Spanish Praxis

List some of the special rules in the use of the written stress or accent mark in Spanish

-One-syllable words never have a written accent except when there are two possible different meanings: el and él, si (if) and sí (yes), tu and tú, mas (but) and más (more). -Some two-syllable words that might have two possible different meanings or functions in the sentence: solo (alone) and sólo (only), este (demonstrative adjective) and éste (demonstrative pronoun). -Adverbs such as cuándo, dónde, and cómo as well as pronouns such as quién, qué, and cuál require an accent when used in questions and interrogatory sentences

Frida Kahlo

A 20th-century Mexican painter. She was born and died in Mexico City. She contracted polio as a child, and throughout her life she suffered from this and other health issues, some of which were caused by a bus accident when she was a teenager. After the accident, she stopped pursuing medical studies and began her career as a painter. She married Mexican painter Diego Rivera. In her work, she used bright colors and simple and primitive forms deeply rooted in Mexican and Amerindian culture. Her paintings were also influenced by Surrealism. She is known mainly for her self-portraits and other depictions of the feminine form. Julie Taymor directed the movie Frida in which Salma Hayek played the role of the artist.

Diego Rivera

A Mexican painter that is most famous muralists in the world and the most famous of the three main Mexican muralists: Orozco, Rivera, and Siquieros. He was influenced by the Italian Renaissance but also by the Russian communist movement. After the Mexican Revolution, he painted several murals in Mexico City. Many of his pieces include the revalorization of the indigenous Mexican roots. They also include symbols and historical figures from the colonial period. His major works (La creación, La leyenda de Quetzalcoatl, Historia de México: de la conquista al futuro, Sueño de una tar de dominical en la Alameda Central, La historia de la cardiología) are in Mexico City in the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Escuela Preparatoria Nacional, the Universidad Iberoamericana, and the Palacio Nacional. Other works can be found in New York and Detroit.

David Alfaro Siqueiros

A Mexican painter. He was one of three main Mexican muralists: Orozco, Rivera, and Siquieros. He painted murals in Mexico after the Mexican Revolution. His murals and other works are more realistic than those of Rivera and Orozco, but they also show aspects of Pre-Colombian culture and its relationship with colonial culture in Mexico. He was very influenced by the politics and his works have Marxist messages. all his works are in Mexico City. Among his best known pieces are Nueva democracia, Victimas de la guerra, Victimas del fascismo, El tormento de Cuauhtémoc, El entierro del obrero sacrificado, Los elementos, Los mitos, and El llamado de la libertad.

Define word derivatives and explain some of their advantages when learning a language

A derivative word is one that has been formed using an existing word as the basis. Derivatives are not variations of a word, like different conjugation forms of the same verb (eat/eats/eating) but new words (clear/clearly/unclear, respect/respectful/disrespect). The concept is the same in Spanish (persona/personalmente/impersonal, conocer/conocimiento/desconocer). In many cases, similar rules apply to English and Spanish. For example, deriving an adjective from an English noun ending in -tion by adding -al (recreation/recreational) is equivalent to replacing the ción ending in a Spanish noun with -tive to form an adjective (recreación/recreative). Knowing the concept and the rules of derivation in Spanish is very useful to improve listening and comprehension skills, expand vocabulary, and increase fluency in the target language.

Fernando Botero

A painter born in Medellín, Colombia. He was trained as a matador while in high school and later on lived for some time in Spain and France. In his figurative paintings, he uses exaggerated and disproportionate volumes, especially to depict the human figure, adding humorous details to show criticism and irony. His figures are easily recognized and his particular, unmistakeable style is sometimes referred to as Boterismo. He continues to exhibit regularly and lives and works in New York and Paris.

Francisco Goya

A painter born in Spain in 1746. He went from the baroque, to the rococo, and then to the neoclassicism and expressionism. He worked in the Real Fábrica de Tapices de Madrid and was later appointed court painter. He was a great influence for the modern artists as he was the forst artist to paint what he wanted and not what the king or the church told him to paint. His paintings are mainly historic. His piece El tres de mayo shows the execution of Spanish soldiers by the French army. Among his best known works are La maja desnuda, La maja vestida, El dos de mayo, and the series of prints, Caprichos.

Adverbs in Spanish

Adverbs: -of manner: rápidamente, bien, apropiadamente -of place: aquí, allá, alrededor -of time: ahora, pronto, hoy -of frequency: nunca, ocasionalmente, a menudo -of degree: muy, bastante, demasiado -interrogative: cuándo, dónde, por qué -relative: cuando, donde, por que

Formal commands

Affirmative commands for the usted form are formed with the present of the subjunctive of the third person singular (él hable). When needed, direct/indirect pronouns are added at the end of the verb (llámame más tarde/ hágalo ahora). Be aware that the addition of the pronoun changes the syllabic structure of the word and requires a written accent or stress mark. Negative informal commands simply add no befire the verb (no hable tan fuerte). Negative formal commands, like informal commands, use the direct/indirect pronoun as a separate word between no and the verb (no me llame esta noche, no lo haga).

Informal commands

Affirmative commands for tú (salta más alto) are formed with the present of the indicative conjugation of the third person singular (él salta). When needed, direct personal pronouns can be added at the end of the verb (llamamé más tarde). Be aware that the addition od the pronoun changes the structure of the word and usually requires a written accent or stress mark. Negative informal commands are formed using the present of the subjunctive (no hables tan fuerte). No is always placed before the verb. Negative informal commands use the direct or indirect personal pronoun as a separate word between no and the verb (no me llames esta noche).

Give examples of instances where the same word is used both in Spanish and in English

All languages incorporate words and phrases from other languages. English words related to technology have crossed over to a wide range of languages and words like e-mail, click., and DVD, for example, have been absorbed into Spanish becoming part of it. Spanish words have made their way into English, too. For some of them there is translation (bodega/grocery store, fiesta/party, patio/courtyard), but many have no equivalent in Enflish (adobe, armadillo, tango). Both languages also share the use of some French words (amateur, ballet, boulevard). Examples of loan words from Italian used both in English and Spanish include many musical terms (aria, cadenza, opera, piano, viola). And many of the words borrowed from German are used in philosopy in Spanish and in Englush (angst, ersatz, gestalt, geist).

Argentina

Argentina is in South America to the south of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and part of Brazil. Chile is to its west. Several indigenous peoples inhabited the large territory in Pre-Colombian times, including the Tehuelche and Mapuche. In 1516, Juan Díaz de Solís was the first European to arrive at the Río de la Plata, and in 1536 Pedro de Mendoza founded Buenos Aires. The region was not very important to Nueva España until 1776 when Spain established the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. Argentina stayed under the dominance of Spain until 1816 when it declared its independence. Part of the Andes run through Argentina. The economy of Argentina is based on livestock and oil. The capital is Buenos Aires, and the currency is the Argentine peso.

Ernesto Sábato

Argentinian writer who studied physics in this country and then attended the Sorbonne University in Paris and worked at the Curie Institute and later at MIT. After WWII he started to write and to be politically involved in the events of his country. He also started to paint. He translated some scientific books and wrote numerous essays and articles on literature, science, metaphysics, and politics. He is internationally recognized for his novels El túnel, Sobre héroes y tumbas, and Abaddón el exterminador. His second son Mario, a film director and screenwriter, directed the movie El poder de las tiniemblas, which is based on the section Informe sobre ciegos from Sobre héroes y tumbas .Ernesto Sábato was almost 100 years old when he died.

Bolivia

Bolivia is in South America to the south of Brazil and Peru, to the east of Chile, and to the north of Argentina and Paraguay. It is interesting to note that the country does not have access to the ocean. In Pre-Colombian times, the Pukina and the Aymara inhabited the area but were under the Inca empire. In 1530, Gonzalo and Hernando Pizarro were the first Europeans to arrive in Bolivia while they were exploring what is now Peru. Bolivia was important during the colonial period because of its silver mines in Cerro Rico in Potosí. Bolivia was part of the Alto Peru until 1776 when it was incorporated to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. 1825, Simón Bolívar declared the independence of Bolivia. The administrative capital and seat of the government is La Paz. The constitutional capital is Sucre. It has three official languages: Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara. Bolivia's currency is boliviano.

Clarify the differences and similarities in the word order in sentences in English and Spanish

Both English and Spanish are basically SVO languages: languages in which the more common sentence structure is Subject + Verb + Object. English is more structured and allows variations in word order mainly only for questions or in literature. Spanish is more flexible, and it is very common to find sentences where the verb or the object is at the beginning of the sentence (Pedro leyó este libro/Leyó Pedro este libro/este libro lo leyó Pedro). The meaning of the sentence remains basically the same but with some subtle variations on emphasis. It is important to remark also that very often the subject is included in the verb in Spanish.

Differences between conocer and saber

Both mean to know in English. Saber is used when to know implies a mental effort, study, or training (ella sabe cocinar pasta). Conocer is used when to know denotes knowing through familiarity or acquaintance (ella conoce a Sr. Jones/él conoce esta parte de la ciudad).

Explain the differences and similarities in capitalization in English and Spanish

Capitalization is not used in Spanish as much as in English. The first word of a sentence is always capitalized. Proper names of people, companies, and places are capitalized. Abbreviations of personal titles (Sr., Dr.) are capitalized but, if the full word is used it is written in small case (el señor Aguilar). For titles of books, stories, poems, essays, songs, films, etc., only the first word is capitalized (La guerra de las galaxias. The days of the weeks and the months of the year are not capitalized, neither are nationalities and languages.

Celia Cruz

Cuban singer known as the queen of salsa. She was also known as the Guarachera de Cuba. She was born in Cuba and later lived in the US. Cruz and her music became a worldwide success. Her discography includes 23 golden albyms. She recorded with other artists such as Tito Puente, Johnny Pacheco and Ray Barretto. Celia Cruz is considered the most influential igure of the Cuban music in the 20th century. Her best known songs are La vida es un carnaval, La negra te tiene tumbao, Rie y llora, and Usted abusó.

Diego Velázquez

Diego Velázquez was a Spanish painter of the 17th century. Born in Sevilla, he moved to Madrid where he became a court painter for King Philip IV. He lived in Italy for a time but later returned to Madrid, where he died. He was mainly a portraitist, producing historical and cultural depictions of royalty, notables, and commoners. His most famous painting is Las Meninas, a baroque portrayal of the Infanta Margarita, one of the daughters of the king, surrounded by maids of honor and other members of the court. It is now at the Museo del Prado. Impressionists and realists of the 19th century as well as modern painters such as Picasso and Dalí used his art as a model for their work.

Diminutives

Diminutives are used to denote smallness or to express affection, and are usually formed in Spanish by adding the suffix ito at the end of the noun. If it ends in a vowel the vowel is dropped librito, if it ends in e, n, or r, a c is added to the suffix padrecito. The suffix has to agree with the gender and number of the noun.

Estar

Estar is used for conditions and sometimes is considered less permanent about a person, object, or idea. Used for: -Location or position (where something is) -Physical appearance (how someone looks) -emotional state

Adjectives before or after the noun

Examples of different meanings with adjective position: -La antigua capital/the former capital or la capital antigua/the old capital. -una cierta condición/ a certain condition or una condición cierta/a sure condition. -diferentes ideas/various ideas or ideas diferentes/ different ideas. -gran universidad/great university or universidad grande/big university. -el mismo jefe/the same boss or el jefe mismo/the boss himself -pobre hombre/man who deserves pity or hombre pobre/destitute man -un simple carpintero/just a carpenter-un carpintero simple/a simple carpenter -la única oportunidad/the only opportunity or la oportunidad única/the unique opportunity

Outline the exclamatory form in Spanish

Exclamations in Spanish are usually expressed with qué in a very similar manner as English does with what and how. The exclamatory form is also use to denote a warning, an order, and emotions in the same way as the English language does. As with interrogative adjectives, pronound and adverbs such as qué, cómo, cuánto, etc., have a written stress or accent mark. In Spanish, also, all exclamations require an exclamation mark (¡) at the beginning as well as the end (!).

List some special cases for the spelling of conjunctions in Spanish

For phonetic reasons, the conjunction y changes to e when the word after the conjugation starts with i or hi (español e inglés, padre e hijo). Something similar occurs with the conjugation o (or), which is changed to u when the word that follows it starts with o or ho (setenta u ochenta, casas u hoteles). When the conjunction but (pero) introduces a positive phrase that is contrary to the negative statement that precedes the conjunction, the conjunction used is sino (no quiero vino sino cerveza).

Explain the differences in the pronunciation of the letter h in Spanish and English

In Englihs, the letter h has a soft, aspirated sound. In Spanish, by contrast, it is always completely silent. Most of the words that contain a letter h in Spanish have Latin or Greek roots, and the h has been kept just for etymological reasons. The only exceptions to this tule are some foreign words with no equivalent spelling in Spanish such as Hawaii, hamster, and hobby. In those cases, the letter h sounds like the Spanish letter j. When the letter h follows the letter c (mucho), it forms a new different phoneme ch which has its own particular sound.

Discuss the equivalents in Spanish of many/much and few/little

In English, many is used before countable nouns (many books, many things), and much before uncountable nouns (much money). The Spanish language does not differentiate between the countable and uncountable nouns and uses only the word mucho. However, the ending of mucho will change according to the gender and the number of the noun that follows (muchos libros, muchas cosas). The same thing happens with few (few mistakes, few houses) and little (little time). In both cases they will be translated as poco, whose ending will agree in gender and number with the noun that follows (pocos errores, pocas casas).

Explain formal and informal forms of address in Spanish

In English, there is only one second-person singular pronoun, you, for both formal and informal ways of addressing people. In Spanish, there are two forms: the formal usted and the informal tú. The informal tú has its own particular conjugation for all tenses. The informal tú also has its own set of possessive and reflexive pronouns. The formal usted, on the other hand, uses the same verb conjugations as the third-person singular pronoun él. In a similar way, usted uses the third-person singular possessive and reflexive pronouns. In much of the Spanish speaking world, the second-person plural form for both formal and informal uses is ustedes, which shares its verb forms with ellos/ellas. A few areas (such as Spain) differentiate between the formal and informal second-person plural, using ustedes formally, and vosotros informally.

Describe how to write dates in Spanish

In Spanish the days of the week and the months of the year are not capitalized unless they are at the beginning of a sentence. The proper way to write a date is 19 de diciembre de 1948. When using the dashes or slashes, the order is not the same: in English it is month/date/year while in Spanish it's day/month/year.

Describe how to use the letter z in Spanish

In Spanish the letter z, regardless of which letter comes after it, has the same sound as the letter c before an e (centauro) or i (cocina). Therefore in most Latin America countries, it sounds like the s in English words such as silence and serious, while in most of Spain it sounds like th in English words such as think and thunder. In Spanish, the letter z cannot be used before an e or i except in words of foreign origin (zepelin, zigzaguear). Due to this rule, the letter z is replaced by a c when forming the plural of words ending in z (lápiz/lápices, tapiz/tapices).

Expand on spelling changes in verbs ending in car

In Spanish, the letter c has a hard sound, like the letter k in English when it is followed by an a (carro), o (colegio), or u (curva), and a soft sound like the c found in English in words such as century and cigar, when it is followed by the vowels e (celoso) or i (cien). To keep the hard sound of the letter c in the first person singular of the past tense of verbs ending in -car (sacar, tocar, buscar), the letter c is replaced by qu (yo saqué, yo toque, yo busqué) as well as in most subjunctive and imperative forms (toquemos ¡no saques!)

Discuss the use of the letter q in Spanish

In Spanish, the letter q has the sound of the English letter k. The letter q is always followed by a u (qu) and then either an e or an i. There are very few exceptions (quantum, quorum) and they all have foreign roots.

Explain the regional differences in pronunciation of the letter y in Spanish

In Spanish, the letter y is treated as a vowel. At the end of a word (rey, muy, soy), it is always pronounce as the vowel i. If the letter y is before a vowel (yo, ya, yarda), in most countries it is also pronounced as the vowel i. However in Argentina and Uruguay, the letter y before another vowel sounds more like the sh English phoneme as found in words such as shower and show.

Describe the use of vos as an informal form of address

In some areas of the world, such as Argentina and Bolivia, the informal second-person singular pronoun tú is very seldom used. Instead, these countries use vos. Vos has its own conjugations. For most tenses, these conjugations are the same as those of tú (tú comiste/vos comiste). The conjugations for vos are almost always different in the present indivative. In the case of regular verbs, the conjugation for vos is usually the same as tú, but with the stress on the last syllable (tú comes/vos comés). Exceptions abound with irregular verbs: tú vienes/vos venís, tú eres/vos sos, tú cierras/vos cerrás)

Cual

In those cases where the use of que as a relative pronoun may create confusion or ambiguity, que is replaced by el cual (el primo de mi amigo, el cual vive en Miami, se fue de vacaciones). El cual takes the form la cual, los cuales, and las cuales to agree in gender and number with its antecedent (ellos tienen cuatro hijos, dos de los cuales viven en Houston). El cual is also used after the prepositions por, sin, después de, además de, contra, detrás, and hacia.

Por

Is used for through, by, and per. Por is used: -means of transportation or communication -exchange/substitution -duration -Quantity -Object of an errand (voy al mercado por la leche) -Agent (el libro fue escrito por....)

Para

Is used for: -Direction or destination -Recipient of something -Purpose -Time/deadline -Comparison -Intended use

José Clemente Orozco

Mexican painter part of one of the three main Mexican muralists. He did murals after the Mexican Revolution, and his work shows different aspects of the human condition. Besides the revolution, he focused on Pre-Columbian culture. He was less political than Rivera, but still political issues influenced his work. In his murals, messages of social justice for the working class and for the native Indians are found. Orozco's works can be found in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Veracruz, and New York. Among his best known pieces are Omnisciencia, Luchas proletarias, La justicia, Riquezas nacionales, Buena vida, and La independencia nacional.

Comment on the pronunciation of the double c in Spanish

Occidente, collección, and diccionario are some words in Spanish that use the "double c" or cc. In the phoneme, the first c has the strong sound of an Englush k, while the second c is much softer and has the same sound as an s. Overall, the cc sounds mostly like the same combination of letters sound in English in words such as accident and access, or like the x sound found in x-ray and excess.

Paraguay

Paraguay is in South America to the south of Bolivia and to the east of Argentina. The river Paraguay divides the country into east and wet. It is interesting to note that the country does not have access to the ocean. In Pre-Colombian times, the Chané, the Agacé, and, most important, the Guaraní inhabited the area. In 1524, Alejo García was the first European to arrive in the region, and in 1525, Pedro de Mendoza began the colonization. Between 1735 and 1756 the Guarani rebelled against the Spaniards. In 1777, it was incorporated to the Viceroaylty of the Río de la Plata. Paraguay fought against Spain and against Argentina, and, in 1830, declared its independence. Paraguay has two official languages: Spanish and Guaraní. The capital is Asunción, and the currency is the gauraní.

Past participles

Past participles can be used as adjectives. When used as such, the past participle has to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies (libería cerrada). To form the past participle of regular -ar verbs, drop the ending of -ar and add -ado (hablar/hablado); for -er/-ir verbs, drip the ending and add -ido (comer/comido, dormir/dormido). -Er and -ir verbs that have an a, e, or o before the ending of the infinitive require a written accent in their past participles.

Progressive tenses

Progressive tenses use the verb estar as an auxiliary verb with the present participle of the main verb: estar + -ando, -iendo (yo estoy comiendo). The progressive tenses are used to denote an action that is or was in progress (yo estaba durmiendo, estuvimos mirando). Progressive tenses are never used in reference to the future ("going to" in English). For those cases, Spanish uses ir a and the infinitive of the verb.

Que and Quien

Que is used in Spanish as a relative pronoun in reference to persons, objects, and ideas, both for the singular and for the plural (la persona que llamó por teléfono). If the pronoun is preceded by a preposition, then quien must be used instead of que for more clarity (habé con la maestro nueva, quien estaba muy contenta). Quien has to agree in number with its antecendent (las niñas, quienes habían domido hasta tarde, estaban desayunando).

Use of quisiera in Spanish

Quisiera and other forms of the imperfect subjunctive of querer are used very often in Spanish followed by an infinitive to express a polite request or desire and to soften a statement. It can be compared to "would like" in English. If a different subject is subject is introduced after quisiera (yo quisiera que usted...), then an infinitive clause cannot be used, and it must be replaced by a subordinate clause that uses the imperfect of the subjunctive (yo quisiera que usted me acompañara)

Feminine nouns

Rules: -nouns that end in or, án, ón, and in are usually masculine and form the feminine by adding an a (doctor/doctora; alemán/alemána) -nouns ending in e, ista, and nte stay the same in both the feminine and the masculine forms (el agente/la agente; el artista/la artists -Some nouns have the same form for the feminine and the masculine, but their meaning is different depending on their gender (el capital/money-la capital/city; el frente/front-la frente/forehead; el orden/neatness-la orden/command; el policía/policemen-la policía/police force but also police woman).

Ser

Ser is used to describe something that is intrinsic to a person, object, or idea. -Nationality -Origin -Identification -Physical characteristics -Generalities -Dates -Time of the day -Places of events (where something is occurring) -Possession -Personality traits

Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics studies the relationships between language and society, how they interact, and how they modify and impact each other. Language changes and is modified by features such as geographical location, socioeconomic class, education level, age group, gender, ethnicity, and contact with or knowledge of other languages. These elements affect all languages to various degrees depending on the particular social factors, constantly altering different parts of the language such as pronunciation, word choice, and sentence structure. With Spanish spoken in so many different countries, geographical location is one of the most significant sociolinguistic factors that affect it, and it is very important to pay attention to the local nuances.

Political and Economic facts about Spain today

Spain is a democracy under a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a hereditary monarchy and a bicameral parliament. It is a member of the EU and uses the euro. Spain's capital is Madrid, and its population was estimated at 47 million in 2011. Other important cities include Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla, and Zaragoza. Regarding religion, Roman catholics seem to be the most numerous. Due to Spain's climate, rich historic and cultural quality, and geographic position, tourism has become one of the main sources of income for the country. Spain is also one of the most important developers and producers of renewable energy, in particular solar power.

Discuss the equivalents in Spanish of neither...nor and either...or

Spanish does not have two different words to express a combination of two alternative things. In the case of a negative connotation, it uses ni for both conjugations neither and not (neither the father not the son are blond/ ni el padre ni el hijo son rubios). Similarly, for affirmative or interrogative sentences, the Spanish language only uses o for both conjunctions either and or, (we can eat either meat or fish/podemos comer o carne o pescado)

Explain the Spanish pronunciation of vowels and how it differs from the English pronunciation

Spanish has five vowels, the same as in English, but they are different from English in the sense that they have one and only one associated sound regardless of their position in the word and which letter come before and after them. For example, the vowel a in Spanish is always pronounced like a shorter version of the a in car. There is no difference in the way it sounds whether it is at the beginning of the word (amanecer), between two consonants (caro), between a consonant and a vowel (caer) or at the end of a word (mesa). In English, though, the vowel a has multiple sounds and is pronounced differently in, for example, apple, daughter, day, walk, and also. The same rule applies to e, i, o, and u: there is only one sound for each of them.

Expand on the fact that Spanish is a phonetic language

Spanish is a purely phonetic language, which means that every letter, vowels as well as consonants, and combination of letters have their own associated sound. This associated sound is used every single time that this particular or combination of letters appears in a word. Therefore, as in all phonetic languages, if you know how to spell a word you know how to pronounce it. The only exceptions are words adopted from a foreign languages. Like in most other language, foreign or nonnative words are sometimes pronounced in Spanish the same way they are pronounced in the original language. In some cases, though, the original pronunciation is modified, and how and in which way it is modified varies by region.

Plácido Domingo

Spanish opera singer known as one of the three most famous tenors of Spain. He was born in Spain, but he was educated in Mexico. In the 1960s, he came back to Spain where he was a great success. He had done may operas including Marina, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, Carmen, Madame Butterfly, and Don Rodrigo. He has also performed as a conductor. He first sang at the NY Metropolitan Opera in 1968, and has the record of being the singer there the most times. Presently he is the director of the LA Opera

Compare metric and imperial measurement systems

Spanish speaking countries mostly use the metric system for all measurements. Although some units such as those of time (segundos, horas, días, etc.) and angles (degrees/grados) are the same, other units are different. For longitude and distances, Spanish use centimeters (centímetros), meters (metros), and kilometers (kilómetros), while English often uses inches (pulgadas), feet (pies), yards (yardas), and miles (millas). Gram (gramo), kilogram (kilogramo), and ton (tonelada) will be the units used in Spanish for weight; the English ones are ounce (onza), pound (libra), and ton (tonelada). When it comes to volume, Spanish uses milliliter (mililitro), centiliter (centilitro), and liter (litro), while English uses onza, cup (taza), quart (cuarto), and gallon (galón). Units in both systems are not directly equivalent and have to be convert from one system to another according to their particular relationship.

Salvador Dalí

Spanish surrealist painter that began his career as a cubist, but became a surrealist. His works can be found in museums all over the works. Among his best known pieces are La cesta del pan, El hombre invisible, La persistencia de la memoria, Metamorfosis de Narciso, Madona de Port Lligat, Ultima cena, and Descubrimiento de América por Colón. Teatre-Museo Dalí in Figueres, Spain includes some of his paintings.

Explain the pronunciation of the double r in Spanish

The "double r" or rr is not considered a separate letter, but it is a very frequently used phoneme in Spanish. Some common words that include the rr are correr, perro, arriba, carro. The rr has a trilling sound that can be achieved by flapping the tongue against the front of the mouth. If properly rolled, the rr sound should be similar to the one you get when you try to imitate a motor. Be aware that the rr is used only between vowels. A similar trilling sound at the beginning of a word or after certain consonants (n, n, s) is spelled with a singular r.

Clarify the differences between Spanish and English when writing numbers

The English language uses a period to denote the decimal point in a number and commas every 3 digits. In the Spanish language, it is just the opposite: a comma is used to denote the decimals and periods are used every 3 digits. The value of a penny would be written as 0.01 of a dollar in English and 0,01 of a dollar in Spanish. The number ten thousand will be written in English as 10,000, while in Spanish it will be 10.000. When writing or reading a definite number, the words hundred, thousand, and million in Englush are always in singular. In Spanish, the words cien and millón use the singular or the plural form in accordance with the number, while the word mil is always in singular (200=doscientos, 1.000.000=un millón, 5.000.000=cinco millones; 3000=tres mil)

Royal Spanish Academy in the Spanish Language

The Real Academia Española was created in 1713 and is responsible for regulating the Spanish language. Its motto is "Limpia, fija y da esplendor" (It cleans, sets and gives splendor). The academy seeks to provide linguistic agreement and a common standard among all the Spanish-speaking regions. It has a formal procedure to incorporate new words, and it periodically publishes dictionaries and grammars. The academy has sometimes been criticized as too conservative and slow to react to change. It is located in Madrid and is affiliated with other national language academies in 21 Spanish-speaking countries.

Discuss the differences and similarities between the pronunciation of the letter ch in Spanish and English

The Spanish ch is different from English in the sense that it is always pronounced the same way. It has the exact same sound as found in English words such as church, charcoal, and march. Spanish dictionaries have a separate section for the ch, and it is located after the letter c. Common words in Spanish with ch are chancho, chispa, chino, chaqueta, etc.

Explain the general rules for written stress or accent mark in Spanish

The Spanish language uses a written stress or accent mark on vowels to denote exceptions to its stressing rules. Words with a stress in the last syllable will have a written stress or accent mark if they end in a vowel (mamá, café, así) or the consonants n (camión, común, jamón) or s (jamás, francés). For those words stressed in the second-to-last syllable, an accent mark is needed when they end in any consonant (ángel. álbum, lápiz) except n and s. For words stressed in the third-to-last syllable, a written stress is always required, regardless of the last letter (apéndice, códigos, diplomático).

Describe how to use ojalá and the subjunctive mode in Spanish

The Spanish word ojalá does not have an exact translation in English. It is used to express a wish or hope. In these cases the word ojalá is always followed by the subjunctive.

The absolute superlative

The absolute superlative is the very or extremely in Englush and does not describe a noun within the context of a group. One way to denote the absolute superlative in Spanish is by adding mut or extremadamente before the adjective (Pedro es muy intelligente). Another option is to add the suffix -ísimo to the adjective (Pedro es inteligentísimo) in accordance in gender and number with the noun it refers to (ísima, ísimos, ísimas). Adjectives ending in a vowel lose it when the suffix is added (mucho.muchísimo). Be aware of spelling changes required to comply with spelling rule (rico/riquísimo).

Discuss the use of compound relative pronouns and the subjunctive in Spanish

The compound relative pronouns quienquiera (whoever), cualquiera (whatever/whichever), and dondequiera(wherever) are always followed by que and then the verb in the subjunctive mode. quienquiera que escucha este sermon será transformado/whoever listens to this sermon will be transformed...)

Conditional tense (uses)

The conditional tense in Spanish is used in the same way the conditional is used in English: -with the subjunctive in true conditional if clauses (si yo fuera Juan, no iría a la fiesta/If I were Juan, I wouldn't go to the party) -in indirect speech, when the main verbs is in the past and the second verb denotes a future action in the past (Juan dijo que hablaría con ella/Juan said he would talk to her)

Conjunctions that always/sometimes require the subjunctive

The conjunctions antes (de) que, para que, sin que, a fin de que, a menos que, con tal (de) que, and en caso de que ae always followed by the verb in the subjunctive. The conjunctions aunque, como, donde, de manera que, de modo que, según, and mientras, when used to express the opinion of the speaker, uncertainty or a conjecture, require the use of the subjunctive mode.

The imperfect (uses)

The imperfect is used to express: -habitual actions in the past (cuando era niño, siempre...) -age in the past -time in the past -physical and emotional characteristics -continuous actions interrupted by another action in the past -description -action in progress

Discuss the different pronunciations of the letter c in Spanish

The letter c has two different pronunciations depending on which letter is after it, much as it is in English. If followed by an a (camino), o (correr), u (cuñado), or a consonant (conectar), the letter c sounds like the English hard c in come and camera or the k in break and kimono. If followed by the vowels e (centro) o i (cigarillo), the letter c sounds like the c in face and celery. In some countries, Spain for example, the s sound of the letter c is much softer, almost like the sound of the letter z. Note that in the particular case of the letter c followed by the consonant h (chico), it forms the new letter ch, which has a similar sound as the English ch in church.

Discuss spelling changes in verbs ending in ger and gir

The letter g in Spanish always has a hard sound like the same letter in English in words such as garnet and gray before the letters a (gaviota), o (govierno), and u (agudo), but a soft sound befroe e (gerente) and i (agitar). In those verbs ending in -ger (escoger, recoger) and -gir (elegir, dirigir), to keep the soft sound for the first person singular in the present tense, the letter g is replaced by the letter j, which always has a soft soung (yo escojo, yo recojo, yo eligo, yo dirijo), as well as in all present subjunctive forms, and negative commands.

Describe spelling changes in verbs ending in gar

The letter g in Spanish has always a hard sound before a (garúa), o (cargo), and u (gusano) but a soft sound before e (coger) and i (régimen). In those verbs ending in -gar (jugar, pagar, llegar), in order to keep the hard sound of the letter g, a u is added after the g for the first person singular form of the past tense (yo jugué), as well as in some subjunctive and imperative forms (jueguen).

Explain how the pronunciation is the letter j in Spanish differs from its pronunciation in English

The letter j has a completely different pronunciation from that of the same letter in English. Actually, the sound of the Spanish j does not exist in English. The closest sound would be an extremely hard and strong hm an exaggeration of the sound in words such as hot and home. In some regions the j is pronounced slightly softer but it still is much harder than the English h. Be aware that in Spanish, the letter g, when followed by the vowels e as in género and digerir or i as in registrar and higiene, has the same strong sound as the letter j.

Discuss the pronunciation of the letter r in Spanish

The letter r has two distinctly different pronunciations in Spanish; a soft one, similar to the English tt or dd sounds, and a strong, rolling one. The soft sound is used whenever a single letter r is in the middle of a word between two vowels (caro, puro, aire), between a vowel and most consonants (tren, jardín, parte), and at the end of a word (caminar, comer, recinir). At the beginning of a word (teto, rápido, rojo) or after the consonants l, n, and s (alrededor, sonrisa, Israel), the letter r is pronounced with the trilling sound used in the "double r" or rr phoneme.

Discuss the use of the letter w in Spanish

The letter w is not native to the Spanish language, and it appears only in words that come from other languages. Depending on the country, it is called "uve doble," "v doble," "doble u," or "doble v." Words in Spanish with a w have mostly English roots (waterpolo, hawaino, whisky) and are usually pronounced with the English w sound as found in water, when, winter, etc. In some countries, however, the w is pronounced with a very soft g added before the English w for a gu sound.

Discuss the existence of the letter ñ in Spanish `

The letter ñ does not exist in English, and, although it is written as an n with a ~ on top, it is completely distinct from the letter n. In Spanish, it can be found in words such as mañana, año, señor, niña, etc. The most similar sounds in English that resemble the ñ in Spanish are the ny or ni phonemes as found in words such as canyon, onion, or opinion, but pronounced fairly stronger. In the Spanish alphabet the ñ is located after the letter n.

Comment on the position of pronouns when using the present participle in Spanish

The personal pronouns me, te, le, lo, la, nos, les, los, and las, when used as direct or indirect objects of a present participle are attached to the end of the present participle to form a single word (escribiéndome). In the case of the progressive tenses with estar, there are two different and correct forms commonly used: the pronoun object can either be before the present participle as a separate word (Pedro me estaba diciendo) or attached to the end of the participle (Pedro estaba esperándome).

The gerund

The present participle (the -ing form in English) is formed in Spanish by dropping the infinitive ending of the verb and adding -ando or -iendo. -Er/-ir verbs with irregularities in the present of the indicative usually have an irregular present participle (dormir:durmiendo; creer:creyendo; poder:pudiendo; ir:yendo)

Perfect tenses (uses)

The present perfect is used to denote an action that took place at an indefinite period in the past (yo he leído este libro) or to describe a past action that continues into the present time (hemos vividos aquí muchos años). The past perfect of the indicative is used to denote an action in the past that happened before the second action (cuando me desperté, Mart ya había llegado). The future perfect is used to denote an action that will be completed in the future before a certain time or another action in the future occurs (me habré graduado antes de ir de vacaciones). The conditional perfect is used to denote an action that would have been completed in the past under certain conditions (ella le habría dicho la verdad).

Present perfect

The present perfect tense denotes an action in the recent past and is generally used in Spanish the same way it is used in English. It is formed with the present of the indicative of the auxiliary verb haber (he, has, ha, hemos, han) and the past participle of the verb (he comido bien hoy).

Clarify the use of reflexive verbs instead of the passive voice in Spanish

The reflexive form of a verb is very commonly used in Spanish instead of the passive voice in those cases where the subject of the sentence is an inanimate object or when the performer of the action is not important or is not specified. This particular structure is more often used in the present tense. For example: se vende carne en esa tienda instead of carne es vendida en esa tienda.

Cuyo

The relative pronoun cuyo in Spanish is equivalent to whose or of which in English. Cuyo has to agree with the gender and number of the noun it modifies, not with the subject that executes the action (la película cuyo director ganó el premio)

The relative superlative

The relative superlatice applies to a noun in the context of a group. The superlative degree of adjectives in Spanish is expressed by using the comparative form of the adjective (el más lindo, menos inteligente) preceded by the definitive article. The definite article has to agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to (María es la más bonita de las hermanas). This rule also applies to the irregular comparatives such as mejor, peor, mayo, and menor.

Explain the differences in the spelling of the phoneme f in English and Spanish

The sound of the phoneme f in Spanish is the same as the sound of the phoneme in English as found in words such as family and future. It is never pronounced with the v sound found in of for example. Another major difference is that the phoneme f is obtained in Spanish only by the use of the letter f, while in English the same sound appears in words with f (face), ff (coffin), and ph (photograph). The letter f is never doubled and the ph combination does not exist in Spanish. In some foreign words the ph has been replaced by a single f (teléfono, fotografía).

Outline the interrogative form in Spanish

The structure of sentences denoting interrogation is very much the same in English and in Spanish. If the questions include interrogative adjectives, pronouns and adverbs such as quién, cuál, cómo, etc., the questions begins with those words. In all other cases the question will begin with the verb followed by the subject, as it is done in English. Be aware that many times the subject is included in the verb and not specified otherwise. In their interrogative form, the interrogative adjectives, pronouns, and adverbs mentioned above always have a written stress or accent mark. Questions in Spanish require an interrogation mark at the beginning (¿) as well as at the end (?).

The subjunctive

The subjunctive is used in subordinate clauses introduced by que to express: WEIRDOS: Wishes (desires, imperatives), Emotion, Impersonal observations, Recommendations, Doubt (denial, disbelief), Ojalá, Speculation. The subjunctive is also used with adverbial clauses introduced by the following conjunctions: cuando, antes que, hasta que, tan pronto como, mientras, para que, afin de que, de manera que, sin que, aunque, a menos que and a tal que.

Relevant artists and films of Spanish cinema

The successful history of Spanish cinema started in the 1930s with Luis Buñuel, who was the first Spanish director to be recognized internationally through such films as Belle de Jour, El discreto encanto de la burgesía and Ese oscuro objeto del deseo. He was associated with the surrealist movement and worked in Spain, France, Mexico, and the US. Carlos Suara (La Madriguera, Cría Cuervos, Sweet Hours) was also a world-known Spanish director beginning in the 1950s. At present time, Pedro Almodóvar's works (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios, Todo acerca de mi madre, Volver) are well known in both Europe and the Americas and have made household names of some of the actors (Antonio Banderas) and actresses (Penélope Cruz) that have worked in his films.

Parecer and its different meanings in Spanish

The verb parecer has different meanings in Spanish depending on whether it is used as a nonreflexive or reflexive verb. When used as a nonreflexive verb, it means to appear/to seem and expresses some level of uncertainty. Used as the reflexive verb parecerse, it means to resemble.

Explain the regional differences in pronunciation of the double l.

The way the "double l" sounds varies by region, and sometimes even within the same country. In most Spanish speaking areas, the ll has a soft sound similar to the English y in yes or yellow. In many parts of Argentina and Uruguay, however, the ll is much stronger and is pronounced like the zh phoneme found in English in words such as measure and pleasure. Common words that have the ll phoneme are lluvia, llave, llorar, and llegar.

The zarzuela

The zarzuela is a particular type of performance art that mixes theater and music. In a zarzuela singing and speaking take turns. The zarzuela originated in Spain in the 17th century, and the pieces were very popular with the kings and other members of the privileged class. In Spain its popularity started to decline with the arrival of opera. Nevertheless, zarzuelas kept on being popular in other countries such as Cuba. In the 19th and 20th century, they became popular again in Spain. The most famous composers of zarzuelas are Amadeo Vives, Federico Chueca, José Serrano, and Jacinto Guerrero.

List the most common reflexive verbs that have a different meaning in Spanish.

There are several verbs in Spanish that have a different meaning, depending on whether they are used as reflexive verbs or not. Parecer means to seem or to appear (parece que va a llover/it seems it is going to rain) while parecerse means to resemble (Juan se parece a su padres/Juan resembles his father). Dormir means to sleep while dormirse means to fall asleep (Jorge se durmió en el tren/Jorge fell asleep in the train). Other examples are llamar (to call) and llamarse (to be named) and llevar (to carry) and llevarse (to get along).

Discuss the issue of gender in Spanish words

There are two genders in Spanish, masculine and feminine, for nouns. adjectives, and articles. Every noun has a gender. There is no neutral (like it in English), and inanimate objects and other nouns that define similar concepts have a gender. There are no rules to determine which gender is assigned to each noun. With some exceptions, nouns that end with the letter o are masculine (carro, libro), and nouns that end with the letter a are feminine (casa, mesa). Nouns that refer to people or animals generally have the two versionsL one ending in a for the female (niña, gata, perra), and one ending in o for the male (niño, gato, perro). Sometimes as in English, the female and male of the same animated onject use different nouns (mujer/hombre) but the gender assignment is consistent with the gender they represent. The same rules apply to adjectives and articles.

Comment on the definite article and its differences between English and Spanish

There is only one definite article in English, the, used to refer to something in a general way. It does not denote quantity or gender, being the same for singular, plural, feminine, and masculine nouns. By contrast, Spanish has different forms or variations depending on the characteristics of the noun (el, los. la. las). The definite article must always be in agreement in number and gender with the noun it precedes.

Discuss the use of the expression hace...que in Spanish

To describe an action that starts in the past and continues in the present, the Spanish language uses the present perfect tense (yo he estudiado). Very often, these same type of ideas are expressed with hace..que, which can be compares to the it's been in English (hace un año que yo estudio español)/ When using hace...que, the sentence begins with hace, the time modifier, and then que, followed by the subject and verb, which is no longer in the present perfect of the indicative.

The conditional tense (formation)

To form the conditional of all regular verbs, add the endings shown in the table below the infinitive, regardless of the conjugation, -ar, -er, or -ir. yo -ía tú -ías él -ía nosotros -íamos Vosotros -íais ellos -ían Examples: yo hablaría, tú caminarías, él viajaría, nosotros, regresaríamos, ellos llamarían. yo comería, tú aprenderías, él recibiría, nosotros desapareceríamos, ellos beberían

Future tense

To form the future add the ending shown below to the infinitive: yo: -é tú: -ás él: -á nosotros: -emos vosotros: -éis ellos: -án Examples: yo hablaré nosotros beberemos tú caminarás vosotros batiréis él correrá ellos vivirán

The imperfect of the subjunctive

To form the imperfect of the subjunctive of regular verbs, take the third person plural of the preterit of the indicative (ellos hablaron), drop ron, and add the endings shown below: yo: -ra tú: -ras él: -ra nosotros: -ramos vosotros: -rais ellos: -ran Examples: yo hablara, tú caminaras, él viajara, nosotros regresáramos, ellos llamaran yo comiera, tú aprendieras, él corriera, nosotros entendiéramos, ellos dependieran

Present of the subjunctive

To form the present of the subjunctive of regular verbs, take the first person singular of the present of the indicative (yo hablo), drop the o, add the opposite ending. AR ER/IR yo -e -a tú -es -as él -e -a nosotros -emos -amos vosotros -éis -áis ellos -en -an Examples: yo hable, tú camines, él viaje, nosotros regresemos, ellos dependan yo coma, tú escribas, él corra, nosotros entendamos, ellos dependan.

Uruguay

Uruguay is in South America between Argentina and Brazil, in the area of the Rio de la Plata. In Pre-Colombian times, several indigenous peoples inhabited the area, most notably the Charrúas, who rebelled against the Spaniards who wanted to conquer the region. In 1516, Juan Díaz de Solís arrived at the Rio de la Plata, and shortly after the area we know today as Uruguay was explored. Sebastián Gaboto founded the first settlement in 1527, but it was destroyed by the Indians. in 1680, the Portuguese founded a colony that was given to the Spaniards in 1777. Montevideo was occupied the British in 1806. After fighting against the Spaniards and the Portuguese and after several different changes in the government, Uruguay was established as a state in 1825. The capital is Montevideo, and the currency is the Uruguayan peso.

Spanish Architecture

Varied and reflects its history. It had a significant Roman influence from when it was a part of the Roman Empire. It then incorporated Arab features, especially in the area of Córdoba, under the Moors domination. Romanesque and gothic elements were later integrated. The 20th century brought Modernism to architecture, with Antoní Gaudi and Barcelona as its center. Contemporary Spanish architects are internationally recognized, among them Rafael Moneo, and Santiago Calatraca.

Clarify changes in spelling for verbs ending in uir

Verbs ending in -uir (incluir, huir, construir, contribuir, destruir) have a y in the present tense (yo incluyo, tú huyes, él construye, ellos constribuyen) before all endings except those beginnin with an i (nosotros destruímos). The same rule applies for the past tense (él construyó). The letter y in these words is pronounced like an i except in Argentina and Uruguay where its sound is closer to the sh sound in English.

Discuss spelling changes in verbs ending in cer and cir

Verbs in Spanish that end in -cer (conocer) or -cir (conducir) preceded by a vowel are irregular in the present tense of the indicative for the first person singular yo. These verbs have a -zco as the ending for that particular tense and person (yo conozco). Similarly, in the present of the subjunctive tense, for all persons, these verbs use the ending -zca (que el merezca). The same rules apply to all other verbs derived from those mention above (desconocer, desaparecer, aparecer, desmerecer, deslucir).

Discuss the different pronunciations of the letter g in Spanish

When followed by a consonant (regla, negro) or by the vowels a, o, or u (gaviota, agosto, gusto), the sound of the letter g in Spanish is similar to the sound of that same letter in English words, such as good and game. If the letter g in Spanish is like the sound of the Spanish j (a very hard English h). If there is a u between the letter g and the vowels e or i (guerra, guiso), the letter g recovers its soft sound.

Reading comprehension, informative and styles

When reading a text, it is important to determine the style of the piece in the informative style, the author presents the information and the data in an objective way. He/she is trying to educate of give something to the audience. On the other hand, in the persuasive style, the writer is trying to convince the reader of his/her ideas. he/she presents the information from his/her own point of view. In a piece written in the persuasive style, it is important to be able to separate the actual facts from the opinions of the author.

Explain distributive adjectives and pronouns in Spanish

While in English there are usually two different distributive adjectives and pronouns with the same meaning (each and every, everyone and everybody), in Spanish there is only one form for each particular connotation. Each and every are translated as cada (each season has its advantages/cada estación tiene sus ventajas). The equivalent of everyone and everybody is todos (everyone loves him/todos lo aman) and everything is todo (everything he said was true/todo lo que dijo era verdad).