3/5/2015 0 Comments SPANISH FILM FESTIVAL 2015This year The Spanish Film Festival is in Sydney from the 21st of April to the 10th of May. We chose one film from the Festival selection: "Spanish Affair". The biggest Spanish box-office hit in history is this bright and breezy romantic comedy set in the exquisitely charming and verdant Basque countryside. Written in the vein of France’s Welcome to the Sticks and Italy’s Welcome to the South, Spanish Affair will delight and charm with its energy and heart, all the while mischievously poking fun at cultural differences. Rafa is a typical Andalucian male who thrusts himself far north of his home into the heart of Basque country in pursuit of love. However, the object of his affections – the feisty Basque girl Amaia – wants nothing to do with him. That is, until her fervently nationalistic father Koldo arrives mistakenly believing her to still be engaged to the fiancé who recently jilted her. Here, the fun really starts with a classic comedy of errors delivered by a host of entirely loveable characters.
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6/12/2014 0 Comments GRAMMAR: LOS ARTICULOS DEFINITE ARTICLES
In Spanish the definite article "the" has four equivalent and it varies with number and gender:
INDEFINITE ARTICLES Indefinite articles in Spanish are the English equivalents of "a," "an," and "some" or "a few,” and just like definite articles, there are four indefinite articles. Articles indicate the gender (masculine, feminine) and number (singular, plural) of a noun.
29/11/2014 0 Comments BESAME MUCHOBesame Mucho is one of the most famous songs in Spanish of all times. Written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velazquez, it is a romantic bolero song that has been recorded by such artists as The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Julio Iglesias, and Luis Miguel. Besame, besame mucho
Como si fuera esta la noche La ultima vez Besame, besame mucho Que tengo miedo a tenerte Y perderte despues Quiero tenerte muy cerca Mirarme en tus ojos, verte junto a mi Piensa que tal vez manana Yo ya estare lejos, muy lejos de ti Besame, besame mucho Como si fuera esta la noche La ultima vez Besame, besame mucho Que tengo miedo a tenerte Y perderte despues Besame, besame mucho 20/11/2014 0 Comments FACTS ABOUT SPAIN
9/11/2014 0 Comments AROUND BARCELONA"Descubriendo Espana" We start our tour discovering Spain from Barcelona. The city of Gaudi. This video shows in a particular way all the spectacular locations you can see in Barcelona. 8/11/2014 0 Comments TOP TEN TIPS TO LEARN A LANGUAGE 1. KNOW WHY YOU’RE DOING IT
This might sound obvious, but if you don’t have a good reason to learn a language, you are less likely to stay motivated over the long-run. Wanting to impress English-speakers with your Spanish is not a very good reason; wanting to get to know a Spanish person in his or her own language is another matter entirely. No matter your reason, once you’ve decided on a language, it’s crucial to commit. 2. DIVE IN It’s crucial to practice your new language every single day. It’s about actually putting what you’re learning into practice – be that writing an email, speaking to yourself, listening to music, listening to the radio. Surrounding yourself, submerging yourself in the new language culture is extremely important. Remember, the best possible outcome of speaking a language is for people to speak back to you. Being able to have a simple conversation is a huge reward in itself. Reaching milestones like that early on will make it easier to stay motivated and keep practicing. 3. FIND A PARTNER Having any kind of partner to join you on your language adventure, will push both of you to always try just a little bit harder and stay with it. You also have someone with whom you can speak, and that’s the idea behind learning a language. 4. KEEP IT RELEVANT If you make conversation a goal from the beginning, you are less likely to get lost in textbooks. Talking to people will keep the learning process relevant to you. You’re learning a language to be able to use it. You’re not going to speak it to yourself. The creative side is really being able to put the language that you’re learning into a more useful, general, everyday setting – be that through writing songs, generally wanting to speak to people, or using it when you go abroad. You don’t necessarily have to go abroad; you can go to the Spanish restaurant down the road and order in Spanish. 5. HAVE FUN WITH IT Using your new language in any way is a creative act. Think of some fun ways to practice your new language: make a radio play with a friend, draw a comic strip, write a poem, or simply talk to whomever you can. If you can’t find a way to have fun with the new language, chances are you aren’t following step four. 6. ACT LIKE A CHILD The key to learning as quickly as a child may be to simply take on certain childlike attitudes: for instance, lack of self-consciousness, a desire to play in the language and willingness to make mistakes. We learn by making mistakes. As kids, we are expected to make mistakes, but as adults mistakes become taboo. Think how an adult is more likely to say, “I can’t”, rather than, “I haven’t learned that yet” (I can’t swim, I can’t drive, I can’t speak Spanish). To be seen failing (or merely struggling) is a social taboo that doesn’t burden children. When it comes to learning a language, admitting that you don’t know everything (and being okay with that) is the key to growth and freedom. Let go of your grown-up inhibitions! 7. LEAVE YOUR COMFORT ZONE Willingness to make mistakes means being ready to put yourself in potentially embarrassing situations. This can be scary, but it’s the only way to develop and improve. No matter how much you learn, you won’t ever speak a language without putting yourself out there: talk to strangers in the language, ask for directions, order food, try to tell a joke. The more often you do this, the bigger your comfort zone becomes and the more at ease you can be in new situations: 8. LISTEN You must learn to look before you can draw. In the same way, you must learn to listen before you can speak. Every language sounds strange the first time you hear it, but the more you expose yourself to it the more familiar it becomes, and the easier it is to speak it properly. We’re able to pronounce anything, it’s just we’re not used to doing it. The best way to go about mastering that is actually to hear it constantly, to listen to it and to kind of visualize or imagine how that is supposed to be pronounced, because for every sound there is a specific part of the mouth or throat that we use in order to achieve that sound. 9. WATCH PEOPLE TALK Different languages make different demands on your tongue, lips and throat. Pronunciation is just as much physical as it is mental. One way – it might sound a bit strange – is to really look at someone while they’re saying words that use that sound, and then to try to imitate that sound as much as possible. If you can’t watch and imitate a native-speaker in person, watching foreign-language films and TV is a good substitute. 10. TALK TO YOURSELF When you have no one else to speak to, there’s nothing wrong with talking to yourself. It might sound really weird, but actually speaking to yourself in a language is a great way to practice if you’re not able to use it all the time. This can keep new words and phrases fresh in your mind and build up your confidence for the next time you speak with someone. (Bonus tip) RELAX! You are not going to annoy people by speaking their language poorly. If you preface any interaction with, “I’m learning and I’d like to practice…” most people will be patient, encouraging and happy to oblige. Even though there are approximately a billion non-native English-speakers around the world, most of them would rather speak their own language if given a choice. Taking the initiative to step into someone else’s language world can also put them at ease and promote good feelings all around. You can travel abroad speaking your own language, but you’ll get so much more out of it being able to actually feel at ease in the place you are – being able to communicate, to understand, to interact in every situation you could possibly imagine. 29/10/2014 0 Comments 12 phrases only Spaniards understand 1. Hacer de tripas corazón | To make heart from guts
We make heart from guts when we do something we don’t really want to do or something we’re scared of doing. Since we need to face the situation, we try to do it by leaving our feelings and emotions aside (that’s the heart), and acting with our guts. 2. Se me ha ido el santo al cielo | My saint left for heaven Which saint? Shouldn’t he or she already be in heaven, anyway? We say this whenever we forget to do something we’re supposed to, or when we forget what we were going to say. Example: “What was that you were about to say?” “I don’t know…se me ha ido el santo al cielo.” The phrase is said to have been pronounced for the first time by a priest who, during mass, was speaking about a saint and suddenly forgot what he was going to say next about him. So yes, the saint had just left for heaven. 3. Llevarse a alguien al huerto | Take someone to the vegetable garden When you convince someone to do something (usually, to have sex), you take that person to the vegetable garden. This expression has its origins in La Celestina, a Medieval classic from Spanish literature. The female character, Melibea, is convinced by Celestina (an old, meddling woman) to meet Calixto, her soon-to-be lover, in a garden at midnight. No further details are needed. 4. Irse por los cerros de Úbeda | To wander about Úbeda’s hills Politicians excel at this. People go wandering about Úbeda’s hills when they start digressing and rambling, getting off subject. Of course, it can be an unconscious thing, or done deliberately to avoid answering a question you’ve just been asked. The origin of this? In the 12th century, King Fernando III was about to attack Úbeda (a city in Jaén), and one of his captains disappeared just before the battle. He came back when the city had already been conquered, and, when asked where he had been, he said that he had got lost in Úbeda’s hills. Yes, sure, everyone thought. 5. No está el horno para bollos | The oven is not ready for buns Whatever you were going to say, ask, or do, just leave it for now. This is not the best moment, and you’d probably make it worse. In this expression, the situation is the oven, and the buns are whatever it is that you wanted. Like, say, asking your travel buddy to lend you some money seconds after having had a big fight. Hold it. Leave it for tomorrow. 6. Hacerse el sueco | Pretend to be Swedish Pretend to be Swedish? How can we Spaniards do that? Easy: by pretending not to understand, especially when whatever is being said is clearly a message to us. If any Swede is reading this, please don’t be offended. This idiom is a result of an unfortunate evolution: that sueco comes from soccus, a kind of clog Roman comedians used to wear that made them walk in a clumsy way. So the original expression was to “pretend to be clumsy, dumb.” Not Swedish! 7. Tirar la casa por la ventana | To throw the house out of the window You just frowned trying to think a way of doing that. But we do it whenever we start spending a lot of money, much more than we usually do. Why do we say we throw the house out of the window? Because, apparently, that was something lottery winners used to do in the 19th century. They threw everything they had (Furniture! Kitchen utensils! Clothes!) out of the window. Because, you know, now they could actually afford to do that. 8. Ponerse las botas | To put the boots on New boots? Winter is coming? Nope! When Spaniards put their boots on, it just means that they had a lot (a lot!) to eat. Why? Because in the old days boots were very expensive (large and made of leather!), so only the wealthy knights, those who could afford to eat well, could actually wear them. 9. Coser y cantar | To sew and to sing A clear example of how time has made an expression quite contradictory. How many people find sewing easy nowadays? Not as many as a few decades or centuries ago…but we keep repeating that something is like sewing and singing when we want to say it will be really easy. Let’s just hope no one ever tries to make us sew and sing. 10. Tomar el pelo | To take someone’s hair Yes, we also think English is a crazy language when we learn the expression “to pull someone’s leg”. How in Earth could that mean to tease someone? Taking someone’s hair is far more logical…and no, in this case there’s not even a clear explanation to make us understand the origin of the phrase. 11. Hablar por los codos | To speak through the elbows You know those people who just won’t stop talking? They speak through the elbows (because it’s impossible all that chatter comes just from their mouth). We also say they no se callan ni debajo del agua (won’t shut up, not even under water). This one is clear and easy. 12. Llevarse el gato al agua | To take the cat to the water Another easy one. Picture yourself trying to get a cat into the water. Not an easy task, right? When someone takes the cat to the water, it means that they managed to do something difficult…usually winning an argument or convincing people to do things her way Another year is coming to an end, a great year I must say! Once again we had the pleasure to meet wonderful people who have come to us to learn a language full of enthusiasm, motivation and determination! Despite the busy lives and commitments most of these people have continued through the year and have obtained very good results! This is the greatest satisfaction of all for us!!
This year we also had our record of number of year 12 students coming to us in preparation to their HSC language exams. It was hard work helping them all achieve great marks but we were truly rewarded by their results and all the wonderful messages sent in appreciation for our work. It was hard to say goodbye after so much time together but we wish them all the best luck for the future and their careers. Need to sign off for now but I will be back before Christmas with more news! In the meantime enjoy our end of the term photos. Chao, Jessica 6/9/2013 0 Comments Term 3 - PhotosWow! I can't believe that we are already at the end of Term 3! Most of our classes have finished this week and a few others will complete their courses in the next days.
We had a high level of attendance again and most of our students have already confirmed their attendance for next term!! Isn't it great? This term we have decided to have a very small break in between terms, we are not running the conversation classes during the break but we will run some "complementary classes" at the end of November until just before Christmas. All information will be available soon! Here below you can find some of the pictures we took this week with more to come soon. P.S. Notice the big smiles? Learning a language must make you happy! ;-) |
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May 2015
CategoriesAll Christmas In Spain - Navidad Cities Courses & Photos Interesting Stuff Musica Spanish Cristmas Songs Spanish Grammar Spanish Language History |