What's going on in Guatemala anyway?

My niece, whom some of you meet after she had just returned from 3 months in Cuba, is currently living and working in Guatemala.  She is working with for a non profit, UPAVIM (Unidos para vivir mejor). She is currently located in a not-so-nice part of Guatemala City.  Her particular neighborhood is a center for gang activity.

She has started a blog to document her experience.  With the current situation on the U.S. border concerning the migration of 10s of 1000s of Central American children, I thought a perspective from inside of the country might be interesting to some of you.  To follow her blog, use the following link:
http://fellbawesomeadventures.wordpress.com

Spanish Courses for Fall 2014

Registration begins July 28
Classes begin August 25

Mtn Spanish Summer 2014 Vol. 1, No. 4

Talking about the future

The video that we will be working with this weeks uses the future tense conjugation quite a bit, so this is a great opportunity to take a look at how to conjugate verbs in the future form.  Keep in mind that the future can be expressed by using:

• ir + a + infinitive  In everyday speech, this is the most common way of expressing the future.  Voy a trabajar mañana.  Mis primos van a viajar a España en el otoño.
• the conjugations of the futures tense This is used in everyday speech but you will most likely encounter it in written language or less "conversational" settings. 

The good news is that the conjugations of future tense verbs are very easy!  Simply add the following endings to the infinitive form of the verb: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -án.

Yo	trabajaré	viviré	comeré
Tú	trabajarás	vivirás	comerás
Él, Ella, Ud.	trabajará	vivirá	comerá
Nosotros	trabajaremos	viviremos	comeremos
Ellos, Ellas, Uds.	trabajarán	vivirán	comerán

Keep in mind that some verbs have irregular stems, that is, they do not use the infinitive, but rather, the following stems:

decir	dir         yo diré, tú dirás él dirá, nosotros diremos, ellos dirán
haber	habr      yo habré, tú habrás él habrá, nosotros habremos, ellos habrán
hacer	har        yo haré, tú harás él hará, nosotros haremos, ellos harán
poder	podr      yo podré, tú podrás él podrá, nosotros podremos, ellos podrán
poner	pondr    yo pondré, tú pondrás él pondrá, nosotros pondremos, ellos pondrán
querer	querr    yo querré, tú querrás él querrá, nosotros querremos, ellos querrán
saber	sabr      yo sabré, tú sabrás él sabrá, nosotros sabremos, ellos sabrán
salir	saldr     yo saldré, tú saldrás él saldrá, nosotros saldremos, ellos saldrán
tener	tendr    yo tendré, tú tendrás él tendrá, nosotros tendremos, ellos tendrán
venir	vendr    yo vendré, tú vendrás él vendrá, nosotros vendremos, ellos vendrán

Watch Señor Jordan's explanation of the formation of the future tense.

Practice future forms 1

Practice future forms 2


Video 1: Parque natural y de aventuras La Selvita

Before watching: Vocabulary

el viajero	traveler
el ecosistema	ecosystem
la selva	forest
el submarinismo	diving
el delfín	dolphin
la ballena	whale
el bosque primario	old growth forest
la catarata, la cascada	waterfall
el río	river
el sendero	path, trail
el medio ambiente	the environment
los orquídeas	orchids
la biodiversidad	biodiversity
la sostenibilidad	sustainability
el todo terreno	all-terrain vehicle (ATV)
los bejucos	vines
salvaje	wild
húmedo	humid
lluvioso	rainy
adentrar	enter, penetrate
repostar	replenish, refuel

Practice Vocabulary

Video Comprehension Quiz

Irregular Preterit Verbs

Just like last week, I will let Señor Jordan walk you through the formation of irregular preterit verbs ser and ir.

Practice preterite forms of ser and ir
¿Quiz: pasado o futuro?

LET'S TALK moving: ¿La vida urbana versus la vida rural? 

Listening comprehension quiz

More about sustainable efforts in Latin American Cities

Click here to access reading

Reading comprehension quiz

Saludos a todos--Tu ayuda, por favor.

¡Hola!  I hope summer is going great for everyone.

We just spent a few days in the desert of Utah, near Capitol Reef, and next week we head to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

I would like to get your input on your experience with this resource.  I have noticed that my page is still getting views, but the resources (videos, quizzes etc) from the last issue have not received many views or downloads.  I am wondering if the issues have to many activities, if they are unappealing or if there is something else at play.  You can access any of the issues at any time by going to the blog.  Links to older issues can be found near the bottom of the page on the right hand side of the page.  If you could comment below and let me know you thoughts, I would appreciate it!

I am currently working Volume 1 Number 4 of Mountain Spanish for publication next week.
¡Hasta pronto!

Mtn Spanish Summer 2014 Vol. 1, No. 3

Where does that adjective go?

I am often asked about adjective placement in Spanish.  Most students know that in general adjectives are placed after the noun that is modified in Spanish.  However, this isn't always the case which can lead to confusion.

Type	Position	Example
Adjectives that differentiate or specify.	after	Quiero la blusa azul.  You are indicating the specific blouse that you want. La computadora rota está en mi oficina.  There are many computers, the broken one is specified in this example.
Adjectives that indicate quantity or amount.	before	Hay varias oportunidades aquí. He tenido muchos problemas con mi servicio de cable. Mañana es el primer día de clase.
Adjectives that express an essential characteristic; these do not differentiate but rather point out a known quality.	before	El grande elefante La blanca nieve Los pinos altos de Sequoia

Compare:

El león fiero, que está al lado del árbol, se llama Simba.              

A specific lion is identified.

Se dice que el fiero león es el rey de la selva.    

Speaking in general about lions.

La blanca nieve de las montañas de Colorado es espectacular.

       Speaking in general about the snow of Colorado.

Hace 10 días que nevó.  Hay nieve negra por todas partes. ¡Qué fea!

       Describing a specific situation, specific snow.

Some adjectives will change meaning depending on its position.

Adjective	Use
pobre	el pobre niño (unhappy) el hombre pobre (without money)
viejo	mi viejo coche (the one that I had before the one I have now) el coche viejo (it is an old car) mi viejo amigo (we have been friends for many years) mi amigo viejo (my friend that is getting on in years)
nuevo	un nuevo problema (a different problem) un problema nuevo (a recently acquired problem) un nuevo teléfono (a different phone) un teléfono nuevo (a phone that I just got)
grande	un gran jugador (expecional, outstanding player) un jugador grande (tall, strong, large in size player)
único	la única novela (the only one) la novela única (excepcional, unique)
mismo	la misma idea (the same idea) Tuvimos la misma idea. la idea misma (the idea itself) La misma idea me da miedo.

Practice Adjective Placement

LET'S TALK GARDEN AGAIN (in Spanish)

Video 1: Cómo cultivar tu propio huerto

Learn faster tip: This video is definitely "real time". The language is not terribly difficult, but the rate of speech is fast. My suggested process for working with the video: 

• Watch the video all the way through.  DON'T get caught up on what you don't understand.
• Download the transcript of the video and read it.
• Re-watch the video.

Video Comprehension Quiz

Video 1: Nuestra casa: 
More practice with house vocabulary.

Video Comprehension Quiz

More about sustainable efforts in Latin American Cities

Please start by working with the vocabulary for the reading.

Learn faster tip: Use Cram.com to make electronic flashcards for this new vocabulary.

el riesgo	risk
las hortalizas	crops
la meta	the goal
la tasa	the rate
los asentamientos informales	squatter settlements
las cosechas	harvest
los ahorros	savings
los gastos	expenditures
el compromiso	commitment
las semillas	seeds
la captación	training
el riego	irrigation
las oleadas	waves
las laderas	mountainside
las barrancas	gullies
los insumos	supplies
comprometerse	to commit oneself
acordar	to agree
brindar	to offer
alcanzar	to reach

Practice Vocabulary

Click here to access the reading.

Reading Comprehension Quiz

LET'S TALK moving: ¿Cómo es el Distrito Miramar en La Habana, Cuba? 

Listening Comprehension Quiz

Regular-ir Preterit Verbs

Just like last week, I will let Señor Jordan walk you through the formation of -ir preterit verbs.

Practice -ir preterit verbs

Mtn Spanish Summer 2014 Vol. 1, No.2

¡COMIDO IS NOT A PAST TENSE VERB!

Past participles have a several uses

·         as adjetives	Las flores cortadas son de mi jardín.
·         with the verb ser to form the passive voice	El jardín fue diseñado por los arquitectos de paisaje.
·         with the verb haber to form the perfect tenses	Ella ha trabajado mucho.

Past participles DO NOT stand alone.  One common error for native English speakers is to use the past particle as a past tense verb.  There is a reason for this.

You want to say:   I called Amalia yesterday.
You look up “called” on Google Translate.

It gives you the past participle, indeed does translate as “llamado”; however, you are trying to say “I called” which requires a conjugated form of the verb llamar.

You want to say:   My dad bought a new car yesterday.

Another example: You look up “bought” on Word Reference. 

It gives you the past participle, indeed does translate as “comprado”; however, you are trying to say “My dad bought” which requires a conjugated form of the verb comprar.

So, my caution to you is to be thoughtful users of translation and dictionary resources both electronic and paper versions.  Word Reference and Span¡shD!ct do a great job of providing a thorough explanation.  The trick is to scroll through the entire explanation and be away of these pitfalls.  Google Translate can only translate word for word.  I would caution you away from using Google Translate.  It will not help you learn, and it could very well get you in trouble. 

BAD TRANSLATIONS MAKE GOOD HUMOR

Google translate conjugates the verb querer in the imperfect (past tense) form as if conductor were the subject of the sentence.  You have to think with your Spanish brain and understand that this statement cannot be translated word for word.  A translation that would make sense in Spanish would be:

Se necesita un conductor para la temporada de verano. 

The following example I borrowed from a Huffington Post article with examples of bad translations.

The English translation is just gooblygook.  I am pretty sure that a some sort of translation program was used in one way or another to come up with the English version.

Now back to past participles.  Watch the following video.

Practice with past participles.

LET'S TALK GARDEN (in Spanish)

Video 1: Diseño de jardín

This video will introduce to a lot of vocabulary that has to do with your garden.  Please review the vocabulary and then work with the practice activities and games.  

Learn faster tip: Use Cram.com to make electronic flashcards for this new vocabulary.

las herramientas	tools
las botas jardineras	gardening boots
los guantes jardineros	gardening gloves
las rodilleras	knee pads
la cuchara	small hand shovel
la pala	shovel
el cultivador	cultivator
la corteza de pino	woodchips
la malla negra	weed barrier
las hierbas	weeds
la tierra profesional	topsoil
el tezontle	volcanic rock
la tierra	soil
las flores	flowers
la planta perenne	perennials
los anuales	annuals
el arbusto	shrub
el árbol	tree
la maceta	pot
esparcir	to spread
lucirse	to make an impact
aflojar	to loosen
cavar	to dig
rastrillar	to rake
desherbar	to weed

Practice Vocabulary

Video comprehension quiz

LET'S TALK public utilities: ¿Cómo son los servicios públicos en Delicias, Chihuahua?

Learn faster tip: ¡Use headphones for listening exercises!

Click below to listen

Listening comprehension quiz

Video 2: La casa de Chus.

Video comprehension quiz

La habana, Cuba: Queen of the Green Cities

Click here to read the article.

Reading comprehension quiz

-ER Preterit Verbs

Just like last week, I will let Señor Jordan walk you through the formation of -er preterit verbs.

Practice -er preterit verbs