Learn Spanish watching Lingus.tv

Last week I promised you that I’d blog in more detail about the different levels of learning a language and how to figure out where you are on the scale. Generally speaking, when it comes to foreign languages, people are categorized as beginners, intermediates and advanced. While those three labels are handy in providing a general distinction among levels, the truth is is that within each category there can be extreme variations in skills.

There’s a lot of ground to cover here, so today’s post is going to look solely at the BEGINNER category. In the coming weeks I will revisit this topic exploring the Intermediate and Advanced levels.  All of the categories can be broken down into subcategories. For the Beginner level, I’ve chosen to split them into three subcategories. They are:

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER: Zero knowledge and understanding of Spanish. Can perhaps say “hola”, “adiós” and “gracias,” but that’s about it.

TRUE BEGINNER: Very rudimentary knowledge of Spanish. Can introduce himself and perhaps knows some Spanish words for basic items, such as colors, numbers, food, family, etc. but doesn’t know enough of the language to form neither questions nor answers. Vocabulary and grammar are extremely limited while listening comprehension and pronunciation are usually weak. As a result, it’s very challenging for the True Beginner to make himself understood as well as to understand native Spanish speakers.

ADVANCED BEGINNER:  Can speak in the present tense and may be aware of the other tenses in Spanish but isn’t skilled at conjugating and using verbs correctly. The Advanced Beginner has enough vocabulary to introduce himself, ask for basic items and to express some of his likes and dislikes. Initially, some Advanced Beginners may appear to be at a higher level because they are comfortable using and repeating many stock phrases and expressions they have learned. However, the typical Advanced Beginner generally speaks in one-word responses or incomplete sentences and frequently falls back on using words and syntax from his native language when trying to communicate in Spanish.

(más…)

If you’ve stood on Spanish soil for more than 15 minutes, I trust you’ve encountered one of many types of sausages produced throughout Spain. Since the dawn of time, Spaniards have mastered the art of using, salt, spices and fresh air to preserve and cure their sausages. And as centuries past, they fashioned an array of chorizos, salchichones, morcillas, butifarras, etc. to be eaten alone or within a traditional regional dish.

A few weeks ago, this age-old Catalan dish called to us; and although finding an authentic Spanish sausage may be difficult in your area, there are several alternatives I trust you can use including South American or German sausages. Enjoy!

Preparation Time

15 minutes

Cooking Time

10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• one small onion
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground sweet paprika
• 1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
• 1 x 150g pkt baby spinach leaves
• 2 Tablespoons of raisins
• Spanish Bull Negra or a sausage of your choice
• 1 Tablespoon of pinenuts

Method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, sausage, cumin and paprika and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic.

Add the chickpeas, raisins, pinenuts and spinach and cook, tossing, for 2-3 minutes or until spinach wilts. Serve immediately.

Saludos,

Gabriella

Gabriella Opaz is co-founder of Catavino.net – a website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine

You probably already know that learning Spanish will be good for your social life and perhaps even your professional life. But did you know that learning a foreign language can actually keep your brain healthy?

A group of Canadian researchers have found that the extra mental effort needed to learn a second language boosts blood supply to the brain, which in turn keeps the nerve connections inside your noggin active and fully-engaged. You know the saying, “use it or lose it”? Well, learning a foreign language helps your brain use everything it’s got.

“In the process of using two languages, you are engaging parts of your brain, parts of your mind that are active and need that kind of constant exercise and activity, and with that experience [it] stays more robust,” said one of the researchers, Professor Ellen Bialystok of Toronto’s York University, in a news report about the study.

The long-term effects of being bilingual, according to the researchers, is that it has a “huge protective effect” on the brain, delaying the onset of dementia or possibly even Alzheimer’s disease, later on in life. (Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that erases one’s memory.)

So the next time you get frustrated with some aspect of learning Spanish, don’t throw in the towel. Realize that every little bit you learn and use is good for you!

Now, isn’t it time for a mini-workout? Check out the library of LingusTV’s Spanish learning videos and get those brain cells moving! 

¡Hasta pronto!

Eleena

Eleena also blogs over at Voices en Español and Cody’s Cuentos.

¡Cómo pasa el tiempo! Parece que fue ayer cuando nos enfrentábamos a nuestra primera clase y nuestro pequeño grupo de estudiantes de variadas procedencias esperaba con curiosidad que abriéramos la boca. Y ya han pasado más de 10 años.

Una época en que el Instituto Cervantes apenas daba sus primeros pasos, donde no abundaban los materiales específicos para la enseñanza del español ni tampoco los profesores eran especialistas en la enseñanza de Español como Lengua Extranjera. En muchas escuelas se basaba todo en la experiencia, la buena voluntad y el “marco” que rodeaba al aprendizaje: monumentos, fiestas y actividades diversas. Y eso es algo que evidentemente ayuda.

Pero, creo que afortunadamente, ahora la situación es diferente. Los estudiantes exigen cada vez más calidad en la enseñanza que reciben, profesionalidad en quien imparte las lecciones y garantías de todo tipo. Buscan un aprendizaje en el que se puedan implicar y se diviertan; rechazan ser espectadores en clases magistrales.

Todo esto nos empujó a iniciar el proyecto de E.L.E. Instituto en Valladolid. Es nuestro objetivo ofrecer a nuestros estudiantes una enseñanza de calidad y metodológicamente moderna, con unos servicios e instalaciones adecuados y en un marco, la ciudad de Valladolid, que consideramos idóneo para nuestro fin: una ciudad de tamaño medio, bien comunicada, joven y con fama reconocida de corrección en el uso del español.

Y todo esto nos lleva también a apoyar con toda la fuerza e ilusión de la que somos capaces el proyecto de LingusTV, del que somos responsables de los contenidos pedagógicos. Entendemos que se trata del escalón que faltaba en la escalera: un formato novedoso, apoyado en las más modernas herramientas tecnológicas, con una finalidad eminentemente pedagógica, con un equipo joven y dinámico, y con el objetivo fundamental de enseñar divirtiendo.

¡Que nuestros “alumbramientos” disfruten de larga vida!

José Miguel Blanco

www.eleinstituto.com

When I started to make LingusTV, I wasn’t very sure about which format I should choose to teach Spanish. A talk show? A news program? A comedy?

Toni and Joan convinced me to use the sitcom as the main content and we created ‘5 y acción’. I think it was a great idea. But for us it was a challenge to combine a convincingly acting while controlling the pronunciation speed and vocalization of the characters.

This is the reason why the first episodes are all advanced level. In the following episodes we shooted we worked hard in these aspects. You’ll see the diference in the next weeks….

We are here! We have finally arrived! We are the opportunity that many of you are waiting for. At last, a method of learning languages that doesn’t cause drowsiness or have side effects like boredom.

Lingus.TV is a television channel for the new generation devoted to teaching and disseminating languages, while taking advantage of all the social characteristics of the Internet.

In the new era of communication, LingusTV is unique, as a result of its very specific and focused way of teaching language. We are a web TV channel devoted to education and believe that the entertainment and active participation of students the key to communication in a new language.

Lingus.TV was founded in beta in June 2008 using this method of learning Spanish as a first step to building a network of thematic channels. The situation comedy (sitcom), ‘5 y acción’, is our first production, and guiding principle for our system of teaching Spanish.

They say that love is a universal language. We agree, but if you are communicating in good Spanish, imagine the doors that you can open.