Book Report – Easy Spanish Phrase Book
Begin: 1/15/2024
Finish: 2/10/2024
Title: Easy Spanish Phrase Book.
Author: Pablo Garcis Loaeza PHD.
Why I choose to read this book:
This is one of many Spanish books that I use to improve my literacy in Spanish. It will help me communicate in Spanish.
What I learned from This Book:
This book teaches you to be familiar with the basic set of sentences, phrases, and words for simple everyday communication in Spanish. Especially for visitor to Spanish speaking countries find this book helpful to deal with common situations related to travel. The different sections covers topics such as transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking, as well as sight seeing, and shopping. There are also sections that cover a number of problems that that may arise. Each section takes into account the dialectic variation in Spanish by pointing out when a specific word is used in Spain (sp) or a particular Latin American country (Mex., Arg. etc..). Also when appropriate, entries indicate whether the Spanish sentence is formal (for) or informal (Inf.). The book serves as a useful foundation rather than an exhaustive field manual. It is meant to be used for reference, study and review. The more you use and practice the phrases, it gets easier to communicate in Spanish. To facilitate acquisition, the material included in the different sections. Since the material is mot cumulative, the book section can be studied according to need or preference. Practice trumps theory, the Spanish grammar primer is included to help make the most of this book. Besides vocabulary building tips and verb conjunction tables, it contains information about, noun, adjectives, pronouns, and prepositions.
A Note on Spanish Dialects:
Many Regional Dialects of Spanish, they may vary in pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax but they are mutually intelligible. In the Castile region of Spain a “c” before and “e” or an “I” sounds like “TH” in English and the letter “s” is pronounced as “sh”. People in south of Spain and in Latin America make the letter “c” (before “e” or “i”), the letter “s”, and even the letter “z” all sound like “s” in “soup”. Caribbean Spanish tends to drag a”d” between two vowels at the end of some words, as well as a final “s” so that Cansados (tired, m . pl) becomes Casao. Likewise in many South American countries the word for cake is Torta, whereas in Mexico it is Pastel. In Latin America a computer is called una computadora while in Spain it is referred to as un ordenador. The best investment for a beginner is to practice a “neutral” kind of Spanish; all the syllables in a word should be pronounced clearly, using the standard word-stress rules. All Spanish Dialects use the same written standard.
Spanish Pronunciation:
Vowels- Spanish only has five vowels sounds. Which corresponds to the five vowels letters. There are no silent Vowels in Spanish:
A – As in drama – AH.
E – As in Bet – EH,.
I – As in deep.
O- As in Coat.
U – As in Loop.
The semi-consonant Y is pronounced like I (ee) when used as a conjunction:
Pedro y Maria (Pedro and Maria), its sound softens next to a vowel. (As in yellow)
Consonants: Spanish has basically the same consonants sounds as English. They are a few differences:
B and V are pronounced as in “Bee”
C (soft), s and z, they can be pronounced like”S” in “soft”.
G is hard as in Good before A, O and U but soft as in horse before E or I.
GU before E and I to represent a hard “G” sound as in good (note: u does not sound as a vowel. GU is a Diagraph the two letter sound like THE).
H is always mute as in Herbs.
J is pronounced like H in Horse.
LL is pronounced as the Y in yellow.
N – in particular sound resembles the NY – in CaNYon.
GU – is uses before and I to represent a Hard ‘C” as in Cat.
R – At the beginning of a word is trilled.
RR – represents a Trill in the middle of a word.
Stress and Written Accents:
Spanish words tend to have two or more syllables; when they are pronounced one syllable always sounds a little bit louder than the others. The stressed syllable is either the last, the penultimate (Most often), or the antepenultimate syllable (least often). Word stress in Spanish is determined by two simple rules:
1) Words that end in a vowel, N, or S are generally pronounced stressing the next to the last syllable:
venTAna, BARco, paLABras, Tu CANtas, Ellos COMen.
2) Words which ends in a consonant other than N or S are generally stressed on the last syllable:
paPEL, feLIZ, actiTUD, canTAR, coMER.
Written accent mark are used when a word’s pronunciation is at odds with the rules. In other words, accent mark indicate a stress where you wouldn’t normally expect it. Thus, words which end in a vowel, N, or S but require the stress to fall on the last syllable need a written accent mark to “drag” the sound forward:
ciemPIES, canCION, el canTO, yo coMI.
Conversely, word need a written accent mark to “drag” the sound backwards:
LApiz, ARBol, aZUcar, caRACter.
Finally, word that need the stress on the antepenultimate syllable always have a written accent:
murCIElago, CIRculo, LAgrima, CANtalo.
Spanish Grammar:
English and Spanish Cognates:
1) Some words are the same in both languages, except their pronunciation may vary: color, crisis, drama, error, general, horror, probable, tropical…
2) Some words ad an extra vowel to the English word: Client, evidente,ignorante, parte, artista, pianista, problema, programa, contacto, perfecto, liquido….
3)many words ending in TY in English end in TAD or DAD in Spanish: Facultad, Libertad, Curiosidad, Sociedad, Eternidad, Capacidad, Realidad, Claridad…
4) Many words ending in Y in English ends in IA, IA or IO (depending on gender): Compania, Geografia, Historia, Farmacia, Diccionario, Ordinario…
5) Words that end in TION in English generally end in CION in Spanish: Nacion, Administracion, ACCion, Friccion, Seccion, Emocion, Combinacion, Contribucion…
6) Words that end in OUS in English often end in OSO in Spanish: Generoso, Famoso, Precioso, Tedioso, Contagioso, Curioso, Escandaloso, Religioso…
Diminutives: are widely used in Spanish. A diminutive can signify that something is smaller, but can also use to express endearment, to intensify an idea. Diminutives are particles that attach at the end of words either after the final consonant or by replacing the final vowel. There is a number of diminutive suffixes in Spanish, but most common are – ITO(S) / ITA (S).
Solo quiero un pedacITO muy pequenITO de pastel. I only want a tiny little piece of cake.
Vivo en una casITA muy linda con mis hijITAS y mis perrITOS. I live in a very cute little house with my dear little daughters and my doggies.
How will this book contribute to my success upon release:
This phrase book has help me communicate with non English Latinos. While incarcerated and upon my release, the Spanish language learnt will be used to teach others through my volunteer services, in teaching, tutoring and mentoring.
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