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ABOUT SPANISH
Spanish in a Romance language that belongs to Indo - European language family.
Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved
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SPANISH LANGUAGE (LA LENGUA ESPAOLA)
Spanish is the most common first language in Spain and Latin America. More than 390 mil. of people speak Spanish in the countries where it is an official language and more than 30 mil. of people speak Spanish in the countries where it is not an official language,
About 5.8 percent of the people who use the Internet speak Spanish, making it the No. 4 language in the Internet community, following English, Japanese and German.
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A FEW FACTS ABOUT SPAIN
Official name Interesting places La Corua Torre de Hrcules Len, Zaragoza Catedral Barcelona Sagrada Familia Salamanca Universidad Madrid Plaza Mayor Teruel, Valencia Catedral La Mancha los molinos
Reino de Espaa
Political system
Constitutional Monarchy
Capital
Madrid
Highest point
el Teide en las Islas Canarias
Most important rivers
Sevilla Giralda
Crdoba Mejita Granada Alhambra
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Ebro, Duero, Tajo, Guadalquivir, Guadiana
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SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION (ORTOGRAFA Y PRONUNCIACIN)
Spelling and pronunciation in Spanish is easier than in English. Generally words are spoken as they are spelled and most of the letters are pronounced as they are written, just a few of them have different pronunciation: y /i / - as a conjunction and Elena y Pedro as in see, but shorter /j/ - as a part of words yo, rey, mayo as in yes c /k/ - before a, o, u Carmen, tabaco, Cuba as in car
// - before e, i cerveza, cine, cinco as in thing
ch // - Chile, noche as in church g /g/ - before a, o, u galera, gustar as in get /x/ - before e, i gente, girasol as in Loch gue, gui /ge, gi/ - Miguel, guitarra h /-/ - is not pronounced hola, hasta la vista ll // - me llamo, Sevilla similar to million // - Espaa, maana similar to onion que, qui /ke, ki/
/ola, asta la vista/ j /x/ - Juan, Jorge, jueves as in Loch Ness
qu es, don Quijote
z // - zapato as in
thing
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ACCENT AND PUNCTUATION (EL ACENTO Y LA PUNTUACIN)
Another difference between English and Spanish is the WRITTEN ACCENT that indicates where the stress falls in a word.
mdico, rbol, ro, len, anunci, mircoles
INITIAL CAPITAL LETTERS are used less in Spanish than they are
in English. Here are a few examples: Nationalities, tribes, races, languages: In English: English, Italian, Russian In Spanish: ingls, italiano, ruso Days of the week; months: In English: Monday, Sunday, March, July In Spanish: lunes, domingo, marzo, julio In the titles of books, movies, paintings etc.: In English: My Last Word In Spanish: Mi ltima palabra
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PUNCTUATION II. (LA PUNTUACIN)
There is an interesting fenomena in Spanish question mark and exclamation mark are written not only at the end of a sentence, but also at the beginning where they are inverted.
Hablas espaol? Do you speak English? Cierra la ventana! Close the window!
This is a special sign that means the letter should be pronunced softer. It is similar to the sound in onion. Hablo espaol. /ablo espaol/ I speak Spanish. Tengo 30 aos. /tengo treinta aos/ - I am 30 (years old).
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ARTICLE (EL ARTCULO)
Article in Spanish can be definite or indefinite and it has a different form in feminine and masculine gender and also in plural. It is more effective to learn Spanish vocabulary together with articles as they define the gender. la ventana (feminine the window), el libro (masculine the book).
Indefinite Article El artculo indefinido
masculine feminine
Definite Article El artculo definido
masculine feminine
un chico, una chica
a boy, a girl
el libro, la mesa
Plural / El plural
the book, the table
unos chicos, unas chicas, los libros, las mesas
(some) boys, (some) girls, the books, the tables
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NOUNS (LOS SUSTANTIVOS)
Nouns in Spanish are used in a similar way like English nouns. They do not change their form as they do in some languages e. g. Slavic.
Es mi amigo. It is my friend. - Je to mj priate. Lo explico a mi amigo. I explain it to my friend. Vysvetujem to
mjmu priateovi. (in Slovak a Slavic language).
ADJECTIVES (LOS ADJETIVOS)
In Spanish, adjectives usually go after nouns and agree with them in gender and number.
un chico bonito una chica bonita los libros rojos las mesas rojas
a nice boy a nice girl the red books the red tables
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Spanish verbs are conjugated, it means they have different endings which depend on the mood, tense, person and number. It is not necessary to use personal pronouns as it is in English to define the person. They are divided into regular verbs and irregular verbs.
VERBS (LOS VERBOS)
A. VERBS WITH REGULAR CONJUGATION
They are conjugated according to the rules (patterns) and are divided into three groups according to the ending in the infinitive. - AR (hablar/speak) - ER (comprender/understand) -IR (vivir/live) Conjugation - Present Tense Simple of verbs ending in AR:
(yo) hablo I speak (t) hablas you speak (l/ella) habla he/she speaks
(nosotros) hablamos we speak (vosotros) hablis you speak (ellos/ellas) hablan they speak
B. IRREGULAR VERBS
There are ten types of irregular verbs with internal vowel change e. g.: jugar / to play juego, juegas, juega ... / I play, you play, he plays... Other irregular verbs change the form e. g.: tener / to have tengo, tienes, tiene ... / I have, you have, he has... 9
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NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES
In Spanish, NEGATIVE SENTENCES are formed by placing the negative adverb NO before the verb. No hablo italiano. I don`t speak Italian.
No llamaron la semana pasada. They didn`t call last week. No viajaremos el mes que viene. We won`t travel next month.
(LAS FRASES NEGATIVAS E INTERROGATIVAS)
INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES In Spanish, an affirmative sentence can be used as a question when it is given an appropriate pronunciation and a question mark.
Le gusta leer los libros. He likes rading books. Le gusta leer los libros? Does he like reading books?
Word order is changed only when an extra emphasis is desired: Elena est enferma? Est Elena enferma? Is Elena ill? When a question is made with an interrogative adverb or pronoun, the adverb (pronoun) goes first and is followed by the main verb or personal pronoun, if there is one. Dnde est Luis? Where is Luis? Qu te gusta? What do you like?
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WHY TO LEARN SPANISH?
To be able to read a book, or to watch a movie, or a soap opera , in original Spanish version.
Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra
Federico Garcia Lorca
Gabriel Garcia Mrquez
Isabel Allende 1942 Peru
1547 1616
1898 1936
1928 Columbia
Don Quijote de la Mancha
The House of Bernarda Alba (La casa de Bernarda Alba)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien aos de soledad)
The House of the Spirits (La casa de los espiritus)
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WHY TO LEARN SPANISH?
To be able to communicate when I go to Madrid.
Palacio Real
Puerta del Sol
El Prado
Plaza de toros
Plaza Mayor
To be able to communicate when I go on holiday.
Costa Brava Costa Dorada
Ibiza
Tenerife
Mexico, Cancun
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WHY TO LEARN SPANISH?
Because it is a native language of famous Spanish artists.
Francisco
Jos de Goya
1746 - 1828
Pablo Picasso
Salvador Dal 1904 - 1989
1881 - 1973
Maya desnuda
La Madona de port
Maya vestida
Guernica
Les Demoiselles d' Avignon
Angelus de Gala
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WHY TO LEARN SPANISH?
Because I would like to go to a flamenco course to Spain.
Because I would like to make a Spanish meal, or a drink, according to an original recipe in Spanish.
gazpacho
paella
churros con chocolate
mojito
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WHY TO LEARN SPANISH?
Because it is a beautiful melodic language. Because I would like to understand people when I go on holiday to fascinating beaches with white sand to Mallorca or Tenerife, or any other island. Because I can communicate in Spanish not only in Spain, but also in Northern Africa, Latin and Central America, and Mexico. Because I would like to study at one of the oldest European universities Universidad de Salamanca. Because I would like to get a summer job in Spain at a seaside resort. Because I would like to work for an international Spanish company. Because Spanish is one of the most used modern languages, following English, and that is why it is a very good choice to learn Spanish in combination with another language. Because the company I work for has Spanish business partners and I would like to speak to them fluently. And also because ...
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