ENGLISH AT HOME (Inglés en casa)

Este curso se dicta en dos modalidades:
1) En aulas virtuales
2) Por teléfono

Para solicitar demostraciones, envíenos un correo electrónico a salavirtual1@hotmail.com o a spanishsouthamerica@gmail.com

SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, ENGLISH DEMO CLASSES

If your are interested in checking a Spanish, Portuguese or English class, send us a mail to salavirtual1@hotmail.com to ask for an invitation to be a Guest to a REGULAR class(PRIVATE) that suits your possibilities and shows you how we work.

Look forward to meeting you!

Conjugador- Conjugator (click here)

Una herramienta muy útil para ayudarte a aprender tiempos verbales y su conjugación.

A usefull tool to help you learn Verb Tenses and how to conjugate verbs.

;-)
Alicia

Inglés en casa. Curso ENGLISH AT HOME

If you want to improve your English and practice it in a multicultural/ multilingual classroom (there are students from different corners of the world, speaking different mother tongues), you can join us in any of these groups:
Beginners
Elementary
Pre- Intermediate
Intermediate
Upper Intermediate
Advanced

Contact: luna_edith@yahoo.com
Ask for a demo class and to become a guest in a real class.
For further information on courses, prices and promotions, e-mail us at salavirtual1@hotmail.com



Si quieres aprender o mejorar tu nivel de Inglés y practicarlo en un aula multicultural/ pluriling-ue (donde te encontrarás con estudiantes de diferentes rincones del mapa, hablando diferentes lenguas nativas), puedes unirte a uno de estos grupos:
Principiantes
Principiantes Avanzados
Pre- Intermedio
Intermedio
Intermedio Superior
Avanzado
Contacto: luna_edith@yahoo.com para solicitar una clase de demostración y ser invitado a una clase real
Para mayor información sobre cursos, costos y promociones, envía un correo electrónico a salavirtual1@hotmail.com
See you,
Tutor Mariano

Test your Spanish (Beginners): ARTÍCULOS (click here 1st)

¡Hola a todos!
Do you want to see how much Spanish do you know? Or are you new to this and want to try it out? Click on the title and see the notes and examples first.

When you the tutorial, probably you will be ready to say whether the following is VERDADERO (TRUE) o FALSO (FALSE). Have a go!

1. EL, LA, LOS and LAS are DEFINITE ARTICLES
2. UN, UNA are INDEFINITE - undertermined- ARTICLES used for the PLURAL
3. THE in English can be translated into Spanish as EL, LA, LOS or LAS
4. English undefinite article A is the equivalent to Spanish article LA

How did it go? Ready for another exercise? Choose the right option then. Good luck!

a. LA/EL helado está muy frío (the ice-cream is very cold)
b. UN/UNOS auto participan en la carrera (some cars take part in the race)
c. LA/EL niña sonríe (the girl/child smiles)
d. Compré LA/UNA joya (I bought a jewel)

Note: There is public class next Thursday on PAST TENSES. If you are interested I recommend you to check the 1st part recording. It was scheduled as TEST YOUR SPANISH: PRETERITO PERFECTO-INDEFINIDO E IMPERFECTO ¡Nos vemos!

Posted at www.spanish.wiziq.com

Brief Overview to Past Tenses

Spanish past tenses: Preterit and Imperfect

Both, Spanish preterite (or preterit) and imperfect tenses are used to express past actions, but in English we have just one past tense. So, the English past form "I ate" could either be translated as "yo comí" (preterit) or "yo comía" (imperfect) depending on what we want to express (notice that they aren't interchangeable).

But how do we know when to use either the imperfect or the preterit tenses? In general terms, the preterit is used to express an action (in the past) that is completed or seen as completed, that has concrete and clear beginning and end. So, we use the other tense, the imperfect, as its name shows, when referring to actions that haven't got a clear or concise end.

We could also understand the preterit as a tense that give us specific information on when the action took place. On the other hand, the imperfect informs us generally about the end of the action.

Ok, let's go further; these are some 'tips' to help us with the use of both Spanish past tenses:

Use the preterit:


If you want to talk about something that just happened once:

Mi hijo nació el miércoles pasado (My son was born last Wednesday)
Ayer llamé a mi hermano (Yesterday I phoned my brother).


to tell when something began or ended.

La película comenzó a las siete y terminó a las ocho y media.
(The film started at seven o'clock and ended at half past eight.)

There are some words and expressions, indicating concrete time frames, so they are used with the preterit: ayer (yesterday) antesdeayer (the day before yesterday), en ese momento (at that moment), entonces (then) la semana pasada (last week), el mes pasado (last month), esta tarde (this evening) esta mañana (this morning).

Use the imperfect:
if you want to talk about repeated actions (or actions made habitually):

Ella comía arroz todos los días. (She aterice everyday)
Mi tía siempre llegaba tarde (My aunt was always late)
if you want to talk about time or age in the past:

Él tenía 20 años. (He was twenty years old)
Era medianoche. (It was midnight)

There are also some words and expressions that are used with the imperfect: cada día (every day), a veces (sometimes), de vez en cuando (from time to time), generalmente (usually). Mucho (a lot), siempre (always), nunca (never). These are expression that do not point to a specific point of time, that's why they are used with the imperfect tense.

This is a general view that can help you understand the main differences in use for these two Spanish tenses. In later lessons will specifically study these tenses, their uses and conjugations.

By Angeles F. at http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art29963.asp
For any question or comment, feel free to e-mail me or just post a message at the forum.

Warm up activity 1: Game "Battle ship" (click here)

This is a game, one type of activity I like the most.
If you have very little knowledge or no knowledge at all, you can suggest a friend or partner to play this game against the pc.
If you don't know the rules of Battle ship, it is the chance to learn by experimenting it!
Tutor Edith :-)

Warm up activity 2: Challenging yourself (click here)

This activity can be done individually, in pairs or in small groups where you discuss the tense form of the verb with your friend /partner.
If done individually it helps to check your own knowledge.
Worth trying! :)
Tutor Edith

Warm-up activity 3: Collaborative group work (click here)

In this activity you have to fill in the blanks with the appropriate form of the verb (there are two suggestions from where to pick the right one)
It is for those who have some bare knowledge of Spanish Past tenses and it can be done in pairs or small groups.
Collaborative work is encouraged if the activity is tried out by a mixed group willing to learn from one another.
Wish you best in the experience! :)
Tutor Edith

Spanish Verb Tenses (Click here)

There are different links with complete verb conjugation of a number of verbs plus examples.

International Women's day ¡Feliz Día Mujer!

There are many women in this world, but only one is great, marvellous and beautiful: YOU!

Best wishes in your day! (8th March)

Test your Spanish free class: Past tenses (click here)

Test your Spanish: Pretérito Indefinido- Perfecto Simple- e Imperfecto by EDITH LUNA VILLANUEVA

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