About.com Spanish Language

What's Past Is Past — or Is It?

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:23:13 +0000

Without more context, it isn't so easy to translate a simple sentence such as "When I was a child I went to Disneyland" to Spanish. You could say "Cuando era niño fui a Disneyland" or "Cuando era niño iba a Disneyland" — and they don't mean the same thing. If you don't know the difference, be sure to check out recently updated lesson on distinguishing the past tenses of Spanish.

What's Past Is Past — or Is It? originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 02:23:13.

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Language Learning May Begin Before You're Born

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:54:05 +0000

How early does language learning begin? It may begin even before we're born, a newly published study suggests. The study, in this month's issue of Current Biology, compared the cries of newborns in French-speaking homes with those in German-speaking homes. According to the researchers, the differences in their cries correspond to differences in the intonations of the two languages. So the assumption is that they picked up the sounds while they were in the womb.

So next time you're jealous when you run across a 2-year-old who speaks Spanish better than you do, remember that she may have been learning the language longer than you have!

Language Learning May Begin Before You're Born originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 12:54:05.

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Conjugating the Conditional Tense

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:40:59 +0000

Things that can make verb conjugations tricky — there are quite a few irregular verbs and verbs need to be "taken apart" before the ending is added — don't really apply to the conditional tense. Indeed, the conjugation of the conditional tense is one of the easiest to learn. With few exceptions, just add an ending to a verb and you're ready to go.

Conjugating the Conditional Tense originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 16:40:59.

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The Spanish J: a Challenging Sound To Master

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:58:38 +0000

Many Spanish student find the trilled RR sound the hardest sound in Spanish to learn, but I've long thought that the J sound is more difficult.

Many people learn that the j is pronounced like the English "h" sound, but while that's close it's not entirely accurate. Read more...

The Spanish J: a Challenging Sound To Master originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 16:58:38.

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What You Might Not Know About Spanish (But Should)

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:18:27 +0000

Did you know that there are more people who speak Spanish as a first language than speak English as a first language? Or that there's a family relationship between Spanish and German? For these and other interesting details about Spanish, be sure to check our our new feature, "10 Facts About the Spanish Language."

What You Might Not Know About Spanish (But Should) originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 01:18:27.

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¡Feliz día de brujas!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:28:41 +0000

As readers informed me to my chagrin after I answered a question about how to say "Halloween" in Spanish, there is a not-so-awkward Spanish phrase to refer to the holiday, and it's día de brujas or noche de brujas, the day or night of witches. Either those terms or "Halloween" is well understood among Spanish speakers in the U.S., although the English term may need some explanation abroad.

Halloween as celebrated in the U.S. is part of American culture, but there are variations of the season that are observed elsewhere. One of the best-known is the Day of the Dead observed in Mexico, which has different origins than Halloween despite is superficial similarities.

¡Feliz día de brujas! originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 01:28:41.

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An Easy Pronunciation: F

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:44:35 +0000

Finally in our series of pronunciation lessons, we've come to a letter that is pronounced the same way nearly all the time in both Spanish and English. So our lesson on pronouncing the f is the easiest in the series so far. So you can relax a bit this week; next we'll cover the letters g and j, which can be fairly difficult for native English speakers to pronounce well.

An Easy Pronunciation: F originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 03:44:35.

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Since When Was It a Crime To Speak Spanish?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:25:55 +0000

Another sign of language frictions in the United States surfaced this week when the Dallas News reported that at least 20 Dallas police officers since 2007 wrote tickets to at least 38 drivers for not speaking English. According to the newspaper, nearly all of those 38 were Spanish speakers. Read more...

Since When Was It a Crime To Speak Spanish? originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 14:25:55.

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How Well Do You Know Prepositions?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:55:08 +0000

When do you use de and when do you use desde? Or por and para? They're not always easy questions to answer. But words such as those, known as prepositions, are vital to building Spanish sentences. To help you fill in your gaps of knowledge on prepositions, we have new quiz on prepositions. You can answer anywhere from four to 20 questions, and nobody except you will know what answers you get wrong. Enjoy!

How Well Do You Know Prepositions? originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 15:55:08.

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When Would You Use the Conditional Tense?

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:11:41 +0000

One way of thinking of the conditional tense is that it's the equivalent of English verb forms that use "would," as in saying "no comería una hamburguesa" for "I wouldn't eat a hamburger." That's usually a good rule to follow. But as explained in our recently updated lesson on using the conditional tense, there are many times where "would" doesn't translate to the conditional, and where the conditional isn't best translated by "would."

When Would You Use the Conditional Tense? originally appeared on About.com Spanish Language on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 21:11:41.

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