Welcome to Spanish for Beginners: Lesson One B! Bienvenido a la lección uno!
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
Hola Mis Amigos
Our second Language Dance activity is one that will help us begin to hear common communication phrases. I include this here in the event that you are taking a formal Spanish class at the same time. It is very common to begin the class with introductory statements. This activity, as well as the next activity, will help you become familiar with common introductions.
We have a song for this activity. In this song we have 30 short, but important phrases. You will encounter these simple phrases often.
Our primary purpose is to begin to hear the phrases so that they become familiar. The repetition in the song will help you remember the phrases. You may be familiar with many of these phrases already. If you are not familiar with the phrases, download the song to your computer and listen to it daily until you hear the phrases without effort. As you listen, think of what the phrases mean.
Do not feel as though you can’t continue your lessons if you do not hear all the phrases well, or if you do not understand all the phrases. After a few repetitions, you will begin to hear the phrases more clearly and they will soon be familiar to you. This is a way to help you begin to hear common phrases. We will encounter these phrases often, so, just relax and enjoy the song.
Song: Hola Mis Amigos
Step 1: Go ahead and listen to the song. (Just click on the play button. It might take a minute to load depending on how fast your internet connection is. You may have to be patient.)
Hola mis amigos
¿Cómo están? (four times) Muy bien.
Muy bien. Muy bien. Muy bien. __________________ ¿Cómo está señor?
Regular. (four times) Claro que si. Claro que si.
Claro que si.
Claro que si. __________________ ¿Cómo está señora?
No muy bien. (four times) Hasta luego.
Hasta luego
. Hasta luego
. Hasta luego. ____________________ Chico, ¿Qué pasa?
Nada, lo mismo.(four times) Nada amigo,
todo bien. Nada amigo
, todo bien. _______________________________ Buenos dias señorita
¿Qué pasa chica? (four times) Nada amiga,
todo bien.
Nada amiga,
todo bien. _____________________ Gracias señora. No hay de que. (four times) Hasta la vista.
Hasta la vista. Hasta la vista.
Hasta la vista. _____________________________ Buenas noches mi amor.
¿Cómo estás? (four times) Hasta pronto.
Hasta pronto
. Hasta pronto.
Hasta pronto. ______________________ Gracias señor.
De nada. (four times) Adiós.
Adiós. Adiós.
Adiós.
Step 2: Read through the phrases with the English translations.
Step 3: Listen to the song while reading the phrases. Here are the phrases with the English translations:
| hola | hi |
| mis amigos | my friends |
| hola mis amigos | hi friends |
| ¿cómo están? | how are you? |
| muy bien | very well |
| señor | sir, or mister |
| ¿cómo está señor? | how are you sir? |
| regular | so so |
| no muy bien | not very well |
| señorita | miss |
| hasta luego | until later |
| claro que sí | of course |
| chico | boy, young man |
| ¿qué pasa? | what’s up, what’s happening |
| nada | nothing |
| lo mismo | same ol’ |
| gracias | thank you |
| señora | mrs. , madam |
| no hay de que | don’t mention it, you’re welcome |
| de nada | it’s nothing, you’re welcome |
| ¿que pasa chica? | what’s up girl? |
| nada amiga | nothing friend |
| todo bien | all is well |
| buenos días (sometimes buen dia is used) | good morning, good day |
| adiós | good bye |
| hasta la vista | (literally until the view), until we meet (or see each other) again. |
| buenas noches | good night |
| me amor | my love |
| hasta pronto | (literally until soon), see you soon |
Step 4: If you like, print out the words to the song and keep them handy so you can reference them during your practice time.
Step 5: If you have difficulty hearing the phrases, download the song to your computer and have the song available to listen to once a day until you hear the phrases and they are understandable.
You Do It
In this exercise you will need to be able to see a door (una puerta), a window (una ventana) and a chair (una silla). You will be asked to point at the different objects. You will quickly come to understand and remember the names of the objects. Enjoy!
señala = point at
la puerta = the door
la ventana = the window
la silla = the chair
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Nececita: una maleta, un pasaporte, un cámara, pantalones, zapatos, un pez,
Comienza
Señala al pasaporte
Señala la maleta
Señala a la cámara
Señala los pantalones.
Señala los zapatos.
Señala el pez.
Toca el pasaporte
Di: “mi pasaporte.”
Toca la maleta
Di: “mi maleta.”
Toca la cámara
Di: “mi cámara.”
Toca los pantalones.
Di: “mis pantalones.”
Toca los zapatos.
Di: “mis zapatos.”
Toca el pez.
Di: “mi pez.”
Abre la maleta
Cierra la maleta.
Abre la maleta.
Cierra la maleta.
Abre la maleta.
Recoge el pasaporte
Di: “mi pasaporte.”
Pon el pasaporte en la maleta.
Recoge la cámera
Di: “mi cámera.”
Pon la cámera en la maleta.
Recoge los pantalones.
Di: “mis pantalones.”
Pon los pantalones en la maleta.
Recoge los zapatos.
Di: “mis zapatos.”
Pon los zapatos en la maleta.
Recoge el pez.
Di: “mi pez.”
Pon el pez en la maleta.
ciera la maleta
recoge la maleta.
camina.
*********************
Nececita: una caja, una bolsa, un pasaporte, un cámara, un perro, un libro, un pez,
Comienza
Señala el pasaporte
Señala la caja
Señala la bolsa
Señala el pasaporte.
Señala la cámara
Señala el perro.
Señala el pez.
Toca el pasaporte.
Recoge el pasaporte.
Di: “mi pasaporte.”
Pon el pasaporte en la bolsa.
Toca el cámara.
Di: “mi cámara.”
Recoje la cámara y pon la cámara en la bolsa.
Toca el perro.
Di: “mi perro.”
Recoge el perro y pon el perro en la caja.
Toca el libro.
Di: “mi libro.”
Recoge el libro y pon el libro en la caja.
Toca el pez.
Di: “mi pez.”
Recoge el pez y pon el pez en la bolsa.
Recoge la caja y la bolsa.
Camina.
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Nececita: una caja, una bolsa, un perro, un gato, un puerco, una manzana, un passaporte, un foto,
Comienza
Señala el pasaporte.
Señala el foto.
Señala la caja
Señala la bolsa
Señala el perro.
Señala la manzana.
Señala el gato.
Señala el puerco.
Toca el pasaporte.
Recoge el pasaporte.
Di: “mi pasaporte.”
Pon el pasaporte en la caja.
Toca el foto.
Di: “mi foto.”
Recoge el foto y pon el foto en la caja.
Toca el perro.
Di: “mi perro.”
Recoge el perro y pon el perro en la caja.
Toca el gato.
Di: “mi gato.”
Recoge el gato y pon el gato en la bolsa.
Toca el puerco.
Di: “mi puerco.”
Recoge el puerco y pon el puerco en la caja.
Toca la manzana.
Di: “mi manzana.”
Recoge la manzana y pon la manzana en la bolsa.
Recoge la caja y la bolsa.
Camina.
Toy Box
Into The Toy Box
In the previous activity we began to hear some common introductory phrases. In this activity we will be internalizing some of these phrases as spoken phrases. To accomplish this we will use our toys.
Reading
¿Qué es esto? (What is this?)
[flowplayer src=’http://languagedance.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/FallingPiano640x360AAC.mov’]
Frases (Phrases): Es un animal.
Today we will work on the phrase, “es un animal.” This means, “it is an animal” or “it’s an animal.” Once we internalize this phrase, it is easy to substitute all sorts of words in place of animal.
For example:
Es una case (It’s a house.); Es un elefante (It’s an elephant); Es un carro (It’s a car), etc.
Let’s begin by learning a few naming words that we can insert into our phrase.
chimpancé
cocodrilo
perro
gato
ratón
casa
camello
A quick note on nouns (naming words).
Nouns are either masculine or feminine. An example of some masculine nous are:
animal (animal) elefante (elephant) camello (camel) crocodilo (crocodile) chimpancé (chimpanzee) perro (dog) gato (cat)
An example of some feminine nouns are:
casa (house) cosa (thing) rata (mouse) pluma (pen) caja (box) cámara (camera)
If you look at the ends of the the words in this list you will probably notice that the feminine words shown here all end with an ‘a’. (While that is not always the case feminine nouns, it is often the case.) When we say or write ‘the’ in front of the noun (or naming word) we use ‘le’ for the masculine words and ‘la’ for the feminine words.
Masculine
el animal = the animal
el elefante = the elephant
el camello = the camel
el crocodilo = the crocodile
el chimpancé = the chimpanzee
el perro = the dog
el gato = the cat
Feminine
la rata = the mouse
la casa = the house
la cosa = the thing
la pluma = the pen
la caja = the box
la cámara = the camera
So now we know ‘el’ means ‘the’ for masculine words and ‘la’ means ‘the’ for feminine words.
el animal el elefante el camello el crocodilo el chimpancé
el perro el gato la rata la casa la cosa la pluma la caja la cámara
‘A’ and ‘an’ are un for masculine nouns.
‘A’ and ‘an’ are una for feminine nouns.
If we want so write or say ‘a’ or ‘an’ as in ‘an elephant’ or ‘a dog’, there is a masculine and feminine form for ‘a’ and ‘an’ as well.
‘A’ and ‘an’ are ‘un’ for masculine nouns. For example:
un animal = an animal
un elefante = an elephant
un camello = a camel
un crocodilo = a crocodile
un chimpancé = a chimpanzee
un perro = a dog
un gato = a cat
‘A’ and ‘an’ are ‘una’ for feminine nouns:
una rata = a mouse
una casa = a house
una cosa = a thing
una pluma = a pen
una caja = a box
una cámara = a camera
For example, if you were to ask what something was, and you pointed to an animal, I might respond, “Es un animal.” Literally this says “Is an animal.” Usually ‘it’ is implied. So we can think of “Es un animal” as meaning “It is an animal.”
Now with the few words we know. We can say:
El elefante es un animal.
El chimpancé es un animal.
El camello es un animal.
El crocolilo es un animal.
El perro es un animal.
El gato es un animal.
La rata es un animal.
Internalizing the Rhythm
Now you might be saying to yourself, “How often will I ever go around saying that something is an animal?”
However, once we internalize this structure, all we have to do is add new words and we have a very powerful phrase structure. This is great when you are a beginner learning Spanish. The phrase we are internalizing is “es un animal.” We want to feel the rhythm of this phrase.
So repeat the phrase a number of times and feel the rhythm of the phrase. After you have done that, use the phrase “es un animal” with as many other animals as you can think of. You don’t need to say the animals’ names in Spanish. You can say them in English. This will allow you to have more practice and help you feel “es un animal” for many animals. For example: The zebra es un animal. The cow es un animal. The duck es un animal. The giraffe es un animal. Think of as many as animals as you can, and then say out loud that each one es un animal until you feel very comfortable with the phrase “es un animal.”
This is a great way to practice your Spanish phrases as you drive or walk around the town or country. Whenever you see an animal, say to yourself ______ es un animal. Of course you could say this phrase to other people, but they might wonder about you.
Pequeño Libro
Es Un Animal