Spanish-English Interactive Student Guide Free material developed for students of Professional Tutors of America

The Spanish and English Alphabets As seen in the illustrations above, the letters of both alphabets are the same. The sounds of the letters are very different. Some vowels mean a different vowel in the other language. That can be confusing. Learning the Letter A as an A and suddenly learning it means an E in English could be tricky. Practice writing and saying the vowels and you will soon be a pro.

The Spanish Vowels Spanish uses sounds familiar to English speakers, yet some of the same letters are used differently. Below are some ways to remember the pronunciation of Spanish. Vowels Sound Examples A (AH) father, Santa Barbara, latte E (EH) bay, effort, self I (EE) seeds, breed O (OH) bone, only, toes U (OO) Guru, truce

The Spanish Vowel Sounds Let’s Repeat the vowel sounds in Spanish. Practice makes better. Repete Por Favor. Chicano Latina Ariba Arrivando A E I O U Ecuador Mexico Esta Usted Iguana Gracias Dias Puerto Rico Como Uraguay Usted Peru Una un

Common VocabularyCommon Vocaunit ularyVocabu Common Vocabulary Mistakes Please note the common misuses of the words below Although they sound the same, the words have different meanings . 1) piece - a unit or part of something peace – harmony 3) write--to compose as in letter, right - correct 5) part - a unit, apart – as in distance 6) waste-squander foolishly, waist- anatomical body part 7) Board - bored restless, not motivated 8) Mist – fine dew-like coating, missed - absence

Common Language Word Misspellings Spanish English cero zero uno one dos two hola hello usted us necesita/o need recuerdo/a remember claro clear encuentra /o encounter

The three words un,una and uno are used as connectors. one These three little words are connectors in English. Although the words are either masculine or feminine in Spanish The connecting word and is neutral in English. The word “And “will bring ideas and parts of a sentence and meaning together.

Using Songs to Learn Words Songs can help learners to understand better. Music is a universal language. The well-known song La Bamba by Richie Valens is a good teaching tool to learn English. Music can be used as another way to reinforce learning.

Songs can help us to learn and remember words in other languages. “La Bamba “ The Lyrics in English In order to dance the Bamba A little humor is needed for you, for me. Faster and faster I’ll be for you. I’m not a sailor, I’m not a sailor I ’m a captain, I’m a captain, I’m a captain.

La Bamba in Spanish Lyrics Para bailar la Bamba Se necesita una poca de gracia y arriba ya arriba por ti, por me y otra cosita arriba ire arribe ire arribe ire baila bamba Yo so no marinero You soyu no ,marinero Por yi se el capitan, el capitan English On order to dance the La Bamba . It is necessary to have a little grace, Faster and faster One other thing fast and faster to dace the bama I’m not a sailor ,For you I’ll be the captain

The vowels of La Bamba A Arriba fast Bailar dance Bamba name of Spanish dance Gracia grace Otra other Cosita thing Para for La It Necesita necessary E Necesita necessary De of Se way I Marinero manner Cosita thing Necista necessary Ti you O Poca small, little Soy am Marinero captain U Una One ( feminine)

Colors in English and Spanish Practice writing and saying the colors above.

Palabras Interrogativas-QuestionWords Espanol Como ? Cuando ? A donde? Que’? Quien’? English How? When? Where, Where to? What? Who?

Mas Interrogativas: More Question Words Spanish–English De Donde?.............................................From where? Por Que?................................................Why? Cual?......................................................Which? Cuando?.................................................How Much? Donde?...................................................Where? De donde es usted? Where are you from? Remember that a donde means to where someone is headed. In English, the sentence starts off with the question Where. Mas Interrogativas: More Question Words Some common misunderstandings found in question usage from conversion of Spanish to English.

Spanish Resource Web links Below are my favorite resources for understanding Spanish to English conversions. http://www.spanishdict.com/ http://www.freedict.com/onldict/sp.html http://www.wordreference.com/http://babel.altavista.com/tr- http://education.yahoo.com/reference/doc_en_es/ http://www.strictlyspanish.com

The Spanish English Guide This informal guide is in the process of development. The supplementary material is in an infancy stage and meant to be used away from time spent with tutors of Professional Tutors of America. More content is being developed for further lessons. Please log onto the website from time to time for updated additions and new lessons. Thanks for the visit.