La frontera final!!

So 5 weeks of learning Spanish comes to a close with Bueno, enotnces and like all good stories we are left with an open ending! This class, as ever for the weekly review, was conducted over the telephone between David and Jimena, but was far less of a review than previous ones and more of a friendly conversation which went a little something like this:

David, our student, whilst attending a family party via Skype, was at home awaiting the arrival of his vecinita for a night of fun and romance, whilst Jimena, who also at home, was being consolled by her family following the breakup of her relationship…..does it get anymore soap operaesque!! Anyway the conversation continued with discussions about their future trips to Bolivia and Bariloche and it became apparent that la vecinita was not to show. Therefore, and with a good deal of hints from Jimena, the fairly obvious, although unthinkable at the beginning of Bueno, entonces occured…..the arrangement of a date between our hapless lovestarved duo!! But wait…..just as they were eagerly preparing to leave, there was a knock at the door……for me to find out who I guess I’ll have to go ahead with the next level of Bueno, entonces and continue to learn Spanish…..and for you to know whose door the knock was at, then you’ll have to get off your arse and purchase this entertaining course!!

So what of my own progress?? Through this course I am happy to say that my Spanish has improved and I’ve been able to grasp the concepts of many grammatical functions. Some aspects are still rather confusing and I would like to have had some extra activities to accompany the classes and perhaps a little more interaction. However, I have been entertained and learnt a good deal of vocabulary and slang particularly focused at living in Argentina. I am by no means fluent, and one will not become so through Bueno, entonces alone, so naturally I, like all us gringos, need to get out there and practice as much as possible with the those close to me and the ever so friendly locals!!

Hasta la proxima y espero que haya disfrutado su estadia!!

Hanging by a moment at number 29!!

Tomorrows review aside this was the last of the Bueno, entonces telenovela/Spanish learning program and like all good soap operas, not that I can lay claim to watching too many, there was drama, sadness and a little bit of hope and expectation…..although I can’t really say I was too surprised!! The lesson began with our profesora, Jimena, revealing that her novio had packed his bags, much to the delight, however not without compassion, of David…..the drama and sadness!! And of course the class terminated with a cliffhanger situation…..the expectation of possible future happenings between the 2!!

Being the final official class it was far more relaxed and free than those preceeding it, with the majority of the time spent discussing Argentina and all its glory. In terms of an advertising campaign Bueno, entonces did a fine job in promoting this incredible country, and I think anyone learning Spanish with this course around the world would for sure be tempted to make their way to this end of the world and enjoy!! They class covered the diverse regions of the country, activities, sights and, of great importance and which there is an abundance, el carne!!

Beside the relaxed atmosphere of today David seemed a touch frustrated in that Jimena refused to go into, and teach, el pasado (the past)…..a very important verb tense…...although there were mentions of the “next level”, which suggests that there could be more to come from this team! I know from my experience of attempting to learn Spanish away from Bueno, entonces that el pasado is a tricky tense to get the head around and so maybe was deemed to much for this installment! Would be interesting to find at what stage the likes of Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone introduce this topic to its users…..but I’m not willing to fork out the money to find out!! Bueno, entonces still appears to be the cheapest on the market, as you can see here on this funky comparison chart.

All there is to do now is wait for tomorrows review to discover whether David and Jimena will be dancing un baile de apareamiento!!

New light and revelations!!

Well following today’s class it seems that the tables have turned in the lives of the Bueno, entonces student and profesora. David was rather content with goings on, due to his parents reconciliation and him reclaiming his freedom at home, whereas Jimena appeared slightly flustered with her situation and went on a good 3 minute rant about her cooking ability and novio…..much to the delight of the student…..por supuesto!! The class today even finished with an incling of celos (jealousy) in the voice of Jimena……as the 2 were playing a role play game to practice today’s topics and vocabulary she seemed a little lost for words with the mention of David’s vecinita Mariana!! We are drawing to a close in this Spanish learning program so I guess its only right that there will be a grand finale!!

Most of this lesson drifted by as a general conversation, what with the latest revelations in their lives, however there was still time to focus on some topics, the bulk of which being the types of, and vocabulary relating to alojamientos (lodgings)…..hotels, hostels, camping etc!! This information is paramount to anyone learning Spanish in order to avoid any complications whilst travelling, as there can be nothing worse than to arrive in a new city thinking you have somewhere to stay when in fact you booked the share of a toilet for the previous week.

Another useful grammar point from todays lesson was that in Spanish adjectives can be turned into nouns by adding IDAD…..with responsable becoming responsabilidad, creatvia becoming creatividad and feliz becoming felizidad to name but a few!

We now await the outcome of the Bueno, entonces saga!!

When the hangover strikes!!

Apologies Bueno, entonces but this class, the 27th, was almost switched off 10 minutes prior to its finish due to boredom, but fortunately there was a dramatic return for MC Grammar, who therefore saved the day!! Apparently David was struggling with a resaca (hangover) following the arrival of his father and over investment into the local alcoholic beverage industry and so didn’t appear to be in the mood for conversing in Spanish. I myself can relate to both situations as also find it quite challenging to speak and learn Spanish when after a night on the tiles!!

So MC Grammar was back and on hand to share his knowledge of the verb tener que (to have to/must) and provide some useful examples of when to use this verb….and with only 3 more lessons lets hope this is not the last time we meet. The remainder of the lesson tried to focus on how to make suggestions and offers of invitation and also on how to turn a verb into a noun, which goes a little something like this: verb + miento, i.e. casar (to marry) – casamiento (marriage) or mover (to move) – movimiento (movement).

Probably the most useful part of the class, especially for a tourist in Argentina, was the brief history lesson on Jose de San Martin, who, along with Simon Bolivar, was the prime leader of southern South Americas battle for independence from the Spain. Known here as padre de la patria (father of the homeland) he was responsible for the liberation of the Argentines, Chileans and Peruvians…..good man!!

On another cultural note, this evening I am going to see Piaf at el Teatro Liceo. Of course this will be in Spanish, with a little French for the singer one imagines, so a fine opportunity to test my skills and assess my development!!

Dónde está the profesor MC Grammar??

I am becoming slightly concerned with the absence of the profesor from the Bueno, entonces classes and with today’s class being reasonably full with grammatical points it would have been a perfect opportunity for him to showcase his talents as the alter ego MC Grammar. For those readers who are yet to come across this fine teacher, here is a brief clip of him at work expalining his Pizarra Mágica. My liking of this character, as I’ve mentioned previously, stems from his resemblance to Wordy the Wizard, a man of equal intelligence and help during my school days…..bring him, or them both for that matter, back!!

As I said there was good deal of grammar expalined in this class beginning with definite and indefinite articles, with definite articles, el, la, los and las, used for specific objects and indefinite, un, una, unos and unas, for non-specifics. Then there were Spanish contractions, e.g. a + el becomes al (vamos al (not a el) supermercado) and de + el becomes del (can’t think of an example right now). Finally we were treated to some adverbs of place, although I thought that they were actually prepositions. Anyway, according to Bueno, entonces the following are adverbs of place: al lado (next to), enfrente (in front of), debajo (below), encima (above), en (in), and entre (between). You can decide for yourselves!

The story, although entertaining, seemed to be going off at a tangent today with David and Jimena having enrolled in Karmasutra and cooking courses respectively, which lead to some bizarre conversations. If want my opinion then yo creo que les faltan algunos jugadores!!

Una nueva y la ultima semana!!

How quickly time passes, as I am now into the final weeks classes of the Bueno, entonces program and my attempts at learning Spanish in this way are drawing to an end…..obviously I shall continue to practice and learn the language in other forms!! I must admit that, and in the light of being critical of some classes, today was rather entertaining with the continuing stories of David and Jimena and their decisions to reconquistar their partners…..or hopeful partners in the case of the student. This is value for money entertainment which I am confident can not be matched in either Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur Spanish or other similar such courses and in case you haven’t stumbled upon it before, here is a little comparison chart of Bueno, entonces and its rivals!!

Ok, so on with the lesson. Having laid their claims to reconquistar, the lesson provided a substantial amount of useful phrases for romance and romantic situations. These I have mastered to an art and are of particularly notable importance seeing as I am in a relationship with a porteña. Any gringo on the look out for some Latin American love would be foolish to overlook such useful Spanish phrases!!

Naturally the class included the standard confusing topic, with today being that in Spanish a number of femine nouns carry masculine articles…..el agua, el azúcar (sugar) and el alma (the soul) to name a few! Of course such confusion is a pain in the arse, however no hay que darse por vencido!!

An enjoyable and fun class to begin the final week, heres hoping it continues!

Gracias por el repaso clase 24!!

As today’s title states I am most thankful to the Bueno, entonces team for the review lessons included in this Spanish learning program, as due to having a few days away from learning Spanish I had almost forgotten what topics had been covered this past week. I’d be interested to know whether other courses, Rosetta Stone for example, provide reviews as they are extremely helpful, especially when, like me, the course and classes are taken on an as and when basis.

This review, like those before, covered the main topics which had been taught through a series of games played between David and Jimena, with today’s focus being on descriptions using ser, estar and tener, comparisons, and the differences between por and para!! The remainder of this class jumped back and forth between the issues currently held by our student and profesora. David it seems is developing some stalker habits having followed his mother to Mendoza and Jimena appears to have her own personal problems, although it could just be that her culinary skills are horrendous!!

Apparently the next class is to be jam-packed with an abundance of verbs and so alongside the usual classroom issues should provide for a final week of entertainment…..esperamos y vemos!!

Playing catch-up with number 23!!

So there have been a few lazy, none Bueno, entonces, days in my world, due mostly to pure laziness and late/early morning Argentine, Quilmes induced, nights out. Today, however, the brain is fully functioning and back on track with the learning of Spanish.

Before going into todays class I would like to mention how I’ve been noticing a recurring theme in my attempts at speaking in this wonderful language. It appears I have some difficulty in remembering when to use perdon (sorry) and permiso (excuse me) and have even began to realise that on occasion I actually combine the 2 and say something similar to permon……I just hope I’m not the only one to ever experience this.

As for todays lesson, David, the student seemed quite disturbed by the fact that his mother had decided to galavant off to Mendoza with her Tango teaching toyboy…..pobre David eh!! Fortunately this paved the way for Jimena to provide some insightful information on expressions and vocabulary to be used when ordering travel tickets…..a must for any tourist or expat.

Also covered today were the uses in Spanish between the verbs venir (to come) and ir (to go), and how their significance differs to that of the English counterparts, and the verbs traer (to bring) and llevar (to take). These second 2 verbs can be a little confusing as traer relates to the transportation of things in the direction of the person that speaks, and llevar to the transportation of things in a different direction! I know that is exactly what you were thinking, no??

Best I get on with the review of this last group of Bueno, entonces lessons and in turn back on schedule!!

Transvestite anti climax!!!

There I was expecting some outrageous Bueno, entonces story about a transvestite or multiple for that matter but all that occurred was a brief altercation in the bank. Must admit that I had hoped for some sort of late night comical case of mistaken identity, but probably for the best, especially for David. However should one be interested, or find yourself strolling or driving through Palermo Woods, then such ladies of the night can be quite openly found anytime after sunset, and am sure will be more than happy to assist in the your efforts to learn Spanish and converse with them.

The rest of this class, numero veintidos (22), went by far too quickly for me, and although I managed to get the gist of all things covered, feel that for some the pace may be too fast, particularly if you are also trying to read the translations provided. Nevertheless the content was again useful with some new verbs learnt/taught like; pagar (to pay) and cobrar (to receive), ahorrar (to save) and gastar (to spend). These are especially useful when you are having to run tramites (errands), most commonly in the banks, cambio and supermarkets.

The present progressive tense was also brought up today and fortunately it’s another simple one to master. Whereas in English we take the verb and add ing, the Spanish version takes the verb and adds either ando (AR verbs) and iendo (IR/ER verbs). There are of course exceptions with irregular verbs which have to be learnt, but its only a matter of practice…..and with a little extra study on top of Bueno, entonces, and not Rosetta Stone as far too expensive, you’ll learn Spanish in no time…..he says!!!

Un Telo buenisimo…..o mala leche??

Well, a class with an abundance of information and a little sad, but comical, story to go with it and thus provide some much needed entertainment when learning Spanish or any other language. Apparently the hapless student had a torrid time at the Telo the previous evening along with his vecinita Mariana, with the room being a disaster leading to a fairly unsuccessful night…..for sure he could have benefited from the abundance of vocabulary featured in this class…..or are the Bueno, entonces team feeding us a barrel full of chamuyo and none of these events ever happened……keeps the mind curious I suppose!!

Covered in today’s lesson were house and home descriptions, objects and adjectives to go with them, kitchen and bathroom vocabulary, comparisons and superlatives. Is always good when you stumble across something so simple as superlatives when attempting to learn a language…..all you are required to do is take the adjetivo and add isimo, e.g. guapo – guapisimo and bueno – buenisimo!!! Another worthy topic discussed today were comparisons, also for me an easy function to remember. There are too structures for these with one being mas/menos + adjetivo + que (more/less…..than) and the other tan/no es tan + adjetivo + como (as/not as…..as).

In all a good class with plenty of learning points, which for me is far better than prolonged no destination conversations. And to finish there was a mention of transvestites for tomorrow, could prove to be interesting as I see plenty on my home from work most days!