Welcome
to Vol. 82 of the Spanish Online Newsletter! Part of the Spanish
Learning Blog - your weekly lessons with mp3 files, as well
as links to Spanish travel spots and more.¡Feliz Día de Las Madres a todas! Por fin, a newsletter and podcast! Shortly after my last newsletter, I ended up on bedrest due to a preterm labor incident. Gracias a Dios baby Nicolas was born healthy and happy on March 4, 2007.
 Click
to hear an mp3 of the intro (1.3 MB)
Now that he's 2 months old, I'm actually beginning to get some time again. I'm hoping the newsletters and podcast will begin to be regular again, not just one every blue moon. I've had a lot of emails in recent months that may have gone unanswered, so if yours was one of those, please do resend now that I'm actually back working.
Since I've been immersed in all things babies for the last year, today we take a quick look at vocabulary related to babies and having a baby. Latin America is very family oriented, so knowing some of these words can be a real help if they come up during your conversations. We've also got a reading from Zalacaín el Aventurero, as it makes for good listening comprehension practice. I also have a free verbs ebook software called the 101 Spanish Verbs Quick Study Guide that I'm releasing for newsletter members and podcast listeners as donationware. I've never done anything like this before, but I thought it may be interesting to see the response. Download it, take a look, and if you enjoy using it please think about donating a few dollars as a thank you. Please check out my video about it here: I don't have a Mac version yet, but should have one posted on the podcast page at InstaSpanish.com within the next week. A lot of people have asked about a direct link to the entire podcast mp3 - and you'll find that here - you can right click to download the entire file:
http://www.instadownload.com/podcast/82-combined.mp3
1 Download the .exe file (does not actually install anything on your system files, it just unzips the contents of the flash ebook to your Programs Folder and creates a desktop shortcut. Click to download 101SpanishVerbs.exe. For those who are wary of installers, you can download the zip version and unzip and save the files yourself (both are approx 10 MB).
2 Use it! Print out pages that you are working on, as well as the exercises found throughout the ebook. Donate a few dollars if you find it helpful.
3 Anyone who donates will get a free update to the upcoming full audio version, which will be priced at $19.99.
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Click
to hear an mp3 of the vocabulary words below (1.2 MB)
Tener un bebe en español!
You can't escape pregnancy and babies in Latin America, so you might as well learn some of the related vocabulary!
| un bebé |
a baby |
| embarazada |
pregnant |
| embarazo |
pregnancy |
| con hijo |
with child (pregnant) |
| dar la luz |
to give birth |
| el parto |
the birth |
| parto prematuro |
preterm labor |
| contracciones |
contractions |
| el útero, la matriz |
the uterus |
| bolsa de aguas |
water sack - as in "my water broke!" |
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Spanish Reading and Listening Comprehension
Exercise #5
Click
to hear an mp3 of the reading below (1 MB)
From the The Project Gutenberg EBook of Zalacaín El
Aventurero, by Pío Baroja published in 1913 in Madrid, Spain.
CAPÍTULO PRIMERO (continuación)
CÓMO VIVIÓ Y SE EDUCÓ MARTÍN ZALACAÍN
Por este motivo les tenía algún odio; así que cuando algunos chiquillos
de los caseríos de extramuros entraban en la calle y comenzaban a
pedradas con los ciudadanos, Martín era de los más encarnizados en el
combate; capitaneaba las hordas bárbaras, las dirigía y hasta las
dominaba.
Tenía entre los demás chicos el ascendiente de su audacia y de su
temeridad. No había rincón del pueblo que Martín no conociera. Para él,
Urbia era la reunión de todas las bellezas, el compendio de todos los
intereses y magnificencias.
Click
to hear an mp3 of the vocabulary words below with additional readings at different speeds (2.4 MB)
tenía |
he had |
entraban |
they entered, use to enter |
comenzaban |
began, would begin |
era |
was |
capitaneaba |
he captained |
dirigía |
he directed |
dominaba |
he dominated |
no había |
there wasn't |
Here you can find a lesson about the imperfect used in this week's reading
Click
to hear an mp3 of the worksheet (2.3 MB)
Worksheet/Activity:
Spanish Baby Vocabulary
Click
to hear an mp3 of the quiz (1.8 MB)
Quiz: Listening Comprehension Review
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