Feliz Navidad = Merry Christmas

December 24, 2012

By Os

¡Feliz Navidad amig@s! Let me show you some vocabulario for these dates:

Regalo = gift. Presente = present.

Árbol de navidad = X-mas tree. Portal = Nativity.

Noche Buena = X-mas Eve.

Papá Noel = Santa Claus.

Aguinaldo = An extra payment that employees get in diciembre.

Tamal = Tamale. A kind of small dumpling, stuffed with meat and other eatables, and wrapped in banana leaves.

Rompope = Eggnog. Ponche de huevo. Huevos, leche, vainilla y ron… I’m getting drunk… ¡Salud!

Just for this month (because it is Navidad) I am gonna show you AGAIN something sweet about Spanish: The pronunciation of the stuff.

In Spanish, when you see a letter such as “A”, it sounds like /ah/ in Anita, /ah/ in padre and /ah/ in any single word that has an “A” in it. Punto=Period.

In English, when you see a letter such as “A”, it sounds like /ey/ in Amy, /ah/ in father and who knows what else in another word that has “A” in it.

En español the letter you see and the sound that is gonna come out of your mouth when you see that letter is always the same.

If you have trouble with these little guys:

A-a, E-e, I-i, O-o, U-u;

you will have serious trouble whenever you want to pronounce words in español. Take them seriously NOW. AGAIN.

When speaking español, if you make the following sounds every time the corresponding letter appears you’ll sound just like a native speaker. ¿When? ¡Every time the letter appears!

A /ah/ like father

E /eh/ like met

I /ee/ like keep

O /oh/ like open

U /oo/ like boot

¡Trust me!!! Know these 5 vocales and you will be on your way. Be careful with the “e”, the “i” and the “a”.

¡Let’s practice – Practiquemos! AGAIN

* E – e – É – é *

* O – o – Ó – ó *

* I – i – Í – í *

* U – u – Ú – ú *

* A – a – Á – á *

* A – E – I – O – U – a – e – i – o – u *

Elena, Eduardo, España, elefante, espada.

Olga, Orlando, Oslo, oso, ojo.

Ingrid, Ignacio, Inglaterra, iguana, iglesia.

Úrsula, Ulises, Uruguay, unicornio, uva.

Ana, Andrés, Alemania, ardilla, árbol.

Ok guys. Let me finish this article -year- letting you know that we tic@s appreciate the effort you are doing trying to learn Spanish.

Personalmente I think you show respect to costarricenses and all latin people if you try to speak the language that we speak in our countries instead of expecting that we speak your language.

This year we learned A LOT, ¿didn’t we? We learned:

Gender and PluralSSS and how we have to match/agree everything.

Días de la semana & Meses del año.

How to count with los números.

How important The Big 5 (A – E – I – O – U) are…

You know several thousand Spanish words that are very alike (or the same) in Spanish and English.

And we learned how to play with verbs.

AWESOME BLOSSOM.

I am very proud of you guys.

Buen trabajo y ¡¡¡Feliz Navidad a tod@s!!!

Oops. I almost forgot it. I have a X-mas regalito for all you guys. ”The secret to learning another language quickly.” Check this link out:

http://www.oscostarica.com/?p=64

”You’ve got to speak it from day one.”
“Don’t wait to understand all the words, the grammar or the tenses.”
“Use the words and tenses you’re learning immediately, even if you make a lot of mistakes at first.”
“When you get into the flow quickly, you can improve quickly.”
“You just have to aim for the best as you can, in the shortest time you can.”
“If you have a desire deep inside of you to learn a language, PLEASE don’t suppress it. Don’t wait another day to get started.”
“Just start speaking the language now. Today.”
“So today, do yourself a favor and commit to learning your target language.”
“Don’t just put an hour or so a week into it; MAKE the time and you’ll get the results.”
“Don’t allow yourself to wake up in ten years time regretting never have learned the language you’ve always wanted to. OK?”