Spanish Route

Translation to Engl​ish

Spanish Route episode ONCE your guided route to  Spanish.

Hi. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Welcome to SpanishRoute. The program, the podcast, to learn and improve your Spanish.

My name is Sergio and I speak to you from Spain. This is the eleventh program. The eleventh stage on your way to Spanish.

I will summarize what we have talked about in the previous five programs. In programs 6 through 10, in case you have not heard them yet, they may be of interest to you.

In chapter 6, we talk about "tiempo" in Spanish, the difference between "time" and "weather" or "climate". We also made a summary of the first five podcast programs.

In chapter 7, we talk about the Camino de Santiago and the practical vocabulary that you need to know if you are going to make a pilgrimage to Compostela.

In chapter 8, we started to practice the Spanish alphabet and focused on the difference between ve (b), v (v) and double v (w).

In chapter 9, we continue to practice the Spanish alphabet and focus on the letters ge (g), jota (j) and the digigraph gu as well as the use of the umlaut (gü).

In chapter 10 of the podcast, we focus on the phonetic differences and written usage of the letters ce (ce), zeta (z), that (s), x (x), and the digraphs Qu and Ch.

In this eleventh program we will talk about the use and pronunciation of the letter R and the digraph rr. Also of the letter L and of the LL. And finally of the letter Y also called Greek i that is sometimes used to represent a sound or vowel phoneme and at other times it is used to represent a consonantal sound.

But as always I recommend you to follow the class through the transcription and the text that you will find on my website, spanishroute.com, since we are focusing on the written form of Spanish and it is advisable to read the words to differentiate when is used each one these letters..

On the web you can also expose your doubts and questions and if you want to book private sessions by Skype to improve your pronunciation.

Remember, spanishroute.com and now, let's start with the class.

How do you pronounce letter R in Spanish

The letter R in Spanish can represent two phonemes, one weaker / re / and one stronger or vibrant / rre /

To reproduce these two phonemes the position of the mouth, tongue and teeth is the same. The mouth has to be open, the teeth separated and the tip of the tongue rests on the front of the palate, next to the teeth, without the rest of the tongue touching the palate.

To play the phoneme / re / the tongue only touches the palate once. Words like:

Corazón, (Heart), espera (wait), caricia (caress).

And when we want to reproduce the phoneme / rre / the tongue touches two or more times the palate, as if bouncing, producing a stronger vibration. Words like:

Ratón (mouse), correr (to run), rudio (noise).

Very well! Do not worry if the hard sound of the /R/ is difficult at first. It is normal, especially for English-speaking students of Spanish, since this sound does not exist in their language.

I have to tell you, also, that for native speakers of Spanish it is not an easy sound either, and many children when they learn to speak also have a hard time getting a good pronunciation of this sound.

When is written r or double rr in Spanish.

To represent the two phonemes you heard earlier in written Spanish, use the letter r the digraph rr according to the following orthographic rules.

For the phoneme / re / (soft) always used a single letter r. For the phoneme / rre / (vibrant) sometimes used the letter R and sometimes the double rr.

The double rr is only used when the strong phoneme is between two vowels. In the rest of the occasions a single one is always used.

For example:

Carro (car), perro (dog), guitarra (guitar), sierra (saw), tierra (earth), erre (R).

Let's see now examples of words with the phoneme / rre / (strong) but that are written with only o...

Spanish Route episode TEN. Your guided route to Spanish.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Welcome to SpanishRoute. The program, the podcast, to learn and improve your Spanish.

My name is Sergio and I am your personal Spanish trainer. And I speak to you from Spain.This is the tenth program, your tenth stage on your way to Spanish.Today we continue with the series of programs on the pronunciation and use of the letters of the Spanish alphabet. In the previous program we talked about the letters G and J, and in this program we will learn to use and differentiate the letters C, K, Z, S, X and also the digraphs Qu and Ch.The sounds or phonemes for which we are going to use these letters are: the phoneme / θ / (zzz), the phoneme / s / (ssss), the phoneme / k / and the phoneme / tʃ / (ch).But as always, I recommend you to follow the class through the transcription and the text you will find on my website: spanishroute.com, since we are focusing on the written form of Spanish. It is advisable to read the words to differentiate when each of these letters is used.On the web you can also expose your doubts and if you wish to book private sessions by Skype, to improve your pronunciation.Remember: spanishroute.com. And now, yes, let’s start with the class.As some of the letters we are talking about today can represent several different phonemes, let’s start by differentiating these phonemes and indicating when each letter should be used. And finally we will see how to pronounce the letter X in Spanish.

pronunciation ce, z qu, k

The phoneme / K / in Spanish

The sound or phoneme / k / can be represented in Spanish written by the letters K, Q / q, and C. In words such as house (which is written with c-), kilo (which is written with k-) or cheese (which is written with q-).

The letter k of the Spanish alphabet

The letter K is always used in Spanish to represent the sound / k /. But the words with this letter are unusual in Spanish. It only appears in some words of Greek or foreign origin: It can be accompanied by any vowel: ka, ke, ki, ko, ku.kilo, Kilómetro, kamikace, vikingo  (kilo, kilometer, kamikaze, vikingo).

The letter Q/q and the digraph Qu / qu in Spanish

The letter Q/q of the Spanish alphabet is always used for this phoneme /k/, but only accompanying the vowel -e and the vowel -i. So it can only represent the sound –que- and the sound -qui-. In addition, the letter Q / q is always written accompanied by the silent vowel -u (without sound) forming the digraph Qu / qu: For example:Queso, quince, quinientos, alquilar, quemar, quieto. (Cheese, fifteen, five hundred, rent, burn, quiet).

The letter C of the Spanish alphabet. When does it represent the phoneme / k /?

The letter C of the Spanish alphabet is used to represent the sound / k / when it accompanies the vowel -a: Casa (house); to the vowel -o: Coche (car); and the vowel -u: Cuadrado (square). When the letter C is followed by the vowel -e or the vowel -i, it is read with another sound, with the sound / θ / (zzz), forming the syllables -ce, -ci. As discussed below.The letter C is also used to represent the sound / K / to end words: bloc, clic, bistec (bloc, click, steak).And when it is followed by the consonant -l and by the consonant -r:Clase, crisis, cruel, crema, cliente, cristal (Class, crisis, cruel, cream, customer, crystal).

The phoneme / θ / (zzz) and the seseo in Spanish

The sound or phoneme / θ / (zzz) can be represented in Spanish by the letters Z and C, but there are Spanish-speaking regions that do not have this phoneme and what they use instead is the phoneme / S / (sss). It is what is known as «seseo». Words like Zapato (Shoe) or Cereza (cherry). With «seseo» they are pronounced Zapato *, Cererza * (* Observe the pronunciation in the audio)The «seseo«, as we saw in chapter four of the podcast, is a particularity of the regional pronunciation of Spanish, admitted as correct.

Spanish Route episode nine. Your guided route to Spanish

Hello! How are you, Spanish student? Welcome to SpanishRoute. The program, the podcast, to learn and improve your Spanish.My name is Sergio and I speak to you from Spain. This is the ninth program, your ninth stage on your way to Spanish.Today, we continue with the series of programs abaut the Spanish alphabet. In the previous program we focus on the letters be (b), uve (v) and uve doble (w).Today we are going to focus on the letter jota(j) and ge (g). And the digraph formed by the letters gu.The letters ge and jota can be a source of confusion for Spanish students, but with these small instructions that I present here today, it will be much easier to differentiate them.I recommend you to follow the class through the transcript that you will find on my website, SpanishRoute.com, since we are focusing on the written form of Spanish and it is advisable to read the words to differentiate when using G and when using the J. On the web you will also have access to a very easy written test to practice and memorize the concepts we are talking about today.And now. Let's start with the class.

The letter "jota" of Spanish

The letter "jota" is always pronounced the same. It is a sound that is produced by the approach of the back of the tongue and the back of the palate. Scraping the throat. jjjj (/x/)It is used with the five vowels: Ja, je, ji, jo, ju. With the vowel a: Jamón (ham)With the vowel e: Jefe (boss)With the vowel i: Jirafa (giraffe)With the vowel o: Jota (jota)With the vowel u: Jueves (Thursday)  The letter j can also appear to end words: Reloj (clock)

The letter g in Spanish

The letter g can be pronounced basicly in two ways in Spanish. And for that, we divide them according to the vowels that they accompany.

G pronunciation same as J

The g with the vowel e and the g with the vowel i are pronounced the same as the j: with a strong sound from the throat. Ge / Gi. With the vowel e: Gente (People). With the vowel i: Girar (Rotate).My name, for example. It is written with g and pronounced with the sound equal to the j. Sergio.The reason for the use of j or g for the same sound has to do with etymological reasons and the way in which Spanish evolved from Latin and also by the incorporation into Spanish of words from other languages such as Arabic.

Soft g sound

The other sound for the letter g is /g/. Also with the throat but softer: Without scraping. And it can be: ga, gue, gui, go, gu.But, I said earlier that the g with the e and the g with the i are pronounced like the j. Therefore to write the words that are pronounced gue and gui, we use a vowel u between the g and the vowels e or i.For example: Guerra (War). Guerra is written: g-u-e-r-r-a. The u is silent, it is not pronounced. Guerra.

Guitarra (guitar): Guitarra is spelled: G-u-i-t-a-r-r-a. The letter u is not pronounced, remember. Guitarra.Examples of words with the letter g and the rest of the vowels for this phoneme:With the vowel a: Gato (Cat).With the vowel o: Gota (Drop).With the vowel u: (gustar( (to Like or to love)

The umlaut (diéresis) in Spanish

But this can still be complicated a bit more.There are words in Spanish with the letter g that are pronounced güe and güi. How are these words written then? In the Spanish written to indicate that we must pronounce this letter, we use the umlaut (diéresis). Which are two horizontal points on the letter u of this syllable.For example: With the vowel e: Cigüeña (Stork), with the vowel i: Güisqui (Whisky). If we do not use the umlaut when reading these words we would say: cigueña or guisqui. and this is wrong. if we do not put neither the umlaut nor the u read: cigeña or gisqui. And that is also wrong.

The letter g with the consonants l and r in Spanish: Gr / Gl

In addition to the syllables formed by the letter g plus a vowel, the letter g can be accompanied by the consonants L/l and R/r,

Spanish Route episode EIGHT your guided tour to  Spanish.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Welcome to SpanishRoute. The program, the podcast, to learn Spanish the easy and fun way.

My name is Sergio and I speak from Spain. This is the eighth program, your eighth stage on your way to Spanish.

Today we will talk about the the Spanish alphabet and focus on the letters be (B / b), UVE (V / v) and uve doble (W / w). Their different names, their pronunciation and words with different meanings and are spelled differently but pronounced the same.

But first, as always, I want to remind you that on my website, spanishroute.com you can follow the written transcription of this audio. 

And if you want to improve your speech I can help you practice your Spanish with Skype conversation sessions. Remember SpanishRoute.com

And now. Let's start with the class.

Before focusing on the pronunciation of the letters be (B / b) and EUV (V / v) I'm going to pronounce the complete Spanish alphabet. In later programs we will focus on the pronunciation of other letters that can submit questions for students of Spanish. As the C/c and Z/z, the G/g and J/j, or the I/i and Y/y.

The alphabet in Spanish

The alphabet (alfabeto y abecedario: these two words are synonymous) is currently made according to the official grammar of the Spanish language by 27 letters. 5 vowels and 22 consonants. 5 digraphs are also recognized: they are sequences of two letters representing one sound.

This is how the alphabet sounds in Spanish:

A / a, B / b, C / c, D / d, E / E, F / f, G / g, H / h, I / i, J / j, K / k, L / L, M / m, N / n n / N, O / o, P / P, Q / q, R, r, s / s, T / T, U / u, v / v, w / w, X / x, Y / y, Z / z

The five vowels appear in this alphabet are: A / A, E / e, I / i, O / o, u / u

The five digraphs are: the letters c + h, the double L (ll), double R (rr), the letter q + vowel u, and letter g + vowel u . We also discuss these digraphs on these programs.

And today we will talk about the letters be (be), vee (uve), double vee (uve doble) in Spanish.

The letters be (B/b)  and uve (V/v) in Spanish: Names and pronunciation

Letters be and vee may pose a little difficulty for those starting to study Spanish.

The letter be (B / b)  is the second letter of the Spanish alphabet and has its origin in the letter of the Greek alphabet beta. In America it is also known as be alta o be larga (high be, or be long).

Vee letter (V / V) is the twenty - third letter of the Spanish alphabet and has its origin in the letter Upsilon Greek alphabet. From which also derive the vowel u and the letter (Y/y), also known as "i griega" (Greek i). Other names for V are: uve baja, uve corta o uve chica. "Chica" in this case is synonymous with small. Not to be confused with the guy or female person young age (girl).

Although both letters can be used different names the current rules of the Spanish language recommended to always use the names "be" and "uve".

The letters B and V currently represent the same phoneme in Spanish. The bilabial sound / b /

The stocks of two different letters for the same phonemes is due to the Latin origin of language. Since, at the beginning and until the Middle Ages these two letters did represent different phonemes. But little by little these differences were lost.

Sometimes you can hear a Spanish speaker pronounce vee with labial dental / f / phoneme. Instead of "viento" (wind) you can hear "/ f / iento. 

But this is due to pronunciation or regional accent of Spanish. The right thing at present is to pronounce the sound / b / bilabial phoneme: Viento (Wind).

The phoneme / b /. In words that are written to (B/b) as words that are written with V/ve you may have a different intensity or loudness depending on the position of the phoneme in the phrase or word.

For example: usually a sound / b / stronger when the phoneme is the beginning of a word or after the letters "m" and "n...

Translation to Engl​ish

Spanish Route episode SEVEN. Your guided tour to Spanish

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. I'm Sergio and I'm your personal trainer Spanish. And as you know if you've heard earlier chapters I speak from Galicia in northern Spain.

This is the seventh program, your seventh stage on your way to Spanish. Today let's talk about the Camino de Santiago (the way of Saint James). I'll tell you a little about what is the way of Santiago and practice the basic vocabulary you need to know if you want to come to Spain to perform this pilgrimage route.

If you want to do the Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago) I recommend you look further information on the internet, also in your language, because in this program will just basic approach. We can go deeper on the "Camino de Santiago in upcoming programs. And if you have any questions you can write to [email protected].

But first of all, as always, I would also like to remind you that you have the transcription and translation into English of this class on my website spanishroute.com. 

And if you want to improve your speech I can help you practice your Spanish with Skype sessions or other online video conference program.  

And now. Let's start with the class

The Way of St. James to learn Spanish

​Visiting Spain to do the "Camino de Santiago" is a good idea for many reasons.. It's also a good excuse to practice your Spanish. While on the road you will find many foreign pilgrims are mostly Spanish. You can also talk to the inhabitants of towns and cities and with hostels workers and volunteers.

I have done the "Camino de Santiago" twice. And I've met foreign pilgrims who knew nothing of Spanish and is fun to teach vocabulary for "El Camino".

Okay, if you've never heard of the Camino de Santiago I'll explain briefly.

The Camino de Santiago is a Christian pilgrimage route that from the 10th century crosses Europe to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Where, supposedly, the Apostle James is buried. 

The city of Santiago de Compostela is in Galicia. A Spanish region of northwestern Spain.

Its cathedral is Romanesque but has later additions. Its main facade (in the Plaza del Obradoiro) is baroque. Of the eighteenth century.

The Camino de Santiago has many possible routes and today are marked with "flechas amarillas" (yellow arrows) and with other signals such as the drawing of the "concha de vieira" (scallop shell) . You know what that means "flechas amarillas" and "concha de vieira"? Very good.

Mainly, the Camino de Santiago is on foot (andanddo, a pie) or by bicycle. The verb "andar" (to walk) has another synonym that is "caminar". Which it originates at the root of the word "camino" (way). In fact the first person present indicative of the verb walk is "yo camino" (I walk). Like the noun: "el camino" (the way). The rest of the conjugation of the verb "caminar" (to walk) in the present indicative is: 

Tú caminas. El, ella o usted camina. Nosotros/as caminamos. Vosotros/as camináis. Ellos/as (o ustedes) caminan. (You walk. He, she walk. , We walk. You walk. They walk).

The verb "andar" in the present indicative is: Yo ando. Tú andas, El, ella o usted anda. Nosotros/as andamos. Vosotros/as andáis. Ellos/as o ustedes andan.

To say that you travel by bicycle or that you go by bicycle it is said: "montar en bicicleta" (to ride a bicycle). Yo monto en bicicleta (I ride a bike). The sport of riding a bicycle is "el ciclismo" (cycling).

​You can also do the Camino de Santiago "montado a caballo" (on horseback, by horse) but today there are very few pilgrims who do the Camino by horse. As you can see, to indicate that you are riding a bicycle or riding a horse, we use the verb "montar" (to ride) in Spanish. montar en bicicleta, montar a caballo (to ride a bike, to ride a horse). It is also used for motorcycle. Yo monto en moto (I ride a motorbike). "Moto" is short for "motocicleta" (motorcycle)...

Spanish Route episode SEIS your guided tour to  Spanish.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. My name is Sergio and I'm your personal trainer Spanish.

Welcome to Spanish Route. The program, the podcast where every week you hear me speaking in Spanish about my language and my culture and practice your ear and your understanding of Spanish.

I remind you that on my website  SpanishRoute.com can read the transcript and English translation of this class while listening to the audio. Here you can also contact me to answer your questions.

And if you want to improve your speech I can help you practice your Spanish with Skype conversation sessions. Remember SpanishRoute.com

 Very good! Today is the sixth program, the sixth stage on your way to Spanish. I will summarize what we discussed in the first five chapters if you have not heard yet, they may be of interest.

In Chapter 1 , we have learned to introduce ourselves and say hello : ¡Hola! ¡buenos días! Me llamo Sergio y soy de España (Hi good morning, my name is Sergio and I am from Spain). We also spoke of the cardinal points in Spanish, demonym and other expressions and phrases such as "por favor" (please), "disculpa" (sorry), "gracias" (thanks you)...In Chapter 2 we talked about the gender of nouns in Spanish and the difference between "bien" (well) and "bueno" (good).In Chapter 3 we treat personal subject pronouns, especially the use of "Tú" and "usted"(you)  and the conjugation of verbs "ser" and "estar" (to be).In Chapter 4 we talk about regional differences in Spanish : phonetic differences, specific vocabulary, "voseo" and the use of "ustedes" .In Chapter 5 we try specific vocabulary often used in internet and computer , such as la arroba (at @), almohadilla (hash #) or barra inclinada (/ slash) .

Very good. You know you have the list of all the chapters of the podcast on my website spanishroute.com/the-podcast with transcription and translation into English.

Today we will talk about "el tiempo (the time and the weather) in Spanish.

The word "tiempo" has multiple uses and meanings in Spanish. Today we will focus on two of them. "Tiempo" as a way to measure the sequence of events (time) and "tiempo" as atmospheric state or climate of a region at a particular time (weather).

"El Tiempo" (The time) allows us to organize events and setting a sequence of events past, present and future. To measure it we use units of time. "El segundo" (the second), "el minuto" (the minute) or "la hora" (the hour). Also other major as "el día" (the day), "el mes" (the month) and "el año" (the year).

To measure time we use "el reloj" (the clock) and "el calendario" (the calendar).

We use the clock (el reloj) to know the moment of the day we are in. La hora y el minuto (The hour and minute). But to measure the time we can also use "el cronómetro" (the chronometer) that serves to measure how long a specific event lasts, such as a race.

There are many types of clock. There are "reloj de pulsera" (watches) , which are what we in the arm. There are "reloj de pared" (wall clocks), which are hanging on the wall inside the house and we also have a clock on the mobile.

-Yo hace mucho tiempo que no tengo reloj de pulsera porque utilizo siempre el reloj del móvil. (I have not had a wristwatch for a long time because I always use the mobile phone clock).

"Las horas" (the hours) can be written in the format of 12 or 24 hours. When we use the twelve-hour format in written language we can use the abbreviation AM or PM to indicate whether it is morning or evening.

But when we speak in Spanish as usual, it is to use the 12-hour format and add if it is "por la mañana" (morning), "por la tarde" (afternoon), "por la noche" (evening) or "de madrugada" (early morning).

For example. I can say: Hoy llegué a las once (today I arrived at eleven). If I say nothing else is understood that I arrived at 11:00 "de la mañana"  or 11:00 PM.

Translation to Engl​ish

Spanish Route episode FIVE. Your guided route to Spanish

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Welcome to SpanishRoute.

The program, the podcast to learn Spanish the easy and fun way.

My name is Sergio and I'm your personal trainer Spanish. How are you going to study Spanish? Are you practicing every day?

Very good! Today is the fifth program, the fifth stage on your way to Spanish and will talk about the vocabulary of computer and Internet (Spanish Internet Vocabulary). 

But first, as always, I want to remind you that on my website spanishroute.com have the transcription and translation into English of this class. Also, from SpanishRoute.com/contact, you can write with doubts and questions to resolve in the program. 

And if you want to improve your speech I can help you practice your Spanish with Skype conversation sessions. Remember SpanishRoute.com. And now. Let 's start with the class.

Spanish Internet Vocabulary

Because the Internet is a very modern technology, many of the words we use come from English. Why is this language which was used for the first time. They are therefore Anglicisms.

But as we saw in the previous chapter the use of Anglicisms still uses and geographic customs.

The word Internet is often used without an article but also can be used with both male and female article. "El Internet" or "La Internet".

The word "online": how do you say in Spanish?

The word online is translated into Spanish by "en línea" when we perform any task connected to the Internet. But the English form online is also very common among those who speak Spanish.

Another word is widely used in Internet mail or email. Spanish is commonly used in the English form but the right thing is to use the Spanish translation: "correo" or "correo electrónico".

For example: I can say you:

Mi dirección de correo electrónico es: [email protected]

As you can hear, the email address we have a new word that is "arroba". The "arroba" is a letter or rather a symbol of ancient origin that was recovered in the Internet age for use in email addresses. It is written between the user name and the domain name, server or provider mail account. In English "arroba" is said "at". 

The "arroba" symbol @ in Spanish

The "arroba" symbol is a letter "a" locked in an open circle. In Spanish the word "arroba" also means old unit weight and volume variable value according to regional differences.

When we say an e-mail also added the word "punto", as in the domains or URLs to add the termination of domain or mail account provider.

"Punto" is the punctuation mark that ended with sentences and paragraphs in Spanish. English "dot" is said.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) in Spanish

On the Internet there are also the addresses of web pages or web sites. Also known URLs acronym, which stands for the English words in Spanish means Localizador Uniforme de Recursos (Uniform Resource Locator), so the acronym should be LUR, but still use the orignial English acronym URL). You can also listen to the English form website, but the right thing is to use the Spanish translation "sitio web" or "página web".

Urls usually start with three double-ues. (WWW). Followed by a dot (punto), and the domain name. After another dot and finally a extenson or termination, which can be com, net, es, etc.

Double-u letter (Uve doble) in Spanish can be called in several ways depending on the geographical origin of the speaker.

In Spain it is usually called "Uve doble" and Latin America is often called "doble u" or "doble ve" seen since in those countries the letter "uve" (v) also called "ve baja". 

We will review the names of the letters of the alphabet in Spanish in upcoming programs. Since there are more letters that can be difficult for students of Spanish.

Therefore the urls with the structure of the three double-ues, the domain name and extension are usually "pagina de inicio del ...

Translation to Engl​ish

Spanish Route episode FOUR. Your guided tour to Spanish.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Welcome to Spanish Route. The program, the podcast to learn Spanish the easy and fun way. I'm Sergio and I'm your personal trainer Spanish. And I speak from Galicia in northern Spain.

This is the fourth program, fourth stage on your way to Spanish. Today we will talk about geographical differences of Spanish spoken and you have to keep in mind if you're traveling to a Spanish speaking country.

But before and I always want to remind you that on my website SpanishRoute.com have the transcript and English translation of this class. Also, from SpanishRoute.com/contact , you can write with doubts and questions to resolve in the program. And if you want to improve your speech I can help you practice your Spanish with Skype conversation sessions at a very low price.  

Remember SpanishRoute.com . And now. Let 's start with the class.

Differences between the Spanish of Spain and Latin American Spanish

Spanish differences because of its geographical situation applies not only between Spain and Latin America but there are also differences between regions within the same country. For example, there phonetics and intonation between north and south differences here in Spain and is also very particular accent of the Canary Islands.

The fact that there are regional differences in language does not mean you need to learn them all, but it's good to have a general idea. Some words or regional expressions are admitted as correct use in Spanish and appear in the dictionary, but others are considered slang or foreign words and do not appear in the Spanish dictionary.

If you learn to speak a common neutral or Spanish, as we speak here, you can be understood by any Spanish speaker from anywhere on the planet. The hardest thing is that you understand when someone speaks to you with a very marked or using typical vocabulary your region or country accent. So if you're wanting to travel to a particular place in Spain or Latin America, you should investigate some kind of accent or specific vocabulary used there.

In general, geographical differences oral Spanish can be grouped into the following characteristics:

Accent and intonation

Each country or region has a different accent or intonation, this feature of Spanish spoken can hinder your understanding if the other person also speaks too fast.

Phonetic differences

Related stress and intonation is the different pronunciation of some letters or deletion or substitution of phonemes. This feature already difficult a little more understanding, and it may also cause more mistakes when writing in Spanish, because it tends to write like you talk committed. For example, in Spain we pronounce the letter "z" as English th (θ). It is the same phoneme that when "c" goes before the vowels "e" or "i". For example: "Zapato", "ceniza". As in Latin America and parts of Spain this phoneme sounds more like a "s" but you can not write with "s": sapato, Senisa. It is what is known as "seseo".

Concrete vocabulary

There are also different words for the same purpose: for example "coche" (car) (in Spain) "carro" or "auto" in Latin America. In Spain we say "ordenador" (computer) Latinomaérica say computador. Móvil (mobile phone) say in Spain, celular say in Latin America.

Another example: The word "dinero". The word "dinero" is common to all Spanish-speaking countries but in Argentina they say "plata" (silver), in Mexico they call "lana" (wool). And the money, influence of English also called "cash" or "money". Although these last words do not appear in the dictionary and are Anglicisms.

We will include, therefore, this section all Anglicisms as "cash" or "money": they are words of English origin who join the Spanish, sometimes with some variation that can be both pronunciation and writing. In Spanish there are many words that have their origin in the...

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Welcome to Spanish Route. The program, the podcast to learn Spanish in the easiest and most fun way.

In case you still do not know me, I'm Sergio and I'm your personal Spanish trainer.

And this is already the third program, third stage on your way to Spanish. Today we are going to continue with a little more grammar. I will explain the subject's personal pronouns, especially the difference between "Tú"and "usted"; and between "vosotros" and "ustedes".

Then we will treat the conjugation of the verbs "ser" and "estar", which in other languages use a single verb for their different uses but Spanish uses two verbs. 

But first I want to remind you that on my website: SpanishRoute.com, you have the transcription and translation into English of this class and a very easy exercise to practice the concepts we are dealing with today.

Also, from spanishRoute.com/contact , you can write me with questions and questions that we will solve in the program. 

And if you want to improve your pronunciation I can help you practice your Spanish with Skype conversation sessions at a very reduced price.  

Remember SpanishRoute.com

And now Let's start with the class.

Subject's personal pronouns

They are the pronouns with which we conjugate the verbs. They replace the name or noun that forms the subject of the phrase. In Spanish, subject personal pronouns are:

Yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she), usted (you), nosotros, nosotras (we), vosotros, vosotras (you), ellos, ellas (them) ustedes (you).  

For example:

Juan habla español (Juan speaks Spanish) . I can replace the subject " Juan " with the pronoun "él": Él habla español ( He speaks Spanish).

Los chicos hablan español (The boys speak Spanish). I can replace the subject "los chicos" (the boys)  with the pronoun "ellos" (them): Ellos hablan español (They speak Spanish).

As we saw the personal pronouns are the words that accompany the verb and allow us to know what or who we are talking about. They represent the grammatical person.

In Spanish there are three grammatical persons of the singular and their corresponding persons of the plural. and Some have a feminine form. But not all.

We will continue with the example of the verb "hablar" (to speak). "Hablar español" (speak Spanish).

For the first person of the singular we use "Yo"(I).   It refers to the person who speaks.  

Yo hablo español (I speak Spanish)

In the plural: Nosotros for the masculine and nosotras for the feminine( we). It refers to the group to which the person speaking belongs.

Nosotros hablamos español / Nosotras hablamos español (We speak Spanish / We speak Spanish).

The feminine form is used when the whole group belongs to the female sex. If in the group there are people of both sexes, the masculine form can be used in a general way, it is what is called "generic masculine", as we saw in the previous class, remember? The same happens for the rest of the cases in which there are masculine and feminine personal pronouns.

The second person of the singular: Tú (You). It refers to the person to whom the speaker is speaking.

Tú hablas español. (You speak Spanish)

The second person in the plural is vosotros for the masculine, vosotras for the feminine (you). It refers to the group to which the speaker is speaking.

Vosotros habláis español / Vosotras habláis español (You speak Spanish / Vosotras you speak Spanish).

The third person of the singular is: Él, ella y usted (He, she and you) (Él, masculine / ella feminine). Él and ella refer to a person who is neither the speaker nor the listener. It is neither first person nor second person.

Él habla español / Ella habla español (He speaks Spanish / She speaks Spanish)

And what happens to "usted"?

Usted (you) are grammatically a third person pronoun that is why it is used with the verb in the third person, but semantically it is used to refer to the second p...

Spanish Route episode TWO your guided route to  Spanish.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Welcome to Spanish Route. The program, the podcast to learn Spanish in the easiest and most fun way.

My name is Sergio and I am your personal Spanish trainer.

This is the second program, second stage on your way to Spanish. And it will also be very easy.

Today I will deal with the subject of the genders of the names or nouns in Spanish, which is a characteristic of the languages ​​of Latin origin.

I will also explain, as I said in the previous class, the differences between "bueno" and "bien" and between "malo" and "mal" . That can be a bit confusing for those who start learning Spanish.

But first I want to remind you that on my web page  spanishroute.com  you have the transcription and translation into English of this class. And a very easy exercise to practice the concepts we are dealing with today.

Also, from  spanishRoute.com/contact , you can write me with questions and questions that we will solve in the program. And if you want to access Skype conversation sessions with me at a very low price.  

Remember SpanishRoute.com

And now Let's start with the class...

Genre of the nouns in Spanish

Today we are going to talk about the genre of nouns.

In Spanish, the names and nouns have a gender. These words are masculine or feminine, whether referring to people or animals (with male or female sex) or referring to objects and concepts without biological sex. This characteristic of the language is due to its Latin origin and it shares it with other languages ​​that derive from Latin like French or Italian.

El niño / la niña (The boy / The girl)

" El niño " is a masculine noun. "La niña" is a feminine noun. 

El perro / la perra (The dog / The bitch) 

"El perro" is masculine noun and  "la perra" is the feminine noun.

El león / la leona (The lion / The lioness)

"El león" is masculine. " la leona" is the feminine one.

They are names of things and concepts without sex words like:

El libro, la casa, el amor, la amistad (The book, the house, love, friendship).

The word libro ("el libro") is masculine, although it does not have sex. The same goes for "la casa" (feminine word), "el amor" (masculine noun), "la amistad"  (feminine noun).

Therefore, the names of people and animals can change according to sex, but the names of things and concepts that are not animals or people never change.

Gender concordance

When a name or noun is accompanied by an article and an adjective these have to be used in the same genre as the noun. It is what is known as "concordance ".

This is the reason for the existence of certain articles " El" and "La" and the indeterminate  "un"  and "una"  and the variations of the adjectives for the case that describe masculine or feminine nouns.

El coche rojo / Un coche rojo (The red car / a red car) 

La casa blanca / una casa blanca (The white house / a white house)

Differences between masculine and feminine gender

Generally, the names ending in -o are masculine and the names ending in -a are feminine. For example:

Masculine:  El piano, el mundo, el camino, el perro, el gato (The piano, the world, the road, the dog, the cat)

They are feminine: La casa, la playa, la montaña, la silla, la mesa (The house, the beach, the mountain, the chair, the table)

As you can see in the examples, we have two articles, "EL" to accompany masculine names and "LA" to accompany feminine names.

There are masculine words ending in -a , therefore, they must be accompanied by the masculine article El , for example:

El día, el planeta, el mapa, el idioma (the day, the planet, the map, the language).

There are also feminine words ending in -o (but they are very few):  

La mano, la moto (The hand, the motorbike). which is actually the abbreviation of motorcycle (feminine noun ending in -a , la motocicleta (the motorcycle).