FAQs

I knew you were going to have this question so I've created some resources for you.  The first is a one minute document that will help you understand the scope of the course and where you should allocate your time.  The second explains about course navigation in a very short video.  The third is a video that goes into great detail about navigating the course, allocating your time, and doing well.  Review these resources and you'll be an expert!  

I love this question.  I will answer it with another question.  What type of English do you speak?  American or Canadian?  Just as English is incredibly similar across countries and peoples, Spanish is incredibly similar across these categories as well.  For example, just like English, the Spanish present and past tenses are the present and past tenses everywhere you go.  However, there is a lot of what linguists call, lexical variation.  This means that vocabulary changes a lot across different regions and peoples.  A clear example in English is the word apartment in America and flat in England.  In this class, we teach you Spanish grammar that can be understood anywhere in the Spanish speaking world, and we also teach you as many universally accepted vocabulary terms as we can.  However, don't be surprised if one of the words that you learn in this class is not what is commonly used in the place where you travel.  You will have to adapt!  Additionally, most perceived differences between Spanish types can usually be chalked up to accent.  Just as Texans sound different than Floridians, and Australians sound different than Londoners, Mexicans sound very different than Spaniards.  However, with a little care, we can all understand each other!  

A lot of students tell me.  "I've learned some grammar rules and I know some vocabulary words now, but how do I start making sentences?"  Whether you want to speak or write in full Spanish sentences, you need to put your grammar knowledge and vocabulary knowledge together, and that means one thing - VERBS!  Every complete Spanish sentence has at least one conjugated verb!  Start with two word sentences, like, "I eat" or "Yo como" and then keep expanding from there until you are using more of the vocabulary and grammar that you know.  This is a great way to expand your use of the Spanish language and it's also just a great way to study, outside of class, to do better in this course.  I've made a video recording as an example of some of the things you can do to start expanding your ability to use Spanish, and to start preparing yourself to get great grades in this course.  This video will show you how to become bilingual.  Additionally, I've also included this article that should guide you about how to go from knowing a few loose words in Spanish to forming complete sentences.  It will also teach you how to start producing Spanish in verbal conversations (additionally, the article's post script gives tips for writing and listening comprehension in Spanish - it's excellent!).  Check it out here!  Becoming bilingual will take a lot of effort and practice, but it will be well worth it!  Driving, at first, took a lot of effort and practice, and now you have it down automatically.  Spanish can be the same way!   

A while back, a close friend asked me these questions.  I feel my answer could be beneficial to all my students.  Here it is:  

Hola amigo,

You need to review the basics of grammar and start building basic vocabulary.  Below is my website that will give you all the basics.  Treat it like a student and go through and try to take notes on the basics of the grammatical bones that provide the undergirding skeletal structure of the language.  Then tack on as much vocabulary as you can.  You can learn the basics of the all Spanish grammar and practice it over and over again in just a few months (there are 8 tenses), but vocabulary is endless.  Learning Spanish vocabulary, (much like English vocabulary) is a lifelong pursuit.  The grammar is the car and motor, but the vocabulary is the gasoline.  You can have everything down and be totally ready to speed away, but if you just have a little bit of vocabulary gas in your vehicle, even if you are a grammar expert and everything is working perfectly there, you won't have much to say and linguistically, you won't drive very far.

Practice vocabulary from about 15 to 30 minutes a day (just use repetition on Quizlet flashcards and games, [look for "Quizlet" in the vocabulary sections of my website below]), and practice forming sentences with the basic grammar that you know using VERBS.  Write these made up sentences and speak them aloud.  Verbs are the key to learning ANY language because every complete thought contains at least one conjugated verb.  When learning vocabulary through repetition and mnemonics, prioritize verbs.  They are like premium octane in your car!  You get a lot of bang for your vocabulary buck with verbs.    

As you are getting these basics down, you need to practice speaking Spanish and hearing other people speak Spanish to you.  Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday at noon in the YC library we have the "YC Spanish Café" where you can practice your speaking skills with beginning and intermediate students.  It's really fun. 

Anyway, here is the website where you will find the vocabulary AND grammar:

https://sites.google.com/view/ycspaadjunct/home?authuser=0 

Stick, at first, to the first zero to five chapters (the present tense), once you're feeling pretty good (hint: you won't ever feel like an expert and that you have it totally down), expose yourself to chapters 6 through 11 (the past tense and some other more tricky but highly common grammatical elements).  The above website has everything you need, including practice exercises to solidify your grammatical knowledge.

There are a lot of myths online that are sold to you through clever marketing by companies trying to make you bilingual.  But you can't do it in 15 days by listening to CDs.  It's just not possible; however, that type of marketing sells a lot of CDs.  Duolingo is a big one of these.  The app has gotten better, but people like it because they think they are becoming bilingual due to their game-based model of ranking up.  These ranks usually have nothing to do with your ability in the language.  I have seen people hit buttons on Duolingo for years, and they can't speak at all, despite their "Grandmaster" rank on the app.  That's because languages are meant for people to interact.  You can learn a lot of vocabulary by hitting buttons on Duolingo, but that's about it.  If you want to be fluent, you have to interact with people in the language and thereby produce a lot of the target language, and receive a lot of the target language from others.  That's the only way.  People love things that are easy, of course, and hitting buttons on Duolingo is really easy.  

Unfortunately, many people have been sold on the idea that they think they can do something really quick, easy, and short, to learn Spanish - a language that is as diverse as English, with 8 verb tenses, and 35,000 commonly used words.  I don't care how you slice it, that can't be done in 15 days.  Usually these programs try to just help you memorize several highly used phrases.  It's sad that they take people's money.  Learning ANY foreign language takes time.  

Spanish is not difficult; it's simple really.  Once you learn what to do, you simply repeat the process over and over and over and over again.  Anyone can do it, but it does take a lot of time until you master it.  It's a lot like learning to play the piano.  You can learn the rules of connecting the notes on the paper staff line with the black and white piano keys in just a few lessons, but to make that connection automatically flow from the paper down to your hands and into the keys so that you produce beautiful and not paused, disjointed music, that takes lots and lots of practice.  Learning a language is exactly the same way.  But, as you know, everything worth having lies on the other side of hard.  You can do it, but it will take time.  

I gave a YC TED Talk-type lecture wherein I highlight all of the the myths about learning a second language as well as give tips for those who want to learn a language quickly.  Here's that talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-KTFQn5or0&t=7s 

I hope that helps dear friend (querido amigo),

Profesor Curtis (Spanish Guru)

Here are my favorite websites to extend your learning:

• Word Reference - This is my favorite dictionary site.  This will give you a Spanish/English, English/Spanish dictionary, not a translator!  You can also use the conjugación feature to see how any given verb is conjugated in EVERY tense.  This is the website that I use the most!    

• Spanish Dict - This is kind of mashup between a dictionary and a translator.  This can be very helpful if you want to navigate here and just practice writing some sentences and see how they turn out.  

• Colby U Spanish - This is a website that has tons and tons of Spanish grammar practice.

• Multiple Links for Learning - If you want a one stop shop for everything Spanish, this is it!  Jim Becker out of the University of Northern Iowa has created a veritable apocalypse of Spanish resources.  If you can't find it here, it simply doesn't exist!  

• Study Spanish - A website with lots of grammar quizzes, but versatile enough to include vocabulary as well.  

• Conjuguemos - This is website for just practicing verb conjugations.  

• Yavapai College Spanish Website - These websites have all the grammar and vocabulary (look for links to Quizlet in vocabulary sections) as well as practice exercises (correct answers provided) that you will ever need to learn all things Spanish!

  • -Beginning Spanish I, SPA 101 - (Spanish present tense)

  • -Beginning Spanish II, SPA 102 - (Spanish past tenses and object pronouns)

  • -Intermediate Spanish I, SPA 201 - (Spanish subjunctive tenses)

  • -Intermediate Spanish II, SPA 202 - (Succinct review of all Spanish grammar)

• Resources for improved reading:

  • Children's Stories in readily accessible Spanish

  • Short Articles and Stories with a Moral Aimed at Adults

  • La densidad de las palabras por Luisa Valenzuela

  • -

• (More resources to come as they are discovered) 

Many people wonder how best to make accent marks on your computer.  There are many methods highlighted here on my "How to Make Accent Marks on a Computer" page, but if you are in a pinch, often you can just make a capital letter to signify that you know that the letter should carry an accent mark.  

The response to this important question is coming soon, but here's a hint:  Take the CLEP exam!