Dear students;

Today, we will shortly talk about some pleonastic phrases in Spanish. Although many native Spanish speakers have a propensity to use this pleonasm, I do not recommend anyone to speak that way. Why? It sounds uneducated (poor language) although comical.

Here, I share with you the most shocking pleonastic phrases in Spanish.

Kindly,

Jhovanny Martes

Ok, guys read this:

According to many native Spanish speakers, the most hated phrase of question in Spanish is ¿Me entiendes? = ¿Tú me entiendes? =¿Entiendes?

Why? Because it seems that you are questioning the IQ of the interlocutor. Therefore, if you really want to sound more sagacious culturally talking or even more understanding of the human psychology, you may want to say instead: ¿Me di a entender? Which in other words may sound like: Did I explain myself well?

People may get offended with the popular phrase:  ¿Me entiendes? = ¿Tú me entiendes? =¿Entiendes?

Though the question is a more cultural-linguistic tendency, deep down, it bothers a little bit.

Well, it seems that learning to speak a language is learning how to better apply its culture.

Kindly,

Jhovanny Martes

Contesta las siguientes preguntas en respuesta completa

Nivel 1 = Básico

Nivel 2 = Intermedio (conversacional)

Nivel 3 = Avanzado (fluido)

La Auto Motivación, La Paciencia y La Perseverancia: El Triángulo del éxito personal.

“Son muchos los llamados y pocos los elegidos”.

Jesús de Nazaret

Estimado estudiante:

A través del tiempo, de seguro que te has preguntado, ¿Por qué la gente suele empezar  un proyecto nuevo  que al cabo de un tiempo terminan por abandonar? ¿Por qué se le hace difícil a la gente lograr sus metas en la vida? Pues bien, en Community entendemos que las razones de más peso por lo que la gente tienden a no concluir algo ya empezado son:

1- Falta de auto motivación.

2- Falta de paciencia.

3- Falta de perseverancia

• Falta de auto motivación: El tiempo nos enseña que la verdadera motivación del ser humano debe salir del corazón humano, de tu corazón, ya que  el medio social y competitivo en el que nos desenvolvemos es poco dado a motivar a sus congéneres. Por lo que, en el fondo, tú debes convertirte en tu propio motivador. El éxito empieza cuando empiezas a creer en ti, en tus virtudes y en tu fuerza interior. Colocarse frente a un espejo y decirme a mí mismo: Fulano, tú eres especial. Tú puedes lograrlo. Es una manera sabia de empezar el día.  

• Falta de paciencia: Vivimos en la era de lo express, todo lo queremos rápido, al sonar de los dedos, en lo que dicen berenjena, en un cerrar y abrir de ojos: la impaciencia humana empuja al ser humano al fracaso. Pasamos años llevando una dieta desorganizada e ingiriendo toda la comida chatarra del mundo hasta afear nuestra figura física, entonces un día, acosados por nuestra carne de plomo, nos inscribimos en un gimnasio en busca de una figura adecuada y al pasar de unos días ya queremos ver resultados positivos, y al no lograr lo que queremos  nos desencantamos y dejamos de asistir al gimnasio, escudados de un sinnúmero de excusas. La favorita de la gente es: No tengo tiempo.  El aprendizaje de un idioma con cierto nivel de fluidez es un proceso que se toma su tiempo como tantas cosas en la vida. La fuerte competencia del mercado arroja a algunos contendientes desesperados a ofrecer programas tan cortos (menos de 3 meses, menos 6 meses…) que ni ellos mismos creen en su efectividad. No obstante, a través de una buena oratoria y algunas palabras melosas hacen caer a muchos en la trampa, quienes pinchados por la urgencia de iniciar algo y acabarlo express, se dejan embaucar por las ofertas ilusorias. Recurrir a la paciencia es una virtud que siempre nos llevará sostenidos por el camino del éxito.

• Falta de perseverancia: Así como una gota de agua cayendo insistentemente en una piedra acaba por hacerle un hoyo, de ese mismo modo logra el ser humano sus metas en la vida cuando empieza a seguirlas y persiste en ellas. Una llama acaba por reducir a cenizas el más grande de los bosques. Hachazo a hachazo el leñero termina por hacer añicos el más grande de los troncos. De este modo, la perseverancia obra a favor del ser humano. Persistir en la meta, ser constante en el objetivo, mantenerse en pie de lucha, no rendirse jamás aunque los otros lo hagan, es lo que en definitiva nos ayuda a tener éxito en la vida.

Querido estudiante, recuérdalo bien, para lograr aprender a hablar el idioma inglés con fluidez  requerirás: de tu auto motivación, de tu paciencia y de tu perseverancia: ¡El Triángulo del éxito personal!

Fe y acción.

Cortesía de Community

Official holidays in the Dominican Republic

Traveling to the Dominican Republic during one of their many holiday seasons can put you in the middle of the celebration.  If you like the idea of celebrating with the citizens of the DR, consider going during one of their fun and festive holidays.

These holidays will be celebrated on their actual days in 2010:

• Friday, 1 January: New Year’s Day.
• Thursday, 21 January: Our Lady of Altagracia Day.
• Saturday, 27 February: Independence Day.
• Saturday, 1 May: Labor Day.
• Monday, 16 August: Restoration Day.
• Friday, 24 September: Our Lady of Mercedes Day.
• Saturday, 6 November: Constitution Day.
• Saturday, 25 December: Christmas Day.

Rotating official holidays:

The following holidays are being celebrated on the closest Monday to the actual date:

• Monday, 4 January: Three Kings Day. Actually falls on 6 January.
• Monday, 25 January. Day of Duarte. Actually falls on 26 January.

Non-rotating official holidays following the Roman Catholic Church calendar:

• Friday, 2 April: Good Friday.
• Thursday, 3 June: Corpus Christi Day.

Not a holiday, but observed by many:

• Thursday, 1 April. The Thursday before Good Friday that falls on 2 April.
• Monday, 26 April. National Secretary Day.
• Sunday, 30 May. Mother’s Day. Last Sunday in May.
• Sunday, 25 July. Father’s Day. Last Sunday in July.
• Friday, 24 December. Christmas Eve Day.
• Friday, 31 December. New Year’s Eve.

Note that December is for Dominicans, what August is for Europeans. Do not expect too much to be done in December, unless entertainment related. Too many parties going on.

Long weekends in 2010 (with Monday’s falling on a holiday):

• 31, 1, 2, 3, 4, January. The longest string of days off will happen for the 2010 New Year break. Dominicans will likely take off from Wednesday, 30 December while major partying takes place on Thursday, 31 December, continuing into the long weekend. Take note that Monday, 4 January is also a holiday, celebrating Three Kings Day, which extends the New Year vacation period to five days.
• 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 January. Another long string of holidays will happen again in mid January when Altagracia Day (21 January, honoring the Virgin Mary protector of the Dominican Republic) combines with Duarte Day (celebrated on 25 January, honoring the founder of the Dominican nation).
• 1, 2, 3, 4 April. Dominicans will take off from Thursday, the latest for the Easter holidays, a peak vacation time. Good Friday falls on 2 April this year.
• 3, 4, 5, 6 June. Thursday, 3 June celebrates Corpus Christi Day, a religious holiday, but many will make it the first summer vacation.
• 14, 15, 16 August. This marks the Restoration Day holiday, and the start of the 2010-2016 Congress and Municipal new governments. The 16th August holiday falls on a Monday, making for a long weekend.
• 24, 25, 26 September. Celebrates the Day of Mercedes on Friday, 24 September honoring the Virgin Mary patron saint.
• 23, 24, 25, 26 December. Christmas Eve this year falls on a Friday, so expect people to start taking off by Thursday, the 23rd.
• 30, 31 December 2010 – 1, 2 January 2011. New Year’s Eve falls on Friday, 31 December, turning this into the last long weekend of the year.

Notes:

• The non-working holidays are not moved to another day.
• If a movable holiday falls on Saturday, Sunday or Monday then it is not moved to another day. If it falls on Tuesday or Wednesday, the holiday is moved to the previous Monday. It it falls on Thursday or Friday, the holiday is moved to the next Monday.

Dominican Politur

The Dominican Republic has a special police to protect tourists, called Politur, or Tourist Police. They are everywhere in the tourist areas, on foot, by car, in 4wheelers , horses and can also be seen with jet skis in the water depending on the areas.

You can easily identify them by the uniforms which is white shirt or polo shirt, navy blue pants and blue hat or cap with the distinctive Politur logo as seen below.

Politur was formed in 1975 to cope with the demand of a rising tourism market in the Dominican Republic. It was a dependence of the National Police and worked mainly in the airports until it became an independent body years later, with more personnel and specialized departments.

Tourists who visit the Dominican Republic value and recognize the work of these men at Politur, who make your security their priority and always are alert and willing to help in the event of an emergency.

If you ever need help just talk to a Politur agent and they will assist you, not just in emergencies but in everyday life issues such as directions and guidance while you enjoy your vacations in the Dominican Republic.

Golden Treasures  North Coast Guide offers you the assistance numbers in case you ever need to call a Politur office and get more information:

Politur Playa Dorada:  809-320-4603

Politur Cabarete: 809-571-0713

Politur Sosua:  809-754-3051 / 809-754-3020 / 809-571-2338

Politur Puerto Plata / Cofresi: 809-320-0365

Politur Cabrera: 809-754-3091

Politur Central Office ( Santo Domingo ): 809-221-4660

Fax 809-685-1327 email: politur@gob.do

Politur Website ( click the link ): http://politur.gov.do

Gallery:

Hello everyone,

Here you will listen to one Dominican young man playing a Dominican drum or tambora domininicana.

This is the real merengue rhythm. Enjoy it!

CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW ABOUT THE Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto

Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto – Spanish Verbs

We use the Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto of the Indicative Mood when talking about a past finished action that took place before another past action. To form the Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto of the Indicative Mood, you take the auxiliary verb “haber” (to have) conjugated in the Pretérito Imperfecto of the indicative mood (per person) and then add the past participle of another verb.

Regular Spanish Verbs

To form the past participle of the regular verbs we remove the endings of the infinitive forms and we replace them with the endings corresponding to the past participle for each group.

TIP: Most Spanish verbs fall under the -ar group.

Example:

juntar to juntado

Now we take the auxiliary verb “haber” to form the tense as follows.

había juntado

habías juntado

había juntado

habíamos juntado

habíais juntado

habían juntado

Irregular Spanish Verbs

The irregular verbs are conjugated in the same way as the regular verbs, but the past participle of the verb will have spelling changes. Remember: Some regular Spanish verbs could be irregular under the Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto of the Indicative Mood while some irregular verbs will follow the regular conjugating rules.

Some irregular Past Participles end in: -to, -cho.

Examples:

Componer to compuesto

Decir to dicho

For more information on the Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto of the Indicative Mood, please refer to Helloworld.com.es

El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto – Verbos Españoles

Usamos el Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto del Modo Indicativo cuando hablamos de una acción pasada terminada que ocurrió antes que otra acción pasada. Para formar el Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto del Modo Indicativo cogemos el verbo auxiliar “haber” (to have) conjugado en el Pretérito Imperfecto del modo indicativo (por persona) y luego le añadimos el participio de pasado de otro verbo.

Verbos Regulares

Para formar el participio de pasado de los verbos regulares quitamos las terminaciones de las formas de infinitivo y las sustituimos por las terminaciones correspondientes a los participios de pasado de cada grupo.

Nota: La mayoría de los verbos españoles pertenecen al grupo terminado en -ar.

Ejemplo:

juntar pasa a juntado

Ahora cogemos el verbo auxiliar “haber” para formar el Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto del Modo Indicativo como sigue:

había juntado

habías juntado

había juntado

habíamos juntado

habíais juntado

habían juntado

Verbos Irregulares

Los verbos irregulares se conjugan de la misma manera que los verbos regulares, pero el participio de pasado del verbo tendrá algunos cambios ortográficos. Recuerde: Algunos verbos regulares españoles podrían ser irregulares en el Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto del Modo Indicativo mientras que algunos verbos irregulares seguirán las reglas de conjugación de los regulares.

Algunos Participios de Pasado Irregulares terminan en: -to, -cho.

Ejemplos:

Componer pasa a compuesto

Decir pasa a dicho

Para más información sobre el Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto del Modo Indicativo, les remitimos a Helloworld.com.es

Learning how to greet in Spanish in quite easy.
Click on this link and find it out: Learning how to greet in Spanish.

When greeting someone, the first impressions count. That’s one reason you should learn some of these common greetings before visiting an area where Spanish is spoken. Even if your knowledge of Spanish is rudimentary, it can make your conversation a bit smoother to know some of these statements or questions of common courtesy.

Phrases in common use can vary with location and sometimes with age or social status. But except where indicated, those listed on the page can be used appropriately in almost any situation:

• Hola — Hello, hi — This greeting is suitable in both formal and informal contexts.
• Hola, aló, jaló, bueno, al, diga — Hello (on the telephone) — The choice of telephone greeting varies from location to location. Hola would be understood anywhere but is not customary in many places.
• Adiós — Goodbye — An informal alternative in many areas is chau (sometimes spelled ciao, from Italian).
• ¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo está? — How are you? — The first form (which is informal) normally would be used with someone you know on a first-name basis or when speaking with a child. The second form generally would be used in other situations. Usage can depend quite a bit on where you are; in some areas, the informal form (estás) would be expected where under the same circumstances the formal form would be used in other areas. If you’re a foreigner, chances are no one will criticize you for using the wrong form, although you may be politely corrected.
• Muy bien, gracias — Very well, thank you.
• Buenos días — Good day, good morning — In some areas, a shortened form, buen día, is used.
• Buenas tardes — Good afternoon, good evening — In most areas, buenas tardes should be used in the early evening in preference to buenas noches.
• Buenas noches — Good night — Unlike the English translation, buenas noches can be used as a greeting as well as a farewell.
• ¿Cómo te va? ¿Cómo le va?1 ¿Qué tal? ¿Qué hay? — How’s it going? What’s happening? — There is also a variety of colloquial alternatives uses, although many of them depend on the area.
• ¿Qué pasa? — What’s happening?
• ¿Qué hubo? ¿Qué onda? — How is it going? What’s happening? — These phrases are most common in Mexico.
• ¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cómo se llama usted? — What’s your name? — A literal translation would be “What do you call yourself?” or, somewhat less literally, “What are you called?” The first form normally would be used with a child, or possibly with someone of equal social status at an informal occasion. If you’re uncertain which form to use, the second one is safer. Also see the above note. Also see the note with the entry for “Cómo estás?“
• Me llamo (nombre).— My name is (name). — A literal translation would be “I call myself (name)” or, somewhat less literally, “I am called (name).” You can also literally translate the English: Mi nombre es (nombre).
• Mucho gusto. Encantado. — It’s a pleasure to meet you. — Either of these could be said upon meeting someone. If you’re female, you should say encantada instead of encantado. These literally mean “much pleasure” and “delighted,” respectively, so they would have different meanings in other contexts.
• Bienvenido, bienvenida, bienvenidos, bienvenidas — Welcome — Note the difference in number and gender. Bienvenido would be used with a man, bienvenida with a woman, bienvenidas with a group of all females, and bienvenidos with males or a mixed group.

Ahora, vamos a aprender el abecedario en inglés, cantando con  Elmo