Sometimes mastery of a foreign language is less about how many words you know and more about how many words you know well.

Your job as a language student is not to cram as much into your memory bank as possible but to focus on learning the right things. And learning them well. 

This idea of knowing the right things applies to today’s podcast. In today’s podcast I am going to take a close look at one spanish word. This podcast is similar to a recent podcast on the word ‘dar’.

The word for today is ‘echar’. Similar to the episode on ‘dar’—I’m going to focus on ‘echar’ because it is a common spanish verb.

If you want to learn Spanish effectively, it is much better to know 100 common words really well than 1000 words poorly. Or worse—100 uncommon words.

Examples from today’s podcast:

To throw – echar.

They threw me out on to the street (They fired me) – Me echaron a la calle.

Take a look – Echar un ojo.

Remember to keep an eye on the oven – Recuerde que echarle un ojo en el horno.

To lend a hand – Echar una mano.

Can you lend me a hand – ¿Me puedes echar una mano?

To burst into tears – Echarse a llorar.

I was so upset that I burst into tears – Yo estaba tan molesto que me eché a llorar.

To pass the blame (To pass the buck) – Echar la culpa.

They blamed me for everything – Me echaron la culpa de todo.

To miss something – Echar de menos.

I miss you a lot – Te echo mucho de menos.

Other episodes mentioned in this podcast:

Spanish proverbs:

El mal escribano le echa la culpa a la pluma.

Literally: a bad clerk blames his pen.

English equivalent: A bad workman blames his tools.

Con el agua de la bañadera echar también al niño.

English equivalent: Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

How else can you use the verb “echar” in a conversation?

The post Tips 077: Common Spanish Verbs – 6 Uses for the Word “Echar” appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

Learning Spanish vocabulary or the vocabulary of any language is a big task. Put simply—it takes focused effort overtime.

But there are ways to increase the effectiveness of your vocabulary learning process.

In this week’s mindset podcast, I introduce an idea called deliberate versus emergent strategy for vocabulary acquisition.

The idea is that you learn vocabulary through two basic approaches:

What do I mean by learn by accident? As you practice, you will stumble across new words in a random way.

When you listen to podcasts or read newspaper articles or catch up with Spanish friends you will be exposed to lots of opportunities to discover new words. Those new words will likely be very different to another Spanish student practicing in a similar way to you.

Imagine two Spanish students pick up a Spanish newspaper. They both choose an article on a topic they like. Hopefully they choose different articles. They then spend an hour reading and looking up the words they discover in the articles.

After an hour both students will have learned new words. It is very likely the words will be pretty different. And, they will be words that the two students did not plan to learn before they started reading. This is an example of what I call emergent vocabulary acquisition.

On the other side, a deliberate vocabulary learning strategy is a process where you choose a set of new words to learn deliberately. You make vocabulary lists and you schedule time to sit down to learn these planned sets of words.

All Spanish students are going to learn vocabulary through one of these two methods.

In addition, you need both methods to be successful at acquiring a rich Spanish vocabulary in the long run.

But, if you want to be more effective—speak Spanish faster, you should focus on how you go about your deliberate efforts.

The strategy you have the most control over is the deliberate strategy. The emergent strategy is by its nature is random.

In today’s podcast, I will talk about these two methods and how you can refine your deliberate strategy for learning vocabulary more effectively.

Quote from the episode:

“Effectiveness — often even survival — does not depend solely on how much effort we expend, but on whether or not the effort we expend is in the right jungle.” – Stephen Covey.

What are your deliberate and emergent strategies for learning Spanish vocabulary?

The post Tips 076: Learning Spanish Vocabulary – A Deliberate vs. Emergent Strategy appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

One long term ongoing test for english students learning Spanish is the difference between ‘ser’ and ‘estar’. For me these two words remind me of studying physics—as you move up the levels they keep telling you to forget the previous rules you have already learned.

As if these two words weren’t confusing enough, you also have to adapt to a number of different ways of talking about the past in Spanish. What this means is that the translation of ‘was’ can present a challenge.

In today’s spanish theory podcast, we are focusing on the 4 possible past spanish translations of was. I’m going to give a number of examples of each to test and reinforce your knowledge.

The four possible translations of ‘I was’ in Spanish are:

Fui – The indefinido of ser.

Era – The imperfect of ser.

Estuve – The indefinido of estar.

Estaba – The imperfect of estar.

Here is the list of conjugations of ser in the past simple:

Here is the list of conjugations of ser in the past imperfect:

Here is the list of conjugations of estar in the past simple:

Here is the list of conjugations of estar in the past imperfect:

If you really want to get the most out of today’s podcast, write out a few examples of your own to help embed what you have learned in your long term memory.

Podcast episodes mentioned in this podcast:

Examples form today’s episode:

Last week I went to a party and it was a lot of fun – La semana pasada fui a una fiesta y fue muy divertida.

When I was young I used to swim a lot – Cuando era pequeño nadaba mucho.

Last week I was really busy – La semana pasada estuve muy ocupado.

I met a girl last week and she was very pretty – Conocí a una chica la semana pasada y ella era muy guapa.

Yesterday, I was at home alone when all of sudden I heard a noise – Ayer, estaba solo en casa cuando de repente oí un ruido.

In 2003, despite my money problems I was able to survive. It was thanks to a good friend who helped me – En 2003, a pesar de mis problemas de dinero pude sobrevivir. Fue gracias a un buen amigo que me ayudó.

At first I thought it was really boring but later it was much better – Al principio pensé que era muy aburrido, pero más tarde fue mucho mejor.

Well, it was a new dress – Bueno, era un vestido nuevo.

I had to go to class last night. The class was at 9 – Tuve que ir a clase anoche. La clase fue a las 9.

On Sunday, I was speaking with my mum for 3 hours – El domingo estuve hablando con mi madre durante 3 horas.

Last time I saw them, they were on the table – La última vez que las vi, estaban sobre la mesa.

I remember before she found her new job, she was very unhappy – Me acuerdo que antes de encontrar su nuevo trabajo, ella estaba muy descontenta.

When were you in class? – ¿Cuando estuviste en clase?

It was tuesday – Fue el martes.

My ex-housemate was never ready on time – Mi ex-compañero de casa nunca estaba listo a tiempo.

My great grandparents were from Scotland – Mis bisabuelos eran de Escocia.

What are some other examples of the spanish translations of was?

The post Tips 075: The 4 Past Spanish Translations of ‘Was’ appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

It’s not a huge surprise we feel this way. But why does it bother us so much?

In this week’s mindset podcast episode, I explore the idea of feeling dumb in another language. I explore why it occurs. Why it bothers us so much. And what we can do about it.

In your target language, even if you reach mastery levels, you still aren’t going to be able to articulate yourself as well as you can in your first language. You aren’t going to be able to shape your ideas as precisely as you want to. Or express that emotion or feeling that perfectly captures the moment.

But this is natural, right?

Obviously, you aren’t going to be able to turn a phrase as well as you can in your first language. But why then, do we still feel so inept?

The strange thing is, in our first languages, whenever we feel dumb, we tend to get over it pretty quickly.

Sometimes when it isn’t a question of speaking a foreign tongue we embrace being dumb. We often approach the idea of a lack of intelligence as a badge of honor. We sometimes like to appeal or even promote our inner less articulate side.

On the other hand, some people like to use an apparent lack of intelligence as a strategy for persuasion or influence.

Yet, despite the advantages that being stupid—or thought of as stupid—poses in English we still cannot bear the thought of appearing dump in front of foreigners.

If you do encounter this thought pattern you need consider ways to push past this mindset hurdle. If you can’t, you may face a steep uphill battle on your language-learning journey.

The quote for this episode is actually a Spanish proverb:

“En boca cerrada no entran moscas” – Spanish proverb.

Literally – Flies don’t enter a closed mouth.

An equivalent in English might be: “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt”.

Also another similar English expression: “loose lips, sink ships”.

How can you get over the feeling of being ‘dumb’ in Spanish?

The post Tips 074: How to Avoid Feeling Dumb in Spanish appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

I don’t know how many times I have walked into a Spanish restaurant and said the wrong thing. It could be at the start of the meal, during or even after I have paid.

The idea seems simple enough. But there is a subtle complexity to the words people use in even common interactions such as ordering food.

What do you ask for? How does the waiter ask if you are you ready to order? What do they usually say when you first sit down? How should you check the price of something? How do you ask for the bill?

In this week’s theory podcast, we finish up a 3 part series on food. In the first episode, we talked about the eating habits in Spain. In the second episode, we covered the typical food you can find in a Spanish restaurant or bar. In this final episode, we are going to do a role-play that takes place in a Spanish restaurant.

Maria will play the role of the waitress and I will play the customer. We will go through a typical set of interactions between a waiter and a restaurant customer.

We will cover pleasantries, asking for the menu, ordering the food, checking the price of one of the menu options (maybe if, for example, the price or item is not on the menu). We finish with how to ask for the bill and how to say everything with the meal was okay.

I have even included some background noise to give the role-play a more authentic feel.

If you are having trouble understanding the Spanish section of the podcast or if you would like to get more out of the podcasts and take your Spanish to next level you can get access to the Spanish podcast transcripts and English translations here.

Podcast episodes mentioned in this podcast:

Examples from the episode:

To drink? – ¿Para beber?

Are you ready to order (I will take your order, your note) – Les tomo nota.

Spanish meatballs – Albóndigas.

The dessert menu – La carta de postres.

How much is this item? – ¿Cuánto cuesta?

Leave without paying – Sinpa (Sin pagar).

Everything is good – Todo está bien.

The food is good (the quality of the food in the restaurant is good) – La comida es buena.

How else can you order food in Spanish? Do you know any other customs or questions to ask?

The post Tips 073: How to Order Food in Spanish – A Restaurant Role-Play appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

It is possible to spend hours and hours “practicing” and not really see much benefit.

But before you consider how to better spend your time, you need to consider all of resources you have available to you.

What is a resource and how can you use it?

There are resources all around us. Resources are great because they can be used to solve all different kinds of problems.

In fact, this is a pretty good definition of resource – something that we can use to solve our problems.

For Spanish students the 3 most important recourses are their time, money and attention.

Most people are aware of the idea that money can be spent poorly. But when was the last time you considered the investment of your time and attention?

If you were trying to make it big in the stock market, it would be a good idea to put your money on the best stocks. This is, of course, easier said than done.

So if you were trying to improve your Spanish, it would be worthwhile putting some time into studying.

But like the stock market, if you time is spend in the wrong stocks for studying you want see an improvement in your portfolio of Spanish knowledge.

Similarly if you are don’t have your attention fixed on your Spanish in the right way, you will see a similar result to poorly spent time.

I just completed two mindset podcasts on focus for productivity and focus for emotions. These both hint at the idea that you can spend time without attention.

But ultimately if you are interested in improving your Spanish, you should not only invest your time, but your attention and money as well.

Many students these days are considering trying to learn a language for free. I was also one of them. Until I realised that spending money is a great way to save time and the effort associated with long hours of studying on your own.

If you are ever finding yourself poor in one of the resources: time, attention or money, but you are still want your Spanish to progress, then one of the best things you can do is invest the other resources wisely.

In today’s mindset podcast I will be looking at the idea of your investment of time, money and attention and how you can reframe your mindset to improve your thinking about your thinking and achieve you language-learning goals faster.

Quote from this episode:

“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.” – Albert Einstein.

How can you invest your 3 most valuable resources to improve your Spanish faster?

The post Tips 072: How to Effectively Use 3 Essential Resources to Improve Your Spanish appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

How adventurous are you when it comes to food? Are you the kind of person that tries anything once?

Even if you are, you might still want to know what you are getting into. Just in case.

Walking into a traditional tapas bar in Spain can be a mix of fun, overwhelm and adventure. It is not uncommon to see a long list of unfamiliar Spanish words scribbled on a chalkboard behind the bar.

If you aren’t afraid of eating foods that you are unlikely to find at home – enjoy!

But if you are a bit squeamish and the thought of intestines or snails bothers you, you might want to come prepared with the right vocabulary.

Following on from last week’s theory podcast, we are continuing with the food theme. Last week we talked about the habits of eating in Spain. This week we talk about the different types of Spanish food that you can find in a traditional Spanish bar.

We focus on a particular style of food in Spain called “tapas”.  We talk about the origin of Tapas. How did it start? Hint: there are lots of different stories. Listen to today’s podcast to find out if Maria knows the real story.

We talk about which tapas are our favourites. We give a few suggestions for tapas you have to try and a few that only the most adventurous travellers should consider.

If you are having trouble understanding the Spanish section of the podcast or if you would like to get more out of the podcasts and take your Spanish to next level you can get access to the Spanish podcast transcripts and english translations here in the Real Fast Spanish School.

Podcast episodes mentioned in this podcast:

Examples from the episode:

To try – Probar.

Some day I would like to try Spanish omelette – Algún día me gustaría probar tortilla de patata.

I have never tried (spanish cured ham) – Nunca, he probado el jamón.

Dish / Plate – Plato.

How disgusting – ¡Que asco!

Offal (a.k.a weird animal parts) – Casquería.

Pig face – Careta de cerdo.

Tripe (intestines) – Callos.

Pigs snout – Morros.

Snails – Caracoles.

Pigs ears – Oreja.

Blood sausage – Morcilla.

Padrón peppers – Pimientos de padrón.

Spanish omelette – Tortilla de patata.

Spanish cured ham – Jamón.

Cheese and quince – Queso y membrillo

Type of cheese in Spain – Manchego.

Scrambled eggs on chips – Huevos rotos (Huevos cabreados).

Potato with spicy tomato sauce or aioli  – Patatas bravas.

Mushrooms – Champiñones.

Deep fried left over bread bits mixed with your ingredients of choice – Migas.

Prawns / shrimp – Gambas.

Deep fried oval shaped yumminess  – Croquetas.

Spanish sausage – Chorizo.

What types of tapas are you willing to try?

The post Tips 071: 10 Tapas You Have to Try Before You Die and 5 You Might Want to Avoid appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

Have you ever felt like there are hundreds of things competing to distract you and limiting your focus?

Or have you ever thought that for one problem resolved there are additional five others that are now a top priority?

In this week’s mindset tip we finish the two-part series on focus. In last weeks mindset episode, we looked a focus for emotions. In this week’s mindset tip we will look at how to improve your focus for productivity.

Following on with the analogy introduced last week, I start again by comparing the brain to a camera.

If you have ever tried to focus a camera on a completely white background, you may have noticed that the camera had a hard time focusing. For me, this analogy applies perfectly for when you are struggling to find focus in your work.

If there is too much noise you may find a very similar result to the camera. You may struggle to focus.

In order to find focus, you need to start by painting a clearer picture of the background. Trying to understand all of the different things that require your attention. Once you have a clearer idea of all of the things that need your attention – rank them.

Once you have figured out what the most important item is, work on that.

The key is knowing that what you are working on is the most important thing. That way, if other things distract you, you can have the confidence to ignore them and stay with what you are working on.

From experience there are 3 things that affect focus:

Given that you are well-rested and eaten, the next part of the puzzle is figuring out what you should be focusing on.

The hardest part is having the discipline to sit down and work out what the one most important thing is that you should be doing.

It can take time to focus. But, if it takes you an hour to actually sit down and figure it out. It will be worth it because the alternative maybe two hours of unfocused time or more.

New Training Course

Books mentioned in this episode:

Questions:

Quote from the episode:

“Extraordinary results are determined by how narrow you can make your focus” – Jay Papasan.

How else can you improve your focus for productivity?

The post Tips 070: How To Improve Your Focus (Part 2 of 2) appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

Imagine that it is 7 o’clock. A Thursday night. You are in the main street of one of the biggest cities in Spain and everything is closed. Nobody around. All the bars are empty. You think to yourself – when do the people here eat?

Even after 3 trips to Spain, Spanish eating customs still confuse me. Do they eat early or late? Do they eat big or small?

When deciding on a topic for this week’s podcast, we discussed the idea of food in Spain. But food in Spain is a massive topic. So we needed to break it down a little.

Instead of talking about all things food, we decided to focus on the eating customs in Spain.

For example, what times of the day to the Spanish eat? How big are the meals? How many meals? Do they tend to eat at home? Or out? And do they eat differently on the weekend to the typical weekday?

We going to answer all of these questions this week. As well as that, just for fun, I ask Maria how she is adapting to the way of eating here in Australia. Is she finding adapting to our eating customs difficult or a breeze?

How do the Spanish eating customs differ from those of your country?

If you are having trouble understanding the Spanish section of the podcast or if you would like to get more out of the podcasts and take your Spanish to next level you can get access to the Spanish podcast transcripts and English translations here.

Examples from the episode:

To share – Compartir.

We are going to order something to share – Vamos a pedir algo para compartir.

Mediterranean diet – Dieta Mediterránea.

Balanced – Equilibrado/a.

Typical rice dish in Spain – Paella.

Winter stew – Cocido.

Heavy – Pesado.

Breakfast – El desayuno.

Lunch – El almuerzo.

Food / lunch / main meal of the day – La comida.

The afternoon snack / tea – La merienda.

Dinner – La cena.

Typical menu of the day – Menú del día.

First plate – Primer plato.

Second plate – Segundo plato.

Dessert – Postre.

The weekend – El finde.

What else do you know about Spanish eating customs?

The post Tips 069: What You Need to Know about Spanish Eating Customs Before your Next Trip to Spain appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

But is focus something that is only reserved for a certain type of person? Or can we all learn to improve our focus? 

For me, focus comes in two categories: focus for emotions and focus for productivity.

Sometimes we only focus on things that make us feel angry, sad or afraid. Despite this lack of utility, we continue to focus on these things anyway.

I believe that we need to look for strategies to remedy this kind of focus. The kind of focus that affects our emotional well being. And we need to remedy this type of focus before we can start to be productive.

So in this week’s mindset podcast, we will be exploring the type of focus that affects our emotions. This episode will be part one in a two part series on focus. In next week’s mindset podcast we will look at focus for productivity.

What do you focus on when it comes to learning Spanish – what you get right or what you get wrong? 

Do you think about your mistakes in a positive light or negative one? 

I often find myself lamenting mistakes. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big mistake or a little one. At times I can spend hours frustrated by some silly little moment when I forgot a preposition or made another typical error with a masculine or feminine noun.

If you are at all like me, you need to find tactics to take your mind off small mishaps because this kind of frustration will only slow your progress. You need to improve your focus around mindset because once you can do that, you will be able to find quality focus for productivity and improvement.

So have a listen to this week’s podcast and take me up on my mindset challenge. The challenge is to try to answer the following questions everyday for a week.

Questions:

If you find the technique helps you with your focus for emotions then keep going. There is no need to only do it for a week. If it is working for you, then keep going and building that language learning mindset.

Quote from the episode:

“The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.” – Daniel Goleman

How else can you improve your focus?

The post Tips 068: How To Improve Your Focus (Part 1 of 2) appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.