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The following lesson was pulled from THIS VIDEO.

3 Requirements for Subjunctive to be present:

1. There must be two DIFFERENT subjects
2. There must be two different verbs (one with each subject); one in indicative, one in subjunctive
3. There must be a relative pronoun to link the two clauses (que, quien, como)

W.E.I.R.D.O.

W = Wishes (wants, demands, desires, expectations, orders, preferences)

• Espero que me compre un collar de diamantes.  (I hope that he buys me a diamond necklace.)

E = Emotions (annoyed, angry, happy, regretful, sad, scared, surprised)

• Me allegro de que sonrías. (It makes me happy that you smile.)
• Estoy enojado de que el tren llegara tarde.  (I am mad that the train arrived late.)

I = Impersonal observations (opinions à  Es + ____ + que + Subject + Verb)

• EXCEPTIONS = Es verdad que; Es cierto que; Es hecho que
• Es incredible que los guepardos corran tan rápidamente. (It’s incredible that cheetahs run so fast.)
• Es importante que llames a tu abuela pos u cumpeaños. (It’s important that you call your grandmother for her birthday.)
• See more examples below.

R = Recommendations (suggestions, wants, requests, begs)

• Recomiendo que lleves un casco.  (I recommend that you wear a helmet.)
• Mi madre me aconseja que coma todo el brécol.  (My mother advises me to eat all the broccoli.)

D = Doubt/Denial or Uncertainty – to question reality

• No creen que los extraterrestres existan.  (They don’t believe that aliens exist.)
• Dudo que me llamare.  (I doubt that he will call me.)

O = Ojalá

• Ojalá (que) ellos lleguen temprano.  (God willing they will arrive early.)
• Ojalá que venga el padre Noel.  (I hope Santa Claus comes.)
• ¡Ojalá llueva!  (I hope/God willing that it will rain.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Learning Italian Like Crazy is made by the same company that produced Learning Spanish Like Crazy, which we feel is among the most effective Spanish learning products on the market. We highly suggest the Italian counterpart, Learning Italian Like Crazy! Below is an excerpt from their site:

Sound Like A Native Italian…

You know from earlier on in this conversation, how important I consider pronunciation to be in speaking Italian.  My language is  a beautiful language filled with “colorful” sounds, pitches, and tones.  When these come together properly, the Italian language makes the speaker sound as though he or she is singing.  This very nature of the Italian language is why it is used in Opera singing.  The sound is almost heavenly. In fact, try it yourself right now, say the word “Salve a tutti – Hello everyone.” Notice the pitch and tone in that very simple phrase.

Well, not only are the pitches and tones what gives Italian the “beautiful” sounds that you hear but also, they are the essential pieces to being understood by a native Italian speaker. In fact, you could be using the correct words and phrases that you may have memorized, but if you don’t use the correct pitch and intonation to express yourself, chances are that a native Italian will have a difficult time understanding you.

For a free sample of the Learning Italian Like Crazy course, please check out the audio lesson below:

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LEARNING ITALIAN LIKE CRAZY!.

 

Marcus Santamaria, from Shortcut to Spanish, has provided a free quick lesson that is an introduction to his system.

 

For more great beginner Spanish lessons from Marcus, you should check out his course Shortcut to Spanish!

 

We have had MANY requests to review LoMasTV as a Italian learning program- and I must say that this review is long overdue. We have spent some time looking through their materials, and we are pleasantly surprised at the strides that his program has made.

During it’s original inception, they were built on a slightly older platform for website design, and they didn’t have nearly as much content as they currently do. The reason this is important is because their site is now JAM-PACKED with excellent quality instructional videos, and it is not coded in HTML5. For you “non-techies” out there, this is important because you watch the videos with the translations and transcripts on your iPhone/iPad devices.

Now, on to their videos. They have hundreds of high quality videos ranging from music and interviews to news broadcasts and novela clips to help you get a well rounded exposure to the Italian language. They are even sorted by difficulty so that as your skills improve you can continue to push yourself in the right direction.

To give you a better idea of their content, we thought we’d just add some free samples from their site so that you can see for yourself. Please watch the videos below and keep in mind that you can click on any word and see a dictionary reference of it during the video. This is incredibly helpful! See below:

Ricette bimbi – Gli spaghetti con zucchine e uova

Serena Scafarto – Se è vero

Totò e Lia Zoppelli – Romeo e Giulietta

Marika spiega – Proverbi italiani

Lorenzo Jovanotti – Viva l’Italia unita!

With plans allowing you to pay less than $2.00 per week (billed annually), you simply can’t find a better tool than LoMasTV to help evolve your Italian abilities.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT LOMASTV!

We have had MANY requests to review LoMasTV as a German learning program- and I must say that this review is long overdue. We have spent some time looking through their materials, and we are pleasantly surprised at the strides that his program has made.

During it’s original inception, they were built on a slightly older platform for website design, and they didn’t have nearly as much content as they currently do. The reason this is important is because their site is now JAM-PACKED with excellent quality instructional videos, and it is not coded in HTML5. For you “non-techies” out there, this is important because you watch the videos with the translations and transcripts on your iPhone/iPad devices.

Now, on to their videos. They have hundreds of high quality videos ranging from music and interviews to news broadcasts and novela clips to help you get a well rounded exposure to the German language. They are even sorted by difficulty so that as your skills improve you can continue to push yourself in the right direction.

To give you a better idea of their content, we thought we’d just add some free samples from their site so that you can see for yourself. Please watch the videos below and keep in mind that you can click on any word and see a dictionary reference of it during the video. This is incredibly helpful! See below:

Culcha Candela – Schöne Neue Welt

Summer Cheergirl 2010 – Fotoshooting mit Riesenschlangen

Frida Gold – Zeig mir wie du tanzt

Jenny und Alena – Handball

Deutschkurs in Tübingen – Vorbereitung auf den Test

With plans allowing you to pay less than $2.00 per week (billed annually), you simply can’t find a better tool than LoMasTV to help evolve your German abilities.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT LOMASTV!

We have had MANY requests to review LoMasTV as a French learning program- and I must say that this review is long overdue. We have spent some time looking through their materials, and we are pleasantly surprised at the strides that his program has made.

During it’s original inception, they were built on a slightly older platform for website design, and they didn’t have nearly as much content as they currently do. The reason this is important is because their site is now JAM-PACKED with excellent quality instructional videos, and it is not coded in HTML5. For you “non-techies” out there, this is important because you watch the videos with the translations and transcripts on your iPhone/iPad devices.

Now, on to their videos. They have hundreds of high quality videos ranging from music and interviews to news broadcasts and novela clips to help you get a well rounded exposure to the French language. They are even sorted by difficulty so that as your skills improve you can continue to push yourself in the right direction.

To give you a better idea of their content, we thought we’d just add some free samples from their site so that you can see for yourself. Please watch the videos below and keep in mind that you can click on any word and see a dictionary reference of it during the video. This is incredibly helpful! See below:

Fanny & Corrine parlent de la mode – Tendances du printemps

Voyage dans Paris – La Tour Eiffel

Le Journal – Chocolats

Melissa Mars – Mozart, L’opéra rock

With plans allowing you to pay less than $2.00 per week (billed annually), you simply can’t find a better tool than LoMasTV to help evolve your French abilities.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT LOMASTV!

Muñeca Brava - 44 El encuentro Part 2 of 10
Yago - 2 El puma Part 7 of 9

We really hope that you never find yourself hanging upside down in a hunter's trap in the middle of the jungle. However, since a problem might aways be a la vuelta de la esquina (around the corner), words such as iayuda!, ¡auxilio! and ¡socorro! (all of them equivalent to “help!”) merit inclusion in every Spanish learner’s basic kit. With the appropriate intonation and volume, these words can make the difference for you in a difficult situation just like they did for Morena:

¡Socorro! ¡Socorro! ¡Sáquenme!
Help! Help! Get me out!
Caption 13, Yago: El puma - Part 7 of 9 

By the way, note that the word Socorro is also used as a female name in Spanish:

¿Usted por qué me dijo que Socorro estaba embarazada? -Porque está embarazada.
Why did you tell me that Socorro was pregnant? -Because she is pregnant.
Caption 54, Muñeca Brava: El encuentro - Part 2 of 3

So, if you decide to use socorro to ask for help, just be sure to use the proper intonation… You don’t want people to believe that you are simply looking for your dear friend, Socorro.

Why Spanish verb charts cause failure

Here’s the easy road to Spanish verb mastery.

I call this the Sideways Approach. It’s a tiny twist that takes difficult Spanish verbs and makes them simple.

In Spanish the verbs are not the same as in English. For most students this grinds their Spanish to a screeching halt.

Here’s how to shortcut all the intimidating grammar rules and slice through the conjugation charts.

With a simple sideways turn to the verbs anyone can dominate this language no matter their age or background.

Here is a typical verb chart:

Ar verbs Er Verbs IR verbs

Hablar comer vivir

Yo Hablo yo como yo vivo

Tu Hablas tu comes tu vives

Usted Habla usted come usted vive

El/ella habla el/ella come el/ella vive

Nosotros(as) Hablamos nosotros(as)comemos nosotros(as)vivimos

Ustedes Hablan ustedes comen ustedes viven

Ello(as) hablan ellos(as) comen ellos(as) comen

I guess it’s OK as a reference tool. Except for the overuse of pronouns, especially yo. I’ll tell you why yo is so bad en un momento.

However, that chart as a foundation to speaking Spanish in real situations, making friends, doing business or pursuing a romance…

Olvídalo! (Forget it!)

Here’s what’s wrong…

If you rely on the chart you’ll always be at the mercy of the chart before you can speak.

Imagine if you had to stop and think about theory before you spoke in English.

…………..…Imagine if……………………………………………………….. you had………………to stop and………………………………….think about a bunch of theory before……………………………………………you spoke in English

That’s how most teachers train you to speak Spanish.

It’s no wonder the majority of students struggle, month after month… and many give up before they reach anything close to fluency.

Fortunately there is an easier way.

All you do is turn the verbs sideways.

Let’s turn the chart sideways and take a look at the first person pattern. That’s the one you use to talk about what you do.

Yo hablo

Yo como

Yo vivo

Now lets get rid of the pronoun yo. Spanish speakers mostly use yo for emphasis. Do you really want to go around emphasizing yourself?

(Yo, yo, yo, I, I, I, me, me, me) It’s not a good look. (It’s all about me!)

So let’s ditch yo.

Hablo

Como

vivo

Notice anything?

Let’s make it a bit easier.

HablO

ComO

VivO

Look at that!

All the first person verbs end in then letter “O”

Hablo = I speak

Como = I eat

Vivo = I live

All of a sudden something big and intimidating becomes an easy and manageable pattern. Can you understand these phrases?

Hablo español con mi amigo Francisco.

No como chile.

Vivo en Argentina.

Hablo con muchas personas en Facebook.

Vivo en México pero no como chile.

It’s that easy to bring life to Spanish verbs.

The exciting thing is it doesn’t take many of these sideways patterns to start speaking great Spanish.

Get a handful of them under you belt and the language will suddenly open up for you. You’ll quickly speak Spanish that delights your amigos.

One more very important point…

Even though we eliminated the fear of verbs, just reading this lesson can be a bid dry and dull.

Hearing and using the language is when things become vibrant and lively.

That’s why I have prepared this audio lesson for you.

Click HERE to visit Synergy Spanish.

El Ausente - Acto 1 Part 1 of 8

Mexicans are a friendly and warm people, and, in the first episode of the movie El Ausente, we find some friendly expressions that you may like to learn.  For example, note that famous actor Luis Aguilar says to his ahijado (godson), ¿Qué hubo, mijo? Throughout the Spanish speaking world, mijo is a common contraction of mi hijo (my son), which is not only used by parents but also by older people to address younger people in a friendly way.   And what about “¿Qué hubo?,” which is usually said in such a contracted manner that it is sometimes written “¿Q’hubo?” Though it literally translates to “What was there?” — what it really means is “What’s up?,” “What’s happening?,” “What’s shaking?,” etc. etc. (The expression can be heard in many other Latin American countries as well, Colombia in particular.)   In the next line of dialogue we find another popular form of friendly address, compadre:   ¿Qué hubo, compadre? -¿Cómo está, compadre? What's up, my friend? -How are you, my friend? Caption 11, El Ausente Acto 1: Part 1/8   The word compadre means co-parent or godparent. Your compadre or comadre is the person who is the godfather/godmother of one of your children and consequently a very close friend. By extension, Mexicans (as well as other Latin Americans and some Spaniards, particularly in the south of Spain) also use the expression as a synonym of amigo (friend). In the movie, the two characters literally are compadres (father and godfather), and respectfully address each other as such.    The same character also uses the word mano, a contraction of hermano (“brother”) that, just as in English, can be used to address our best amigos.   ¡Claro, mano! No más acuérdate, nada de ejercicio. Sure, bro! Just remember, no exercise.  Caption 26, El Ausente Acto 1: Part 1/8   There is yet another typical friendly expression that appears in the movie. Expect to hear it wherever Spanish is spoken:   Bien hecho, doctor. Está usted en su casa. Well done, Doctor. Please feel at home. Caption 11, El Ausente Acto 1: Part 1/8   You could also find this expression in the form of mi casa es tu casa (“my house is your house”) or bienvenido a tu casa (“welcome to your house”). LoMásTv subscribers: note that you have heard talk of this from our "Chilango" friends.    Bueno, compadres, let's take a hint from our Mexican friends and make every conversation a friendly one!   Further Study:   The short form of compadre is compa, which translates to something like "buddy" or "pal" (or, in Spain, stands in for compañero, and is a friendly way to address a co-worker). LoMásTv subscribers can hear it in these videos: http://lomastv.com/videos.php?query=compa   Afraid someone might ask you to be a padrino (godparent)? Click here for a lowdown on what the tradition of compadrazgo (godparenthood) could mean for you!  

Synergy Spanish Systems

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