get-by-in-spanish.com

I had a couple of complaints about “Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 2″, that stopped me in my tracks.

I get plenty of praise, like these examples. The praise always outweighs complaints by at least 100 to 1 so I don’t usually pay attention to complaints.

Usually the complaints that I get are pretty easy to dismiss;

“I don’t really like Spanish, I just wanted to know how to say jorge is hot so stp mailing me or i am calling the cops.”

Easy to decide what to do there…

Delete.

Then I get some complaints like this;

“you just ended your last sentence with a preposition, you’d fail my class”.

Oh sorry… I should have written,

“that’s for what the delete key is”

Whatever!

But the complaints about “Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 2″ were from people whose opinions I care about…

my students.

Before I tell you what they said, I should point out there were only two complaints, however they made the same point, so they really caught my attention.

Here’s what they said, in a nutshell.

“There’s nothing new in Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 2, it’s just a reworking of Shortcut to Spanish level 2  in the informal form.”

My first reaction was; well yes, that’s the idea.

But then I thought about it a little,

“Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 1″, does have a lot of unique material. I guide people to use extra Spanish that doesn’t fit into the structure of the main “Shortcut to Spanish course”. 

Maybe they have a point.

Perhaps, “Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 1″, does need to offer more.

So, I sat down and created extra lessons. I concentrated on the most useful informal conversational Spanish. Spanish you’ll hear everyday.

Walk around any crowd of Spanish speakers, and you’ll notice structures from the extra lessons almost immediately.

It’ll help you understand more Spanish, tune in better when they speak fast, and give you more ways of expressing yourself.

They build upon the foundation from Shortcut to Spanish level 2 and the first 16 lessons of Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 1 in even more ways. Yet it always maintains the informal conversational tone you’ll want to use to speak with your amigos.

For all the people who ordered “Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 2″… a bonus for you.

A new CD worth of Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 2…

And it’s yours for free

Just for not complaining… just kidding.

My thanks to the two students who spoke up and expressed their thoughts.

It helped me make the course better.

If you’re a member all you need to do us go to the member’s page and login to get access to your extra Shortcut to Informal Spanish Conversations level 2 lessons…

Muchos Saludos 

Marcus Santamaria 

It pays to be careful where you get your advice about speaking Spanish.

I have seen this happen so many times, native speakers giving bad advice about Spanish.

I’m not sure why it happens, some people like to criticize to make themselves sound big I guess.

You know, although native Spanish speakers will always speak better than someone who learned as an adult, they often have no idea how to teach it.

In fact, native speakers often have a disadvantage as teachers.

Why?

They have never had to learn the language as an adult and so they never really had to think about it.

This is true with me, I am a much better Spanish teacher than an I am as an English teacher, because I have been through the learning process.

one of my students got some horrible advice from some friends. Here’s his email to me.
 

Hola,

I have questions about something in Lesson 2.

I WANT TO SEE HIM

Method 1: Lo quiero ver

Method 2: Quiero verlo

You recommend using Method 2.  I have some Spanish speaking friends that disagree.  They say that it is not correct and much better to use Method 1.

I am sure that you have considered this before making your recommendation of Method 2.  And, as this occurs so close to the beginning, I am sure that it must be fundamental and the subsequent lessons build on it.  My questions are:

1) Is there a significant difference between the two methods and can someone, at a later date, easily unlearn what might be considered a convenient, but “incorrect” or “not preferred” gramatical structure?

2) Will there be other similiar situations - Method 1 (preferred) v Method 2 (convenient) - throughout the course?
Saludos,

Wilf

Hi Wilf

Frankly, I don’t get why your friends would tell you that.

Both methods are grammatically correct and used every day by Spanish speakers.

Here’s a way to prove it.

Type into google

“Lo quiero ver”

then type in

“Quiero verlo”

Make sure it’s in parenthesis, that way Google will only give you the hits on the exact phrase.

I did it out of curiosity and this is the result I got.
 
“Lo quiero ver”
Resultados 1 - 10 de aproximadamente 45,900 de “Lo quiero ver”. (0.15 segundos

“Quiero verlo”
Resultados 1 - 10 de aproximadamente 107,000 de “quiero verlo”. (0.08 segundos

45000 vs 107000, method 2 wins in real world use.

That’s why we use method 2 in Synergy Spanish, it’s easier for a beginner to use and and it’s how people speak.

Sometimes, Spanish can get confusing. That’s why I created both an audio course and a step by step action guide with Synergy Spanish.

Frankly, I could create my course in about 20% of the time if I made them just audio, but that wouldn’t be as effective.

Yes, I know people sell courses and use catch phrases like, no books, just audio as if that makes it better.

Sure, I think it’s more fun to listen to audio, and we all know how dull textbooks can be. Just because textbooks are dull, doesn’t mean a step by step action guide has to be dull.

If it helps you discover how to use more Spanish and get more from the audio lessons, all the better.

Here’s a question from a student. You’ll see that if I didn’t have an action guide for her to refer to she could get overwhelmed.

Hola Marcus,

My question is this:  If “mos” in spanish means “we” and its placed at the end of the word such as in podemos and queremos then why is “nos”  placed at the beginning of the word in gusteria and gusta when it’s usual place seems to be at the end of the word.  I can understand the “nos” placement at the end of the word because (us) is usually a sentence ender like in ayudarnos (help us) but to put it in front of a word such as in gusta, and gusteria it’s like saying “us like and us would like rather than we (mos) like. If “mos” means “we” then why isn’t “mos” placed at the beginning of gusteria and gusta instead of “nos?”  How would you know when to use mos in front of a word versus using nos in front?

Also, if mos stands for we than why isn’t it placed in front of the word such as:   mos pode rather than podemos the way nos gusteria is placed in front - why is one word meaning “we”placed in front and another word meaning “we” placed in the body of the word yet they both stand for “we”? This is my confusion - Help!

Penny

Hi Penny

Actually, it is covered in easy steps throughout the Synergy Spanish action guide Synergy Spanish

However, here is a quick overview

When you say, nos gustaria,

what you are literally saying is

to us = nos

it would be pleasing = gustaria

to us it would be pleasing = nos gustaria

However, we use nos gustaria as, we would like, because that is closer to the way it really is used.

Hope this helps

Best regards

A lot of people have a problem with Spanish spoken quickly.

Dave sent me some feedback and thoughs. See my answer below to Dave’s letter to me.

I really like the Synergy course.  So far I have the following thoughts. First of all, I am a retired Electrical Engineer and therefore analyze everything, and so I am interested in the language learning process.  That is what drew me to your Synergy approach.

I have been taking lessons for over 2 years now from a wonderful lady from Columbia, but from the very first I thought that grammar was not the way to go.  I believe like you that students ought to be given a limited vocabulary sheet and then they should make all kinds of sentences from the words in order to become comfortable with speaking.  By the way, every student that started with me and joined later classes has dropped because it was too hard.

Besides taking the lessons with La Senora, I have also finished the Pimsleur course.  I wish that I had found you first, however, it would have been a lot less expensive.  I do feel, though, that I learned a lot from the Pimsleur course.

I listen to Spanish radio and TV almost every day.  So, as you can see, I am determined to become as fluent as is possible at this stage of my life.  Synergy is one part of the puzzle.  Another part would be to be able to understand Spanish in the media.  I think that the key is to know numbers cold (because they are used so often) and to not even think about helper verbs like “tenemos” etc.  Whenever I hear “tenemos” now, I don’t translate it, I just know it.  But, there are a lot of other helper verbs, that I still translate.  The less translating one has to do, the easier it is to understand Spanish spoken quickly because in that split second that you are translating a verb like “tenemos” you are missing the infinitive verb after it and the content of the sentence is lost.  So, you might think about a way of getting students to acquire this “knowing” skill.  I think that hearing it over and over again from different speakers is a possibility.

By the way, I feel that if I can understand Spanish media, then I will pick up patterns and improve my spoken Spanish as well.  One of my “fears” in speaking is to say something and then have the native speaker come back rapidly with something that I do not understand.  I know that I can say “repita por favor” pero I would rather not have to do that.  Listening and understanding a lot of Spanish, even if I can’t speak it, would be the key for me.

Saludos,

Dave
 

Hola Dave

Thanks for taking the time to write me, I appreciate your comments.

I would recommend you include in your daily practice reading in Spanish. Reading gives you more time to decipher the language and this will help with understanding Spanish spoken very quickly.

You will find that over time reading gives you the ability to understand Spanish words in a split second. After you have read and understood a word several times, you start to recognize it instantly on paper. Then you find the next time you hear it you also recognize it. After you hear it a few times you start to recognize it instantly.

So, even though reading is not a listing skill it will play a big part in building you listening skills and understanding Spanish at the fast speed that native speakers often use.

I am actually working on some material to also help understand Spanish spoken quickly. I have been researching the project for almost 2 years. I’ll let you know when I have material.

For more tips on understanding Spanish spoken  quickly go to this page of tips

Saludos

Marcus Santamaria

Sometimes phrases in Spanish vary, just like they do in English

I received this question today about one of the most commonly used phrases in Spanish.

 
“I hear the word entrada in a sentence “la semana entrada”.  However in your lessons you say “la semana proximo”?
 
Joan”

Hi Joan
Just like in English we could say either;
next week
the coming week
the following week

In Spanish there are also several ways to say next week.

The phrase that you are probably hearing is one of the following.

la semana entrante

or
la semana que entra

One of the phrases in Spanish used frequently in the Synergy Spanish audio lessons is
la próxima semana
as I have found that it is used more often in more places than either;

la semana entrante
or

la semana que entra

In Synergy Spanish you learn the most useful Spanish first. Check out these amazing success stories to see how well it works.

Saludos

Marcus Santamaria

It’s amazing to hear what people are doing with
Synergy Spanish
http://www.synergyspanish.com/successstories.html

There are stories of romances that became weddings,
people who moved to Spain or Latin America and now
interact in their new communities.

Others, especially in the USA, are now doing more
business with Spanish speakers and there are many
generous people helping out the poor in Latin America.

One amazing young couple even adopted 5, yes five,
beautiful children from Guatemala.

There are some extraordinary human success stories
with Synergy Spanish. I am inspired and humbled to
have received their unsolicited testimonials.
http://www.synergyspanish.com/successstories.html

There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy the same
success and even more this year.

You see, if this is going to be your year to
finally speak Spanish, then now is a great time
to get going. 

Firstly, You can succeed even more than my most
successful students.

You see, I am busy working on Synergy Spanish
level 2. After all this fabulous feedback
how could I stop? I hope to release it in
May this year.

It takes the communication power of Synergy
Spanish and multiplies it. You easily speak
Spanish at an even higher level. Yet, you’ll
do it without the stress, confusion and
complexity that usually comes with
learning a language.

I am doing all the hard work for you. All you
have to do is just continue interacting in the
same easy way as in Synergy Spanish level 1.

If you get started on Synergy Spanish now, your
timing will be almost perfect for the first
samples of Synergy Spanish level 2 in April

You’ll enjoy speaking a lot of Spanish by
March. Then you can repeat the course and
speak with extra confidence in April.

Then, if you are like most of my students,
you’ll enjoy learning so much you’ll want
to keep going. Your timing will be perfect
for the release of Synergy Spanish level 2.

Secondly, Unfortunately I have to increase
the price of the hard version of Synergy
Spanish.

If you compare my price with all the other
courses on the market, you’ll see Synergy
Spanish is excellent value. My wish is to
offer the best results and best value
in the world and to allow as many people as
possible to speak Spanish.

Unfortunately, I have to raise the price
this month.

However, you can save by acting now.

Synergy Spanish is available with a book
and 14 CDs here
http://www.synergyspanish.com/orderhomedelivery.html
If you’re comfortable downloading, you can
save even more by choosing the digital
version here
http://www.synergyspanish.com/order.html
If price is not an issue for you, but
results are what matter, again I draw
your attention to the comments from real
users. I have never asked for a testimonial,
yet they are some of the most amazing
successes you’ll ever see.
http://www.synergyspanish.com/successstories.html
If you haven’t tried the samples of
Synergy Spanish yet, you can download
4 chapters here
http://www.synergyspanish.com/lessons/4chapters

Plus you can download a full hour of
audio here
http://www.synergyspanish.com/testdrive

Saludos

Marcus Santamaria
Spanish communication coach
http://www.shortcuttospanish.com
http://www.synergyspanish.com

I received this question today 

Hi:
 
I have been steadily making my way throught the Synergy Spanish course and am enjoying the process.
I do have a question for you:
 
In lesson — Ejercicio 9E, number 15:
 
You need to go with me to see mom.
 
I translated it as:  Necesita ir conmigo ver a mama.
 
Your translation is: Necesita ir conmigo para ver a mama.
 
Why was the word  ‘para’ added.
 
Thank you
Mary

Here’s my answer
Glad you are enjoying the course.

Here is the easiest way to understand this use of para.

Anytime “in order to” could be used in English, you will use para in Spanish.
Therefore,
1) You need to go with me to see mom
can also be;
2) You need to go with me in order to see mom

The second translation would always be used in Spanish
Necesita ir conmigo para ver a mamá.

or informally

Necesitas ir conmigo para ver a mamá.

Don’t sweat it too much, this structure is very common in
Spanish and used throuought Synergy Spanish.

By the time you finish you will use para natually without thinking.
In fact, when you have gone through the audio lessons,
you’ll develope your ear and it will actually sound wrong to
you not to use it.

Hope this helps

Marcus Santamaria 
 

Robin from Canada wrote to me about her experience using Synergy Spanish after Shortcut to Spanish.

Good morning Marcus,

I am very much enjoying learning Spanish
with your courses. I completed the Shortcut
to Spanish course and thought it was wonderful.

Before this I knew a few words and phrases
but when I tried to put them together it
was not going too well. By the time I
finished Shortcut to Spanish I was making
sentences up in my head to translate into
Spanish while walking to the bus to go to work.

I have since bought Synergy Spanish and I’m
really “cooking” now. I’m almost finished
the end of part 2 and thoroughly enjoying
the experience.

I am travelling to Costa Rica at the end of
this month and hopefully will be able to put
my Spanish to good use.

Thank you for all your efforts in producing
these programs.

Robin Brown
Ontario, Canada

You may be wondering why I creatyed two different courses for beginners

The reason is that the two courses take two different approaches to learning
Spanish but with the same goal….

To make Spanish easy to learn and easy to use
for effective communication right away.

Shortcut to Spanish – shows you how to use
3145 Spanish words you didn`t know you knew.
How to convert English words with Latin roots
into Spanish. You learn to use thousands of
Spanish words instantly. More importantly
you learn to use them for real Spanish
communication.

Synergy Spanish - shows you how to combine
138 Spanish words to make thousands of
Spanish sentences. When you know just a
handful of words and some simple patterns
you can express an incredible amount
in Spanish.

So they are separate courses that approach
Spanish from two different angles that meet
in the middle. This gives you two separate
means of expressing yourself in Spanish
very fast.

Both have audio lessons available, so you
can learn to speak Spanish clearly and be
understood when you use it with native
Spanish speakers.

Synergy Spanish has 10 hours of audio content
and Shortcut to Spanish has 3 hours of audio.

I can´t recommend one course ahead of the other,
they are both helpful in different ways. for example,
if you wanted to get fit you might do exercises,
you might swim or you may do both. Each would
be helpful in different ways and doing both would
be better.

If you are committed to Spanish and have time and
energy to continually improve, I would start with
Shortcut to Spanish, it gives you a broad
understanding of Spanish then I would move onto
Synergy Spanish to gain extra speaking confidence.

However, If you have an urgent need to be understood,
I would choose Synergy Spanish, it will give
you more speaking options.

How to speak in complete Spanish sentences.

Many people take courses, yet find it hard to speak Spanish in sentences, even after years of trying. Like this email from Jacqulyn in Washington State, USA;

I took several courses of
Spanish in college several
years ago and could hardly
speak at all and with your
course, I am learning to
say actual sentences - thank you!

Jacqulyn Nelson
Washington, USA

Like Jacqulyn many people find the college system leaves them without being able to put a Spanish sentence together.

Often what happens is people become so focused on getting all the minor points of grammar correct that their ability to communicate is totally suffocated.

In fact, grammar can even be unhealthy to your Spanish. Too much focus on grammar can cause hesitation. If you hesitate trying to use perfect grammar, you will lose your listener.

I have seen it many times. It is horrible to watch.

I have seen people’s communication ability go backwards as they try to be perfect. They speak so slowly nobody can stand to listen to them.

Be bold!

Risk making a mistake.

Everyone makes mistakes.

Mistakes help you learn.

The worst thing that I could do to you would be to cause you to be hesitant in your Spanish.

When you get out there in the real world and use Spanish, you will have to be bold. If you get bogged down in the minor stuff, you will lose the opportunity to communicate.

And communication is what my course is all about, not minor points of grammar.

When it comes to speaking Spanish it is the major stuff you need to master.

What is the major stuff?

Synergy Verbs

Brick Verbs

Mortar

pronunciation

Learn them deeply to express yourself instantly.

The Synergy Verbs, Brick Verbs and Mortar will give you the ability to communicate and be understood. Communication is what makes travel a joy. It’s what makes better relationships with Spanish speakers and what counts in an emergency.

Make your goal to communicate in Spanish and be understood. Get perfect later.

When it comes to speaking remember, be bold.