SPAN 100 AMU Week 4 lesson Spanish I American Military University assistance is available on Domyclass
Lesson Overview
- Assignment: Rosetta Stone Unit two, Lessons three & 4 + Milestone
- Grammar focus (ser v estar)–part of journal entry for this week
- Cultural Forum: Cultural Notes: Identity in the Great American Melting Pot Cultural This week students will continue to work towards proficiency with the previously studied content. Students will be introduced to talking about origin and where one is from using the verb SER. Students will begin to distinguish the difference between SER and ESTAR and will demonstrate comprehension through sentence creation in the forum. Students will continue to build on the vocabulary and concepts we have been developing around greetings and introductions and conversation.
Students will be able to:- Apply vocabulary to sentence structure
- Describe clothing using colors physical attributes;
- Express physical states, physical attributes using SER and ESTAR
- Develop conversational dialogue
In this lesson, we will discuss:
- Origin
- Difference between SER and ESTAR
- Cultural discussion: Identification and the “Melting Pot”
- SER vs ESTAR
- Interrogatives
- Sentence Building
- Asking and answering questions
- Clothing, colors
- Physical attributes; physical states
- Conversational dialogue
- Cultural Conversation: Heritage, the Melting Pot, and Identification Note: We have already discusses SER v ESTAR but it is an ongoing theme that requires a lot of attention. Remember how we have used these verbs so far and do not forget that, rather add these additional uses of the verbs and try to keep them separate.
The following activities and assessments need to be completed this week: Journal Entry Four
Spanish-speaking Countries
Topics to be covered include:
- Greetings and introductions: where are you from?
- Vocabulary – colors, clothing
- Grammar – physical attributes and physical states
- Conversational
In Lesson 4 you will learn the words used to describe color, talk with others about a person’s origin and nationality. We will compare ESTAR and SER and use them in conversations. We will also learn how to discuss a picture or scenario.
Here is a complete list of the Spanish-speaking countries and nationalities (note that not all follow the same pattern of just adding –o, -os, etc.:
| PAÍS (COUNTRY) | NACIONALIDAD (NATIONALITY) |
| Argentina | argentino, argentina argentines, argentinas |
| Bolivia | boliviano, boliviana colivianos, bolivianos |
| Chile | chileno, chilena chilenos, chilenas |
| Colombia | colombiano, colombiana colombianos, colombianas |
| Costa Rica | costarricense, costarricenses |
| Cuba | cubano, cubana cubanos, cubanas |
| Dominican Republic | dominicano, dominicana dominicanos, dominicanas |
| Ecuador | ecuatoriano, ecuatoriana ecuatorainaos, ecuatorianas1 |
| El Salvador | salvadoreño, salvadoreña, salvadoreños, salvadoreñas |
| Guatemala | guatelmalteco, guatelmalteca, guatelmaltecos, guatelmaltecas2 |
| Honduras | hondureño, hondureña, hondureños, hondureñas |
| Mexico | mexicano, Mexicana mexicanos, mexicanas |
| Nicaragua | Nicaragüense, nicaragüenses3 |
| Panama | panameño, panameña panameños, panameñas |
| Paraguay | paraguayo, paraguaya paraguayos, paraguayas |
| Peru | peruano, peruana peruanos, peruanas4 |
| Spain | español, española españoles, españolas |
| Venezuela | venezolano, venezolana venezolanos, venezolanas5 |
Nationality
¿De dónde eres tú? ¿De dónde es Usted? ¿De dónde son Ustedes?
Using
the forms of the verb SER that we learned in a previous lesson, let us
now use the “tú” form, “Usted” form, and “Ustedes” form to show some
examples of questions and the answers that would result.
If you recall, when someone asks a question to “tú” the answer comes back in “yo” form, because the person is asking you a question, so you answer back as I or Yo:
Example: ¿De dónde eres tú? Where are you from?
Yo soy de Uruguay. I am from Uruguay.
If someone asks you what nationality you are, they would ask you like this:
¿De qué nacionalidad eres tú? What nationality are you?
Yo soy uruguayo. I am Uruguayan.
Notice how in Spanish, nationalities are not capitalized, only the countries, so ‘uruguayo’ is written with the lower case, however, the country, “Uruguay” is capitalized and in English, Uruguayan is also capitalized.
Now, let’s suppose that you want to ask more than one person where they are from:
¿De dónde son Ustedes? Where are you (all) from?
Nosotros somos de Guatemala. We are from Guatemala.
Nosotros somos guatelmaltecos. We are Guatemalan.
In a previous lesson, you learned colors. Let us review those and then learn some new ones!
| Los Colores | Pronunciation | The Colors |
| Rojo | RO-ho | Red |
| Anaranjado | Ah-nah-ran-HA-though | Orange |
| Amarillo | Ah-mah-REE-yo | Yellow |
| Verde | BEAR-deh | Green |
| Azul | Ah-SOOL | Blue |
| Violeta | Bee-oh-LAY-tah | Violet |
| Marrón | Mah-RRROAN | Brown |
| Carmelita | Kahr-may-LEE-tah | Brown |
| Castaño (pelo castaño, ojos castaños) | Kahs-TAHN-yo | Brown (brown hair, brown eyes) |
| Café | Kah-FEH | Brown |
| Negro | NAY-gro | Black |
| Blanco | BLAHN-ko | White |
| Gris | Grees | Gray |
| Rosado | Ro-SAH-though | Pink |
| Dorado | Do-RAH-though | Gold (golden in color, not the metal that jewelry is made of) |
| Plateado | Plah-tay-AH-though | Silver (silver in color, not the metal that jewelry is made of) |
New Colors
Here are some new colors to learn:
| Los Colores | Pronunciation | The Colors |
| Turquesa | Tur-KAY-sah | Tuquoise |
| Perla | PAIR-lah | Pearl |
| Madre perla | MAH-dray PAIR-lah | Mother of Pearl |
| Verde Azulado | BAIR-day Ah-soo-LAH-though | Teal |
| Coralino | KO-rah-LEE-n | Coral |
| Esmeralda1 | Ehs-mair-AHL-dah | Emerald; bright green |
| Granate, Bordó2 | Grah-NAH-tay, boarrr-DOUGH | Garnet; Dark red in color |
| Ópalo | OH-pah-lo | Opalescent |
| Cetrino | She-TREE-no | Yellow-brown, citrine |
| Ambarino | Ahm-bah-REE-no | Amber |
| Ónix | OH-neex | Onyx |
| 1When used as a modifier of a noun whether singular or plural, stays with an –a ending: un vestido esmeralda – a green dress; ojos Esmeralda – emerald green eyes. When used as a noun, una Esmeralda – an emerald (the stone). 2 Bordó is an adjective that most Argentinians will use over other Spanish-speaking countries. |
Using Ser
This table shows you the ways you can use SER:
| Use of SER | Example | Explanation |
| Possession | ¿es el libro de él? Sí, es su libro. Is the book his? Yes, it is his book. | If it is his book, it isn’t anyone else’s. It is a fixed state of being. |
| Professions | Mi madre es maestra. My mother is a teacher1 | Fixed state of being- you are what you are. |
| Nationality | ¿De qué nacionalidad es Usted? What nationality are you? Yo soy Americano. I am American. | Fixed state of being – you cannot change your birth country. |
| Origin | ¿De dónde son Ustedes? Where are all of you from? Nosotros somos de Colombia. We are from Colombia. | Fixed state of being – you cannot change where you come from. |
| Basic characteristics, such as color, shape, size, etc. | La escuela es grande. The school is big. La pizarra es negra. The blackboard is black. | General fixed statement of being and stature. |
| Time and date | Es mediodía. It is noon. Hoy es jueves. Today is Thursday. | Self-explanatory – fixed statements. |
| 1Note that between the verb ‘es’ and ‘object’, there is no ‘una’ because in Spanish grammar, when speaking of one’s profession, one does not use the indefinite article. However, when saying, “A cat is an animal,” you would say, “Un gato es un animal.” |
Using Estar
This reference guide explains uses of the verb:
| Use of ESTAR | Example | Explanation |
| Condition (something that is a temporary physical state of being that can change) | ¿Cómo estás? Estoy bien. How are you? I am well. | Asking someone, “how are you” can usually result in someone saying, “I am well.” It is an expression of “how one is doing today” which can change. |
| El agua está caliente. The water is hot. | Saying that the water is hot, means that it is hot in temperature for the moment. This is a state of being that is temporary. Since this is not a bodily state of being (calling for the use of TENER), ESTAR is used. | |
| Feelings | Estoy contenta. I am happy. | Saying “I am happy” means that something is making you happy for the moment. Feelings are emotions, which change. For that reason, ESTAR is used in Spanish. |
| Location | Perdona, pero ¿me puede decir dónde está la estación de ferrocarril? Pardon me, but can you tell me where the train station is located? | When expressing location or asking about location, ESTAR is used. This scenario demonstrates the protocol for asking where something is located. In this example, the person is asking where the train station is. |