SpanishPod - lvalmoria Conversations

Re: Divorced

lvalmoria — 2008-11-25 01:08:16

I remember a great elementary Spanish class where we the group was just getting to know each other, one guy kept mixing up 'casado' with 'cansado' (much to the annoyance of his girlfriend). Isabel (the teacher) eventually worked out a way for him to get it straight - to be casado makes one cansado, but then his girlfriend started to get ticked off that he was then saying 'Estoy soltero'! Couldn't win really.

Re: Bank Hours

lvalmoria — 2008-11-18 06:38:44

Muchas gracias stevestrv, cutthatcity,

Also, stevestrv, really appreciate the corrections to what I was trying to convey. I've been introduced to that kind of structure but I still get caught up in the habit of 'literally' translating what I am thinking in English into Spanish--habit I'm trying to break.

Re: Bank Hours

lvalmoria — 2008-11-18 03:39:40

No sé tampoco sino que pienso que los empleados del banco necesitan contar su efectivo y divulgar todas las transacciones antes de que su propio día acabe a las cinco horas.

I don't know either but I think bank employees need to count their cash and report all transactions before their own day finishes at five.

How does one emphasise what you do know, if for the most part you can't answer the main question? I wanted to say, "I don't know why (the banks close early), but I *do* know that they need to count the dosh ..." but I don't know how to make those kinds of emphases ...

Banks back home in Australia now have opening hours on Saturdays. I wish I were back there! Banks always have such weird hours ...

Re: Calling Abroad

lvalmoria — 2008-09-16 01:18:47

Algunas veces llamo al extranjero, porque mis padres no pueden usar Skype. Prefiero mandar email!

Sometimes I call abroad, because my parents can't use Skype. I prefer email ...

(... but for what it's worth my parents can't use a computer either ...!)

Also, thanks for the phrase ´A ti qué te importa´ ... always useful to know a couple of snarky phrases in another language. Gracias SpanishPod team!

Re: Do you remember her?

lvalmoria — 2008-03-06 09:26:43

Pienso que se mataron Sofia después de que ella diera a mafia el número correcto. Acabo de escuchar la lección en el número de teléfono incorrecto (http://spanishpod.com/lessons/wrong-phone-number), y mi teoría es, Sofía era espía!

Re: My computer is not working

lvalmoria — 2008-02-28 16:46:20

Cuando mi computado no funcionar, yo paseo ... y cuando vuelvo, la reinicio. Como se dice en espanol 'let off some steam'? ;)

Re: Jet-lag

lvalmoria — 2008-02-28 02:06:19

Viena y Praga son 8 horas menos de Melbourne, y el vuelo dura dieciocho horas. When I first made the trip as a student on a class tour I felt very, very baffled; I thought I would be 'clever' and open my window shutter to see what life looked like over Russia and found that we were flying into sunrise permanently for about three hours until we landed in Austria, where--surprise--the sun was rising. Travelling from Melbourne to anywhere save the Pacific or New Zealand subtracts time from my day. Since then I have found that, like JP, it is much easier to travel west. I agree that eating and sleeping on schedule helps one get over jetlag quickly. A long-haul flight usually prepares one for the eating schedule at the destination--I can't recall what we ate from Singapore to Vienna but I do remember eating 'lunch' several times. Upon arrival, my professor made us walk several hours on a walking lecture (so we had to pay attention!) with a lunch break, so by a few days later we were over it. I use the walking strategy with my guests who come to visit from Australia--if it's their first long-haul trip they're not always appreciative! *g*

Re: Succeed in 2008!

lvalmoria — 2008-01-05 07:55:04

I'm considering switching to the Practice Plan in 2008, but given the promotion for Premium I might give that a go first and see how I go with a tailored study plan ... thanks for that. Also, as the others have said, many many thanks for the additional links--they're brilliant! Gracias.

Re: NEW: Pa' que sepas... SpanishPod Q&A

lvalmoria — 2008-01-05 07:30:41

Hi JP, I'm a bit late in getting back to my Spanish studies for the New Year I always have a question on the different ways one uses/says 'por que', 'por qué, 'porque', etc. It's probably more to do with writing than it is to do with speaking the language, but it gets me every time, and I would also like to know if there is a way one can distinguish the difference between these when listening to someone say them (I guess context helps, but still). I always have a lot of possibly little questions, but I'm really glad to hear this segment may be getting off the ground; best wishes to you and Leo on working on this. Cheerio.

Re: I'm sleepy

lvalmoria — 2007-12-12 09:01:46

yardbird and J.P.: On 'hasta la vista', I have never heard it used by a Spanish speaker either, but I suddenly recalled leaving Zamboanga (in the Spanish / Spanish-creole speaking south of the Philippines) and seeing a big banner saying 'hasta la vista' as we left the city. This is the only context I've seen it used in. Zamboangueno is a lot like Spanish (my cousins call it 'broken Spanish'), but apparently rather archaic. Maybe it's antiquated, or used in a basic textbook because 'until I see you again' is like 'au revoir' or 'Auf Wiedersehen'?? /random theory And Esti--cracks me up that the Terminator says 'Sayonara baby'. Nos vemos!

Re: How do you study vocab?

lvalmoria — 2007-12-12 08:23:28

All of the above are great suggestions. I'm a mental map kind of person myself, and prior to discovering the online world of teaching languages I was very much a textbook learner, but I am learning to adjust my style to adapt with the wonderful resources you can get here. Creative writing and poetry helped me immensely with getting a grasp of English when I was a pup, and later on when acquiring French and Czech. I am a lover of wordplay, so literature has always helped. The Internet helps a lot with that because now I can find multilingual speakers who are willing to give me feedback on my short pieces, and if I am trying to describe a particular environment, mood or theme I try to put in as much recently acquired vocab as possible. Private journalling is okay, but with no feedback on if you're getting it right, collaborative writing online is really helpful for me. Oh, and this is a ridiculous one--I have picked up a lot of very silly Norwegian vocabulary by having a best friend whom I trade completely surreal, non-sensical 'insults' with. As long as the syntax is correct, we call each other very odd things (I have to try and work out what she has said, and she will usually confirm what I just said by cracking and saying, "Did you just call me a ...?") Note that the latter will probably only work if you have a very easygoing friend! ;D I am language-exchanging with someone online and we talk on a weekly basis on skype--each meeting has a 'theme', like 'what is your favourite building in your city?' and then we focus on expanding the other's vocabulary by getting them to elaborate ('what does it look like? how many floors? is it an old building? is it an office or a bank or a museum? steel or stone? what colour is it? does it need a good clean? does it get a lot of posters stuck on it?' etc.) I guess it's like austinfd's suggestion--talk with someone around a set topic. Wish I could find a Spanish speaker to cook with though ... mm Spanish and Latin American food ... you know I've become a lot more interested in cooking Spanish and Latin American food since the new team on SpanishPod has arrived, I do wonder why? ;)

Re: I'm sleepy

lvalmoria — 2007-12-12 08:09:29

Esta noche después mis clases voy al teatro a hacer más trabajo. Y después el teatro vamos a la barra! Pero estoy cansado también ... ¿Cómo se dice 'rehearsal' en español? I am trying to say that I am going to the theatre to work. (I am a horrible actor but for amateur theatre I am a dramaturge.)

Re: Pay Phone

lvalmoria — 2007-12-02 01:59:49

JP: gracias. I think what had me stuck was reviewing the contractions of 'del' (de + el) and 'al' (a + el), but those have more to do with direction, and not location ... I am sure I will raise that point again anyway when you have your new grammatical podcast :) On payphones/landlines/VOIP and what you call them--I think I've been to one or two places where people also call their phone service by their provider (i.e. MexicoBob talking about “Llámame por Nextel"). are there any other countries in Latin America with similar phrases/usages?

Re: Where are you from?

lvalmoria — 2007-12-02 01:19:06

Question about the extended vocabulary: 'extranjero' = foreigner Picked this up from somewhere else, but wanted to check: Vengo del extranjero = I'm from abroad?? So can one say 'Soy extranjero' (I am a foreigner) as well as 'vengo del extranjero'? Are both usages valid?

Re: New SpanishPod Extra Show

lvalmoria — 2007-12-02 01:15:06

I'm kind of sold on ¡abrapalabra! or its variants. Although I did get kind of drawn into that Matrixy thing back up there.

Re: Where are you from?

lvalmoria — 2007-12-01 21:46:51

Muchas gracias Leo, that clears up a lot of confusion for me!! Cheerio. Y hola jamesl, bienvenido :)

Re: Give us your Lesson Ideas!

lvalmoria — 2007-12-01 11:00:53

I really enjoy the 'practical' lessons over at ChinesePod, where they give dialogue and lessons over the most everyday things ... Anyway, maybe as a further to the suggestions given, some 'shopping' dialogue? I don't necessarily mean the usual 'how much is this?' dialogue--more like courtesies given to small shop owners to etiquette in waiting in line or asking if you can exchange an item (i.e. while trying on something you can ask if you can get a bigger or smaller size or different colour).

Re: How to type áéíúóñ¿¡

lvalmoria — 2007-12-01 10:55:20

Ay, thank goodness for the tips, steve. I actually *have* been using the Alt + numeric keypad version all along ... Muchas gracias--now I'm one of those joining the ranks of those 'letting go' ;)

Re: Who wants a SpanishPod widget?

lvalmoria — 2007-12-01 10:44:52

Excellent to see that that SpanishPod is on Facebook and that there's an app for it there--I'm on Facebook just about as much as I'm on here ;) Gracias, team!

Re: Where are you from?

lvalmoria — 2007-11-23 22:13:08

Argh. I meant 'Una pequeña pregunta' ... noun/adjective agreement and all that.