Easy Learning Spanish Conversation
Published by Collins
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Second Edition 2015
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eBook Edition © May 2015 ISBN 978-0-00-811881-5
Version: 2015-04-02
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank those authors and publishers who kindly gave permission for copyright material to be used in the Collins Corpus. We would also like to thank Times Newspapers Ltd for providing valuable data.
MANAGING EDITOR
Janice McNeillie
CONTRIBUTOR
Eduardo Vallejo
FOR THE PUBLISHER
Gerry Breslin
Hannah Dove
Contents
Cover
Title page
Copyright
Introduction
What is it?
Why do you need it?
How is it structured?
How does it work?
Why choose Collins Easy Learning Spanish Conversation?
The Collins Easy Learning range
Spanish pronunciation
Spanish vowels
Spanish consonants
Which syllable to emphasize
Units
Small talk
¿Qué tal? – How are things?
Greetings
Introducing people
Talking about yourself
Apologizing
Asking for information
Saying what you want to do
Expressing opinions
Making suggestions
Talking about your plans
Making arrangements
Saying what you have to do
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Getting there
¡Buen viaje! – Have a good trip!
Talking about your plans
Saying what you want to do
Making suggestions
Asking for information
Asking for things
Asking for permission
Saying what you have to do
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Home from home
¡Que descanses! – Sleep well!
Saying what you want
Asking for information
Talking about yourself
Asking for things
Saying what you have to do
Asking for permission
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Making suggestions
Talking about your plans
Complaining
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Wining and dining
¡Buen provecho! – Enjoy your meal!
Making arrangements
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Making suggestions
Complaining
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Hitting the town
¡Que te diviertas! – Enjoy yourself!
Making suggestions
Saying what you want to do
Talking about your plans
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Expressing opinions
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Museums, monuments and much more
¡Que lo pases bien! – Have a good time!
Talking about your plans
Making suggestions
Saying what you want to do
Asking for information
Asking for things
Asking for permission
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Complaining
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Retail therapy
¿Necesita alguna cosa? – Can I help you?
Asking for things
Saying what you have to do
Talking about your plans
Expressing opinions
Asking for information
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Making suggestions
Asking for permission
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Service with a smile
¡Un servicio excelente! – Excellent service!
Asking for information
Saying what you want to do
Asking for things
Talking about yourself
Saying what you prefer
Asking for advice
Making arrangements
Talking about your plans
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Ouch!
¡Que te mejores! – Get well soon!
Explaining the problem
Saying what happened
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you want to do
Making suggestions
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Help!
¡No pasa nada! – Don’t worry about it!
Explaining the problem
Saying what’s happened
Describing people and things
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you want to do
Saying what you have to do
Making suggestions
Talking about your plans
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Getting in touch
¡Dígame! – Hello!
Making a telephone call
When the number you’re calling answers
Saying why you’re calling
Giving information
Answering the telephone
Ending a telephone call
Listen out for
Writing emails and letters
Addressing an envelope
Texting
Social media
Lifestyle Tips
Time, numbers, date
¡Uno, dos, tres, ya! – One, two, three, go!
Los números – Numbers
La hora – The time
Listen out for
Saying how long
Las estaciones – The seasons
Los meses del año – The months of the year
Las fechas – Dates
Los días de la semana – The days of the week
El alfabeto – The alphabet
Listen out for
Interesting days and dates
In summary…
Bueno, resumiendo… – So, to sum up…
Apologizing
Asking for and giving explanations
Asking for information
Asking for permission
Asking for things
Complaining
Describing people and things
Explaining a problem
Expressing opinions
Making suggestions
Saying what’s happened
Saying what you have to do
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Saying what you want to do
Talking about your plans
One-stop phrase shop
¡Mucho gusto! – Pleased to meet you!
Hellos and goodbyes
Please and thank you
Attracting someone’s attention
Making sure you’ve understood
Checking facts
Wishing someone something
Apologizing
Reassuring someone
Opinions
Agreeing, disagreeing and declining
Congratulating someone
Reacting to good and bad news
Exclamations
Surprise
Encouraging someone
Handing someone something
Dangers and emergencies
Speaking your mind
Conversational words
Grammar
Nouns
Articles
Pronouns
Adjectives
Questions
Negatives
Some common translation difficulties
Verbs
Verb tenses
Verb tables
Hablar: to speak, to talk
Deber: to have to, to owe
Vivir: to live
Lavarse: to wash (oneself)
Dar: to give
Decir: to say, to tell
Entender: to understand
Estar: to be
Haber: to have
Hacer: to do, to make
Ir: to go
Oír: to hear
Pensar: to think
Poder: to be able (to)
Poner: to put
Querer: to want, to love
Saber: to know
Sentir: to feel, to be sorry about
Ser: to be
Tener: to have
Traer: to bring
Ver: to see
Vocabulary builder
About the publisher
Introduction
What is it?
Collins Easy Learning Spanish Conversation is a book for learners of Spanish of all ages. It will increase your confidence in holding a conversation in Spanish, whether you are just starting to learn Spanish, studying at school or at an evening class, or brushing up your language skills. You may be going on holiday or planning to go travelling in a Spanish-speaking country, go there on business, or live there. Whatever your situation, you’ll want to be able to communicate effectively and naturally in Spanish.
Why do you need it?
Becoming proficient in a foreign language means being able to use and understand a number of different aspects – vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and so on. However, it takes a while to be able to put all these elements together and be sure that what you are saying sounds like natural Spanish. The Easy Learning Spanish Conversation has been carefully designed to bring these aspects together and give you language structures which you can use in conversation with confidence, knowing that you will be speaking Spanish as spoken by Spanish speakers.
How is it structured?
Collins Easy Learning Spanish Conversation is made up of 12 units, each illustrating the language used in a particular situation, followed by a summary which brings together the key phrases covered throughout the units. You’ll also find the One-stop phrase shop – a unit which contains all the important expressions and turns of phrase that help you to sound more natural in Spanish.
A short grammar and verbs supplement gives you additional language support, ensuring that you have everything at your fingertips. Finally, the English-Spanish glossary covers the most important vocabulary you may need to personalize your conversation.
How does it work?
Language allows us to express ourselves and interact with others. In any given situation, we perform different language tasks, such as asking for information, agreeing and disagreeing, complaining, making suggestions and so forth. To do this, we use linguistic structures (How…?, When…?, Could I…?, I’d like… and so on) which can be used in a variety of contexts. Each unit in Collins Easy Learning Spanish Conversation gives you all the phrases you might need in a given situation, grouped by structure. English headings help you navigate through the structures to enable you to find what you want quickly and easily. Throughout the units, there are also tips headed ¿Lo sabías? which highlight important differences in the way English and Spanish work.
A conversation, by definition, is a two-way process. It is as important to understand what is being said to you as it is to be able to respond. At the end of each unit, there is a section headed Listen out for. Each of these sections gives you a variety of the most typical phrases which you might hear in a given situation. Becoming familiar with these will allow you to have a successful conversation with a Spanish speaker. For further help with pronunciation, a free download with all the important structures recorded is available on www.collins.co.uk/easylearningresources.
Communicating effectively in Spanish isn’t just about linguistic competence – it’s also about cultural knowledge. For you to feel confident in a Spanish-speaking country, it is also useful to know more about Spanish culture and lifestyle. At the end of each unit, the Lifestyle Tips will give you the information you need to gain a deeper insight into the language, the country and its people.
Why choose Collins Easy Learning Spanish Conversation?
• easy to use all the key language structures you need to give you the confidence to hold a conversation in natural Spanish
• easy to read a clear, modern layout which allows you to find what you need quickly and easily
• easy to understand the language you may hear from Spanish speakers in a given situation
• easy to speak free audio download available on www.collins.co.uk/easylearningresources
The Collins Easy Learning range
The Collins Easy Learning Spanish Conversation is part of the best-selling Collins Easy Learning range, which includes the highly acclaimed Collins Easy Learning Spanish Dictionary. Collins Easy Learning Spanish Grammar and Collins Easy Learning Spanish Verbs support you with all your grammatical needs, and the Collins Easy Learning Spanish Words allows you to learn and practise your Spanish vocabulary. The Collins Easy Learning series is the ideal language reference range to help you learn Spanish.
Spanish pronunciation
Spanish pronunciation is easier than you might think. First, words are written pretty much as they sound. So, when you see a new word written you’ll know how to pronounce it and when you hear a new word you’ll know immediately how to spell it. Second, there are no sounds which are radically different from English ones. Below we give some tips to help you pronounce Spanish naturally.
Spanish vowels
In English, vowels we don’t emphasize tend to sound like the –er in mother, for example central, January. In Spanish this never happens. Spanish vowels are always clearly pronounced.
This is how Spanish vowels are generally pronounced:
a– between the a in hat and the u in Southern English hute– similar to e in peti– similar to ee in been, but shortero– similar to o in hotu– similar to oo in too, but shorterSpanish consonants
This is how Spanish consonants are generally pronounced:
b, v– these are pronounced exactly the same as one anotherat the start of a word, say them like boy (barato, valija)otherwise, say them like very, but without letting your lips touch (labio, lavar) c– like English karate (casa, comprar) EXCEPT before e and i (cita, cielo) when they’re pronounced:like English thin in most of Spainlike English same in other parts of Spain and all Latin America cu– like English queen (cuatro) ch– like English church (chicle) d– at the beginning of a word, say it like deep (deporte) between vowels and after consonants, it’s similar to though (querido, andén)at the end of words it’s often not pronounced (verdad) g– like English goat (gamba, grifo) EXCEPT before e and i (gente, gimnasio) when they’re pronounced:like loch in some parts of Spainlike h in other parts of Spain and all Latin America gu– before a like gw (guardar)– before e and i like get (guerra, guitarra) h– this is never pronounced j– (jefe, junio) is pronounced:like loch in some parts of Spainlike h in other parts of Spain and all Latin America ll– like English yet (ampolla) ñ– like English onion (español) qu– like keep (quince) z– (zanahoria, zumo) is pronounced:like English thin in most of Spainlike English same in other parts of Spain and all Latin AmericaWhich syllable to emphasize
To make your Spanish sound more fluent, it’s important to emphasize the right syllable. The rules for this are very simple.
• If a word ends in a vowel, in –s or in –n, and has no written accent, you emphasize the last syllable but one:
la playa (beach)amueblado (furnished)el equipaje (luggage)compramos (we buy)el parachoques (car bumper)joven (young)• If a word ends in any consonant other than –s or –n, and has no written accent, you emphasize the last syllable:
el despertador (alarm clock)aparcar (to park)el animal (animal)andaluz (Andalusian)la verdad (truth)el español (the Spanish language)• Any words which are exceptions to these rules have a written accent to show which syllable you need to emphasize:
último (last)próximo (next)el análisis (analysis)jóvenes (plural form of ‘young’)fácil (easy)la excursión (excursion)¿LO SABÍAS?
There may be an accent on the singular form of a word but not on the plural and vice versa: ración, raciones; joven, jóvenes.
Small talk
¿Qué tal? – How are things?
Whether you’re going to be working in a Spanish-speaking country or spending some time with your Spanish-speaking friends, you’ll want to be able to chat with people and get to know them better. The phrases in this unit will help you communicate with acquaintances, friends, family and colleagues in a variety of everyday situations.
GREETINGS
To get you off on the right footing, you need to know how to say hello to people properly. Just as in English, there are several ways of doing this in Spanish. You can simply use hola (hello or hi) on its own. You can also use buenos días (good morning), buenas tardes (good afternoon or good evening – provided it’s still light), and buenas noches (good evening – once it’s dark). Spanish-speakers often use both together, as in hola, buenos días and hola, buenas tardes.