Respond in Spanish Like a Native: Common Spanish Phrases, Expressions & Comebacks
Every language has a short list (a few dozen or so) of standard "answers" or "responses" to indicate commonly expressed sentiments (e.g yes, no, maybe, I don't know, good luck, etc.). Knowing these and being able to whip the correct one out immediately and...
Friday Linkfest: Cool Language-Learning Links of the Previous Week of 3/20/11
It's back! Friday Linkfest actually got a bit of attention the last time I did it, and I think it's an excellent idea because, as I stated before, it gives you, the reader, a short little list of interesting language-learning stuff to look at that you may...
Friday Linkfest: Cool Language-Learning Links of the Previous Week of 3/13/11
This is something new I'm going to start doing if for no other reason than to make myself start posting more frequently and consistently, plus I read all sorts of cool language-learning related articles every day on the dozen or so blogs I'm subscribed to,...
Reboot! How to Restart Your Language Learning after Slacking Off
And today I've got my first guest post ever! From J. over at Polyglottally, he addresses something that every language-learner has done at some point and then had to deal with... Oh dear, you've fallen off the language learning wagon. You were tired, so you took a...
Learning Spanish from Music Videos: Juanes’ ‘Yerbatero’ Dissected
This is the next installment in the whole "let's learn Spanish from music videos" thing I'm doing that everyone seems to like (which I totally agree with, using popular media like this that you enjoy is a fantastic way to learn the language, plus it uses...
Spanish Transition Words (Muletillas) and Sentence Starters: The Grease of the Language Gears
An extremely common problem amongst people learning a new language is smoothness, that ability to keep talking without herky-jerky stops-and-starts in their sentences (lots of awkward silences and "ummms" while they try to think of the right word), which is how...
Learning Spanish from Music Videos: Shakira’s ‘Te Aviso, Te Anuncio’
This is the 4th in a series of posts I’m doing where I help you learn Spanish from music videos and show you how I do it myself (that way you don’t have to wait for me to dissect a Spanish music video, you can go out and start doing it yourself with...
Awesome List of Free Spanish-Learning Resources
I just did a guest post over on Jennie's blog (which is fantastic, you definitely should subscribe, by the way) where I listed my absolute favorite free Spanish-learning resources: check it out here. I should note that, as I said in that post, I only...
Manners in Spanish – The Basics of Being Polite in Spanish-Speaking Cultures
Easy, but important...and often skipped. That's how I'd put this. We all have a certain set of manners ingrained in us since birth by our society that we do automatically, things you do to be considered polite (e.g. saying "please" and "thank you" when appropriate,...
Learning Spanish from Music Videos: Shakira’s “Ojos Así”
This is the 3rd in a series of posts I'm doing where I help you learn Spanish from music videos and show you how I do it myself (that way you don't have to wait for me to dissect a Spanish music video, you can go out and start doing it yourself with...
Funny Search Phrases that Brought People to My Site
This has precisely nothing to do with learning Spanish, I just hadn't posted in a while and felt bad (yes, I've got something I'm working on, should be up in a few days, I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with other business), and I was...
How Did YOU Get Fluent?
Firstly, I'd like to point out a fascinating thread over at Reddit discussing this exact question that has a lot of interesting responses and turned into a great discussion: How did you become fluent in another language? Secondly, if you haven't joined the...
How to Not Sound Like a Gringo – The 16 Most Common Spanish Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Today I'm going to go over the most common mistakes in Spanish that native English speakers tend to make when learning Spanish and how to fix them on your own. Just to head it off before it gets started, because otherwise I know it will, the term "gringo" is not...
Motivation: You Don’t Need a Shark, But You Do Need Something
Motivation is the most important factor in determining whether or not you will learn a language, how well you will learn it, and how long it will take you. Also, if you don't have it for the language in question, you'll never learn it, you just won't, almost no matter...
The Spanish Subjunctive Explained: How the Subjunctive Works Plus a Mnemonic Trick to Help you Remember When to Use It (The W.E.I.R.D.O. System)
I couldn't find a picture that related to what I was writing about (I always try to do that), in this case the Spanish subjunctive, so here's a picture of my idea for an anti-gravity device based on a cat with some buttered toast on its head - what do you think? The...
Learning Spanish From Music Videos: Shakira’s ‘Suerte’
And now we get to the second installment of our "learning Spanish from music videos" thing I'm doing based roughly on The Telenovela Method where we use popular entertainment media like music, TV shows, and movies to learn Spanish. The first installment...
Why Listening is SO Important – Even If You Don’t Understand a Word!
I just saw this via Ramses's twitter feed and although I could've just retweeted it I felt compelled to at least make some short comments on it that would be too long for twitter, so I'm turning it into a short blog post. What I'm referring to is this...
English Channel = Canal de la Mancha = “Canal of the spot” = Funny Story
So I was in the process of going through a Notes in Spanish lesson (which I highly recommend, the audio is free, start at the beginner's level, honestly no, you don't need the worksheets) when I came across the term "túnel" which I presumed to mean "tunnel", which it...
What Does It Mean to Be Fluent in a Language? Fluency Levels Don’t Really Exist
Spoken or written with ease That's the primary definition in the dictionary for the word "fluent", and you know what: that's the only thing that the word "fluent" absolutely, definitely means regardless of who you're talking to. That's as far as I'm willing to go on...
Learning Spanish from Music Videos: Shakira’s ‘La Tortura’ Dissected
One of the best possible ways to learn Spanish is to use Spanish-language popular media (TV shows, music, movies, etc.) that you actually enjoy (really important here) and/or are interested in, because it does wonders for your focus, concentration,...
