If when you think about learning Spanish, you think about 1:1 lessons, conversation exchanges or classes and grammar books, and the prospect sounds a bit arid, think again. I am all for unconventional learning. I am also about adapting the learning to the specific needs of my students because: One […]
In a previous article, I suggested five books written in Spanish to indulge in your Spanish language interest. In this article, I have 6 movies or TV series to put your listening skills into practice. “It’s funny how the colours of the real world only seem really real when you […]
Selvas tengo en el corazón; árboles gruesos prietos de ramas; yuyos, retamas, flores de malvón, pájaros en las ramas, todo eso tengo en mi corazón. – Alfonsina Storni Una chica de ciudad. I once was a city girl. Coming from a small Spanish city, I grew up seeing only pigeons […]
Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world. – Malala Yousafzai Learning Spanish at a low pace means taking fewer lessons and spend more time doing the activities you love in Spanish. If you are something like me, you are a bookworm […]
Writing poetry in your target language is – can be–, a way to more than increasing vocabulary and reaching accuracy. Although these reasons are already good in themselves. Writing poetry through guided prompts can help you nail down grammar structures in manner that involves your emotions and your experiences. There […]
I recently sent a questionnaire to my audience asking them what their struggles were in Spanish and what they wanted or needed more of to improve and progress in their Spanish journey. One of the questions I asked was how interested they were in a poetry course in Spanish to […]
Why setting intentions in Spanish? Let’s start by laying out the benefits of setting intentions and how you can improve your Spanish (and your life even!) in doing so. “Intention is one of the most powerful forces there is. What you mean when you do a thing will always determine […]
How to find the words to say what you want to say, and how you want to say it? In other words, how to achieve accuracy in Spanish? At the base of an accurate expression in Spanish – or any other language you are learning–, is an understanding of basic […]
Meditation in Spanish <blockquote><p style=”text-align: center;”>Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.</p></blockquote>I have talked extensively about the benefits of <a href=”https://mariaortegagarcia.com/spanish-blog/meditation-and-language-learning/”>meditation for your language learning</a> practice. Having a calm mind will result in a more efficient Spanish practice, but what if you combine meditation […]
Journaling is one of the best ways to improve your Spanish. Why? Because you not only put into practice what you have learned but also, and most importantly because you connect emotionally with what you are writing. “A personal journal is an ideal environment in which to become. It is […]
Every language has its own prosody – the patterns of stress and intonation–. That’s why when we are in a foreign country we can recognise our compatriots by hearing them speaking even if we don’t hear what they say. In this post you will learn: The intonation in Spanish Five […]
This post focuses on the speaking tasks of DELE B2, DELE C1 and DELE C2 oral exam. These tasks involve expressing an opinion and negotiating / arguing with the examiner in a formal / informal conversation. In this post we also cover the DELE exam topics for the DELE B2, […]
The Spanish that you Already Know There is a lot you already know when you start learning Spanish, even if you haven’t studied it before. First of all, languages are not isolated things. Each language has commonalities with other languages. They are all part of a family and influence each other, so […]
Whether you are inclined to a beer or a glass of wine, having a drink and a small bite is part of Spanish culture as much as eating paella on Sundays. Every neighbourhood is populated with dozens of bars, from the tasca de barrio to the new restobar or gastropub. Almost every […]
Cada día es un nuevo comienzo.(Every day is a new beginning) <img width=”1170″ height=”350″ src=”https://mariaortegagarcia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Headers-1-1.png” alt=”” srcset=”https://mariaortegagarcia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Headers-1-1.png 1170w, https://mariaortegagarcia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Headers-1-1-300×90.png 300w, https://mariaortegagarcia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Headers-1-1-768×230.png 768w, https://mariaortegagarcia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Headers-1-1-1024×306.png 1024w” sizes=”(max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px” /> There are multiple reasons why you should be comfortable describing your morning routine, one of them being the DELE exam (as […]
Have you ever considered comics to improve or learn Spanish? Well, let me tell you if you haven’t, you should. Comics are a great way to access any language because they don’t have much text or long sentences and they show the current spoken language. History of the comic in […]
As we advance in the journey of learning Spanish and we deepen in the Spanish language, we need resources to express with more and more detail our emotions, our surroundings, our views… These resources for advanced Spanish are at our disposal in books. Literature tends to be very descriptive […]
What can be a better way to learn Spanish than doing it while watching one of your favorite TV shows? Many of my students keep asking me suggestions about TV shows in Spanish that they could watch to improve their learning and also, and if watching a TV show really […]
Spanish has many verbs that are used for specific types of change or transformation, and if the change is sudden or involuntary. Many of those verbs mean “to become” in English but in Spanish they are not interchangeable because they have very specific meanings for particular situations. The next four verbs […]
I like wine. Yes, I can`t deny it. I also know I am not the only one. So, if you are a bit like me, you will enjoy this post very much. In every country I have traveled, what I want to do is to soak in their culture, talk […]
Do you know how to use the verbs “tardar”, “llevar” and “durar” in time expressions? Their use is fairly common to express how long it takes to do something, how long something goes on for or how long something has been going on. Let’s see the best way to use […]
Gerund. And what’s that? FORM We make it by replacing the endings “-ar, -er, -ir” of the infinitive with -ando (verbs that ends in -ar) or -iendo for the verbs that end in -er, -ir Note: if the stem of the verb ends in vowel, ie. caer — ca-er, the […]
“Echar” is a very tricky but I’m here to help! 🙂 If you look for the meanings of “echar” in the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy Dictionary) you will find about 48 meanings and as many expressions that use this verb. But despite all this abundance of meanings, the idea of […]
In today’s post, you will learn how to translate the verb “to advise” in Spanish. This is a false friend in Spanish because the meaning of “to advise” has nothing to do with “avisar”. To advise: ‘aconsejar, asesorar’ Avisar: ‘to notify, to warn, to call’ Not the same, are they? […]
As you all know, all nouns in Spanish have a genre, they are masculine or feminine. The main trait to distinguish if a word is masculine or female is by the ending. If the word ends by -o is masculine and if it ends by -a is feminine, although there […]
In this short post you will learn how to translate the verb “to realize” in Spanish. This is a false friend in Spanish, because we have the verb “realizar” but it’s nothing alike “to realize”. To realize ➠ ‘darse cuenta’ Realizar ➠ ‘to make, accomplish’ See? Not the same. Now, look […]
Suggest plans How useful is it to find the ways to propose, accept and refuse plans? In this post you will learn how to do exactly that. There are several ways of suggesting plans. Here I’ll show you few: – ¿Porqué no vamos a la playa mañana? – Why don’t […]
“Ser” and “estar” are not the same thing, as the Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz tells us is his song “No es lo mismo” (here you can have a look at the lyrics in Spanish and its translation into English) In a previous post, I wrote about the differences between […]
In this post we will see very useful vocabulary about Internet, social networks, computers… Ordendores (‘computers’) – Portátil (‘laptop’) – Ordenador de mesa (‘desktop computer’) Activities Clicar, hacer clic, cliquear, pinchar (‘to click’). We have different options, all valid, for this verb. […]
Today I’m determined to solve one of my students’ worst nightmare. (cheers and applauses…) When do we use “quedar” and when “quedarse”? What does it mean “quedar”? and “quedarse”? These two verbs have completely different meanings and uses, let’s take a look at them: Quedar Quedar has a few meanings: […]
The 14th of February is Valentine’s Day so in today’s post I will show you some useful vocabulary and expressions related with this “loving” subject. We call this day El Día de los Enamorados or San Valentín in Spanish. What do we do in this day when we are love someone […]
We will learn some vocabulary related to describing someone’s personality in Spanish. When we want to ask about the physical aspect and the personality of someone we don’t know, we ask a general question: ¿Cómo es? (How is he / she?) But if we are just curious about the personality […]
¿Qué haces todos los días? ☞ What do you do every day? All of us we have some routine daily activities that we do every day. If you’d ask me the question ¿Qué haces todas las mañanas? My answer would be in the following lines: Me levanto a las 9 de la […]
Talking about the weather is a very handy topic in every language when you don’t know what to say. Here, I am going to give you all the vocabulary necessary to solve any uncomfortable silence in the lift. But before we get into that, let me tell you that “weather” […]
This verb, valer, has different meanings in Spanish. 1. It’s used to ask for the price. It’s is accorded with the item whose price we want to know. Valer = ‘To cost’ – ¿Cuánto vale este bolso? How much is this bag? – ¿Cuánto valen estos zapatos? How much are […]
As we saw in a previous post, there exist few confusing verbs in Spanish. In this post I will take the doubts out of “pedir” and “preguntar”. Both verbs express the idea “to ask” reason why they are often mixed up by the Spanish learners. The choice of one […]
