SPAN 100 AMU Week 1 lesson Spanish I American Military University

SPAN 100 AMU Week 1 lesson Spanish I American Military University assistance is available on Domyclass

Lesson Overview

• Bienvenidos a la clase! I am very glad to have you along during this 8-week intensive study of Spanish.
  We will use the Rosetta Stone (RS) Language software as our text.  The RS site is basically your “class time” where you will be introduced to the content that the course is based upon. Be sure to select “Level 1” if prompted as well as the “recommended course” once you get onto the RS site through the left menu.  Plan to spend around 4 hours a week on the RS website. This week you will be presented with basic vocabulary and introductions. Please read the grammar notes that supplement the content you receive on the RS site.
  
  You must participate on the RS website through the APUS classroom and not from personal software or a government sponsored account. (NOTE: Doing the RS work is not optional but is the backbone of the course where you will receive all of the information that you will be evaluated on.) Any technical problems you may have with accessing RS need to be taken up with ClassroomSupport@APUS.EDU.
   
  Students will be able to:
  • Introduce themselves in Spanish, verbally (optional) or in writing
  • Participate on RS website interacting with vocabulary, identifying objects based on spoken words they hear  
    In this lesson, we will discuss:
  • Introductions
  • Spanish greetings 
  • Vocabulary for people
  • Personal Pronouns
  • Direct Objects
  • Vocabulary for People and Places
  • Regular verb conjugation
  • Gender and Plurality
  • Greetings
  • Vocabulary for basic objects
    Note: The key concepts are all presented in the Rosetta Stone tasks and are explained in the grammar notes for Unit one.
    The following activities and assessments need to be completed this week: What is due this week:
  • Unit 1, lessons 1 & 2 in Rosetta Stone: (core lessons— diamond—and focused activities, which are the squares, that follow)
  • Week 1 forum: Introductions
  • Syllabus/User Guide quiz (tests and quizzes link)
  • Corresponding Work Book materials (in Reading & Resources–please self-correct with the answer key. This is supplemental practice and is not submitted to me since you grade it yourself)
  • RS Journal Entry One      

Accents and Punctuation

The above chart shows how to type Spanish letters with accent marks as well as punctuation that is not on English-language keyboards. It is simple—if you are a PC user, you simply hold down the ALT key to the immediate left of the space bar, and type in on the number pad the three or four digit number. The letter with the symbol will appear. Practice a few to see how it works! It will be necessary to use these ALT commands when submitting essays, quizzes, and exams in Spanish. Accents are very important to the Spanish alphabet and their presence or lack of presence can alter the meaning of a word. For example, the word Sí (with an accent) means YES, but the word Si (without the accent) means IF. Perhaps the most important use for accents is with verbs as the tense and form can be confused. For example, hablo means I SPEAK (present tense, YO form) where habló means HE SPOKE (él, ella, Ud. Form of past tense).

Regular Verbs

All Spanish verbs are either “regular” or “irregular.” These notes will look at three completely regular verbs:

hablar (to speak)
comer (to eat)
vivir (to live)

Notice the last two letters of each verb.

hablar (to speak)
comer (to eat)
vivir (to live)

There are three categories of verbs:

-ar verbs (like hablar)
-er verbs (like comer)
-ir verbs (like vivir)

All three categories are infinitives. Infinitives are the base form of the verb, equivalent in English to: to speak, to eat, to live, etc. In Spanish, all infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir.

-ar verb
hablar (to speak)

-er verb
comer (to eat)

-ir verb
vivir (to live)

Remember what it means to conjugate a verb:

to speak

I speak
you speak
he speaks
she speaks
we speak
you-all speak
they speak

In this lesson, you will learn to conjugate regular –ar, -er, and –ir verbs in the present tense.

To form regular –ar, -er, and –ir verbs, drop the endings (ar/er/or ir) from the verb (for example, HABLAR = HABL-) and add the appropriate ending for the subject of the sentence.

The personal pronouns yo (I), tú (you, familiar), él (he), ella (she), Usted (you, formal), nosotros (we), ellos/ellas (they), and Ustedes (you ‘guys’) all have an ending that attaches to this stem, once the –ar, -er, or –ir is dropped. Below are the endings for conjugating verbs.

AR verbs: After dopping the AR from regular AR verbs, add:

Yo – o  

Tú – as  

Él/ella/Usted – a     

Nosotros – amos  

Ellos/ellas/Ustedes – an

hablar – to speak

yo hablo –I speak                                nosotros hablamos – we speak

tú hablas – you speak

él habla – he speaks                            ellos hablan – they speak

ella habla- she speaks                         ellas hablan – they speak (all females)

Usted habla-you (formal) speak         ustedes hablan – you (guys) speak

ER verbs:

Yo – o  

Tú – es  

Él/ella/Usted – e 

Nosotros – emos  

Ellos/ellas/Ustedes – en

comer – to eat

yo como – I eat                                   nosotros/as comemos – we eat

tú comes – you eat (familiar)

él come – he eats                                ellos comen- they eat

ella come – she eats                            ellas comen – they eat (all females)

usted come – you (formal) eat                        ustedes comen – you guys eat

IR verbs:

Yo – o  

Tú – es  

Él/ella/Usted – e 

Nosotros – imos  

Ellos/ellas/Ustedes – en

vivir – to live

yo vivo – I live                                                nosotros/as vivimos – we live

tú vives – you live

él vive – he lives                                 ellos viven – they live

ella vive – she lives                            ellas viven – they live (all females)

Usted vive – you (formal) live                       ustedes viven – you guys live

Look for a pattern in the yo form.

yo hablo
yo como
yo vivo

If the subject is I (yo), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -o.

yo hablo (hablar – ar + o = hablo)
yo como (comer – er + o = como)
yo vivo (vivir – ir + o = vivo)

Look for a pattern in the usted form.

usted habla
usted come
usted vive

If the subject is you formal (usted) drop the ending and add either -a or -e. If the verb is an -ar verb, add -a. If it is an -er or -ir verb, add -e.

usted habla (hablar – ar + a = habla)
usted come (comer – er + e = come)
usted vive (vivir – ir + e = vive)

Look for a pattern in the nosotros/as form.

nosotros/as hablamos
nosotros/as comemos
nosotros/as vivimos

If the subject is we (nosotros/as), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -amos, -emos, or -imos.

Notice that the ending of the infinitive determines which is used: -ar verbs add -amos, -er verbs add -emos, -ir verbs add -imos.

nosotros/as hablamos
(hablar – ar + amos = hablamos)

nosotros/as comemos
(comer – er + emos = comemos)

nosotros/as vivimos
(vivir – ir + imos = vivimos)

Look for a pattern in the ustedes form.

ustedes hablan
ustedes comen
ustedes viven

If the subject is you-all (ustedes), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -an or -en. If the verb is an -ar verb, add -an. If it is an -er or an -ir verb, add -en.

ustedes hablan
(hablar – ar + an = hablan)

ustedes comen
(comer – er + en = comen)

ustedes viven
(vivir – ir + en = viven)

Practice: Fill in the correct form for the following verbs. Scroll down to see if you got them correct! Notice you don’t have to know what the verb means to be able to conjugate it correctly. The following are all regular –ar, -er, and –ir verbs. Use the charts above if you need help.

1. Yo___________(mirar) la television. I watch t.v.
2. Nosotros______________(aprender) español. We learn Spanish.
3. Tú_________(vivir) en Costa Rica. You live in Costa Rica.
4. Ella____________(hablar) portugues. She speaks Portugues.
5. Ustedes_____________(vender) los carros. You guys sell cars.

CLAVE

1. miro; 2. aprendemos; 3. vives; 4. habla; 5. venden

Stress and Accentuation

STRESS and ACCENTUATION in Spanish

• Every word in Spanish has a stressed syllable.
• Words may or may not have a written accent mark on the vowel of the stressed syllable.

The normal accentuation of Spanish words follows these rules:

 (no written accent)

• The natural accent falls on the second to last syllable if the word ends in any vowel (a,e,i,o,u)or –n, -s.  (Note that dipthongs [the union of a strong vowel – a,e,o- and a weak vowel – i,y,u] count as and are pronounced as a single syllable.)

Ejemplos:  Mesa

                  Pupitre

                  Programa

                  Clases

                                                      Joven

•  
• The natural accent falls on the last syllable if the word ends in any consonant except –n or –s.

Ejemplos:  Universidad

                   Regular

                   Actriz

                   Comer

                    Final

The accent needs to be written if the natural accent of the word is on the third to     last syllable or breaks any of the rules above.

            Ejemplos:        3^rd to last syllable                               Breaks rules

                                    Teléfono                                              Árbol

                                    Rápido                                                Camión

                                    Fórmula                                              Sofá

                                    Básico                                                 Frágil

                                    Exámenes                                           Lápiz

Accents are also used to distinguish between two words that are spelled the same.  This accent does not effect pronunciation.

            Ejemplos:     sí (yes)                                       si (if)   

                                 tú (subject pronoun –‘ you’)      tu (possessive adjective – ‘your’)

                                 él (subject pronoun – ‘he’)        el (definite article – ‘the’) 

                                 ¿qué?  (what?)                           que (conjunction, ‘that’)        

Subject Pronouns

Subject Pronouns

A verb is an action word.

run
sit
eat
sink
swim
study

The main form of a verb is called the infinitive. In English, infinitives include the word “to.”

to run
to sit
to eat
to sink
to swim
to study

The infinitive is the pure form of a verb. The infinitive is like a lump of clay that can be molded to match the subject of the sentence it is used in:

I speak
you speak
he/she speaks

we speak
you-all* speak

they speak

Note: The above forms are called conjugations of the infinitive “to speak.”

Regarding the form “you-all” — this usage is not considered to be standard English. In standard English, the same word is used for both the singular you and the plural you. That is, each of the following is correct:

You have a tail light out, ma’am.
You (kids) have soccer practice at four.

In the first sentence, “you” refers to the singular “ma’am.” In the second sentence, “you” refers to the plural “kids.” To avoid confusion between you (singular) and you (plural), we will employ the non-standard English usage “you-all” to indicate you (plural). This will be very beneficial to y’all, particularly at the beginning of your studies.

The words “I” “you” “he” “she” “we” “you-all” and “they” are called subject pronouns. Spanish has corresponding subject pronouns. Here’s a list of the English subject pronouns and their Spanish equivalents:

yo = I

tú = you (familiar form)

usted = you (formal, polite form)

él = he

ella = she

nosotros = we

ustedes = you-all/”you guys”

ellos/ellas = they

Spanish subject pronouns are both similar to and different from their English counterparts. Let’s examine some of the differences. Look more closely at the English word “you.”

You have just seen that this can be translated into Spanish as “usted.” But there is also a second way it can be translated. There are two ways the English word “you” can be expressed in Spanish:

usted = you

tú = you

Spanish has a formal and an informal form of the word “you.” “Usted” is more formal and is generally used to express respect. “Tú” is more familiar and is used among friends, coworkers, relatives, or when addressing a child.

Speaking to your boss: usted
Speaking to your daughter: tú
Speaking to your teacher: usted
Speaking to your friend: tú

usted = you formal

tú = you informal (familiar)

In many ways, Spanish is more gender-specific than English. We find evidence of this in the subject pronouns. First, look at the word “nosotros.” This means “we” in the sense of a group containing at least one male. If the group contains only females, the word “nosotras” is used. So, in Spanish, there are two ways to say “we”:

nosotros
we (masculine or mixed group)

nosotras
we (feminine)

This same idea applies to the English word “they”:

ellos
they (masculine or mixed group)

ellas
they (feminine)

Finally, don’t get confused over the difference between talking to a group or talking about a group. Consider the following statement, which could have been made by your Spanish teacher, while standing before the class:

“You-all need to study your Spanish. Those students in the other class don’t need to study Spanish. They are studying French. You-all can practice Spanish in Spain. They can practice French in France.”

The teacher is talking to the Spanish students and about the French students.

Talking to a group, use “you-all”:

ustedes

Talking about a group, use “they”:

ellos
ellas

Here’s the complete list of Spanish subject pronouns:

Singular

yo – I
tú – you (familiar)
él – he
ella – she
usted – you (formal)

Plural

nosotros – we (masculine or mixed gender)

nosotras – we (feminine)

ellos – they (masculine or mixed gender)

ellas – they (feminine)

ustedes – you-all (or) you guys (formal and familiar for “you plural” in Latin America)