Learning spanish has been a mildly difficult task for me, and I've come to learn that it takes a lot of time and practice! However, I do find it an interesting language and culture. I am Filipino and it's interesting to see that the filipino language shares many of the same words with the spanish language. Like counting numbers and other simple words. I don't know much about how the culture's are similar but I do know both countries use 'peso' as the currency, if that counts for anything... I'm sure there's a history behind why the two cultures share a little of the same language but as for now I'm clueless. I look forward to learning more about the different spanish speaking cultures, & its interesting to see how much it actually is different from the american culture. Such as, how people greet one another with a kiss and if we were to do that here in america, some people might find it odd. 

I find learning spanish and the culture that goes with it very interesting. There are many words that are similar to english which makes it easier for me to remember. Words like interesante and persona are very recognizable even to those who have never learned spanish. Although these similarities make it easier for non-fluent spanish speakers, there are other rules that are very different. For example, the difference between masculine and feminine words. You interchange an 'o' or an 'a' depending on the subjects gender. They also distinguish between formal and informal. Aside from the language differences there are also cultural differences that I am now learning. One that surprised me was that in Latin American countries they are taught that there are five continents where I was always told seven. Also, hello and goodbyes are done differently then what I am used to. Rather than a wave, a kiss on the cheek is not out of the ordinary. I think it seems a lot more friendly and I really like that part of the spanish culture. I cant wait to learn more about it and really hope to be able to carry on a conversation with out any misunderstandings!

Spanish in Comparison

As I'm learning Spanish I'm finding myself comparing the cultures that speak and influence the language to other cultures, especially those where I know a little about the language.

For example, I know "ein bisschen" German. They tend to have a much more similar sentence structure, from what I can tell. Their words also tend to be a little closer (aside from Spanish cognate or borrowed words) although they don't mind squishing a bunch of words together to make one really long word that basically just means the same thing.

On the other hand, knowing "un po'" Italian, I can say that Spanish (or at least the dialects that we are studying) are a bit closer to English. Of course, Italian and Spanish are much closer than English and Spanish, having a common origin in Latin, but I think... at least so far... that Spanish is a little less complicated.

Culturally, I can definitely see similarities though. Both seem like very warm and polite cultures (though, at least in the case of Italians, they can also be brutally honest). Both seem to have a strong sense of respect for their elders that is carried through even to the way they speak. They both value beauty pretty highly (not that English speakers don't), as you can see since the words for beauty and "good" are the same.

Anyway, there are a lot of similarities there but the small differences in the language make it tough sometimes. I definitely find myself wanting to put Italian words in when I don't know the Spanish words, which is no good since, even if the words are similar, the spelling and pronunciation are different enough and I'm sure there are plenty of words that don't mean the same thing, just like there differences even amongst Spanish-speaking countries (which points out another difference -- there really aren't multiple Italian-speaking countries so, while the dialects change from region to region, the diversity within Spanish is certainly going to be far greater).

That diversity is part of why I want to learn Spanish. Especially living in the part of the world we do, Spanish is a very useful tool for a person in virtually any career and many non-job-related situations as well.

Spanish1 Blog Entry...

learning spanish is not a easy task. however with the help of others and with numerous days/hours of practice i think it's something that can become easily apprehensible. One of the first things that has helped me with understanding spanish phrases that were diffulcult to make out, was the help of cognates. Cognates are the words that stand out to you making them reconizable and easy to translate from spanish to english and visvirsa. For example, if i am reading a sentence that is hard for me to understand but in that same sentence i see the word diccionario- then i would immediately know that the word means dictionary. I could analyze other words being used with that reconizable word and perhaps guess or get a sense of what the text or dialogue is trying to say. although a lot of words in spanish look the same in english we must be careful because often times they do not share the same meaning.

Also, in many cases the American culture is the most well known for having a different approach when meeting and greeting people. some interesting facts about the spanish culture that i did not know about, is that they like to hug and kiss when initiating a conversation upon meeting or seeing someone. In american cultures we do not just do that to any and everybody. Its almost like a sign of respect in the spanish cultures. growing up i always wondered why my puerto rican friends would do that to girls they hardly even knew. I had just thought they were trying to holla at each other and there was some mad chemistry going on that i didnt know about.... i guess now i know the real meanings behind the hugs and kisses..

I think Spanish when spoken by someone fluent can be a very beautiful language. It sounds so much more fluid than English. In the first Chapter we are basically covering the basics of Spanish.

Many think it is weird or unnecessary that there is an informal and formal way of speaking. But it is just like when you are around someone of higher authority or someone you respect and you call them "mam" and "sir."

The most confusing part of speaking Spanish is actually saying the words. In my head it's just like on a novela, all dramatic. I hear it coming out super smooth and fast. But when I begin to say it it take so much more effort and it takes a lot for me not to stutter.

My mom is mexican. So something I have noticed and really love is that that most people talk with their hands. It is so much more expressive. It is a lot less serious compared to when Americans talk. I have a lot of reasons for wanted to learn Spanish, but one contributing factor is that my mom and grandma gossip in Spanish. Or they say things they don't want people around them to know. Eventually I hope I will be fluent enough to understand them :).

Blog 1

Learning spanish and the hispanic culture has been a very interesting learning process. I have learned that learning a second language does not only mean grammer and vocabulary. It also means learning about the lifestyle and traditions. For example instead of there being seven continents in most spanish cultures, there are only five. America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and Asia. North America is not used as a term refering to a continent because it is made up of Mexica, Canada, and the United States. I also found it interesting that there is 20 countries that have spanish as a official language. Also in America we greet each other my shaking hands or waving and in spanish culture they greet each other with a kiss and a hug individually and not doing so may be a sign of rudeness.

My Relationship With Spanish

I first developed my fascination with the Spanish language when I was younger and I liked to come home from school and watch the novelas. I thought it was a fun game to try to figure out what was going on by the actors' expressions and body language. If only I'd tried to focus a little more on what they were saying, I may have understood a little more. After our few weeks of studying, I've realized that Spanish and English are amazingly similar and learning Spanish doesn't seem as hard as it used to. Between cognates, loan words, and context words, it's not difficult find a basic understanding of what even the most complex Spanish texts are saying. These words alleviates some of the difficulty of learning "a whole new language." The latin roots in both of these languages are apparent because of all of their similarities. At the end of the day, I think that my changing perspective on the acquisition of Spanish will help me to more easily learn because it's not much unlike the language that I am familiar with.

Blog 1

It's interesting to me that although there are many similarities between the spanish and english culture, it seems that in spanish there is always a small distinction that sets it a part from our own culture. For example, we have the ever popular "sweet sixteens," whereas in spanish this celebration occurs on your fifteenth birthday as a quinceñera. We have the typical birthday party, yet in the spanish culture this is a "coming out as a lady," almost like an introduction into society celebration. The entire process is intensified compared to what we have all be accustomed to at parties and it really is a special, monumental event.
Another difference that I have experienced is the difference in greetings and signs of acknowlegement that are given in the spanish culture compared to ours. I have a friend that when visiting her house her parents immediately kiss you on each cheek when greeting you. I'm not sure if this is customary in majority of spanish homes, but I have always noted that as part of her culture. In the english culture, unless you're telling your grandparents goodbye, it would be extremely odd to randomly kiss someone when you tell them hello or goodbye. I just think this portrays a difference in levels of comfort and affection that are allowed or expected in the spanish culture opposed to our own.
Slang is something used often by us as young adults, and as expected there are just as many uses of slang in spanish. I found it interesting, though, that many of the english slang words we use aren't translated properly into spanish and vice versa. I knew a group of hispanics at my high school that used to "Que padre " when indicating that something was "cool" but as a beginner of the language, most english speakers would translate "padre" as "father." But obviously, it's just slang, and I'm sure there's many words that we use that may be misconceived by a spanish speaker.

Sentence Structure and Affection

I am fascinated with the Hispanic culture. Something as simple as the roll of the tongue makes me excited to speak Spanish. The language is difficult, though. For example, in English, the adjectives come before the noun whether it describes the amount, size, color, etc. In Spanish, when you are describing the amount of something, the adjective precedes it and when the adjective describes the color and size of the noun, it comes after it. Thus rule makes it hard sometimes to form sentences in its correct order.

Another aspect of Spanish that I love is the level of intimacy and affection. When Hispanics greet each other, they usually do so with hugs or kisses on the cheek. With North Americans, the normal greeting includes a "Hello", a hand shake, and if it's an extremely informal greeting, then we hug. According to Ms. Zambrano, Hispanics find it necessary to say "hello" and "goodbye" to everyone they know if they are in a personal setting such as a party. Someone who doesn't do this is considered impolite.

Post 1/ 1-30-08

Subject pronouns are very important in the Spanish language because just as in English it would seem sill to continue to refer to a noun by its formal name. For instance instead of refering to "John" by using his name every time you describe "John," you can use the subject pronoun "el" to refer to "John" without using his formal name. This helps the conversation be more relaxed. You also can use the usted form when referring to someone in the formal sense. Furthermore, optional pronouns can be used to refer to someone by simply conjugating the verb endings of certain words. By example, using "esta" is basically referring to a third person. You do not need to add a subject pronoun in this case. In addition, the verb "ser" means "to be" and is used in various functions such as describing someone. It has various forms to enhance first, second, third, formal, and plural subjects. Articles are also important in that they agree with the noun in the definite or indefinite form. When addressing Spanish culture I find it interesting how people in the United States incorrectly refer to themselves as "Americans" without remembering that there are other citizens outside the United States who associate themselves with the term as well. We must remember that we are only one of three countries in North America and there still is a Central and South America. I guess that means our politicians are severely offending many countries of the world.

Blog 1

One thing that I found interesting while learning about Spanish culture is how it is considered rude to pass someone you know on the street without saying hello and engaging in conversation. In America we are often to busy to acknowledge someone we know while passing them on the street.

The cognate words are very useful while trying to understand something you are reading in Spanish. Finding words that you know allow you to use context clues in order to figure out the meaning. Having words that are either similar or the same in both english and spanish languages shows how intertwined the two cultures are. And it also shows the origins of both languages.

In class, I found it interesting that in American schools we are taught that there are seven continents where in Spanish speaking cultures they learn that there are only five continents. It is interesting to see that they consider both South and North America to be on the same continent. Therefore, when traveling to a Spanish speaking country we need to make the distinction between north and south america by saying we are from the United States and not from America.

In Spanish speaking countries it is interesting to find that many of natives greet each other with a hand shake or kiss, even when there are large amounts of people present. In America, it is typical to just wave at people and greet them with a quick hello. Although both cultures are intertwined down here in Texas, it seems kind of funny to me that we don't practice more Spanish culture and tradition. Sure we have the food, dancing, and art, however, introductions in both cultures are still vastly different.

One of the overlapping cultural aspects is the language. There are many words that we use from the Spanish language including burrito, casa, chipotle, gringo, etc. These words are called loan words because they are borrowed from the other culture. Cognates, on the other hand, sound similar to english words, making it easy for us to figure out the English meaning. This shows up alot in the Spanish language and helps make learning Spaninsh alot easier. Spanish learners should be aware of false cognates though, these are which look like American words, but do not mean the same thing.

It was funny to learn that in the differing Spanish countries, there are different dialects of Spanish. This is sort of similar to America, where each state kind of has its own slang and dialects of English. I enjoyed learning that, because it seems true for most cultures. I look forward to learning more similarities and differences between the Spanish culture and the American culture.

- Chandni

Spanish Phrases

Although loan words and cognates help us identify/translate words into English, there are many things in written/spoken Spanish that are difficult (at least to me...). Spanish phrases. If I'm trying to decipher what exactly a phrase means, I translate it word-by-word, which usually isn't even close to the actual meaning. The same goes for spoken Spanish.

If I'm given a piece of literature in Spanish (not the watered down versions), my only hope for understanding is translating familiar verbs and cognates into English. Sometimes the phrases even confuse the meanings of verbs/nouns I thought I knew.

English has so many phrases: "by the way", etc......

Spanish does too.

How do we learn phrases? Do we treat them like vocabulary, learning them like a normal vocabulary word? or like separate words?

Hispanic culture is one that reflects multiple similairities with American culture/language, but also differs. Like in America, we greet people when we see them with salutations such as "hello" and "how are you". In Spanish culture, they use the same greetings, for example "hola" and "como estas". Unlike in America, the Hispanic culture is friendlier and rather than handshakes, they greet with kisses and hugs.

Cultures are often represented within the structure of their language. This especially true of Spanish and the difference between masculine and feminine within the language. While many would look at the superiority of masculine within the language (masculine pronouns superceding feminine ones when describing a mixed company) and immediately point to a male dominated society, such an observation would be short sighted. Many important nouns are infact feminine in Spanish, most importantly the word for Spain and the country of origin for the entire language. This example highlights that women are held up as an integral role in the society that should be protected, like the feminine embodiment that is the nation of spain should be defended and reverred. In this way the language may show a tilt to a male heirarchy but it by no means shows a male dominated heirarchy

DARIO 1: thougths on culture

Throughout the past couple of weeks we have been talking about different Spanish speaking cultures. In chapter one we discovered many cognate words between English and Spanish. Some of these words are importante, persona, and perdon. Cognate words are one way that the non-Spanish speakers can connect to the Hispanic culture. When speaking to my friend that has family from Spain and my other friend with family from Mexico, there is a difference in some of the words and phrases used between the two families. Although Spanish is spoken in many countries, each country also have their own twist to the language and the way it is used.

.bienvenid@s

Welcome to our blog. This is the place where we will post our comments and reflections about Spanish grammar and Hispanic culture. I am sure we will have very interesting entries.

Hasta luego!