El mes de septiembre

Post date: Oct 4, 2015 12:23:06 AM

¡Hola clase!

This week we welcomed el otoño and talked about the importance of the autumnal "equinoccio" at Chichen Itzá. Do you remember that equinoccio means Igual and Noche: equal night. Thousands of "believers" visit Chichen Itzá during the spring and fall equinox to commemorate the Mayan diety, "el dios Kukulkán/ Quetalcoatl." This God, the "feathered serpent" was named after the beautiful Quetzal bird, which is known for its majestic, long green tale feather.

As part of our cultural studies, we answered the question: ¿dónde está Chichen Itzá? and you were able to understand that ESTAR is used when talking about LUGAR-place (ser is used for saying where someone is FROM- origin) and where things are located. We reviewed prepositions of place and looked at a map of Mexico and you told the class where certain states in Mexico were located by practicing the grammatical structure. Since you are also reviewing classroom objects, you and a partner practiced telling each other where objects are located in the classroom, also using estar and additional preposiciones de lugar- debajo de, entre, encima de, al lado de, detrás de, delante de, lejos de, cerca de.

And ESTAR we also know has an E for Emociones! When talking about how you are others feel, use ESTAR and an adjective. Remember, you must AGREE your adjectives according to gender and number--- La chica está feliz---> Las chicas están felices. But wait, we ALSO reviewed adjectives with another verb that means TO BE known as SER. So, what is the difference between ¿Cómo es mi amiga? and ¿Cómo está mi amiga? If you said that the second question asked how your friend is feeling, you are correct! The first question is asking how your friend is as a person, what are her personality and physical traits/characteristics?

A class goal this year is for us to ELABORATE our responses by JUSTIFYING why we feel the way we do. When expressing likes or dislikes or describing ourselves and other people, it is important to give EXAMPLES! Look at the two responses: 1. Me gusta practicar deportes. 2. Es divertido practicar deportes porque me gusta jugarl al fútbol con mis amigos todos los días y nosotros somos muy atléticos. Which response is more interesting? Yes, it is obvious! :)

Lastly, we reviewed the verb GUSTAR as it seems that many have forgotten how to use the proper clarifiers and pronouns. We reviewed that GUSTAR in English, translated to "I like;" however, the structure in Spanish, follows the literal translation of: Therefore, the subject of your sentence is WHAT is pleasing, not to whom. The indirect object of the sentence is TO WHOM something is pleasing. That is why you use: me, te, le, nos, os, les and not subject pronouns. Indirect Object- GUSTA-Infinitive Verb.

We also learned about "clarifiers." They always have an "a" in front of them. For example: A mí me gusta; A ella le gusta, A usted le gusta. For most, this is just showing emphasis; however, for the LE/LES forms, you often need to clarify because they could represent 3 different things:

Le=a usted

Le= a éL

Le= a ella

Les= a ustedes

Les= a Ellos

Les= a Ellas.

By placing these in front of your sentence, you know who you are referring to.

That's it for now!

Un saludo,

Sra. G