Accent Marks

In Spanish there are these marks that are some times found above a letter. It is pretty amazing that a word can be spelled exactly the same but if it has that accent mark it can completely change the meaning of the word as well as the entire message of the statement.

En clase de espanol que aprendemos la gramatica.

Guatemala

Something very interesting I learned this week was that Spanish speakers from Guatemala are considered to have the best speaking Spanish. Often we will listen to different songs in Spanish in class and today we listened to a song that was sung by a singer from Guatemala and it was amazing. This was the first time I could keep up with what he was saying. He pernounced every syllable in the word and spoke very clearly.

La gente de Guatemala hablar espanol bien.

Saber y Conocer

One of the things that makes Spanish more difficult that English is the fact that there are different words you use to say the same thing depending on the context. Much like ser and estar saber and conocer both mean I know but depending on what you are talking about determines which one you use. Saber is used when you know a fact or how to do something. Conocer is used when you know a person, place or thing.

No se hablar espanol.

The Market

This week I learned about the some markets in Spanish speaking cultures. One that was specifically looked at in class was in Costa Rica. One thing that I thought was really cool about the markets was that you could bargain with them. When I have gone over to China and Taiwan this is the case for all the markets as well. I wish that we could do that hear in the states because I discovered that I was good at haggling or bargaining.

Este costo mucho que me voy.

Months

Somethings that I learned this week about the Spanish language that I thought was very intersting and diffrent was the fact that you don't capitalize the first letter of the month. This is very different than what I have been taught ever since I was a little kid which was ALWAYS capitalize months. 

Este mes es el mes de noviembre.

From Ecuador

Today I met a guy from Ecuador at the BSM. His name is Fabian. We talked about how one the hardest things for him when he came to Texas was the lack of public transportation. He said that the first several months was terrible because he could not go anywhere. He started saving his money immediately to buy a car.

Fabian ahorro dinero parra comprar un carro.