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!!

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!

La telenovela continúa!!

No work, the weather is fairly offish and am home alone so what else better to do with my time than another episode, numero 14, of the Spanish immersion course that is Bueno, entonces. The lesson today however did start off immensely boring with David spurting so much chamuyo that I found myself watching the grass grow in the garden for a good 5 to 10 minutes……apparently there are some issues with his mother but it is becoming some what monotonous……if you are into watching soap operas then am sure this could be for you……unfortunate as it may be, I am not!!

Once the initial rant was over and Jimena got down to business the continuation of the lesson proved to be both informative and useful, with the usual amount of language concepts discussed. Today we learnt more verb conjugations, with today’s being seguir (to follow), conseguir (to obtain) and perseguir (to pursue), adverbs of frequency, very useful, such as nunca, casi nunca, de vez en cuando y siempre, and the simple fact that by taking an adjective and adding mente you give yourself an adverb!! There was also a snippet from the Profesor about double negative usage in Spanish which is against the norm for an English speaker but is just another aspect of language learning which adds character and uniqueness and makes it so interesting!!

Favourite phrase of the day, which made me chuckle for no apparent reason, although sounds debateable, was that the splits translates to abrir las piernas (to open the legs)……surely it can’t be that simple and there is another funky expression for this!?

Fiesta en mi pancita!!

Buenos dias lectores…..so here we are back and fresh from the fantastically hot weekend….the weather here never ceases to amaze me, 33C in Spring can’t be bad eh!! I must admit however that although I spent the most of last week studying the local language I actually did not put all that much into practice…..probably due to the fact that I was hanging out with my closest friends here, who are made up mainly of Brits, Yanks, Aussies and Irish….you get the idea, no!!!

Well another week has started and the Bueno, entonces team have started this instalment of lessons off on the right foot by talking about food, which grasped my attention immediately. Any Spanish language course, or other language for that matter, that decides to teach the topic of food is a winner for me as its fundamental for a foreigner/expat/gringo, or whatever you like to be known as, to be capable of ordering food and drink in restaurants and bars……as this is pretty much the most of what we do!!

As ever with Spanish I have come to learn that the a wrong letter or mispronunciation can cause some havoc embarrassment when ordering. This situation I think the student, David, encountered when retelling the events of his horrendous date. For example its important to remember in a bar to “te pido una cerveza” as opposed to “te pedo una cerveza”……loosely translated as ; I ask you for a beer….and….you fart me a beer!!! Other similarities occur with torta and tarta, with one being a cake and the other a pie, but I always forget, even now after just watching the lesson…..tostado (sandwich) and tostada (toast)….and huevos revueltos (scrambled egg) is just a nightmare to say.

Here’s something entertaining which assisted, in my struggle to learn Spanish, when I first arrived in the country. One Sunday morning I awoke, switched on the TV and found this most entertaining sing-along cartoonish show about eating breakfast…..you may laugh, and I hope so, but I learnt some very useful Spanish phrases that morning!!

Overall a good lesson and great start to the week with Bueno, entonces, now however yo tengo hambre y voy a comer algo!

Fue un gusto.

Que bueno es el fin de semana!!

Bueno, entonces, it is of course the weekend and naturally I had a few cervezas anoche, therefore for this reason I watched today’s instalment through my Ipod…..sat in the sunshine in a nearby park, in hope that my body would recover. Such a fantastic idea to have this interactive Spanish course available and with you at all times, making it fully portable!! Am pretty sure that this full video option is not available on other such Spanish language courses like Rosetta Stone. Anyway check out this little comparison chart and you can see for yourself the advantages which I am currently benefiting from!!

Today, as I mentioned yesterday, was a review, involving a telephone conversation between David and Jimena, and less intense than the previous 5 days of lessons, vocabulary and grammar issues. However a review is always useful as a reminder to the brain of what has been previously taught. For example, during this first week the lessons have covered greetings, giving personal information, emotional expressions, numbers and ordinal numbers, moods and the conjugation of present tense verbs like ser, estar (both verbs to be), tener (to have) and gustar (to like) to name but a few. Although this may read daunting it has not been so bad!

The underlying question after 1 week has to be, can I learn Spanish with Bueno, entonces?? These Spanish lessons so far have shown a good balance between the teaching of necessities and making the classes enjoyable, therefore maintaining mine and, I imagine, other viewers interest…..and accompanied with the additional vocabulary and grammar review written exercises the course looks set to have the tools to fully immerse the student into the process of learning Spanish!

Time to enjoy the weekend in true Argentine fashion…..carne, vino y mas cerveza!!

Clase cinco! Estoy cansado o estoy aburrido!?!?

Today was the last lesson for the first week of the Bueno, entonces Spanish program, apart from tomorrow, which I believe is a review! The weather is fantastic here today in Buenos Aires so this may turn out to be a rather brief entry on what I’ve learnt from the lesson.

Honestly I was a little bored with today, perhaps due to the sun kindly shining through my window or just a general lack of concentration. However the content of the lesson was good, particulalry the discussions on moods; cansado (tired), aburrido (bored), enojado (angry), feliz (happy), and the differences between the use of the verbs estar (to be) and tener (to have)…..although they are two of the many frustrating irregular verbs within the Spanish language. Here are few things I have come discover since trying to learn Spanish…..to be careful with the use of estar and ser when indicating your mood to someone, as for example whereas estoy aburrido would suggest you are bored, on the otherhand soy aburrido would indicate that you are boring, period!! And another fine one down here in Argentina, and perhaps other Latin American countries, is to know that when saying estoy caliente, the listener could well misenterpret you as telling them you are horny as opposed to generally being hot due to the weather….be warned!!

No major develpoments on the David, Jimena saga, just some complaints about the visit of his mother. Have to wait and see what will happen in the next batch of lessons. The weeks review is tomorrow and I’ll also attempt the additional written exercises provided by the Bueno, entonces team.

Hasta luego!

The Second Coming!!

Buenos dias from Buenos Aires readers, como estas?? All good I hope. Well, before starting todays lesson I thought I would check out Rosetta Stone……and the first thing that caught my eye was the US$499 price….makes Bueno, entonces a bargain at only US$147 for the download and US$199 for the 6 DVD set. The demo seemed a little old fashioned too, although maybe the lessons become more interactive as the student progresses??. Perhaps it is possible too to buy Rosetta Stone cheap elsewhere, but for now I am more than happy with this interactive Spanish course.

So today I feel I already subconsciously knew many of the points being discussed between David, the ever curious and probing student, and Jimena, our very pleasant profesora. Perhaps now I ‘ll have the confidence to go out and use some of this new found knowledge. A particularly important grammatical point covered today was on prepositions, as being an English teacher I have, on more than one occasion, been witness to the difficulties and frustrations faced by students when trying to fully understand the usage in a new language. Good job!! And also good to know and take note of were the “consonantes suaves” as I am often being reminded by my girlfriend of the smoothness in sound of such letters as D, P and T!!

With Bueno, entonces you as well have the option to download the lessons to your Ipod, and so being only lunchtime I think I’ll head out and harrass some peers or elders in the streets with the formal greetings and useful Spanish phrases I have picked up from todays lesson.

Onwards and upwards!!