Welcome to Spanish for Beginners: Lesson One! Bienvenido a la lección uno!
We will begin our activities with a Language Dance. Our first Language Dance will be Quiero Comer. We will learn the following verb phrases:
quiero comer (I want to eat)
quiero dormir (I want to sleep)
quiero jugar (I want to play)
quiero bailar (I want to dance)
In our second activity we will listen to the song Hola Mis Amigos. This song will emphasize a number of phrases that we commonly use when encountering someone we know.
In our third activity we will begin to get very comfortable with some common greetings, “Hola,” “Cómo está,” and “Muy bien.”
And, in our fourth activity we begin to internalize a simple, but very common sentence structure : “es un animal.”
Finally, in our fifth activity we are introduced to 20 cognates (words that are similar in both Spanish and English).
Just chose the activity tabs at the top of the page to access each of the different Language Dance activities.
Enjoy!
Song
Quiero Comer (I Want To Eat)
In this Language Dance activity we will be learning an important, and often used, phrase: “I want.” Or, in Spanish: “Quiero.”
First The Gestures
Those are our initial action words and gestures.
More on Gestures
I will begin by sharing a few words and phrases with you along with some accompanying gestures. For example, I will share the word comer (to eat). I will give you a chance to hear the word on its own. Then I will show you the gesture that goes along with the word. After you try the gestures along with the word, then it will be time to listen to the song and perform the gestures along with the song. But you must (I am urging you) you must try the gestures with the phrases. The best thing would be to get up and dance with the music. Just imagine when your friends ask how you got in such great shape learning Spanish.
Now the Song
Song (Quiero Comer)Step 1: Download the song, load the song in your ipod or burn it to a cd, and listen to the song every once in a while when you get a chance. It is as simple as that. If you are interested in what the song sounds like, you might want to have a listen now. That will give you a chance to hear how the words and phrases repeat.
*** Just a quick note on downloading. These are rather large audio files. This song is close to eight minutes. So that is almost three times larger than most song files you may have downloaded in the past so they will take longer to download. You may have to be patient. Hopefully you will find that it is worth the wait.
The first few songs in our Language Dance lesson focus on the action of wanting. I want (quiero).
Quiero is an important verb. A verb is simply an action word.
As human beings, for better or worse, we spend a great deal of our time ‘wanting.’ We feel desire. We have urges. We want to have or possess things. Young and old alike feel this. Think of young children before they can even talk—they are reaching out for this and that (and putting up quite a stink when they don’t get what they want).
Now, we don’t want to think of quiero as a word to memorize. We want to think of quiero as a feeling and action that we experience. Try this: hold your arms out in front of you, palms up, fingers slightly curled, and as you say “I want,” pull your hands toward you as if drawing that object of desire toward you. This is very different than simply saying a word, or reading a word. The whole action is incorporated into your understanding. That is the basis of Language Dance. Feel “Quiero.” You see, it is important to feel that feeling of wanting as we hear and say the word. We want to feel the feeling of desire. And, we represent and feel this with our bodies by imagining we are drawing something toward us as we say the phrase.
Now pull your hands toward you as if drawing that object of desire toward you and say Quiero. Quiero. You see, our brain is already wired to feel the feeling of wanting. By saying the phrase, imagining that we want something, and performing our gesture, we are wiring the phrase ‘quiero’ to our body’s physical wiring. You are not memorizing a phrase or word that is removed from your bodily experience. You are not wiring the image of a written word that exists outside of your body. You are wiring the phrase to your bodily action and desire.
You will notice that when you do this bodily movement your retention of the phrase is much better than had you tried to memorize the phrase by writing it down. This is not to say that you shouldn’t write the phase down. We will do that as well. That can help too. But initially we want to hear and feel directly with our bodies and allow our brains to make the connections for us.
Step 2: Feel the verbs comer, dormir, jugar and bailar by watching the video clip and imitating the gestures. I am going to begin by giving you five action words with gestures. The technical term for my word choice is collocation (co: together, and location: place). Collocation is the act of combining words that are naturally located together. ‘Quiero’ and ‘comer’ (‘I want’ and ‘to eat’) are words commonly placed together. So, rather than simply learning the word ‘comer,’ we learn the words in combination. These next phrases will seem obvious. But, as we move further into the lessons, we will often try to understand entire phrases rather than individual words. But more on that later.
Step 3: Now we can listen to the song and act out the phrases.
Download the song Quiero Comer and put it in your song library so that you can listen to it in the future.
Song Quiero Comer
quiero comer
quiero dormir
quiero jugar
quiero bailar
Step 4: Listen to Quiero Comer once a day, performing the gestures along with the song until you feel, and understand, the phrases.
You’ve got to love cognates. A cognate is a word that is very similar in both English and Spanish. Cognates are particularly useful for those beginning to learn Spanish. The great thing about cognates is that as you become familiar with them you will find your Spanish vocabulary will increase rapidly. In this activity I will introduce you to twenty cognates.
Step 1.Read through the following list of cognates. Notice the similar spelling between the Spanish and the English.
bicycle
bicicleta
gas
gas
gasoline
gasolina
terrible
terrible
student
estudiante
satisfaction
satisfacción
dictionary
diccionario
balcony
balcon
false
falso
hospital
hospital
family
familia
elegant
elegante
error
error
fabulous
fabuloso
bank
banco
vacation
vacación
Pacific
pacifico
pharmacy
farmacia
artist
artista
chimpanzee
chimpancé
Step 2. Listen to the accompanying audio so that you can hear the way the new words sound. (Each new word is repeated four times to help you hear the way the word is pronounced).
[S3AUDIO file=’M111/Cognates20Repeat4(ES).mp3′]
Step 3. Download the audio to your library so that you can listen to the audio at your own convenience.
In this exercise you will need a place to sit, stand, and walk around. Just follow the instructions. You will quickly learn to understand the four commands.
[S3AUDIO file=’YouDoIt/YouDoIt1.mp3′]
[S3FILE file=’YouDoIt/YouDoIt1.mp3.zip’ anchor=’Download You Do It 1′]
levantate = get up, or stand up
sientate = sit down
camina = walk
para = stop
Necesita: una caja, una foto de una bicicleta, una foto de gasolina, una foto de un estudiante, una foto de un diccionario, una foto de un balcon, una foto de un hospital, una foto de un banco, una foto de una familia, una foto de una farmacia, una foto de una artista, una foto de un chimpancé.
Comienza
Señala la bicicleta.
Toca la bicicleta.
Recoge la bicicleta.
Di: “esta es una bicicleta.”
Pon la bicicleta en la caja.
Señala la gasolina.
Toca la gasolina.
Recoge la gasolina.
Di: “esta es gasolina.”
Pon la gasolina en la caja.
Señala el estudiante.
Toca el estudiante.
Recoge el estudiante.
Di: “este es un estudiante.”
Pon el estudiante en la caja.
Señala el diccionario.
Toca el diccionario.
Recoge el diccionario.
Di: “este es un diccionario.”
Pon el diccionario en la caja.
Señala el balcon.
Toca el balcon.
Recoge el balcon.
Di: “este es un balcon.”
Pon el balcon en la caja.
Señala el hospital.
Toca el hospital.
Recoge el hospital.
Di: “este es un hospital.”
Pon el hospital en la caja.
Señala el banco.
Toca el banco.
Recoge el banco.
Di: “este es un banco.”
Pon el banco en la caja.
Señala la familia.
Toca la familia.
Recoge la familia.
Di: “esta es una familia.”
Pon la familia en la caja.
Señala la farmacia.
Toca la farmacia.
Recoge la farmacia.
Di: “esta es una farmacia.”
Pon la farmacia en la caja.
Señala la artista.
Toca la artista.
Recoge la artista.
Di: “esta es una artista.”
Pon la artista en la caja.
Señala el chimpancé.
Toca el chimpancé.
Recoge el chimpancé.
Di: “este es un chimpancé.”
Pon el chimpancé en la caja.
Vocabulario
Step 1: listen to the vocabulary practice.
Vocabulario
[S3AUDIO file=’M113/VocabD.mp3′]
[S3FILE file=’M113/VocabD.mp3.zip’ anchor=’Download the Vocabulario’]
hour (hora)
¿What hora will you be home?
Probably en dos horas. I can leave my oficina early.
¿At what hora will the lechero deliver the leche?
Not until cinco hora.
¿At what hora will the lechero deliver the leche?
En una hora.
children (niños)
La mujer has cinco niños.
All her niños like leche.
Her niños drink dos galones de leche a día.
¿How many niños in your classroom?
I have 24 niños.
¿When los niños are bad they are sent to la oficina?
When niños are bad they are sent to the oficina.
¿Are your niños going to el aeropuerto with you?
Yes, we are all taking un taxi to el aeropuerto.
The doctora has been treating a lot of niños lately.
Aparently they had been drinking some bad leche.
But don’t blame the lechero.
La mujer has cinco niños.
All her niños like leche.
Her niños drink dos galones de leche a día.
That is a lot of leche for each niño.
The doctora has been treating a lot of niños lately.
Apparently they had been drinking some bad leche.
But don’t blame the lechero. El lechero has nothing to do with the quality of the leche.
The children (los niños)
Those are los niños of that mujer over there.
Look at los niños. ¿Are they sus hijos?
Oh dear, I just realized that los niños are my hijos.
their children (sus niños)
Sus niños are very polite.
Mis niños really like the niños of the lechero.
Sus niños always seem to have ice cream treats.
a taxi (una taxi)
airport (aeropuerto)
¿Do we have to take un taxi to el aeropuerto?
It is easier to take el taxi than el autobus.
¿Why don’t we drive our coche to el aeropuerto?
I would rather take un taxi than our coche.
We would have to pay for parking at el aeropuerto if we drove our coche.
Si, you are right. Let’s take un taxi to el aeropuerto.
Sus niños shouldn’t take un taxi by themselves.
The youngest niño is dos and the oldest niño is only cinco.
Yes but they have un niño who is much older. That niño is 19.
¿Are your niños going to el aeropuerto with you?
Yes, we are all taking un taxi to el aeropuerto.
She is always asking questions.
¿Is there a lounge in el aeropuerto?
¿Should we drive our coche to el aeropuerto?
¿Can we park el coche at el aeropuerto?
¿Is there a Holiday Inn near el aeropuerto?
¿Should we take the shuttle to el aeropuerto?
Pregunta after pregunta.
All she does is ask preguntas.
Mexico City (la Ciudad de México)
¿Do you know anything about la Ciudad de México?
Si. I lived in la Ciudad de México.
There is a very nice aeropuerto in la Ciudad de México.
¿Did you know that la Ciudad de México has over 20 million people.
¿Can we take el autobus from la Ciudad de México to Puebla?
Yes, you can catch el autobus right at el aeropuerto.
story (cuento)
¿Would you tell me un cuento?
Sure. ¿What cuento would you like to hear?
¿Would you tell me el cuento of the Three Bears: Los Tres Osos?
I love children’s cuentos. And I love the cuento of Los Tres Osos.
He told sus niños a very scary cuento.
I would never tell mis niños un cuento like that.
sleep (dormir)
¿What time do you usually go to dormir?
Ten oclock. I have to dormir at least 8 hours a night.
When we were traveling, we had to dormir in el aeropuerto.
¿Do you ever dormir in your oficina?
bed (cama)
I wish I had a cama in my oficina. Then I could dormir whenever I was tired.
Mis niños each have their own cama.
Dos niños. Dos camas
We wanted to find a hotel room with dos camas.
This cama is too hard. This cama is too soft. But this cama is just right.
Don’t forget to make your cama.
La cama was too small. His feet extended past the end of la cama. The sheets were even smaller. They didn’t even cover the cama.
me too (yo también)
I like leche. Yo también.
I like the lechero. Yo también.
I like sus niños. Yo también.
I like that aeropuerto. Yo también.
excited (emocionado(a))
The lechero was very emocionado.
The mujer was very emocionada tambien.
The whole crowd was emocionado at the concert.
¿Did you see how emocionado the father was when the doctora delivered the baby of la mujer?
temperature (temperatura)
¿Would you turn up the temperatura?
I like the temperatura in Costa Rica.
If you don’t like the temperatura, put on a coat.
fantastic (fantástico)
at what time (a qué hora)
¿A qué hora should we go to the aeroepuerto?
En cinco horas.
A qué hora should we leave to go to the theater?
En dos horas.
clock, watch (reloj)
¿Do you have a reloj?
No, but there is a reloj over there on the wall, la pared.
And there is a reloj on the microwave–la microonda.
Oh, and there is also a reloj on the stove–laestufa.
I like this, we have a reloj on the microwave.
Wow! A reloj on la pared, a reloj on la microonda
And a reloj on la estufa. You have a lot of relojs.
No wonder you don’t feel as though you have to wear a reloj.
Sus niños can already tell time. They each have their own reloj.
The lechero should get a reloj. Maybe he would bring the leche on time.
flight (vuelo)
¿A que hora does the vuelo leave? ¿What vuelo are we taking?
I don’t know–no sé.
I think we are taking the vuelo that is going to la Ciudad de Mexico, and then another vuelo to Puebla.
Oh yes, here it is. Our vuelo leaves at dos horas.
We need to go to the airport to catch our vuelo to Mexico.
Now the Song