Learn Spanish

February 27, 2008

A short message in Spanish

This morning a Spanish friend sent me the following message:

Que todo irá bien contigo a partir de ahora. Tú has sido destinado para ser una persona exitosa y lograrás todos tus objetivos. En los días que quedan de este año se disiparán todas tus agonías y llegará la victoria. Esta mañana llamé a la puerta del cielo y DIOS me preguntó.... 'Hijo, ¿qué puedo hacer por ti?' Respondí: 'Padre, por favor protege y bendice a la persona que está leyendo este mensaje'. DIOS sonrió y contestó: 'Petición concedida.' Léelo en voz baja..... Señor Jesús: 'Perdona mis pecados. te amo mucho, te necesito siempre, estás en lo más profundo de mi corazón, cubre con tu sangre preciosa, a mi familia, mi casa, mi hogar, mi empleo, mis finanzas, mis sueños, mis proyectos y a mis amigos'. Pasa esta oración a 7 personas. Recibirás un milagro mañana. Solo cópialo y reenvíalo!

Can you read the message? Here is its English translation.

By the way, I reviewed the Visual Link Spanish program and I like it a lot.

Posted by lubw00 at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2007

Spanish Programs That I can Listen to in My Car

Following is a communication between me and a website visitor, regarding programs that is suitable for commuters driving cars.

Visitor John: I am looking for a Spanish language program that I can listen to in my car. Do your programs work for this or do you know of some other that will?

ESDICT Answer:

Regarding your situation, I think Comprehensive Pimsleur Spanish is the best program.

There are three levels for this program. Each level has 15 learning hours (or 30 lessons), either in CD or Cassette format. There are no textbooks accompanying this program.

Check them out here:
Pimsleur Spanish I
Pimsleur Spanish II
Pimsleur Spanish III

These comprehensive programs are costing roughly $220 for each level. You can also try the first 8 lessons for Level I first (to see if it fits your need and see if you can follow):
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Spanish

Besides Pimsleur Spanish, you might also try Learning Spanish Like Crazy. This program is quite similar to the Pimsleur Program. They have a download version for less then $100. This is a nice option if you know how to burn CDs from mp3 files.
Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level I
Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level II

Posted by lubw00 at 06:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2007

English Spanish Cognates

The 'convertible' words between English and Spanish are known as cognates. English and Spanish Cognates are words in both languages that share the same Latin root and which are very similar. It is important to bear in mind that these cognates do not always translate from one language to another precisely. For example: "inferior" in Spanish may be used to refer to a subordinate in the work-place, without carrying any of the derogatory meaning in the English usage. In Spanish, "informal" means unreliable rather than casual. In spite of these 'false cognates', there are thousands of English words which can be converted into Spanish along with much of their English meaning (especially the literal meaning).

The cognates fall into suffix categories which, for clarity and convenience, have been grouped under the following terms:

1. Nouns
2. Adjectives

3. Verbs

4. Adverbs

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.

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Nouns

Many Spanish nouns can easily be converted into English nouns.

English nouns and Spanish nouns ending in '-or' are very often identical.

#1. -or = -or
English	Spanish
actor color doctor director horror	actor color doctor director horror

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English nouns and Spanish nouns ending in '-al' are very common identical.

#2. -al = -al
English	Spanish
animal general hospital manual moral	animal general hospital manual moral

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Many English nouns ending with '-ist', can be converted into Spanish nouns by changing to '-ista'.

#3. -ist → -ista
English	Spanish
artist egoist list socialist tourist	artista egoista lista socialista turista

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#4. -ism → -ismo
English	Spanish
idealism despotism mechanism organism optimism	idealismo despotismo mecanismo organismo optimismo

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#5. -nce → -ncia
English	Spanish
abundance arrogance experience patience intelligence	abundancia arrogancia experiencia paciencia inteligencia

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#6. -ty → -dad
English	Spanish
activity curiosity electricity identity university	actividad curiosidad electricidad identidad universidad

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#7. -tion → -ción
English	Spanish
association combination condition exemption instruction	asociación combinación condición exempción instrucción

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English nouns ending with '-y' often corresponds to Spanish nouns ending with '-ía', '-ia', or '-io'.

#8. -y → '-ía', '-ia', or '-io'
English	Spanish
agency agony battery family history urgency remedy salary testimony dictionary	agencia agonía batería familia historia urgencia remedio salario testimonio diccionario

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.

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Adjectives

Like nouns, many English adjectives can be converted into Spanish simply by changing the word ending. Here are some useful rules.
 

#1. -ive → ivo
English	Spanish
active decisive festive effective indicative	activo decisivo festivo efectivo indicativo

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#2. -al = -al
English	Spanish
brutal usual local criminal natural	brutal usual local criminal natural

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#3. -ous → -oso
English	Spanish
ambitious gracious delicious generous venomous	ambicioso gracioso delicioso generoso venenoso

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#4. -ic → -ico
English	Spanish
magnetic fantastic electric artistic automatic	magnético fantastico eléctrico artistico automatico

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#5. -ble = -ble
English	Spanish
admirable impossible terrible favorable notable	admirable imposible terrible favorable notable

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#6. -nt → -nte
English	Spanish
ignorant convenient prudent important triumphant	ignorante conveniente prudente importante triunfante

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#7. -id → -ido
English	Spanish
stupid lucid splendid candid solid	estupido lúcido esplendido cándido solido

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#8. -ile → -il
English	Spanish
agile fragile mobile juvenile automobile	ágil frágil movil juvenil automóvil

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#9. -ary → -ario
English	Spanish
actuary arbitrary ordinary imaginary ordinary	actuario arbitrario ordinario imaginario ordinario

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.

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Verbs

There are many English verbs that can be converted into Spanish, usually by changing the ending of the English verb and adding the Spanish verb suffices 'ar', 'er' or 'ir'.

Almost every English verb ending in '-ate' can be coverted into a Spanish infinitive by replacing the final '-ate' with '-ar'.

#1. -ate → -ar
English	Spanish
accelerate	acelerar
accentuate	acentuar
aggregate	agregar
associate	asociar
demonstrate	demostrar
estimate	estimar
exaggerate	exagerar
negotiate	negociar
operate	operar
participate	participar
terminate	terminar

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Many English verbs ending in VOWEL + CONSONANT + T can be converted into Spanish verbs by adding '-ar' or '-ir' to the end of the English verb.

#2. VOWEL + CONSONANT + T → '-tar' or '-tir'
English	Spanish
insult	insultar
consult	consultar
exalt	exaltar
present	presentar
represent	representar
comment	comentar
ferment	fermentar
lament	lamentar
import	importar
comport	comportar
insert	insertar
support	soportar
export	exportar
convert	convertir
insist	insistir

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Many English infinitive verbs ending VOWEL + CONSONANT + E can be converted into Spanish infinitive verbs by dropping the final E and adding '-ar'.

#3. VOWEL + CONSONANT + E → VOWEL + CONSONANT + 'AR'
English	Spanish
abuse	abusar
accuse	acusar
cause	causar
excuse	excusar
admire	admirar
adore	adorar
compare	comparar
declare	declarar
implore	implorar
analyze	analizar
authorize	autorizar
civilize	civilizar
paralyze	paralizar
complete	completar
converse	conversar
escape	escapar
ignore	ignorar
invite	invitar
imagine	imaginar
prepare	preparar
organize	organizar
utilize	utilizar

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Almost every English infinitive verb ending with '-ify' can be converted into a Spanish verb by replacing the final '-ify' with '-ificar'.

#3. '-ify' → '-ificar'
English	Spanish
unify	unificar
simplify	simplificar
solidify	solidificar
classify	clasificar
notify	notificar
modify	modificar
gratify	gratificar
justify	justificar
pacify	pacificar
verify	verificar

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.

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Adverbs

In English, "-ly" combines with many adjectives to form adverbs.

In Spanish, "-mente" combines with (feminine) adjectives to form Spanish adverbs.

English	Spanish
absolutely	absolutamente
normally	normalmente
naturally	naturalmente
finally	finalmente
correctly	correctamente
exactly	exactamente
evidently	evidentemente
difficultly	difícilmente

Click here for 2500 pairs of the most common Spanish-English Cognates.

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PDF download: English Spanish Cognates

 

Posted by lubw00 at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2007

Common Spanish Nouns

I collected the most common 1001 Spanish nouns and put them into this "Common Spanish Nouns" database. You can practice to translate these common Spanish nouns to see if you can translate them right.

Note:

• f. female noun;

• m. male noun;

Please follow this link: The most common Spanish nouns

Posted by lubw00 at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2007

Table of Spanish Personal Pronouns

The following table gives summary of Spanish personal pronouns.

Subject	Prepositional	Indirect Object	Direct Object	Reflexive Object
yo	mí	me	me	me
tú	ti	te	te	te
él	él	le	le, lo	se
ella	ella	le	la	se
usted	usted	le	le, la	se
nosotros	nosotros	nos	nos	nos
vosotros	vosotros	os	os	os
ellos	ellos	les	los	se
ellas	ellas	les	las	se
ustedes	ustedes	les	los, las	se

PDF download: Table of Spanish Personal Pronouns

Posted by lubw00 at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)