Steve: Good morning María.
Maria: Good morning Steve, thanks for inviting me.
Steve: You´re more than welcome.
It´s my pleasure to be able to discuss with you about spanish,
a language that many people around the world, begin to learn.
I´d want to discuss the challenges and simplicities of language acquisition.
María has her own channel.
I´ll leave the link below @espanolconmaria
Maria: ¡That´s right! The tropical way to learn Spanish.
Steve: The tropical way.
Well, cause you are a Colombian native.
Maria: Yes, sir.
S: And you´ve been teaching Spanish through the internet for years, right?
M: Yes, Sir. More than 5 years now.
S: Five years...
And most of your followers are English native speakers.
M: Yes, well... not the majority
But let´s say that the country that tops the list is USA.
I´m not sure I´d venture to declare they´re the majority, if we include the others
but the country where I´ve the most followers is United States.
Steve: But for example, from what other countries?
M: Many people from Brazil, quite a lot of people from Canada, Morocco.
S: English or French speakers?
M: Can be both...
Lot of people from Belgium too.
S: Oh, Belgium.
M: And surprisingly also people from Spain.
But I think, many of them are foreigners living in Spain.
S: And from an English Speaker´s perspective
there are some challenges in Spanish, that a Brazilian for example,
would not consider as a difficulty because their languages have a lot in common.
I think you might know what I´m talking about.
Cause it´s always said that Spanish is easy.
That it´s the easiest language, because it is written as it is pronounced.
And things like that...
And there are plenty of words in Spanish that are similar to words in English.
¿What are the most common mistakes
English speakers make when learning Spanish?
M: Well, as for the grammatical part I´d like to categorize it into many groups.
It can be broken down into grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.
In grammar, I think the most common mistake
which even advanced students continue making,
has to do with syntax.
Specifically with negations.
In Spanish, negation goes before the verb.
For example: "No quiero estudiar". (I don´t want to study)
But the English native speaker says "Quiero no estudiar" ("Want no study")
S: (Laughs) That´s interesting.
M: They usually say "Quiero no ir", "Quiero no estar".
Instead of "No quiero estar", "No quiero ir" (Don´t want to be here, Don´t want to go)
So it´s that part.
Also you´ll find Spanish native speakers
with the same mistakes.
And I think it has to do with the influence of English in their culture.
Specifically people from Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.
I heard many ask the question "¿Qué tu quieres?"
Which is the same order as "What do you want?"
But the strictly correct way would be: ¿Tú qué quieres?
S: This is a fascinating point.
Because in Spanish you can simply say "¿Qué quieres?"
M: Yeah, you can say "¿Qué quieres?
S: I´ve known a guy who was just beginning to learn Spanish...
And the fact that in Spanish, the personal pronoun is not necessary
is quite strange for someone who speaks English in a native way.
Because for example, "Aprenderás"
"You will learn" in English.
Needs the "to you".
¿What´s your name?
In French we say "¿Comment tu t'apelles?"
So in Spanish,
the fact that the personal pronoun is not normally used
is something really tough at first.
In my opinion...
M: I think the conjugation...
The verb in Spanish is the heart of the sentence.
It also contains a lot of information, cause it describes the action.
However, the response of who conducted that action will depend on how you conjugate it.
So there you can omit the pronoun.
For example, the verb "Querer" "Quieres, tú quieres"
You no longer need to say "Tú (You)" before. It shows the tense and the verb mode.
And also, it can have the pronouns complement within the same word.
For example "Quiéreme" (Love me) Tu-quiere-a-mi (You-love-me) like an order.
"Tú quiéreme" ("You love me")
S: However, no.
I wanted to say, for example in English "I go, You go, We go, They go"
M: And it only be "Vamos" "Van" ("We go" "Go")
S: Then you need the personal pronoun.
Otherwise you won´t know "Who goes"
Also in French "Je vais, tu vas, il va"
Then you don´t need the personal pronoun.
But in Spanish it is obvious, by the verb itself, who it is about.
M: Yeah, the tacit subject.
S: It´s something that for me is...
And we have habits of our native languages, we keep using.
And there are people who continue speaking spanish and using personal pronouns.
Although is not necessary in Spanish.
M: Even though they use it, It may not sound smooth
but it´s not necessarily a mistake.
S: Yes, of course.
But to understand, if you don´t realize it cause you are a begginer
¿Cómo te llamas? (What´s your name)
"Tú" ¿Como -tú- te llamas? "You" ¿What is your name?
¿Why is there no "you"?
It might be a small difficulty, but that´s ok.
Another one please...
M: Well, as you just said about typical language things that we reply...
is that in English, you don´t always need to add an article before the noun.
But you do in Spanish.
There are really few exceptions where you don´t put them.
So for example, "Llegué a la casa" "Compré la comida"
In English you say "I bought food".
you don´t say "I bought the food".
So, that´s the inverted error that we Latinos make when speaking English.
We put "The" to everything.
S: Yes, It´s all about the article.
There are many languages where articles are not used or exist.
Japanese, Russian, etc...
And speakers of those languages, struggle using articles.
We always have the virtues of our native language.
M: That´s right.
I always say "Is better for you, to always put the article,
and learn about exceptions, than not put them and then..."
S: Interesting, yes.
M: In terms of grammatical structure,
Just before we started recording
we were talking about how everyone speaks about "be and to be" or "by and for"
But there is another thing that is also very common
and is that sometimes we forget how to emphasize.
Is in the verbs that require prepositions.
For example "Ir -a- la fiesta" (going to the party) is just not "ir fiesta" (going party)
And like that verb there are many, who have a regime complement,
and needs prepositions.
For example, Me acordé "de ti" (I remember you) or me acordé "de eso" (I remember that)
And that "de", those prepositions are almost always forgotten.
Cause in their mother tongue, the preposition is not necessary for that verb.
So, " I remember you" Yo-acordé-ti.
¡No! "Me acuerdo de ti".
S: Yes, cause even in English there are some contradictions.
For Example,"I listen to you" but "I hear you".
That´s why, as in LingQ examples, you have to pay attention to the sentences.
because that way, you´ll remember the phrases.
And so the articles would be included in this expression.
M: And also...
1) All of the above 2) Make listening and reading very conscious.
I mean, not just reading and understanding the idea.
Also really taking a good look of the structure of each verb.
Of course we will understand you if you make that mistake.
It´s not a matter of understanding.
Is more a matter of satisfaction of wanting to speak correctly.
But if you say "Acuerdo ti", it´s very clear what you tried to say.
Steve: Yeah.
but also for me for example "Visitar" (Visiting)
"Visitar a México" "Visitar México"
In English is "Visiting México" but not in Spanish.
M: If it´s a place you can say "Voy a visitar México" Without the "A"
But if you are speaking about someone, you need "A" - Voy a visitar "A" Steve.
S: Well, I didn´t know this rule.
In Portuguese is always with "a".
I really don´t know...
So... You can visit a country without "a".
but if you are visiting someone...
M: Is with "A" S: You need the "A". Okey.
M: In fact look, I had written down that the next topic would be The prepositions.
Recordar " a " una persona. (Remembering someone)
I was aware that it is a very common mistake.
Vamos a aprovechar-nos- de alguien. (Let´s take advantage of someone)
Oh well, this was another thing I wanted to mention.
When the verb that changes the meaning becomes reflexive,
the reflexives modify the meaning.
For example "Aprovechar o aprovecharse". (Taking advantage of someone or in general)
Or "parar y pararse" (Stop and Stand up)
Parar means "To stop" but pararse means "To stand up"
These are also verbs that cause a lot of confusion among English speakers.
S: Again please...
M: Parar = "To stop" ¡Para, para!
But if I say "Párate" I mean "Stand up"
S: Oh, okey. Didn´t know that either.
M: It´s like saying "Levántate". Levántate is the same as párate (Stand up/Get up)
So there are numerous verbs whose meaning we can deduce,
but Its meaning shifts when we make it reflexive.
S: I think that all those rules can become really many.
And it's always a matter of listening a lot, reading a lot so you get used to.
Because you can't remember all those rules.
M: Yes, that´s impossible.
I think that what you say about "Comprehensible Input"
I don't know how to say it in Spanish, how to translate it properly.
The key to achieve that, is the language acquisition stimuli.
S: And it may also be that this language, for example Spanish,
in the Caribbean, in Puerto Rico
it may be used in a way that makes you think it is being used with grammar mistakes.
but for them is the proper way to use their language.
M: Valid.
S: So it´s possible to have different Spanish uses, like in Argentina, Chile,
Colombia, Puerto Rico...
The same language is used differently.
M: I´m telling you something curious.
Once, I don´t remember where I was,
but there was some Puerto Rican saying "Llámame pa´ tra"
And I was like WHAT?
"Si, llámame pa tra"
"Call me back" Instead of saying "Atrás"(back) they say "Tra" (Ack)
Instead of "Call me back" which is what we´d say in Colombia,
They say "Call me behind " y lo pronuncian "llámame pa´ tra"
And it´s from "Call me back" because they translate literally.
S: There are plenty of examples like that in Quebec..
In French.
There is a certain influence of English in the French, which is spoken in Quebec as well.
But it´s the same if you live in Puerto Rico or in Quebec,
You must adjust to the way people speak in this location.
If you're among friends or at work, you must speak in a similar manner to them.
M: Yes, for sure.
Steve: Even if you don´t want to.
In the end, you´re going to speak as the same as the people who surrounds you.
M: When I was little, my mom always said
"Wherever you go, do what you see"
Basically, adapt to the habits of each place
and also includes within that, the way of speaking.
Steve: Yes.
Well, in the end we can say that a charming thing about Spanish,
is the variety of countries, of the language itself, of the cultures of the people who speak Spanish.
This makes Spanish a language worth learning.
This language is spoken in a large number of nations.
It has a long and illustrious history and culture.
But it has different cultures and histories in each country.
M: Do you also know what I think makes it easier?
In relation to what we mentioned about culture
There is also a lot of content everyehere to practice Spanish.
Because as there are so many cultures, you can easily have books from each country,
movies and songs from each country...
As a result, finding the material to practice is simple..
S: So many Colombian soap operas
M: ¡Many!
Steve: Plenty, really great ones.
Okey, many thanks Maria.
M: My pleasure.
S: I hope that many of my listeners go visit your channel...
¿Or visiting your channel? or ¿To your channel?
M: Visitar tú canal (visiting your channel)
S: To learn or improve you Spanish language level.
M: Thank you so much.
I invite you there to also tell you about typical pronunciation and vocabulary mistakes.
S: Ok, Thank you.
M: Thank you, Steve.