Learning Spanish language

[Katrocks]

Originally Posted by dmoney101

i can't stand listening to audio tapes like Michel Thomas or Pimsleur because their accents sound so weird (Michel always has terrible accents in every language he teaches) and they usually only teach the usted form of words which isn't very useful in an everyday conversation.

Yes I do agree with the accent bit, but the tapes I have cover all verb forms. He does start with the usted but then gradually gets to the tu's. But he has helped me allot with the verbs.

[dmoney101]

Originally Posted by Katrocks

Yes I do agree with the accent bit, but the tapes I have cover all verb forms. He does start with the usted but then gradually gets to the tu's. But he has helped me allot with the verbs.

ok, that's good. i was probably thinking of the pimsleur program. it only teaches usted (at least, as far as i went, i quit after a few of them :P)

[jandros]

Hi Zahra!!!

Anyone? .... I used to listen to some Mexican music, to help me learn and remember words and phrases, for my purposes in the U.S. and regional travel. Pero, hace muchos años!! I've lost track of my taste in Mexican music, so to speak

So now, who? .....

I used to love Tish Hinojosa, and a couple of male groups who were 'folk' singers, but not 'too' folksy. And I also like .... country-rock? That would be the American description .... ok ok, I'll confess ... I also used to love Los Tejas Tornados, with Freddy Fender. But I also LOVE classical Spanish guitar.

Oh, and Santana!

So after bearing my very soul, can anyone suggest music for me? Preferably with decent Spanish lyrics and reasonably good grammar, suitable for an 'older gentleman'?

Thanks for any tips!!

[jandros]

También:

Is there an "easy" lesson for the proper use of -se? I don't even remember what I need to ask ... passive/active, transitive/intransitive, like that?

Also objective and other non-subject pronouns?

Xiurell or Zahra? Zahra, you're from Mexico, and I've learned most of my Spanish from Mexican friends, but also a little Puerto Rican, with rare and tiny doses of Colombian and Venezuelan ... a little confusion

But anyway, I've gotten some great refresher classes from this sticky already, and I appreciate all of it, and thanks for any additional help!

[dmoney101]

can somebody explain to me what hechate means? i heard it in the phrase "hechate pa'lla" which to me sounds like "make yourself over there" lol

[damarys]

Echar means to add, or throw or toss. Like, "Voy a echar unas cebollas en la olla." "I'm gonna throw some onions in the pot". Or "Echame la pelota" for "Throw me the ball".
But in the context you stated "echate para alla" means literally "throw your self over there" but really means "scoot over" or "move over".

[jandros]

Música101, Xiurell? Zahra

Lessons have been FANTASTIC! But it's been a few days. Will there be more?

Do I sound impatient? Lo siento ...

[dmoney101]

Originally Posted by damarys

Echar means to add, or throw or toss. Like, "Voy a echar unas cebollas en la olla." "I'm gonna throw some onions in the pot". Or "Echame la pelota" for "Throw me the ball".
But in the context you stated "echate para alla" means literally "throw your self over there" but really means "scoot over" or "move over".

oh, i thought it meant made since the only time i ever heard it was in "Hecho En Mexico"

[citlalli]

Originally Posted by dmoney101

oh, i thought it meant made since the only time i ever heard it was in "Hecho En Mexico"

Little spelling mistake, that's why...

"Hecho en México"= Hecho is the past participle of the verb "hacer" (to make)

"Echate pa'lla"=Echate is the imperative of "echar" (to throw, to toss)

The confusion is probably due to the fact that, as you surely know, we don't pronounce the "h" at all in Spanish

[dmoney101]

Originally Posted by citlalli

Little spelling mistake, that's why...

"Hecho en México"= Hecho is the past participle of the verb "hacer" (to make)

"Echate pa'lla"=Echate is the imperative of "echar" (to throw, to toss)

The confusion is probably due to the fact that, as you surely know, we don't pronounce the "h" at all in Spanish

well then was the other explanation wrong because the word was spelled as héchate, or was the spelling in the phrase wrong?

[citlalli]

yes, the spelling was wrong... what damarys wrote is completely right

[fduran]

What does 'aqui si vamos hacer sexo hoy en la noche' mean?

[dmoney101]

Originally Posted by fduran

What does 'aqui si vamos hacer sexo hoy en la noche' mean?

Here if/yes we're going to have sex today at night. is there an accent over the i in si?

[Zahra2008]

Originally Posted by jandros

Música101, Xiurell? Zahra

Lessons have been FANTASTIC! But it's been a few days. Will there be more?

Do I sound impatient? Lo siento ...

ohh my gosh... Jandros, dear... music in spanish... im sorry.. i dont have any particular choice.. honestly... mmm but maybe:

Juanes (from colombia)
Mana (from mexico)
Sin Bandera
Enanitos Verdes
Julieta Venegas
Enrique Iglesias (from spain)
Luis Miguel
Shakira (from colombia)
Alex Sintek
Armando Manzanero (romantics)
Vicente & Alejandro Fernandez (traditional mexican music with mariachi)

[jandros]

Originally Posted by Zahra2008

ohh my gosh... Jandros, dear... music in spanish... im sorry.. i dont have any particular choice.. honestly... mmm but maybe:

Juanes (from colombia)
Mana (from mexico)
Sin Bandera
Enanitos Verdes
Julieta Venegas
Enrique Iglesias (from spain)
Luis Miguel
Shakira (from colombia)
Alex Sintek
Armando Manzanero (romantics)
Vicente & Alejandro Fernandez (traditional mexican music with mariachi)...

Thank you dear Zahra, I'll just check 'em all out and see how it goes ... mmm ... Santana, Oye como va ... Listen how it goes? Is that a reasonable translation?

[dmoney101]

Originally Posted by jandros

Thank you dear Zahra, I'll just check 'em all out and see how it goes ... mmm ... Santana, Oye como va ... Listen how it goes? Is that a reasonable translation?

it would better be translated as "hey, how's it going" since that sounds more coherent/fluent, but yea, that's the direct translation

[jandros]

Originally Posted by dmoney101

..."hey, how's it going"...

Gracias. Actually it was sort of a cheap play on words, so to speak. But thanks for clarifying

Hmmm ... how about another Santana title ...

Agua que va caer: Water that's gonna fall?

Or is that too literal again? Seriously, serious question.

[citlalli]

Originally Posted by jandros

Gracias. Actually it was sort of a cheap play on words, so to speak. But thanks for clarifying

Hmmm ... how about another Santana title ...

Agua que va caer: Water that's gonna fall?

Or is that too literal again? Seriously, serious question.

Yes, that's right--- water that's gonna fall ¡Bien hecho!

In my opinion, what "oye como va" concerns I'd prefer "listen how it goes" coz the next line is "mi ritmo, bueno pa' gozar, mulata"... so: "Listen how my rhythm goes, good to enjoy (enjoyable may be better tr.), mulata"

[citlalli]

@dmoney: going back to the "echate" issue: there's no way it could be from "hacer", since the imperative of "hacer" is "haz"; moreover, when considering the context it wouldn't make sense any way...

[dmoney101]

Originally Posted by citlalli

Yes, that's right--- water that's gonna fall ¡Bien hecho!

In my opinion, what "oye como va" concerns I'd prefer "listen how it goes" coz the next line is "mi ritmo, bueno pa' gozar, mulata"... so: "Listen how my rhythm goes, good to enjoy (enjoyable may be better tr.), mulata"

that would be right if it was in a song. i thought he meant as a greeting.

[jandros]

Originally Posted by citlalli

@dmoney...imperative of "hacer" is "haz"...

...don't mean to interrupt ...

hacer=to make, but "hazlo" can also mean "Do it"? Imperative, like Just do it? I think I saw it on a sign or something, and the context suggested this ...

[jandros]

Originally Posted by citlalli

... next line is "mi ritmo, bueno pa' gozar, mulata"... so: "Listen how my rhythm goes, good to enjoy (enjoyable may be better tr.), mulata"

Yes! 'Listen ... good to enjoy', that was exactly my understanding.

[citlalli]

Originally Posted by dmoney101

that would be right if it was in a song. i thought he meant as a greeting.

Hehe... no, Jandros meant in the song by Carlos Santana... you know it? I'm sure you do

[citlalli]

Originally Posted by jandros

...don't mean to interrupt ...

hacer=to make, but "hazlo" can also mean "Do it"? Imperative, like Just do it? I think I saw it on a sign or something, and the context suggested this ...

Yes, you're right "hacer" is both in english "make" and "do". Maybe you saw it in the Nike's slogan "just do it" ?

[damarys]

Originally Posted by xiurell

"Ya es tarde pero para adelante, uno sufre un día pero el otro llora pero mientras pasan los días, uno se resigna poco a poco"

Now is late but go on, one day you can suffer and on the other day, cry but as the days go by, you rising yourself little by little (gradually)

la tarde = the afternoon
tarde (adv.)= late

The word "resigna" above in that phrase means "resigns".... which means to "give up" or "abandon".

So the phrase literally means: "Now it's late but let's go on, one suffers one day, but the next day you cry, but as the days go by, you resign, or give in, little by little."

How's that?

[jandros]

Originally Posted by citlalli

..."hacer" is both in english "make" and "do"...Maybe you saw it in the Nike's slogan "just do it" ?

Well ... actually, about 15 years ago I worked in a place where 1/3 of 1800 people were Hispanic, and so naturally all of the signs were bilingual. And I always tried to read the Spanish. One sign said "Hazlo!" ... it was about safety rules. I assumed it was like "just do it". So there you go

[xiurell]

Originally Posted by jandros

También:

Is there an "easy" lesson for the proper use of -se? I don't even remember what I need to ask ... passive/active, transitive/intransitive, like that?

Also objective and other non-subject pronouns?

Xiurell or Zahra? Zahra, you're from Mexico, and I've learned most of my Spanish from Mexican friends, but also a little Puerto Rican, with rare and tiny doses of Colombian and Venezuelan ... a little confusion

But anyway, I've gotten some great refresher classes from this sticky already, and I appreciate all of it, and thanks for any additional help!

Uses of the Spanish pronoun 'se’


1.As a reflexive pronoun

This is its most common use. Se is used as the reflexive pronoun for third-person uses
e.g. Pedro se peina. (Pedro comb his hair)
e.g. Miguel se levanta temprano (Miguel get up early)

2.As the equivalent of the English passive óbice

as a way of indicating that some sort of action is done without indicating who or what performed the action.
e.g. Se vende (to be sold)
e.g Se alquila (to be rented)
e.g. El coche se vendió (the car was sold)

Spanish does have a true passive voice corresponding to the English one: El coche fue vendido ("The car was sold")

3.As a substitute for le or les

When the indirect-object pronoun le or les is immediately followed by another pronoun that begins with an l, the le or les is changed to se, apparently as a way to avoid having two pronouns in a row beginning with the l sound.

e.g. Juan escribe una carta a María
e.g. Juan la escribe a María
e.g. Juan le escribe una carta
but Juan se la escribe (this wouldn’t be correct Juan le la escribe)
others exemples

Se lo dijo a él (He told it to him)
No se lo voy a dar a ellos. (I'm not going to give it to them.)

4.The impersonal se

In some sentences, se is used in an impersonal sense with singular verbs to indicate that people in general, or no person in particular, performs the action

Muchas veces se tiene que estudiar para aprende (Often you have to study to learn.)
Se puede encontrar plátanos en el mercado. (You can find bananas in the market.)

5.To intensify the verb

Magdalena comío tres helados ( Magadalena se comió tres helados) to make to emphasize, or to stress



A final note: Se shouldn't be confused with sé (note the accent mark), which is usually the singular first-person present indicative form of saber ("to know"). Thus sé usually means "I know." Sé can also be the singular familiar imperative form of ser; in that case it means "you be."

Saludos

[xiurell]

Originally Posted by damarys

The word "resigna" above in that phrase means "resigns".... which means to "give up" or "abandon".

So the phrase literally means: "Now it's late but let's go on, one suffers one day, but the next day you cry, but as the days go by, you resign, or give in, little by little."

How's that?

Yes, you're right resignarse means 'to resign oneself'; it was a mistake

[jandros]

Originally Posted by xiurell

Uses of the Spanish pronoun 'se’...

Xiurell, you're a genius. That's all I can say! Sólo: ¡Muchas gracias, muchísimo!

I also didn't realize before that the accent is soooooo important. I am largely self-taught (other than by a few old friends) because whenever I've tried to take a class, something always got in the way. So I've missed a lot of details. But that's why I've been watching this topic so closley. It's rich!!! It should be wrapped and adorned in gold.

Saludos

[damarys]

I really want to improve my use of accents. I usually just leave them out... not good.
On my regular PC, I'm able to use Alt plus the numbers key board to get the accents, upside down question marks and exclamation points, etc. However, I don't know how to do it on my laptop.
I know this is probably a dumb question, but do you all just use a Spanish font or are there some shortcuts for those of use who use North American laptops and programs?
Apreciaria ayuda con esto. Muchisimas gracias!