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I’ve never been much of a TV watcher. I must say, though, that it is a good way to learn another language. My professors in high school and college recommended watching telenovelas, or soap operas. The dialogue and gestures are so exaggerated it’s easier for English speakers to intuit what’s happening, even if they don’t get all the words.
Unlike American soaps, Latin American telenovelas are not eternal. They are, as their title suggests, novels acted out on television. After three to six months of airtime, there will inevitably be a grand finale.

They are a great way not only to learn the language, but also to get a glimpse into Mexican society. I am in no way saying that society is accurately portrayed in the novelas, but rather, that they show us the stereotypes present in today’s Mexcio. For example, there is almost always an indigenous maid complete with folkloric dress, trenzas (braids) and huaraches (sandals). This is much more comfortable for viewers than having to see how a servant really lives. Wealthy families fight over affairs, inheritances, and the like. It’s always entertaining for the have-nots to see how the haves suffer. The plot is nearly always akin to a rags-to-riches Cinderella fairy tale.

If telenovelas aren’t for you, there are plenty of other shows on primetime. Take, for example, the sitcoms in which grown men and women dress like little children and act out sketches in classrooms. If you can understand what they say through the baby talk, you will have significantly advanced in your understanding of the Spanish language.
I remember when I first learned about El chavo del ocho (The Kid From Apartment 8). I was in a bar trying to communicate over the loud music. I asked someone a question. Instead of saying yes, she held up her index finger and moved it up and down like it was nodding. I thought this was an odd thing to do, if not a little infantile, until I learned that this gesture was made popular by El chavo del ocho, a television program from the 70s that follows the adventures of an orphan and his neighbors in a low-income apartment complex in Mexico City. Keep in mind: these children are also played by adults.
There’s an interesting article about telenovelas in Mexico here. HYPERLINK ”
You can see fragments of El chavo on You Tube.

Vocabulary
Chavo – Slang for “guy” or “kid.” The feminine equivalent is chava.
Telenovela – Soap opera. Consists of tele (television) and novela (novel).
Trenzas – Braids
Huaraches - Sandals

Words and phrases made popular by El chavo:
Fue sin querer queriendo. - This phrase is kind of like, “I didn’t mean to do it, but I did.” It was used by el chavo when he did something wrong.
Eso, eso, eso, eso. - This was el chavo’s way of saying “yes.” He would say it while moving his index finger up and down, as though it were a person nodding.
¡Se me chispotió! – Is like saying, “It slipped!” It’s said when one says something without meaning to.

Before I leave behind for the time being the tú and usted topic, I want to share a couple more personal experiences with you to help paint a picture of the complexity of the issue.

Experiencia #1

My husband has a friend he calls Don Manuel. Don is a sign of deep respect. They speak to each other using usted (formal - you, singular). This always seemed peculiar to me because they are contemporaries in their respective fields, are almost the same age and go out together on occasion with the guys. When they do hit cantinas, I’m sure everyone else at the table uses tú, but my husband and Don Manuel insist on using usted.

Usted can be a way to demonstrate respect. My husband uses usted to let Manuel know that he admires his academic work and respects him as a person. The same goes for Don Manuel toward my husband. It’s just one of the many ways that one can use usted.

Experiencia #2

We hired a neighbor to help with household duties once a week. I soon discovered that we have a lot in common. As we grew closer, using usted became a little awkward.
One day Mari said to me, “Why don´t you use tú when we speak? Call me Mari, like everyone else.”
“¡Qué bueno!” I said. “I’d like you to use tú also.”
It seemed to me to be the natural response, but Mari just looked at me blankly.
“You want me to use tú? You don´t want me to call you señora?”

It has not been easy for Mari to get used to. Usted, in this case, is used to establish distance and a hierarchy. It lets it be known who is in charge. It sets boundaries. It makes it clear that this is a working relationship, in no way to be confused with a friendship.
Real life is a lot more complicated. People and their respective situations are a lot more complicated. I’m happy to say that Mari and I are breaking down those boundaries to begin to create a friendship within a working environment.

Vocabulary
Don – Used in a person’s name to show respect. Doña is the feminine equivalent.
Sirvienta – Servant, used to describe the person who helps with household or kitchen duties.
Experiencia – Experience
¡Qué bueno! – That´s good!

In Spanish, there are 4 different ways to say “you.” Once you know the rules for them, you’ll always know which one to use. First, tu [with an accent mark] is for when you’re talking to one person who is a close friend, member of your family, or kids. It is the familiar form. Usted is the form you choose when you’re speaking to one person who does not fit into the categories for the familiar form. For example, you would use Usted for a person you don’t know well, someone much older than you, or for teachers. If you would address a person in English using Mr. or Ms., then you would choose Usted if speaking with them in Spanish. When you’re talking to more than one person, you use Ustedes. Ud. Is the abbreviation for Usted, and Uds. Is the abbreviation for Ustedes. If you’re not sure whether to use tu [with an accent] or Usted, then you should use Usted. The person you’re talking to may invite you to use the familiar form. In Spain, there’s yet another way to say “you,” which is vosotros. You use vosotros if you’re in Spain speaking to more than one person, and you could call those people tu [with an accent] if speaking to them individually. It’s the plural form of tu [with an accent]. “You all” or “you guys” would be the equivalent in English. Vosotros is not used in Latin America, so many Spanish courses consider learning vosotros as optional. If you know you’ll be going to Spain, however, you should learn it.

Once you’ve reached the point where you’ve decided you want to learn Spanish, you need to decide what way of learning Spanish will work best for you. Some people need a classroom because they know they will not do it themselves unless they have an organized group of students committed to learning Spanish and a teacher there to show them how to learn Spanish. That’s the traditional way of beginning to learn a language, and it works very well for some people. That’s not the only way to learn a language, however. With the Internet, students don’t need to be enrolled in a class or in school to learn a language. You can learn Spanish from a variety of websites. There are explanations of how the language works, lesson plans, and sample practice exercises. Those have always been available in book form. What makes the Internet great for language learning, however, is the ability to hear the language launches language learning to another level. Short written explanations, hearing how it sounds, and being able to practice what you’ve learned are all integral parts of learning another language.

To find the right language learning website, think about why you want to learn the language. Do you want to travel, read, speak, understand when you hear it? Look at whatever your reason is, then go online to find a website to teach you the Spanish grammar and vocabulary that would be most appropriate. For example, if you’re learning Spanish because you have a trip planned to visit a Spanish-speaking country, then lessons on asking directions, making reservations, and reading road signs will be most useful to you. When looking at websites that have Spanish lessons, choose a website where you like the navigation, one that loads quickly, and one that you will enjoy using. You can learn a lot with what’s online right now.

One of the ways to use long term memory to help you to learn Spanish is to learn words in ways that rhyme or have rhythm to them, such as learning a poem in Spanish or learning a song in Spanish. You can remember some poems easily because the rhyming helps you to remember what comes next. Songs are even better because they have a melody that gets repeated. Repetition is one of the tools to learning another language. You can increase your ability to learn, pronounce, and figure out the grammar of Spanish by learning songs in Spanish. The first step is to go online, perhaps to a site that has Spanish lessons, and find a song you like. If you find it from a website that teaches Spanish online, then the words or speed of the song won’t be as challenging as a Spanish song you find at random.

If you find a popular song, you’ll be able to Google the title of the song and find the lyrics. If you find a song on a Spanish language learning site, there may also be a link to the written lyrics. Being able to read the lyrics while hearing the song is a great way to learn another language because using two senses at once, seeing and hearing, allows you to learn more in a shorter period of time. It also reinforces what you learn, so you have a better chance of being able to remember those words or lessons for an indefinite period of time. As you read the lyrics and learn the melody, you’ll be learning vocabulary, sentence structure, and other aspects of language learning, all while singing a song. Learning Spanish through songs is a great way to have a great time learning the language.

Of all the sounds in Spanish, the “rr” sound is probably the most difficult for native English speakers to make. However, it is easier than many sounds in other languages. If you can learn to make this sound, you will sound more like native Spanish speakers. The “rr” sound is made when a Spanish word starts with an r or when there is an rr in a Spanish word. The “rr” sound is similar to a single r sound, but you put your tongue at the ridge behind your top teeth, and you push a lot more air past your tongue. Here’s the easy way to learn it. Say “pot of tea” over and over, going faster and faster. You’re saying the Spanish words “para ti” which means “for you.” As you say the words over and over, notice where your tongue is when you say the r in “para.” That’s the same location where you want your tongue when you say the rr. The difference between the sounds r and rr is that with the double rr, you need to do two extra things. First, don’t let your tongue drop away once you’re done with the “r” sound, like it does when you say “para ti.” Second, push much more air past your tongue as you say the “rr” sound. Combining both of those actions will make the “rr” sound, which is like an “r” sound, but it flutters. Go online and listen to several online Spanish audio lessons or Spanish podcasts so that you can hear the “rr” sound. The more you hear it, the more you’ll know what sound to aim for. The more you practice trying it yourself, the easier making the sound will become.

Unlike English, Spanish follows pronunciation rules. Pronunciation in Spanish is one of the reasons why Spanish is a relatively easy language for English speakers to learn. First, pronounce each syllable with an even amount of stress or volume. Don’t vary the pitch like we do in English. The next step is that either the last syllable or the second to last syllable of each word will have a little more volume. For an example, think of the English word “coconut.” We’ve learned to say the first syllable, “co” a little louder than the other syllables. There aren’t any pronunciation rules in English to tell us how to say “coconut,” and there’s no logical reason why it shouldn’t be pronounced “co CO nut” or “co co NUT.” We just know that if we heard it pronounced those ways, we know it’s wrong. In English, you almost need to learn the pronunciation of each word individually, which is one of the reasons that English is a difficult language. Spelling is another reason. In Spanish, on the other hand, you just learn a few rules. If you don’t like learning rules, you can probably learn pronunciation by ear if you listen to Spanish podcasts or online Spanish lessons.

Here are the rules for pronouncing Spanish. If the Spanish word has an accent mark over a vowel, then you say that syllable with the accented letter a little louder. If the Spanish word ends in a vowel, an n, or an s, then you say the second to last syllable a little louder. If it ends in any other letter, then you say the last syllable a little louder.

Spanish pronunciation is relatively straightforward. There are 28-30 letters, depending on who you ask. There are definitely at least 28. The additional letters are w and rr. W is used in foreign words that have been added into Spanish, and some people don’t differentiate between r and rr as separate letters. Letters that are in the Spanish alphabet but not in the Roman alphabet (the alphabet that English uses) are ch, ll, n (with a tilde), and rr. Ch is pronounced the same as in English. Ll makes the same sound as Y. N with a tilde makes a “ny” sound as in the English word “canyon.” Rr makes a similar sound to r, but with more air behind it, and you flutter your tongue. There will be a separate lesson on tricks to learn how to practice rr. Until you’ve mastered that sound, using an r sound is fine. In general, each letter of the Spanish alphabet makes only one sound. So, if you learn the sound each letter makes, then you know how to read in Spanish, even if you don’t know what the words mean. There are 2 letters that have more than one sound: c & g. The c follows the same rules as in English. When a c comes before a hard sound, like an a, o, u, or a consonant, then it makes a “k” sound. You’ve probably heard the words taco and casa. The c’s in those words make a “k” sound because they have an a after them. When a c comes before an e or i, however, it makes an s sound. Listen to a few free online Spanish audio lessons, thinking about the letters and the sounds they make. With practice, you’ll be able to spell any word you hear.

Not only has the Internet helped with language learning lessons and practice, but podcasts can help tremendously. You can find free online Spanish audio lessons and download them. That means that your lessons are on your computer, phone, or handheld device. They’re there whenever you want to access them, as many times as you want to access them. It’s like have your own team of language teachers who are ready to teach whenever you’re ready to learn, who let you choose which lessons you want to learn, and who have infinite patience because they’re able to teach you the same lesson as many times as you need in order to master it. This cutting edge method allows you the freedom to learn at your own pace. You listen and learn whenever it suits you. That’s different than being required to attend a class and fit it into your schedule. This freedom, therefore, also helps your attitude toward learning Spanish or any other language. If you’re forced to learn what a teacher says you’ll learn, at times when it may not be convenient or desirable for you to learn it, you’re not going to be in as good a mindset to absorb what you need to in order to master it. Compare that attitude to when you decide to learn. You learn at a time when you’re not distracted by other parts of your life, and you learn when you’re mentally excited to learn the next concept. If you have this freedom and this attitude, your language learning will go more efficiently with each of your sessions.

Learning another language is so much easier now than it ever has been. Think back to Roman times when hearing another language meant enemies were nearby, and learning another language meant that you somehow had to cross those lines and make friends with people who may prefer to be your enemies. Then you had to have enough exposure to the language to be able to figure out the meanings of different words are and the patterns of how the language works. Lifespans were also much shorter, so you had to do all of that decoding and practicing rather quickly.

Today, we have the Internet. So many online features allow us to learn a language easily, at our own pace, and in whatever location we choose. Today online lessons and podcasts allow people who want to learn Spanish to hear native voices from Peru, Mexico, and Spain while staying within earshot of their computer or handheld device. Many aspects of learning a language have to do with hearing it. You can read a grammar book and learn quite a bit about a language. Imagine learning it without hearing it, however. Your learning would be quite limited, so traditional language learning has been in classrooms or in visits to areas where the language is spoken.

Take advantage of all that is offered online to enhance your Spanish lessons. With all the tools that are online, you can learn the grammar rules of Spanish, hear native accents, learn to imitate Spanish pronunciation, take online Spanish lessons, or listen to Spanish podcasts having to do with language learning or podcasts in Spanish just to test your understanding. It’s all there whenever you want to learn Spanish.