Practice Makes Perfect!
Vocabulario semanal - Vocabulary of the Week
hay dos claves importantes - there are two important keys
la primera - the first one
y la segunda - and the second one
uno sin otro - one without another
nuestro curso - our course
muy exitoso - very successful
no es suficiente - isn't enough (sufficient)
también tiene que estar dispuesto - you also have to be willing
si es posible - if it's possible
recomi endo - I recommend
está tratando de aprender - is trying to learn
día de español - Spanish day
está mejorando - is improving
una conversación - a conversation
con otros - with others
se preocupan que - they worry that
también se preocupan por decir - also they worry about saying
de la verdad - from the truth
cuando empiezas a hablar - when you start to speak
su idioma - your language
su idioma - their language ('su' can be 'your formal' for 'their')
gente Latina - Latino people
con Norteamericanos - with Americans
que no saben el Francés bien - who (that) don't know French well
es muy diferente - is very different
algo que necesita saber - something you need to know
más amables en el mundo - friendliest in the world
les hace sentir bien - it makes them feel good
necesita tener - you need to have
en el futuro cercano - in the near future
con ellos - with them
el miedo/el temor - the fear
y cómodo que es - and comfortable (that) it is
hablar con ellos - to talk to them
Hola, ¿Qué tal? - Hi, how are you?
Estoy aprendiendo español, "¿Puede ayudarme? - I'm learning Spanish, can you help me?
Me llamo Dave - My name is Dave
¿De dónde es usted? - Where are you from?
¿Están listos? - Are you ready?
arriba - above
una meta - a goal
una vez que lo haya hecho - once you've done it (this is subjunctive)
como le fue - how it went for you
Hay dos claves importantes to learning Spanish well and being an effective communicator. La primera is to gain a basic knowledge of the language y la segunda is to practice with real people. Uno sin otro can never get you as far as you could've gone with both. Nuestro curso has proven to be muy exitoso for thousands of people all over the world; it will give you the base you need to succeed. However, it alone no es suficiente. También tiene que estar dispuesto to break out of your comfort zone and speak with others in Spanish - especially native speakers. Si es posible, recomiendo doing this at least once or twice per week. Here in our office, Brock está tratando de aprender Spanish; every Thursday we have "día de español" where we only speak Spanish. Brock está mejorando his Spanish by leaps and bounds.
Many people are very nervous about striking up una conversación con otros in Spanish especially with a native speaker. Se preocupan que maybe they'll say something wrong or that the native speaker won't understand them. También se preocupan por decir things incorrectly or possibly even getting embarrassed or "making a fool of themselves". Nothing could be farther de la verdad. Cuando empiezas a hablar another language, you actually gain compassion for all of the people trying to learn "su" idioma. You'll be surprised at how nice people are when you try to speak su idioma - especially gente Latina. This misconception is generally true, however, with some French people who may not be quite as patient con Norteamericanos que no saben el Francés bien, but the Spanish experience es muy diferente.
Algo que necesita saber about Spanish culture is that native Spanish speakers are some of the más amables en el mundo. Les hace sentir bien to see others trying to learn su idioma, and they are very eager to help you.
To really learn Spanish, necesita tener the courage to go up to a native Spanish speaker en el futuro cercano and start-up a conversation con ellos (in Spanish of course). Once you get over el el miedo of the initial conversation, I think you'll be ama zed at how easy y cómodo que es hablar con ellos.
Here are a few phrases that I recommend to get you started. First you could say, "Hola, ¿Qué tal?" [Oh-law, kay tall]. Then, you could say, "Estoy aprendiendo español, "¿Puede ayudarme?" [Es-toy ah-pren-dyen-do es-pan-yol, pweh-they ah-you-thar-may]. Next, you could say "Me llamo Dave" [May yaw-moe Dave]. Of course, you don't want to say your name is "Dave" unless your name really is "Dave". Finally, to spark some conversation, you could ask "¿De dónde es usted?" [Day doan-day es oo-stead] which means "Where are you from?"
Here is my assignment to all of you newsletter subscribers. ¿Están listos? Practice the phrases (arriba) and set una meta of when you are going to approach a native speaker. Una vez que lo haya hecho it and had a conversation in Spanish, send me an e-mail and let me know como le fue. I'm eager to hear from you!
Subject: Practice Makes Perfect! 
Fri Jan 23, 2015 2:17 pm
