Kaynil

I usually greet with "¿Qué rollo?" to people who unexpectedly greet me. I guess if I was to try to translating would be something like "what's rolling [with/in your life]?". One of my faves that hasn't been mentioned yet, I think, is "quióbole" which really is a speedup version of ¿Qué húbole? just like wazzap for what's up? which roughly translates to "what's been happening with 'it' (your life/day)". I think this one is also from some decades before the 90's so it is not very common nowadays. Pedo is the Spanish word for "fart" and also a slang to refer to the action of causing trouble or stirring a conflict being words or action. For example, a guy sees his ex-girlfriend with one of his friends, then he decides to follow them with the only intention of creating a conflict. That's a situation some would use "pedo" to qualify it "Ya se armó el pedo" (A big quarrel/drama has started)", "Este tipo solo quiere hacerla de pedo" (This guy just here to create conflict) A way to "water-down" a bit the word pedo is to say "pex". It is like saying darn instead of damn, but it is only used in the greeting context, it I recall correctly. So when people say "¿Qué pedo?" it can be a greeting in the style of "Wazzap (Any relevant or juicy news since we last talked?)" or a "Dude, what the eff?" in a complaining voice. "Wey" is the writing for the word 'güey' when used in a casual way. Basically it's a way to call someone an xxx or sheep by comparing him to a farm Ox. However during the 90's teenagers started using it as "dude" kind of tag ending to refer their friends and people their age, so it is not as offending any more but it still make older people cringe to hear youngsters saying 'wey'. I hope that helps. :wacky:

Hola. Pensé que era una buena idea hacer este tema para practicar Español. Cuenta lo que quieras de tu dia. por ejemplo: ¿que comiste? ¿como te sientes? ¿saliste de casa? etc.

Well, I really agree with trying to find children books first and see how you feel about them. I personally love fairy tales so if I was learning a new language that is probably the kind of lecture I'd go for. during our secondary they made us read this Cuauhtemoc Sanchez books, so they might be good too. They are some sort of novel but at the same time it tries to 'educate' on certain moral points. They are not considered true relevant literature by many, but they are entertaining enough and could help you grasp better while you decide where to move next.

I guess it is because it is something you enjoy you won't consider it a waste of your time. Anyway, I tried to understand the Zelda symbols and the fictitious Dinosaur Planet language. Never got deep with either, though I took OoT symbols to create my own secret writing. Hahah.

Myself I wish I could use more technical terms than what I do, as sometimes they can be useful to place a sentence, however I tend to go by trying to explain from my experience, the problem is I tend to rant and may end up making things more difficult instead of easier. I think examples often help to understand things. For me a winner is when a post explains using technical terms but without expecting a person to know it all by heart and then help solve your doubts with a few nice examples.

I think it is more of cultural differences. Sometimes you have a word and know perfectly the translation but it just won't carry the same impact because in one language there is more taboo attached to it than another and this will make that even though they are the same, the mental image may differ Of course for some sentences, there is also some true to the way the language is constructed, some words sound soft in one language then pretty harsh in another. While it is the same word, the vowels used and the length itself may affect our perception.

Thank you for all the wonderful links. I can't look at them slowly right now but they seem to pretty rad. Hopefully this will be the push I need to go for my third language.

It is a spanish saying, so no need to worry. It is very similar to that English equivalent so it is probably the most fitting translation.

I find your accent better than what i expected judging by your post. I can see that there is a complete switch when you pronounce things in English, it is hard to help this. I tend to switch to my mexican accent when I pronounce a word in Spanish between a text in English, it just sound natural for us but everyone else will cringe. I try and recommend to pronounce english words according to the local accent unless it is necessary to keep their original name. That aside from that fragment your Spanish is very clear and I think you do really good 'R's. Also, if people can't tell straight away you are american and think you might be from another hispanic-speaking region that in itself is a very good signal. Please don't be hard on yourself. Most of us need almost a decade to shred away most of our native accent. I think you are doing fantastic, the rest of the blend will only come with time as you keep submerging yourself with Spanish in your daily life.

I think the way Paolo has stated them is a good approach to look at them. I would like to give my input and hopefully helping a bit more, though I am going without a book, it is just from my growing with it, kind of unspoken picked up stuff: 'Afterwards' is better translated as 'Después'. 'Then' is better translated as 'Entonces'. 'Luego' is the word that loves to swing between both meanings more so that the words above. If you are writing it is better you pick up one of the above suggestions before choosing 'Luego' but this word forms part of our habitual living and you will hear it very, very often. "Luego" is generally used to express a term of time shortly afterwards what is taking place. So for a example when someone is talking about something that happened or giving instructions step by step they may used 'luego' instead of 'después'. "Primero destápalo, luego lo sacudes" (first open the lid, then shake it) If you swap 'luego' with 'despues' no one will notice. Despues is most likely to be in a manual, while luego if someone is talking to you or you are reading a dialogue. Luego may also be used to convey the meaning of 'later' in some instances. Though that is a bit more tricky and I am not sure how to explain the guidelines, sometimes we change the order in our sentence to say 'bump' before the rest.

Hah, that is new for me. It is really so small of a deal that I think whoever told you this is overreacting or nitpicking in something truly meaningless. Saying "going to go to" versus "going to" doesn't really make something way more correct and if you are thinking in being more formal than what "voy a" can allow you, consider discarding the "I'm going to" wording a altogether so it doesn't sound like a selfish statement. While I am used to both ways and I exchange both expressions without giving too much thought I could still give you a small guide when to use one or the other, but like I said it really is not big deal. "Voy a comer" implies that the food is ready or in the same room. It also gives an idea of a swift action while ir may indirectly reflect more effort or time consumption to complete the action. "Voy a ir a comer" implies that you have to interrupt what you are doing or change location. It could also mean that eating is your only intention or your main interest (I'm going wherever specifically to eat). So basically if what you are going to do will affect things or people due a change of location you can use 'voy a ir a...' to leave clear your intent to exit the room, house, get away from the computer, etc. Still, I'll say it again: using or not 'ir a' won't change what you mean and you can't really be disrespectful about it. "I am going to go to eat" in English sounds more like planning to do it at some point more so than an action that I want to carry out straight away, while in Spanish "voy a ir a comer" can be used for both immediate and planning. For an unrelated reference I think it is similar to me saying "I'm going to the bathroom" versus "I need to go to the bathroom". Would you really care which one I used? I am sure you could nitpick and tell me "I need to go" sounds more considerate that "I am going" but would it really make a difference? and is it really worth to get myself tense about which one is 'more correct' for each time?

Podía is for things that you used to be able to do or could have done but you no longer can. You're implying with its use that you cannot longer perform whatever is expressed. "Yo podía correr rápido". (I could run fast in the sense of "I used to be good running fast but not anymore") Pude is a moment gone but it is not restricting the present, usually the action had a start and a conclusion both in the past. "Yo pude correr rápido". (I could run fast in that exact moment my tale is about. In that moment I managed, I was able to run fast. This says nothing about the present). Pude + "haber*" may also be used as a translation for "I could have", usually showing some remorse or some sort of what if scenario. "Pude haber ganado" (I could have won) Okay another example: No podia llorar VS No pude llorar (I couldn't cry.) No podia llorar = I used to not able to cry (implying that now you are able to) at the time the specific moment took place. No pude llorar = During that specific moment for some reason I could not cry. Lets say that you meant that crying was not an option, you had to hold your tears or else something bad would happen to you then "podia" is the one to use with because that way you are implying that there was a condition that no longer applies. I hope this can be of help.

"Those houses over there" can also be said as "Las casas de por allá" supposing you are pointing at the zone. Regarding using "ser" or "estar" you are correct going with "ser", therefore saying "Aquellas casas fueron construidas por Jack" is correct. :wacky: I might completely missing the point but I think the second example given by Paolo while it makes sense in his example won't fit the sentence you're after. "Aquellas casas se construyeron por Jack" sounds off. "Aquellas casas se construyeron" & "por Jack" can't flow together. I cannot explain exactly why, but trust me on this one and your gut and use "fueron"taht one is a great translation without losing the time tense you're using.

Debemos ir al aeropuerto a recoger a nuestros familiares I'll take a potato chip... and eat it!

Well, it is not incorrect results in themselves in the end translations are approximations and both results give the same idea. Like Paolo has said it doesn't matter which one you choose but "(Yo) quiero besarte" is the most 'direct' translation to your English wording. Yet another translation can be "¡Te quiero besar!" It makes no difference what you choose and I just adding these comments to further illuminate the differences, voice intonation (or exclamation marks) really is what sets the tone between an spontaneous burst and a hopeful confession.

Depends the situation to decide which one is more appropriate, though people will most likely understand you with either. I have heard "con permiso" more than simply permiso, but in the grand scheme of things it matters little if you include it or not. it still makes full sense and this could be just a mexican thing. Use "(Con) permiso" when you need to pass and you will bother another person in order to do so. If you are going to ask them about something use "disculpa" (someone you get along with or know well) or "disculpe" (older people, someone you don't know), to be extra polite to get their attention. Either "(con) permiso" or "disculpa/e/en" can be used when you need to excuse yourself. Permiso is probably a bit more appropriate. I think it is one of those things you will slowly develop as you read or hear them. That happened to me with "make" and "do" since for spanish it is one word, but don't worry it will become easier as time passes. For now, if you are in doubt and need to use one go with "disculpe(n)" one

Find nice ballads in Spanish and try to decipher by yourself the lyrics. Don't look for the lyrics online or in videos, the idea is to train your ear. It is very rewarding doing it on your own and it helps training the ear. I also suggest to turn off the subtitles if it is a movie you've seen before.

With the internet you can always find communities of things you like in the target language, get some skype and facebook friends and dare to use microphone sessions with them. That helped me heaps. If you need help with Spanish I am available most of the time.

Thank you all! Glad to know it only last the few first messages. That is fair enough. :wacky: Hey Ersatz, Spanish is actually my first language, which is why I feel confident to help with it. I learned English because I liked video games and they were usually in English, same with some music. Now that I live in Australia, English is the main language I use.

Depending the case a bit of column A and a bit of column B. I lately type more in my cellphone and to make things easier for my fat fingers I choose the old school layout for mobiles with the ability to make up my words by pressing each key once, however sometimes this leads to mistakes for example typing 'loud' instead of 'love', if less lucky it just come like gibberish. Other times I could be typing by the sound and get the word wrong because I am in a hurry or because I am translating from Spanish to English and say for example 'involucrate' instead of 'involve'. I am thankful for the browser dictionaries that help me a lot to highlight this kind of mistypes.

I'd love to say greetings from mexico, but I am in Australia. Anyway, pleased to meet you. I just saw this forum in a signature and that got me curious. I am sure I can help a bit with Spanish issues. By the way, will the verification for each post go away once I get certain number of posts or fill some criteria? :cry:

Hello, I hope I can be of help, though my Spanish is from mexico, but I believe the corrections still stand for Spain. I put in bold all the things I corrected. Orange are changes. Blue are additions The text in italics was a sentence I am not sure I understood. I don't know if it was a direct translation from English or I am simply not familiar, but I still 'took out' one word because it sounded more natural to me. Clima is one of our exceptions where a word ending with a doesn't use "La". El Clima, thus you have to treat it as 'male' for everything, so it is 'un clima' and not 'una clima'. For the "e" instead of "y". The idea is that you use "e" to bridge when the next word starts with "i" or "hi", since the "h" is silent. This is to avoid both "i" sounds to be merged ("y históricos") and flow better (e históricos) If something is not clear, please let me know. :grin: