Where to begin?

[jinjin]

Saludos!

I'm new to this site and new to spanish. Where should a beginner start when using this site? I looked through the homework section, etc. but it seems like most of it is much too advanced for me. any tips would be helpful!

thx!

[Rusty]

Have you any textbook(s) to help you learn Spanish?
Do you plan on taking any classes?

If you intend to learn Spanish entirely by using this site, you may want to check the 'Grammar' section first. It'll teach you the basics. You should also try using some of the free 'Spanish Grammar' sites found on the internet.

When you have questions, you can ask them in the appropriate forum (like 'Vocabulary' or 'Grammar'). If you want to practice what you're learning, use the 'Practice & Homework' forum.

[tacuba]

Check with your library and see if they have any audio courses. I would recommend Pimsleur or Assimil Spanish. In conjunction with the audio, buy some good books to help you understand the structure of the language. I can highly recommend the "Practice Makes Perfect" series of Spanish books. Also, check out the SpanishPod website at http://spanishpod.com/

When I moved to Mexico I worked my way through the 3 levels of Pimsleur, and used the "Practice Makes Perfect" series, and although I wasn't proficient in the language, it gave me enough of a base understanding to start using native materials - children's books, music, newspapers, and then later movies, novels, non-fiction etc....

I think motivation is the main driver if you want to learn another language, so keep it interesting and good luck.

[bobjenkins]

Saludos!

I'm new to this site and new to spanish. Where should a beginner start when using this site? I looked through the homework section, etc. but it seems like most of it is much too advanced for me. any tips would be helpful!

thx!
Not neccessarily related to the site but I would study the present verb tenses, you can find those in the dictionary, some special verbs to look up and remember the conjugations are..

ser
estar

[CrOtALiTo]

Saludos!

I'm new to this site and new to spanish. Where should a beginner start when using this site? I looked through the homework section, etc. but it seems like most of it is much too advanced for me. any tips would be helpful!

thx!

Well just you should to start doing question in the forums of the that you really need to know with relation to the Spanish.

And well you're welcome.

I hope that your stay in the forums will be enjoyable.

[Elaina]

How about starting with the basics?

¡Hola!

Practice, ask questions, ask yourself if you are really interested in learning, practice and ask many questions.

How much do you know already?

¿Mucho?
¿Poquito?

[CrOtALiTo]

How about starting with the basics?

¡Hola!

Practice, ask questions, ask yourself if you are really interested in learning, practice and ask many questions.

How much do you know already?

¿Mucho?
¿Poquito?

I have a question Elaina for you.

How much you already started in the learning?

I'd like to share knowledge with someone in the forums, really I want to telling you something, I need to practice the English, and it's a bunch of necessary for me.

[Elaina]

I have a question Elaina for you.

How much you already started in the learning?

I'd like to share knowledge with someone in the forums, really I want to telling you something, I need to practice the English, and it's a bunch of necessary for me.

Podría decir que me defiendo pero creo que el español es mi amigo y creo que lo manejo muy bien.

Por lo menos, eso creo.

:)

[Villa]

Saludos!

I'm new to this site and new to spanish. Where should a beginner start when using this site? I looked through the homework section, etc. but it seems like most of it is much too advanced for me. any tips would be helpful!

thx!

Jinjin, Let me know how you like this:

Basic Phrases ¡Buenos días!
bway-nohs dee-ahs
Hello! / Good morning!

¡Buenas tardes!
bway-nahs tard-ays
Good afternoon!

¡Buenas noches!
bway-nahs noh-chays
Good evening! / Good night!

¡Hola! / ¡Chao!
oh-lah / chow
Hi! / Bye!

Adiós.
ah-dee-ohs
Good bye.

Por favor.
por fah-bor
Please.

Hasta la vista / Hasta luego.
ah-stah lah vees-tah / ah-stah loo-ay-go
See you / See you later.

Hasta pronto.
ah-stah prohn-toh
See you soon.

Hasta mañana.
ah-stah mahn-yahn-ah
See you tomorrow.

(Muchas) Gracias.
(moo-chahs) grah-see-ahs
Thank you (very much).

De nada.
day nah-dah
You're welcome.

Bienvenidos
byen-veh-nee-dohs
Welcome

Lo siento
loh see-ehn-toh
I'm sorry

Con permiso / Perdón / Disculpe
kohn pehr-mee-soh / pehr-dohn / dees-kool-peh
Excuse me / Pardon me

¡Vamos!
bah-mohs
Let's go!

¿Cómo está usted?
koh-moh ay-stah oo-sted
How are you? (formal)

¿Cómo estás?
koh-moh ay-stahs
How are you? (informal)

¿Qué tal?
kay tahl
How's it going?

Bien / Muy bien
bee-ehn / moy bee-ehn
Good / Very good

Mal / Muy mal / Más o menos
mahl / moy mahl / mahs oh may-nohs
Bad / Very bad / OK

Sí / No
see / noh
Yes / No

¿Cómo se llama usted?
koh-moh say yah-mah oo-sted
What is your name? (formal)

¿Cómo te llamas?
koh-moh tay yah-mahs
What is your name? (informal)

Me llamo... / Mi nombre es...
may yah-moh / mee nohm-breh ess
My name is...

Mucho gusto. / Encantado.
moo-choh goo-stoh / en-cahn-tah-doh
Nice to meet you.

Igualmente.
ee-guahl-mehn-tay
Same here. / Same to you.

Señor / Señora / Señorita
sayn-yor / sayn-yor-ah / sayn-yor-ee-tah
Mister / Mrs. / Miss

¿De dónde es usted?
day dohn-day ehs oo-sted
Where are you from? (formal)

¿De dónde eres?
day dohn-day eh-rehs
Where are you from? (informal)

Yo soy de...
yoh soy day
I'm from...

¿Cuántos años tiene usted?
quahn-tohs ahn-yohs tee-ay-nay oo-sted
How old are you? (formal)

¿Cuántos años tienes?
quahn-tohs ahn-yohs tee-ayn-ays
How old are you? (informal)

Yo tengo _____ años.
yoh tayn-goh _____ ahn-yohs
I am _____ years old.

¿Habla usted español?
ah-blah oo-sted eh-spahn-yol
Do you speak Spanish? (formal)

¿Hablas inglés?
ah-blahs een-glehs
Do you speak English? (informal)

(No) Hablo...
noh ah-bloh
I (don't) speak...

¿Entiende usted? / ¿Entiendes?
ehn-tyen-deh oo-sted / ehn-tyen-dehs
Do you understand? (formal / informal)

(No) Entiendo.
noh ehn-tyen-doh
I (don't) understand.

Yo (no lo) se.
yoh noh loh seh
I (don't) know.

¿Puede ayudarme?
pweh-deh ah-yoo-dar-meh
Can you help me? (formal)

Claro / Claro que sí
klah-roh / klah-roh keh see
Sure / Of course

¿Cómo?
koh-moh
What? Pardon me?

¿Dónde está / Dónde están... ?
dohn-deh eh-stah / dohn-deh eh-stahn
Where is ... / Where are ... ?

Aquí / Ahí
ah-kee / ah-ee
Here / There

Hay / Había...
eye / ah-bee-ah
There is / are... / There was / were...

¿Cómo se dice ____ en español?
koh-moh seh dee-seh ___ en eh-spahn-yol
How do you say ____ in Spanish?

¿Qué es esto?
keh ehs ehs-toh
What is that?

¿Qué te pasa?
keh teh pah-sah
What's the matter (with you)?

No importa.
noh eem-por-tah
It doesn't matter.

¿Qué pasa?
keh pah-sah
What's happening?

Sin novedad.
seen noh-veh-dahd
Nothing much.

No tengo ninguna idea.
noh tehn-goh neen-goo-nah ee-deh-ah
I have no idea.

¡Buena idea!
bweh-nah ee-deh-ah
Good idea!

¡Pase!
pah-seh
Go ahead!

Estoy cansado / enfermo.
eh-stoy kahn-sah-doh / ehn-fehr-moh
I'm tired / sick.

Tengo hambre / sed.
tehn-goh ahm-breh / sed
I'm hungry / thirsty.

Tengo calor / frío.
tehn-goh kah-lohr / free-oh
I'm hot / cold.

Estoy aburrido.
eh-stoy ah-boo-ree-doh
I'm bored.

No me importa.
noh meh eem-por-tah
I don't care.

No se preocupe.
noh seh preh-oh-koo-peh
Don't worry

Está bien.
ehs-tah bee-ehn
That's alright. / It's ok.

Me olvidé.
meh ohl-vee-deh
I forgot.

Tengo que ir ahora.
tehn-goh keh eer ah-oh-rah
I must go now.

¿Listo?
lees-toh
Ready?

Quizás / Depende.
kee-sahs / deh-pehn-deh
Maybe / It depends.

Todavía no.
toh-dah-vee-ah noh
Not yet.

¡Qué chistoso!
keh chees-toh-soh
How funny!
¡
Que le vaya bien!
keh leh vah-yah bee-ehn
Have a nice day!

¡Nos vemos!
nohs veh-mos
We'll see you!

¡Salud!
sah-lood
Bless you!

¡Felicitaciones!
feh-lee-see-tah-see-oh-nehs
Congratulations!

¡Buena suerte!
bweh-nah swehr-teh
Good luck!

Te toca a ti.
teh toh-kah ah tee
It's your turn. (informal)

¡Callate!
kah-yah-teh
Shut up!

Te amo.
tay ah-moh
I love you. (informal and singular)

[chileno]

Jinjin, Let me know how you like this:

Basic Phrases ¡Buenos días!
bway-nohs dee-ahs bweh-nohs dee-ahs.
Hello! / Good morning!

¡Buenas tardes!
bway-nahs tard-ays
Good afternoon!

¡Buenas noches!
bway-nahs noh-chays
Good evening! / Good night!

¡Hola! / ¡Chao!
oh-lah / chow
Hi! / Bye!

Adiós.
ah-dee-ohs
Good bye.

Por favor.
por fah-bor
Please.

Hasta la vista / Hasta luego.
ah-stah lah vees-tah / ah-stah loo-ay-go loo-eh-goh
See you / See you later.

Hasta pronto.
ah-stah prohn-toh
See you soon.

Hasta mañana.
ah-stah mahn-yahn-ah
See you tomorrow.

(Muchas) Gracias.
(moo-chahs) grah-see-ahs
Thank you (very much).

De nada.
day nah-dah deh nah-dah
You're welcome.



see what I mean? try to fix the others.

Don't you ever use that booay bit, specially in Mexico...;)

[CrOtALiTo]

Podría decir que me defiendo pero creo que el español es mi amigo y creo que lo manejo muy bien.

Por lo menos, eso creo.

:)

Is it cool :)

[jinjin]

Thanks for the answers everyone!

I have Rosetta stone for Spanish (all levels), also use spanishpod.com and livemocha.com (and also have some fun apps on the iphone). I find Rosetta stone a little to redundant (I've learned the word for socks or shoes about 10,000 times) that I can't sit there and do it for too long without being bored out of my mind.

I think my main issue is I need practice writing in order to get it stuck in my head and also practice speaking. I work with a majority of native spanish speakers but at my low level, I'm not really catching much (not to mention, they all want to teach me curse words! jajaaa)

I've poked around the forum and wanted to know where was a good place to start in the forum for someone who is at a beginner level who needs tons of practice.

A spanish tutor suggested that I write a daily diary but at my level, I'm not sure I was actually writing in spanish rather than in gibberish!

[chileno]

Thanks for the answers everyone!

I have Rosetta stone for Spanish (all levels), also use spanishpod.com and livemocha.com (and also have some fun apps on the iphone). I find Rosetta stone a little to redundant (I've learned the word for socks or shoes about 10,000 times) that I can't sit there and do it for too long without being bored out of my mind.

I think my main issue is I need practice writing in order to get it stuck in my head and also practice speaking. I work with a majority of native spanish speakers but at my low level, I'm not really catching much (not to mention, they all want to teach me curse words! jajaaa)

I've poked around the forum and wanted to know where was a good place to start in the forum for someone who is at a beginner level who needs tons of practice.

A spanish tutor suggested that I write a daily diary but at my level, I'm not sure I was actually writing in spanish rather than in gibberish!

Instead of that, get a novel of your favorite subject in Spanish, and start reading, writing and translating to English. Everything you have stored in memory will come out (sooner than later) ;)