Hola desde Indiana

[musenji]

iHola! Mi nombre es Benjamin y me gusta aprender Español. Tuve clases en escuela, y he practicado en unos de mis trabajos. La lingua es útil, pero todavia tengo mucho que aprender. Voy a leer mucho aqui, y tal vez preguntar unas preguntas.

iCuando hago un error, espero que alguien me corregirá!

[wrholt]

¡Bienvenido a los foros, Benjamin!

Escribes bastante bien, aunque hay algunos errorcitos. He notado correcciones y sugerencias o comentarios.

Originally Posted by musenji

iHola! Mi nombre es (or "Me llamo") Benjamin y me gusta aprender español. Tuve clases en la escuela (or "lo cursé/estudié en la escuela), y he practicado en unos (or "algunos") de mis trabajos. La lengua es útil, pero todavia tengo mucho que aprender. Voy a leer mucho aquí, y tal vez preguntar hacer unas preguntas.

iCuando hago un error, espero que alguien me corregirá (or "corrija")!

[Rusty]

¡Bienvenido Benjamin!

In addition to the corrections already given, here are a few more.

Originally Posted by musenji

... útil, pero todavía tengo mucho que aprender. ...
iCuando cometo un error, ¡espero que ...!

[musenji]

Thanks for the replies!

Okay, so lesson one for me today: to ask a question translates to "to make a question" ("hacer una pregunta") just like "to make a request". "Preguntar una pregunta" is wrong for the same reason that, in English, it would be wrong to say "to request a request". It's redundant. Correct?

You don't capitalize languages and nationalities--got it. (unless at the beginning of a sentence)

...Mi nombre es Benjamin, pero me llamo Ben. :-)

It makes more sense to say "I studied it in school", than to say "I took classes in school". And in Spanish I should say "in the school", referring to my school.

I don't know when to use algunos instead of unos. I used to always use "algunos", but I just watched a video that used "unos" and "unas". ...I just looked it up and read this:

http://spanish.about.com/od/translat...gunos-unos.htm

So it wouldn't hurt to say, use "algunos" unless I'm making an approximation? And if I'm referring to something that is not countable, then definitely use alguna? ("alguna agua")

In Spanish I commit an error, I don't "make" an error. Makes sense.

todavía, and aquí...got it.

Just showing you guys I'm serious!

I think I have a pretty good grasp on preterite, past imperfect, present perfect, and future...but I really haven't dived into subjunctive, and from what I can tell, it's used quite a bit. So that's my next verb adventure. Meanwhile, I seriously need to expand my overall vocabulary...para aprender mas palabras, y para practitar que (cual que?) ya sé, leo libros de la biblioteca.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by musenji

... para aprender más palabras, y para practicar lo que ya sé, leo libros de la biblioteca.

Good job! Hope the corrections answer your questions. If not, ask more questions.

lo que = that which (that which I already know | what I already know)

[wrholt]

As, Rusty says, good job!

Where I wrote a comment or suggestion without a correction, I was merely showing some common alternatives; what you wrote was perfectly fine.

Originally Posted by musenji

Thanks for the replies!

Okay, so lesson one for me today: to ask a question translates to "to make a question" ("hacer una pregunta") just like "to make a request". "Preguntar una pregunta" is wrong for the same reason that, in English, it would be wrong to say "to request a request". It's redundant. Correct?

That's certainly how it feels.

Originally Posted by musenji

You don't capitalize languages and nationalities--got it. (unless at the beginning of a sentence)

...Mi nombre es Benjamin, pero me llamo Ben. :-)

It makes more sense to say "I studied it in school", than to say "I took classes in school". And in Spanish I should say "in the school", referring to my school.

Learning when to use or not to use articles is one of the challenges. Sometimes it depends where you are, too, as with the British distinction in meaning between "in hospital" and "in the hospital" compared to the US use of "in the hospital" for both meanings.

Originally Posted by musenji

I don't know when to use algunos instead of unos. I used to always use "algunos", but I just watched a video that used "unos" and "unas". ...I just looked it up and read this:

http://spanish.about.com/od/translat...gunos-unos.htm

So it wouldn't hurt to say, use "algunos" unless I'm making an approximation? And if I'm referring to something that is not countable, then definitely use alguna? ("alguna agua")

Well, "alguna agua" doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as "some water". "I'd like some water" is usually "quiero/quisiera agua", with no article.

Originally Posted by musenji

In Spanish I commit an error, I don't "make" an error. Makes sense.

todavía, and aquí...got it.

Just showing you guys I'm serious!

I think I have a pretty good grasp on preterite, past imperfect, present perfect, and future...but I really haven't dived into subjunctive, and from what I can tell, it's used quite a bit. So that's my next verb adventure. Meanwhile, I seriously need to expand my overall vocabulary...para aprender mas palabras, y para practitar que (cual que?) ya sé, leo libros de la biblioteca.

"Used quite a bit" is perhaps an understatement when talking about the subjunctive in Spanish, but diving into the topic certainly is an adventure!

How substantial is the collection of Spanish-language books at the library you use?

[musenji]

Thanks to both!

I have a feeling that I'm going to be bad at accents for quite a while. I haven't had to --write-- in Spanish since highschool, so most of my practice has been with speaking the language, along with listening, at which I have a long, loooong way to go.

lo que, that which. sweet!

"practitar" was a blatant typo, hahaha.

En mi biblioteca, la colección de libros españoles para adultos es grande, y la colección para niños es grande tambien. He estado leyendo libros para niños.

After saying "The collection of Spanish books for adults is large," is there a way to simply say "and so is the collection for children?" (without saying "is large" again). I know that I could say "both the collection for adults and the collection for children are large," but I'm curious about this alternative. ...Would it be "y la colleción para niños tambien"? Or even just "y para niños tambien"?

Second question: does my second sentence there read "I've been reading books for children" as in books written for children? Or did I accidentally make it "I've been reading to children"?

So basically, I've read 5 or so (short) children's books, just to get my feet wet. That was last week. This week, I checked out two DVDs; one covers grammatical odds and ends including prepositions and direct and indirect object pronouns, and the other covers most of the non-present verb forms. (By the way, if I hadn't watched the first one, I would've said "a la biblioteca" just now, so I'm pretty excited to have corrected that basic error. ) I think that now I'm ready to try reading books again, and see how much more I recognize.

[wrholt]

Originally Posted by musenji

En mi biblioteca, la colección de libros españoles para adultos es grande, y la colección para niños es grande tambien. He estado leyendo libros para niños.

After saying "The collection of Spanish books for adults is large," is there a way to simply say "and so is the collection for children?" (without saying "is large" again). I know that I could say "both the collection for adults and the collection for children are large," but I'm curious about this alternative. ...Would it be "y la colleción para niños tambien"? Or even just "y para niños tambien"?

And there are other ways, too. "..., tanto como la colección para niños", "..., igual que la colección para niños" are a couple of them.

Second question: does my second sentence there read "I've been reading books for children" as in books written for children? Or did I accidentally make it "I've been reading to children"?

You got it right. And having a good-sized collection to choose from helps a lot. The greater the variety of sources, the greater the range of vocabulary you'll be exposed to.

[musenji]

Cool! In addition to the children's books, I think now I will start scouring the forums in general, because I'll probably find the answers to lots of my potential questions, just by doing that. And I'll keep Googling things too (that's how I found this place). Man, I love the internet.