Mis amigos dicen que estoy muy mimado, ¡pero no es verdad! - My friends say that I am very spoiled but, that is not true!
Mi familia
Hay cinco personas en mi familia: Mi padre, mi madre, mi hermana mayor, mi hermano menor y yo, claro - There are five people in my family: My dad, my mum, my older sister, my younger brother and myself, of course.
Mi hermano menor se llama Tomás. Es bajo, tiene el pelo negro y liso y los ojos azules. - My younger brother is called Tomás. He is short, he has straight black hair and blue eyes.
Me llevo bien con mi familia aunque a veces discuto con mi hermano por tonterías - I get on well with my family although I sometimes have arguments with my brother over silly things.
Mi hermano me molesta - My brother annoys me
Tengo mucha suerte porque mis padres no son muy estrictos - I am very lucky because my parents are not very strict.
Confían en mí - They trust me.
Tengo una mascota. Tengo un perro que se llama Coco. ¡Es muy mono! - I have a pet. I have a dog called Coco. He is very cute!
Mis amigos
Mi mejor amiga se llama Lucía - My best friend is called Lucía
Lucía es alta y tiene los ojos marrones. Es divertida y simpática - Lucía is tall and has brown eyes. She is fun and friendly.
Conozco a Lucía desde hace diez años - I have known Lucía for 10 years.
A mi amiga le gusta mucho hacer deporte pero yo soy muy perezosa. Juega al fútbol con el equipo local - My friends likes doing sports a lot but I am very lazy. She plays football with the local team.
Sin embargo, nos gusta escuchar la misma música, como Taylor Swift y Harry Styles. - However, we like to hear the same type of music, like Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.
En mi opinión, es muy importante tener amigos porque los amigos escuchan tus problemas y te dan consejos. - In my opinion, it is very important to have friends because friends listen to your problems and they give you advice
Mis amigos y yo quedamos los fines de semana - My friends and I meet at the weekends
Necesito tener amigos para mi salud mental y mi bienestar - I need to have friends for my mental health and my well-being.
Beginners 2 - class 8 (11/06/24)
We start the class with a couple of audio to review the physical descriptions. We also reviewed clothing vocabulary and learned colours. The...
-
Level; Complete Beginners In this video and blog we are going to look at the very basics in Spanish. We are going to focus on three...
-
Level: Complete Beginners This is the second blog post looking at how to tell the time. If you haven't seen the first one, it is a goo...
-
Level: Elementary/ Pre-Intermediate In this blog we will look at more advanced comparatives. We already learned about ..... Un león e...