Le Lo LightSpeed Spanish

Hola a todos, More humorous tutelage from Gordon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5El5ZmnJayk Saludos, Ricardo

He's funny. I like his statistics that 80% of English speaking people could not recognize, nouns, verbs and adjectives. I tend to not agree but it was funny. He did a good job of explaining the difference between the direct and indirect pronouns. He simplified it but in another part of the forum, I think they were discussing about both of the direct and indirect pronouns in a sentence.

I think I might agree with his 80% assertion. I have not taken an English class since college...wow...about 40 years ago?!?!? In all of that time I have been able to communicate well enough to make myself understood, and if asked, I could have diagrammed my sentences. But quite honestly, until I began studying Spanish 18 months ago, I really did not think too much about whether I was using nouns, verbs, or other parts of speech. I just used the words I needed when I needed them. So for the ordinary average person who is busy trying to make ends meet, raise a family, etc. etc, they probably have forgotten what they once learned about the structure of the English language. I thought Gordon's idea about using different nouns...see above...for the various tenses was a good one. I actually think I might adopt his idea, although I would be inclined to use variations of do, since that is what verbs are: doing words. hago, hice, hacía, haría, haré...

That was a fun video. I enjoyed his rant about obscure tense names. One thing I have found myself doing as I learn both Spanish and Chinese is spending a lot more time understanding English grammar. Usually there is some way to map the different language constructs to one another but that often requires having a precise understanding of the mechanics of our own language.

I realize, I am not really any good at any language even if I can speak multiple ones. I can't even speak Tagalog. Probably more tagaglish. I probably would do the same thing with my Spanish, just do Spanglish. The dialect that I grew up with is Aklanon. I found that it has its own alphabet or characters. It was forgotten after the Spaniards came to the Philippines. There is a guy named David Zorc, a linguist, was a young Peace Corp when I was in high school. He made it his lifelong vocation to be very proficient in Aklanon. He lives in New York and has written books in Aklanon. I could also speak Ilongo, from Iloilo where I was born. Same thing. I had to learn these different dialects because I love to travel and would met Filipinos that could only speak Tagalog or Ilongo. I am not ambitious enough to write essays in Spanish. I just want to be able to travel to Spanish speaking countries or just be able to speak with the Mexicans in my Church Parish. There must be 90% of them. I don't know what happened to the gringos. I started attending Mass in Spanish and surprisingly, I understood a lot of them. I just can't speak to them. I have a gringo friend who was very critical of my desire to learn Spanish. He talked about the "dog wagging the tail" or the tail wagging the dog". I did not understand what he meant.

Aurora, I think a lot of people in the United States today have forgotten that our country is populated with people like me, the descendants of people who came here from other countries and who spoke little or no English upon arriving: Germans, Italians, Chinese, etc. The many Spanish-speakers who have and are emigrating here are just another wave, the great majority of whom are productive and hard working residents/citizens who have or are working hard to learn our language. But like their predecessors, most retain an accent and often speak their native language with others. I have always thought that if I moved to another country I would work as hard as I could to become fluent in the new language but I would also relish opportunities to speak English with fellow Americans. It is too bad that your friend is so narrow-minded, but unfortunately he or she has a lot of company. I think some of it is a natural human reaction to people who are "different" from "us." I think the best way to get over than reaction is to learn about "other" people, and a good way to do that is to learn their language. I also think a lot of this is fed upon by right-wing media people like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, who recently wrote that soccer is a sign of moral decay in the US, apparently because it is not "American" enough. Maybe she was writing tongue in cheeks, but with her you never really know. I hope I have not offended anyone. It is not my intent, I am just expressing my opinion.

I think you've got it right, Dan. I have lived now more outside the US then in. Over these many years, my world view has radically changed and I am so thankful for that. So much of that is due to living in other cultures and learning other languages. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to be a bridge between people rather than a wall.

[That, of course, was the more noble part of my nature speaking. The other part is just dying to weigh in on "soccer and moral decay"... :-) ]

To Aurora: I found this definition for what "wag the dog" is supposed to mean. To 'wag the dog' means to purposely divert attention from what would otherwise be of greater importance, to something else of lesser significance. By doing so, the lesser-significant event is catapulted into the limelight, drowning proper attention to what was originally the more important issue. The expression comes from the saying that 'a dog is smarter than its tail', but if the tail were smarter, then the tail would 'wag the dog'. The expression 'wag the dog' was elaborately used as theme of the movie. 'Wag the Dog', a 1997 film starring Robert de Niro and Dustin Hoffman, produced and directed by Barry Levinson. I think an alternate definition is "a minor or secondary part of something controlling the whole". As for the value of learning new languages, I say why not? Among other things, it helps keep the mind young.

Hola a todos, I concur regarding the need to revisit grammar in one's native language, and in my case that's English. Some years ago either on this forum or perhaps on the Learning Spanish Like crazy forum, a book was recommended titled "English Grammar for Students of Spanish" and it helped me a great deal when I first ventured in to learning Spanish. I have suggested it before and I think it's very helpful. As to immigration, I'm only second generation and my sister was adopted from Germany, where my Grandparents came from. Some years back when my wife was a leasing agent at an apartment complex, I would go over on Saturday's to feebly try to to translate for her as the tenants were 90% + Latino, and most spoke little or no English. They were hard working folks and many worked two jobs. or more. One form of moral decay is when people reject and dehumanize others, and that is regretful, and "un American". ¡Espero que todos ustedes tengan un Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias! Saludos, Ricardo

These type of discussions are really great. We are not only learning a new language but also learning about human affairs. To show how addictive I am with rocket Spanish, here I am in the middle of a cruise and I looked and found the internet cafe for 75 cents per minute.