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 youll know how to pronounce it and when you hear a new word youll 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 dont 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 theyre 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, its similar to though (querido, andén)at the end of words its often not pronounced (verdad) g like English goat (gamba, grifo) EXCEPT before e and i (gente, gimnasio) when theyre 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, its 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?
¿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 youre going to be working in a Spanish-speaking country or spending some time with your Spanish-speaking friends, youll 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 its still light), and buenas noches (good evening once its dark). Spanish-speakers often use both together, as in hola, buenos días and hola, buenas tardes.
Hello
Hola. Hello. ¡Hola, Jaime! Hi Jaime! Buenos días. Good morning. Hola, buenos días. Good morning. Buenas tardes, Luis. Good afternoon, Luis. Buenas noches. Good evening.¿LO SABÍAS?
When you pass friends and acquaintances in the street and dont stop to talk, rather than saying hola you say hasta luego or adiós.
Youll also want to ask the people you know how they are. The simplest way to do this is by using ¿Qué tal? This is quite informal, and suitable when you know the person quite well. If you want to be more formal you say ¿Cómo está? to someone you speak to as usted.
How are you?
Hola, Juana, ¿qué tal?Hi, how are you, Juana?¡Buenos días! ¿Cómo está, señor García?Good morning! How are you, señor García?Hola, Pepe, ¿qué tal te va?Hello, Pepe, hows it going?¿Qué pasa, Raquel? ¡Cuánto tiempo sin verte!How are things, Raquel? Its ages since Ive seen you!Use adiós(goodbye) or hasta pronto (see you soon) to say goodbye to people you dont know well. You can just say hasta luego(see you) if you want to sound more informal.
Goodbye
¡Adiós!Goodbye!¡Adiós! ¡Hasta otra!Goodbye! See you again!¡Buenas noches!Good night!¿LO SABÍAS?
Buenas noches means both good evening and good night. So you use it both when arriving and leaving somewhere in the evening. When saying goodbye to someone you know youll see tomorrow, such as a colleague, you say hasta mañana (see you tomorrow).
See you!
¡Hasta luego!See you!¡Hasta pronto!See you soon!¡Hasta mañana!See you tomorrow!¡Hasta el lunes!See you on Monday!INTRODUCING PEOPLE
Youll want to introduce people you know to one another. The simplest way is by saying éste es (this is) when introducing a man, and ésta es when introducing a woman.
This is
José, éste es mi marido.José, this is my husband.Pedro, ésta es Marta Valls.Pedro, this is Marta Valls.Quiero presentarte a nuestro director de ventas, Jorge Mata.Let me introduce you to our sales director, Jorge Mata.Quiero que conozcas a mi amigo Daniel.Id like you to meet my friend Daniel.¿LO SABÍAS?
When youre introduced to someone, youll want to know how to react. The traditional encantado should only be used in formal or business situations these days, and very often people just say ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?. You would reply in the same way ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?.
TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF
To get the conversation going, youll need to be able to say at least what your name is, who you are or what you do, and where youre from. Saying what your name is is rather different in Spanish from English. You say me llamo (literally I call myself). me llamo comes from the verb llamarse. If you want to say what someone else is called you use se llama. For more information on reflexive verbs like llamarse, see here.