Posts in August 2008

Expressions with Take

Posted by adir ferreira
Aug
11
2008

Whenever I teach my students vocabulary, I always tell them to take notes using real and meaningful examples and to learn fixed expressions. Let’s take for example the verb “to take”. If we look it up in an English-Spanish dictionary, dozens of entries will crop up and if we´re not very familiar with the language yet we won´t know what to choose, right? Right! So, learning fixed phrases is the way to go, people! Let´s check out some expressions with the verb “to take”.

1. tomar - Tomó el cuaderno y fue a estudiar. (He took the notebook and went to study.)

2. llevar - Le llevo el libro a mi hermana. – (I’m taking the book to my sister.) / Llevó a su esposa al aeropuerto. (He took his wife to the airport.)

3. coger - Cogieron las maletas en el hotel. (They took the luggage in the hotel.). NB: The verb coger also has a sexual connotation in some Latin American countries.

4. arrebatar - ¿Te arrebató el sombrero? (Did he take your hat?)

5. robar, quitar - A Laura le robaron mucho dinero. (They took a lot of money from Laura.)

6. aceptar – No quisieron aceptar su cheque. (They didn’t want to take her check.)

7. coger, tomar, ir en - Tomaré un taxi. (I will take a taxi.)

8. necesitar, requerir, hacer falta - Hace falta mucho coraje para hacer eso. (It takes a lot of courage to do that.)

10. durar - La película no durará mucho. (The movie won’t take long.)

11. estudiar - Estudio psicología. (I’m taking psychology.)

12. to take a bath (shower) - bañarse (ducharse) - Los hijos de María siempre se bañan en la tarde. (María’s children always take a shower in the afternoon.)

13. to take a break, to take a rest - tomarse un descanso, descansar - Vamos a tomarnos un descanso a las tres. (We’re going to take a break at 3.)

14. to take after – 1. perseguir - El policía persiguió el ladrón. (The policeman took after the thief.) 2. parecerse – Juan se parece a su papá. (Juan takes after his dad.)

15. to take apart - desmontar - Desmontó el equipo de sonido. (He took the stereo apart.)

 
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Manolito Gafotas

Posted by adir ferreira
Aug
7
2008

Have you ever heard of Manolito Gafotas? Manolito is a series of kids’ books written by Spanish author Elvira Lindo. They tell the story of Manolito in the district of Carabanchel, in Madrid. Manolito is a common kid and his stories are written with lots of humor and tenderness. These stories started on the radio, then became books, and were eventually adapted as movies and a TV series. It’s a good read and I highly recommend it. Here’s a link to one of the stories, Manolito tiene un secreto (Manolito has a secret), (http://www.literaturas.com/02infantiljuvenilelviralindo2002.htm), check it out, you won’t regret it! You can also buy his books and DVDs in the USA. Post your comments and tell us what you think!

Nos vemos prontito.

 
Posted under Culture, Entertainment, Literature
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False Friends

Posted by adir ferreira
Aug
4
2008

English and Spanish have many similarities, but sometimes what could be helpful ends up getting in the way. That’s the case of some words called “false friends”. They are pairs of words from different languages that look or sound similar, but are actually different in meaning. If students rely on the similarity and use the foreign word thinking it has the same meaning as the word in their native language, they can find themselves in awkward, and sometimes embarrassing situations.

Actual: current, at the present time.

Asistir: to attend (also to assist people).

Atender: to pay attention, to serve.

Billón: a trillion (a billion is “mil millones” in Spanish).

Argumento: reasoning used in a discussion, but never an argument.

Cándido: It means “frank,” but it more often means “naively innocent”.

Carpeta: a folder

Conductor: driver

Constipado: suffering from a cold (the word for constipated is “estreñido”).

Criatura: “creature” or “being,” including humans, but it is most commonly used to refer to babies and even to fetuses.

Demandar: As a legal term only, it is similar to the English “sue”, but to demand something in a less formal situation, use “exigir”.

Director (de orquesta): conductor

Embarazada: pregnant. Obviously, never used this word in the masculine form. If you want to say you are embarrased, use “avergonzado/a”.

Excitado: aroused, although it can also be translated as agitated.

Fútbol: soccer

Ganga: a bargain

Largo: long

Miseria: extreme poverty

Molestar: to bother, to annoy

Notorio: in Spanish it doesn’t have the negative connotation and it simply means “well-known”.

Preservativo: a condom. Food preservatives are “conservantes”.

Propaganda: in Spanish it simply means “advertising” and it doesn’t have the negative implications of the English word.

Rape: angler fish

Recordar: to remember, to remind

Sensible: sensitive

Sensato: sensible

Vicioso: depraved or faulty.

Violar, violador: to rape, a rapist.

 

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