In last week’s theory episode we looked at how to say above and under as well out or outside and in or inside in Spanish.

This week we are looking at how to say besides, behind, in front of, close, far and in between.

Make sure you choose a few examples from today’s tip and use them with a fellow Spanish student, a teacher or a spanish native.

Examples for today: 

The Other Side of the Bed – El otro lado de la cama (movie Rom-Com).

My apartment is next to a disco (or nightclub) – Mi piso está al lado de una discoteca.

On one hand the fried chips are delicious, on the other hand they aren’t healthy – Por un lado patatas fritas son muy ricas, por otro lado no son saludables.

After the concert we went to a bar – Tras el concierto fuimos a un bar.

After the concert we went to a bar – Después del concierto fuimos a un bar.

Behind the clouds is the sun – Tras las nubes está el sol.

The sun is behind the clouds – El sol está detrás de las nubes.

The parking is behind the building – El aparcamiento está detrás del edificio.

I have a garden out back, I have a back garden – Tengo un jardín atrás.

I can’t see it because it is hidden behind – No lo puedo ver porque está escondido atrás.

I’m not going to say anything in front of her – No voy a decir nada delante de ella.

He took one step forward and two steps back – Él dio un paso adelante y dos pasos atrás.

There is a fountain in front of the house – Hay una fuente en el frente de la casa.

There is a fountain in front of the house – Hay una fuente en frente de la casa.

There is a fountain in front of the house – Hay una fuente enfrente de la casa.

That man is the head of the company – Ese hombre está al frente de la empresa.

The market is close to my house – El mercado está cerca de mi casa.

The airport is far from here – El aeropuerto está lejos de aquí.

The airport is far from here? – ¿El aeropuerto está lejos de aquí?

There is a desert between the two towns – Hay un desierto entre los dos pueblos.

How else can you use these prepositions of position in a sentence?

The post Tips 087: Spanish Prepositions of Position (Part 2 of 2) appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

This mindset episode of the podcast is part 2 of a two part interview I did with a close friend of mine, Ruan De Witt.

You can listen to part 1 here.

Ruan is an extremely confident person, even if he doesn’t like to admit it. As long as I have known him, he has had the ability to start a conversation with a complete stranger. This includes doing so in a language other than this first—regardless of his skill level.

In this part of the interview:

What is the biggest lesson for you in this part of the interview?

The post Tips 086: How to Build Confidence with Ruan De Witt (Part 2 of 2) appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

For example, when is something below and when is it underneath? How would you explain the difference? What about the difference between out and outside—could you tell a foreigner when they should use these two words?

In this week’s theoretical episode of the podcast I take a look at prepositions. I’m going to specifically look at prepositions of position. And I’m going to dedicate two episodes to prepositions of position. Why? Because they are hard and there are lot of them.

In tip 23 we looked at prepositions of movement. Prepositions of movement are also useful prepositions and worth a review.

But for this week we will focus prepositions such as on, above, below, in and out. In next week’s episode I will focus on in front of, behind and beside.

Examples for today: 

We are going outside for some fresh air – Vamos afuera a tomar el aire.

We’re going to meet outside the ground – Vamos a quedar afuera del campo.

I don’t like being inside, I prefer to be outdoors – No me gusta estar dentro, prefiero estar fuera.

Have you left the meat out of the fridge – ¿Has dejado la carne fuera de la nevera?

He went inside – Él fue adentro.

It is very noisy here, I’m going inside to speak – Hace mucho ruido aquí, me voy adentro a hablar.

In a few days she will return – Dentro de unos días ella volverá.

He was never in the popular group – Nunca estaba dentro del grupo popular.

There are lots of fish below the waves – Hay muchos peces bajo las olas.

I have a wine cellar below – Tengo una bodega abajo.

My son likes to hide below the table – A mi hijo le gusta esconderse debajo de la mesa.

The keys are on the table – Las llaves están sobre la mesa.

The keys are on the table – Las llaves están encima de la mesa.

The keys are on the table – Las llaves están en la mesa.

The plane flies over land – El avión vuela por encima de la tierra.

She lives upstairs (above) – Ella vive arriba.

How would you now use these prepositions of position in context?

The post Tips 085: Spanish Prepositions of Position (Part 1 of 2) appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

In 2005, Ruan De Witt was riding his bicycle on a bridge in France. A passing car caused him to fall from the bridge onto the busy highway below. He broke his pelvis, hands, elbow and back. He survived the fall. He then spent three months in a French hospital re-learning how to walk.

Three years later he asked me to join him to climb the worlds highest free-standing mountain—Mt Kilimanjaro. The trip changed both of us. But had a huge impact on me because I decided upon my return to Australia I had to start my own language learning adventure in Spanish.

The trip to Africa with Ruan in 2008 was an amazing experience. I learnt a lot about myself including our ability to achieve any goal when quitting is not an option.

I also discovered that I may have missed a whole section of my education by not learning a second language.

Ruan has accomplished a lot when it comes to language learning. He has reached a very high level in French, English and Afrikaans. He can also communicate in Dutch, Romanian, Italian and German.

Today, I’m very excited to invite Ruan to be the next guest on the Real Fast Spanish Tips podcast. I’m glad that he agreed to come on to the podcast to talk about his experiences in language learning because he has a lot to share.

In the interview for this week’s mindset episode we cover: 

It was great speaking to Ruan this week. He has a lot of useful actionable advice as well as a great story that you can use to help keep you motivated.

What advice can you take from the interview with Ruan to help improve your language skills?

The post Tips 084: How to Build Confidence with Ruan De Witt (Part 1 of 2) appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

In this week’s theoretical Spanish podcast we will explore the verb ‘tratar‘.

‘Tratar‘ can be confusing because of one particular meaning that is difficult to translate to English. But this difficult translation is very useful for asking what something is about.

There are five forms of tratar that I cover in today’s podcast:

Have a listen to today’s podcast and then if you can think of other ways to use this common Spanish verb, leave a comment below.

Previous podcast episodes on common Spanish verbs:

Examples from this week’s theoretical podcast:

My parents treat me well – Mis padres me tratan bien.

My ex-boyfriend didn’t treat me well – Mi ex-novio no me trataba bien.

My ex-boyfriend treated me poorly – Mi ex-novio me trataba mal.

He deals with criminals / He has dealings with criminals – Él trata con los criminales.

I don’t want to deal with my boss – No quiero tratar con mi jefe.

José is trying to learn English – José trata de aprender inglés.

José is trying to learn English – José intenta aprender inglés.

I’m going to try to arrive on time – Voy a tratar de llegar a tiempo.

This book is about a small boy – Este libro trata de un niño pequeño.

What is the book about – ¿De qué trata el libro? (Of what does the book treat)

What is it about? – ¿De qué se trata?

It is about a small boy – Se trata de un niño pequeño.

How else can you use ‘tratar’ or ‘tratar de’ or ‘tratarse de’ in a conversation?

The post Tips 083: Tratar – How to Treat this Helpful Spanish Verb appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

Amy has been a regular listener of the Real Fast Spanish Tips podcast for a quite some time. We first connected last year and it has been great hearing about her journey in language learning.

Amy is based in British Columbia, Canada. She has been learning Spanish for 14 years. And she has achieved a high level of Spanish.

I wanted to invite Amy on to the podcast to discuss her experiences with learning Spanish and listening to podcast.

I asked Amy to speak about her journey with the language. I wanted her to share some of the pain points she has experienced. As well as some of the highs that come with being able to speak a second language.

In the interview we explore:

It was great talking to Amy this week. Her experiences are similar to many other language learners that I have spoken to. We all feel anxiety about making mistakes. We all feel overwhelmed at some point—particularly on a first trip to a country that doesn’t speak english.

But in the end, we all get to enjoy the fruits of our labor when we start to make real connections with people that it would have been impossible to connect with before the hard work.

Amy has also started a website dedicated to helping foreign students learn english. If you want to contact Amy or offer some support, you can get in touch with her here:

http://realenglishconversations.com/

How can you use Amy’s experiences and advice to improve your Spanish?

The post Tips 082: Why you Need to Overcome your Fears with Amy Whitney appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

In this week’s podcast tip we are going to look at the verb ‘caer’. We will look at the differences between ‘caer’ and ‘caerse’ and give a few spanish phrases using this common verb.

What you will discover in this tip is that ‘caer’ means so much more than ‘to fall’.

‘Caer’ does get used in a very similar way to the way we use fall in english. We use fall to refer to dates, snow and tripping over. These all translate well to Spanish.

But what doesn’t translate well from Spanish to English is how people “fall well” to each other. Have a listen to this week’s podcast to understand this bizarre phrase used to describes how you feel about other people. Or how they feel about you.

Examples from today’s podcast:

To fall – Caer.

I just fell over in the street – Me acabo de caer en la calle.

The snow is falling – La nieve está cayendo.

This year my birthday falls on a Friday – Este año mi cumpleaños cae en viernes.

To fall into a trap – Caer en la trampa.

The thieves fell for the trap – Los ladrones cayeron en la trampa.

To fall well / bad – Caer bien / mal.

I like you – Me caes bien.

I really like your friend – Tu amigo me cae muy bien.

I don’t like your friend – Tu amigo no me cae bien.

I don’t like your friend – Tu amigo me cae mal.

You have to go to the doctor – Tienes que ir al médico.

It’s just that I don’t like doctors – Es que no me caen bien los médicos.

It’s just that I don’t like doctors – Es que me caen mal los médicos.

To fall on deaf ears – Caer en saco roto.

Spanish expression in this week’s episode:

Everything you are going to say to me will fall on deaf ears – Todo lo que vas a decirme caerá en saco roto.

How else could you use the verb ‘caer’ in a conversation?

The post Tips 081: 3 Spanish Phrases with the Verb ‘Caer’ appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

If you can create a strong new memory every time you discover a new word in Spanish your rate of learning would increase.

How then can you make stronger connections to new vocabulary?

It’s starts with a quick look at how we evolved. In this week’s mindset podcast, I talk about how evolution has given us one tool for making deep and longer lasting memories.

This episode was inspired by an old post. In that post I talked about how our emotions can be useful when it comes to making new memories.

Can you remember what you did last friday? How about what you were doing 3 tuesdays ago?

What you may find is that if the day wasn’t associated with a particularly strong emotion you will forget what happened. If, in contrast, you think back to an emotional day like a holiday, a wedding or a birthday you will be able to remember that day more clearly.

You can then take this idea and apply it to the language learning process. What you have to do is find a good way to link new spanish vocabulary to your emotions.

There are a number of ways to do this. But one way, that most students would find easy, is listening to music. If you can find a Spanish song that moves you, then you can learn the lyrics to the song and combine the emotion of the song with the new vocabulary.

I have provided 6 songs that have moved me in some way. Some songs make me sad, some happy, some are just really fun.

Have a listen to these songs to start. Then if you find the method effective and enjoyable look for other songs to practice with.

You can follow along here: Lyrics.

You can follow along here: Lyrics.

You can follow along here: Lyrics.

You can follow along here: Lyrics.

http://youtu.be/9MSav8_POlo

You can follow along here: Lyrics.

You can follow along here: Lyrics.

Quote from the episode:

“Music may be the activity that prepared our pre-human ancestors for speech communication and for the very cognitive, representational flexibility necessary to become humans.” ― Daniel J. Levitin

What other Spanish music do you like? What other ways can you strengthen the memory of new spanish vocabulary?

The post Tips 080: How to Create a Strong Connection to New Spanish Vocabulary appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

Understanding the differences between verbs such as quedar vs quedarse is a constant challenge for Spanish students.

Not only is ‘quedar’ versatile for its use in different contexts, but it changes meaning when it becomes reflexive.

This week’s theory podcast is inspired by one of the Real Fast Spanish School Members. The question came after the last theory podcast on the uses of ‘echar‘.

Today we are going to make a few comparisons for quedar vs quedarse. This verb is another verb that has a number of different meanings depending on the context. But we are going to look at a few of the most common contexts. We are also going to explore how the meaning of the verb changes when it becomes reflexive.

Examples from today’s podcast:

To remain / be left with / to meet up – Quedar.

To stay (in one place) – Quedarse.

Is there any rice left? – ¿Queda arroz?

No there is no rice left – No, no queda arroz.

I don’t have any milk left – No me queda leche.

I don’t like how I’m left with this haircut – No me gusta cómo me ha quedado el corte de pelo.

What time are we going to meet? – ¿A que hora vamos a quedar?

Normally I meet with my parents twice a month – Normalmente quedo con mis padres dos veces al mes.

I met up with my best friend this week – He quedado con mi mejor amigo esta semana.

No, I’m staying here – No, me quedo aquí.

How long are you going to stay? – ¿Cuánto tiempo te vas a quedar?

I have to stay here for 3 hours – Tengo que quedarme durante 3 horas.

I was left flipped out (freaked out) – Me he quedado flipado.

My boss started yelling at me and I was left flipped out (or freaked out) – Mi jefe ha empezado a gritarme y me he quedado flipado.

Other episodes mentioned in this podcast:

How else could you explain the differences for quedar vs quedarse in a conversation?

The post Tips 079: Quedar vs Quedarse – How to Use this Handy Spanish Verb appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

Despite how busy you feel, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. Yet some still manage to get so much more done. How?

For as long as I can remember I have had a strange relationship with time. I often curse at the clock while I’m running late. But then there are other times when I’m staring at the time, agonizing as the slowly passing minutes feel like days.

My relationship with time has meant I spend a lot of time thinking about time. Which seems maybe like a waste of time? But who knows?

How do you feel about time? Do you feel like you have enough?

Do you need more? Or more importantly could you use the time you have available more effectively?

A complaint that I often hear is “I don’t have enough time.” People tell me that they want to learn a language but could never find the time.

If I was being honest, I feel like this too. But, we all see the same sun rise and sunset everyday yet there are a select few that make is seem that they have two or more days to our one.

So what separates the people that can do more with less?

For anybody facing problems with time, it is rare that the lack of time is the actual problem. Instead, the actual problem is how they think about time.

In today’s mindset podcast, I’m going to talk about how I think about time. What the time spent thinking about time has brought me. What you can do to re-think how you think about time. And with that change in mindset how you can get more out of the time you have.

Often students don’t think about time in an empowering way. Some students talk about time in a way that makes them sound and feel helpless.

The language you use matters. With this episode I encourage you to change the language you use around time. How you talk about it. How you describe it and how you make excuses about it.

Other episodes mentioned in this episode:

Quotes from the episode:

“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“Time is the longest distance between two places.” ― Tennessee Williams.

How can you change your language around time and get more out of the time you have?

The post Tips 078: How to Find More Time for Your Spanish appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.