Que bueno es el fin de semana!!

Bueno, entonces, it is of course the weekend and naturally I had a few cervezas anoche, therefore for this reason I watched today’s instalment through my Ipod.....sat in the sunshine in a nearby park, in hope that my body would recover. Such a fantastic idea to have this interactive Spanish course available and with you at all times, making it fully portable!! Am pretty sure that this full video option is not available on other such Spanish language courses like Rosetta Stone. Anyway check out this little comparison chart and you can see for yourself the advantages which I am currently benefiting from!!

Today, as I mentioned yesterday, was a review, involving a telephone conversation between David and Jimena, and less intense than the previous 5 days of lessons, vocabulary and grammar issues. However a review is always useful as a reminder to the brain of what has been previously taught. For example, during this first week the lessons have covered greetings, giving personal information, emotional expressions, numbers and ordinal numbers, moods and the conjugation of present tense verbs like ser, estar (both verbs to be), tener (to have) and gustar (to like) to name but a few. Although this may read daunting it has not been so bad!

The underlying question after 1 week has to be, can I learn Spanish with Bueno, entonces?? These Spanish lessons so far have shown a good balance between the teaching of necessities and making the classes enjoyable, therefore maintaining mine and, I imagine, other viewers interest.....and accompanied with the additional vocabulary and grammar review written exercises the course looks set to have the tools to fully immerse the student into the process of learning Spanish!

Time to enjoy the weekend in true Argentine fashion.....carne, vino y mas cerveza!!

Clase cinco! Estoy cansado o estoy aburrido!?!?

Today was the last lesson for the first week of the Bueno, entonces Spanish program, apart from tomorrow, which I believe is a review! The weather is fantastic here today in Buenos Aires so this may turn out to be a rather brief entry on what I've learnt from the lesson.

Honestly I was a little bored with today, perhaps due to the sun kindly shining through my window or just a general lack of concentration. However the content of the lesson was good, particulalry the discussions on moods; cansado (tired), aburrido (bored), enojado (angry), feliz (happy), and the differences between the use of the verbs estar (to be) and tener (to have).....although they are two of the many frustrating irregular verbs within the Spanish language. Here are few things I have come discover since trying to learn Spanish.....to be careful with the use of estar and ser when indicating your mood to someone, as for example whereas estoy aburrido would suggest you are bored, on the otherhand soy aburrido would indicate that you are boring, period!! And another fine one down here in Argentina, and perhaps other Latin American countries, is to know that when saying estoy caliente, the listener could well misenterpret you as telling them you are horny as opposed to generally being hot due to the weather....be warned!!

No major develpoments on the David, Jimena saga, just some complaints about the visit of his mother. Have to wait and see what will happen in the next batch of lessons. The weeks review is tomorrow and I'll also attempt the additional written exercises provided by the Bueno, entonces team.

Hasta luego!

Slang...we all want to know!!

So here is an excellent theme that the Bueno, entonces team have decided to touch on.....the use of slang, which we all know has unquestionable value throughout our daily lives and in the case of a language course advances it from being a course of basic Spanish classes to a more comprehensive one......something that the likes of Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur spanish are perhaps unable to offer!!

The story it seems is develpoing into somewhat of a soap opera, or as they are known here; telenovellas, with David, the students mother arrriving in town for a vacation. Apparently she is a rompepelotas....but aren't they all at times?.....of course in the good sense though (just in case my own mother should ever read this). The storyline is good as it adds extra intrigue, interest and some fun to learning Spanish.

Favourite and most comical words of the day have got to be lolas and tetas, and cola and culo.....I'll let you search for the translations yourself. For sure I'll be dropping them into a conversation with the girlfriend at the earliest available moment and if they are received with a slap in the face then my obvious response will be; che, boludo, yo no tengo la culpa!!

Chau, nos vemos!

Que el silencio se convierta en carnaval!!

Buenos tardes. Well last night I went to a concert here in Buenos Aires.....an Argentine Ska band by the name of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. I'd say I understood about 25 words from around 25 songs and the phrase in the title of todays post, however, it was a great performance and with music you do not necessarily have to understand in order to feel the rhythm and enjoy! Just means I'll need to study harder for the next time!!

Anyway on with the lesson, with numbers and verbs being the main theme for today and of course an amount of questions bordering inappropriateness from our student. I wonder whether other interactive Spanish courses such as Rosetta Stone are as entertaining to the viewer??

Numbers I've found easy to learn, but of course are important and for me one of the first things that should be taught in a new language, so a good thing that Bueno, entonces covers them early. They are naturally especially of importance should one have the desire to order beer or eat anything whilst visitng the country choice!! And then the verbs, the bane of any foreigner in learning Spanish, so many conjugations that can turn a sentence on its head without a thought, and these just the regulars ones! Fortunately the profesor and his Pizarra Magica are not too far away in order to lend a hand. I'm becoming quite fond of this character, as a result of his likeness to my childhood favourite Wordy the Wizard.....check him out, if you like inappropriate then you'll not be disappointed!!

The sun is shining so it's now time to venture out and enjoy!

Un placer conocerlo!

The Second Coming!!

Buenos dias from Buenos Aires readers, como estas?? All good I hope. Well, before starting todays lesson I thought I would check out Rosetta Stone......and the first thing that caught my eye was the US$499 price....makes Bueno, entonces a bargain at only US$147 for the download and US$199 for the 6 DVD set. The demo seemed a little old fashioned too, although maybe the lessons become more interactive as the student progresses??. Perhaps it is possible too to buy Rosetta Stone cheap elsewhere, but for now I am more than happy with this interactive Spanish course.

So today I feel I already subconsciously knew many of the points being discussed between David, the ever curious and probing student, and Jimena, our very pleasant profesora. Perhaps now I 'll have the confidence to go out and use some of this new found knowledge. A particularly important grammatical point covered today was on prepositions, as being an English teacher I have, on more than one occasion, been witness to the difficulties and frustrations faced by students when trying to fully understand the usage in a new language. Good job!! And also good to know and take note of were the "consonantes suaves" as I am often being reminded by my girlfriend of the smoothness in sound of such letters as D, P and T!!

With Bueno, entonces you as well have the option to download the lessons to your Ipod, and so being only lunchtime I think I'll head out and harrass some peers or elders in the streets with the formal greetings and useful Spanish phrases I have picked up from todays lesson.

Onwards and upwards!!

Numero 1. Under starters orders!!

So here we go, I have in my possession the Bueno, entonces interactive Spanish learning program in order improve my knowledge of the language all the way down here in Buenos Aires, and you the lucky reader will be able to join me on my daily quest to master the Argentine lingo! I guess that there are many arguements and differing opinions on the best way to learn Spanish, or any other language for that matter; should I take classes? can I learn by practice alone? or are interactive Spanish courses such as Bueno, entonces and Rosetta Stone they way forward?? For now, I am to go with the interactive Spanish course and, should I build up the courage, some real life practice.

On with the first lesson then. I liked the lighthearted introductions between David, the student, and Jimena, the teacher, or should I say profesora, settling me into a relaxed mood in which to observe the two. A fine idea of the lessons is the colour coding of specific grammatical points, however being colourblind I may be a little confused with the greens, browns and reds....although am sure I'll survive. And the professor in The Pizarra Magica reminded me of Wordy the Wizard, who was an enjoyeable informative character, from my English Primary School days. Am confident the Bueno, entonces professor can provide just as much guidance.

So have I learnt anything today? Being English, as David, I can sympathise with the silent H concept, as I was forever told and retold to remember to pronounce them.....and now to learn Spanish it appears to be the opposite, just something I shall need to become familiar with. And having an Argentine girlfriend, for sure I will be asking if she wants to "hacer cucharita" (to spoon) when she returns home this evening!!

Until the next time!

By the way, I'm using Bueno, entonces... in my laptop but you can also get it for the iPhone. Check out the application here:

Best iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ