Instant Immersion Spanish: Audio Course Guide

Instant Immersion Spanish
Audio Course Guide

Disc 1
Welcome to the Spanish Series.
In this series of lessons you will learn useful vocabulary for common situations you might encounter in a
Spanish speaking country, as well as some grammar basics for using your Spanish. In each lesson you will be
introduced to New Grammar topics as well as a short list of vocabulary you can use in a particular situation.
You will have opportunities to repeat and practice this vocabulary and the grammar you have learned as well
as to answer questions using these structures. At the end of each lesson you will hear and repeat a conversation
that might take place in a situation involving the vocabulary and grammar from that lesson. Enjoy the lessons,
as you listen see if you can spot cognates, which are words that are similar in English and in Spanish. This will
help you understand words you may not have heard before in Spanish.
Also, take every opportunity you can to study vocabulary. Useful ways to do this might be to use new
vocabulary in a sentence or to try to and name as many things and people around you as you can.
Welcome to Lesson 1:
In this lesson you will learn the names of the letters in the Spanish alphabet and how to pronounce them, as well
as some important things about pronouncing certain types of words.
First lets practice the Spanish alphabet. There are 28 letters in the Spanish alphabet; the letter w (doble ve) is
not a letter that occurs in native Spanish words. When you use a dictionary, you will want to remember that the
letter ll, written as l-l, is alphabetized separately and after l, written as a single l. Also, in some dictionaries the
letter ch, written c-h, is alphabetized as two separate letters, but in most dictionaries (especially older ones) ch
is considered one letter, alphabetized between c and d.
Okay, now lets repeat the names of the Spanish letters and some words that feature them. You will hear a pause
after each word and letter; thats your chance to repeat what you hear. Each word will then be translated into
English.
The English letter a is called a
ave
ave
The English letter b is called b (or sometimes b grande)
bird
bao
bao
The English letter c is called c
casa
casa
house
The English letters c-h are called ch
champ
champ
shampoo
The English letter d is called d
dama
dama
lady
The English letter e is called e
edad
edad
age
The English letter f is called f
fecha
fecha
date (calendar)
The English letter g is called g
gafas
gafas
glasses
The English letter h is called h
helado
helado
ice cream
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bath

Disc 1
The English letter i is called i
idea
idea
idea
The English letter j is called j
jabn
jabn
soap
The English letter k is called k
kilmetro
kilmetro
kilometer
(note: the metric system is generally used in most Spanish-speaking countries)

The English letter l is called l
lago
lago
lake
The English letters l-l are called ll
llave
llave
key
The English letter m is called m
mesa
mesa
table
The English letter n is called n
nada
nada
nothing
The English letter n written with a tilde (or wavy line) on top is called
ame
ame
yam
The English letter o is called o
ojo
ojo
eye
The English letter p is called p
plato
plato
plate
The English letter q is called q
queso
queso
cheese
The English letter r is called r
ro
ro
river
The English letter s is called s
sal
sal
salt
The English letter t is called t
todo
todo
everything
The English letter u is called u
uva
uva
grape
The English letter v is called v (or v chica) (v chica is used to differentiate v from b grande)
vista
vista
view
The English letter x is called x (very few Spanish words begin with x. It occurs within many words, such as
taxi.
The English letter y is called y
yema
yema
egg yolk
The English letter z is called z
zapato
zapato
shoe
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Disc 1
Now repeat the names of the letters once more.
a b c ch d e f g h i j k l ll m n o p q r s t u v x y z
Okay, now that youve learned the alphabet, lets talk about how these letters are pronounced. First, the vowels;
vowels in Spanish have a consistent pronunciation, rather than varying as do English vowels. Single vowels in
Spanish are pronounced just like their names: a , e , i , o , u.
Combinations of two vowels are common
in Spanish, too. Some of these combinations are pronounced as one syllable rather than two separate ones, for
example:
The combination a-i is pronounced ai as in baile
dance
The combination a-u is pronounced au as in causa
cause
The combination i-a is pronounced ia as in Francia
France
The combination i-o is pronounced io as in radio
radio
The combination i-u is pronounced iu as in ciudad
city
The combination u-a is pronounced ua as in agua
water
The combination u-e is pronounced ue as in fuego
fire
The combination u-i is pronounced ui as in ruinas
ruins
The combination i-e is pronounced ie as in tienda
store
Now that youve learned the vowel sounds of Spanish, lets talk about the consonants.
The sound of b is somewhat like an English b only softer; dont press your lips all the way together. This
sound occurs in bao
bath and jabn soap
C has two sounds; before the letters o, a, and u, it sounds like English k, as in taco or casa
house.
Before e or i, c sounds like English s, as in cerca
near by or cine cinema. (In many regions of
Spain, c before e or i sounds like the English t-h in bath.)
D sounds rather like the English t-h in then, as in dama lady and edad age
F is like English f, as in fecha date
G, like c, has two different sounds depending on what letter follows it. Before o, a, and u, g makes a [g]
sound, as in the words gafas glasses, lago lake or amigo
friend. Before e or i, g makes the sound [h], as in gente people and region region
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Disc 1
H is always silent in Spanish.
J is pronounced [h], as in jabn soap
K is like English k, as in kilmetro kilometer
L sounds like English l, as in lago lake
Ll makes the sound [y], as in llave key. Some Spanish speakers pronounce this letter as [j].)
M is pronounced like m in English, as in mesa table
N is pronounced like n in English, as in nada nothing
is pronounced [ny], as in ame yam and ao year
P is similar to English p, as in plato plate or copa wineglass
Q, as in English, q is always followed by u. q-u is pronounced [k], as in queso cheese
R between vowels sounds somewhat like an English d, but softer, as in caro
expensive and hora
hour, or time. In other positions, r makes a rolling trill sound, as in regalo
present and libro
book. Between vowels, this same rolling sound is spelled as double r or rr, as in the word barrio
neighborhood.
S sounds like a soft English s, as in sal
salt
T is similar to t in English, as in the word
taco
V chica makes the same sound as b grande, as in vino
wine
X makes either a [ks] sound, as in taxi taxi or a [h] sound, as in Mxico Mexico
Y is generally pronounced the same way as ll, as in the word yema egg yolk. In isolation, it is
pronounced [ee]; this letter by itself is the Spanish word for and.
Z sounds like a soft English s, as in zapato shoe (this letter is also pronounced as a soft t-h sound in
parts of Spain.)
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Disc 1
Knowing how letters sound in Spanish will help you recognize cognates, which are words that are similar to
English words. They may be spelled alike to some extent, yet sound very different. Can you identify the English
cognate of the following Spanish words?
Hospital
Radio
Restaurante
Recepcin
Msica
Aeropuerto
Suter
Hamburguesa
Televisin
Banco
Hospital
Radio
Restaurant
Reception
Music
Airport
Sweater
Hamburger
Television
Bank
There are lots of cognates between Spanish and English; be on the lookout for them.
One more thing youll need to know to pronounce Spanish words correctly is where the stress falls in a word.
As an example of why the stress is important, consider the words suspect and suspect in English. One is a
noun, suspect, and the other is a verb, suspect. Yet the only difference in pronunciation is where the word is
stressed. There are pairs of words like this in Spanish, as well. When you repeat words as you listen to these
tapes, pay attention to where the stress falls. There are three simple rules, which will allow you to correctly
stress any word you see written but have not yet heard. These rules are as follows:
1) If the last letter of a word is n, s, or any vowel, word stress falls on the next-to-last syllable, as in:
Agua - water, chicle - gum, bao - bath, platos - plate, atlas - atlas
and in hablan, which means they speak.
2)
If the last letter of a word is any consonant other than n or s , stress falls on the final syllable, as in:
Coliflor - cauliflower, frijol - bean, pared - wall, and nariz-nose
3)
Any word that does not follow these 2 rules has a written accent over the stressed syllable. Some
examples of words needing written accents are:
Jabn - soap, kilmetro - kilometer, francs - French, and man - peanut
(the written accent may also be used to distinguish otherwise identical words; for instance, s with an
accent written over the i means yes, si without an accent means if.)
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Disc 1
Can you tell which of these words would need a written accent?
Llave
no
Mxico
yes, (Mxico needs a written accent over the since it does not stress according to the first rule.)
Ruinas
no
Agua
no
Mesa
no
Msica
yes, (msica needs a written accent over the since it is not stressed according to the first rule.)
Vista
no
Recepcin yes, (recepcin needs a written accent over the since it is not stressed according to the first
rule.)
Okay, lets review: Can you remember the letters of the alphabet? This time youll hear a pause for your answer
before each letter: a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, x, y, z
Great. Now see if you can tell how the following words would be spelled (if you are able, write them down after
you hear them):
Ao
Mesa
Frijol
Jabn
Chicle
Agua
Edad
Ruinas
Kilmetro
ao (a- -o)
mesa (m-e-s-a)
frijol (f-r-i-j-o-l)
jabn (j-a-b--n) (Did you notice o con acento, that means o with an accent)
chicle (c-h-i-c-l-e)
agua (a-g-u-a)
edad (e-d-a-d)
ruinas (r-u-i-n-a-s)
kilmetro (k-i-l--m-e-t-r-o)
OK, lets see if you can remember some of the vocabulary youve heard so far. Try to answer the question
Cmo se dice? How does one say?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
Cmo se dice ?
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Cauliflower
Bathroom
Key
Soap
Salt
Plate
Table
Water
Music
wine
coliflor
bao
llave
jabn
sal
plato
mesa
agua
msica
vino
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Disc 1
Well done. Now, listen to this brief conversation. Dont worry about the grammar; youll learn more about that
in subsequent lessons. The first time you hear the conversation, just listen. The 2nd time, repeat what you hear.
The 3rd time through, the conversation will be translated for you.
A: Qu es?
B: Es coliflor
A: Coliflor?
B: S, coliflor. Es bueno, no?
A: Ms o menos. Necesita sal. Y los frijoles son muy picantes!
B: S, necesito agua.
A: Hay agua en la mesa.
B: Gracias.
A: No hay de que.
A: Qu es?
B: Es coliflor
A: Coliflor?
B: S, coliflor. Es bueno, no?
A: Ms o menos. Necesita sal. Y los frijoles son muy picantes!
B: S, necesito agua.
A: Hay agua en la mesa.
B: Gracias.
A: No hay de que.
A:Qu es? (What is it?)
B: Es coliflor (Its cauliflower)
A: Coliflor? (Cauliflower?)
B: S, coliflor. (Yes, cauliflower) Es bueno, no? (Its good isnt it?)
A: Ms o menos. Necesita sal. (More or less, it needs salt) Y los frijoles son muy picantes! (And the
beans are very spicy)
B: S, necesito agua. (Yeah, I need water)
A: Hay agua en la mesa. (There is water on the table)
B: Gracias. (Thanks)
A: No hay de que. (Dont mention it)
This is the end of lesson 1.
In lesson 2 you will learn some common greetings, as well as some Spanish verbs and how to use them.
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Disc 2
Welcome to lesson 2.
In this lesson, you will learn:
-some ways to greet people and say goodbye
-how to ask someones name, and how someone is doing
-how to use the verbs estar and llamarse
-the subject pronouns of Spanish and how to use them
There are various ways to greet someone in Spanish. Try repeating these:
Hola
Hello
Buenos das
Good morning
Buenas tardes
Good afternoon
When you meet someone new, you might say mucho gusto (pleased to meet you). You could also say
encantado if you are a man or encantada if you are a woman (this is another way to express pleased to meet
you).
You might wonder why there are two forms, encantado, and encantada. These words are adjectives, and
adjectives in Spanish are said to agree with the nouns they modify, they can be singular or plural, as well as
masculine or feminine. The idea of masculine and feminine is fairly straightforward with nouns that refer
to people, such as hombre (man) and mujer (woman); hombre is masculine, and mujer is feminine. However,
all other nouns in Spanish also have gender, which is best thought of as a grammatical property of nouns in
Spanish. English nouns do not have this particular property.
So, when meeting someone new, a woman might say she is enchanted, encantada, while a man would use
the masculine form of this adjective, encantado.
Did you notice that das in the greeting buenos das is modified by the form buenos, while tardes in buenas
tardes is modified by the form buenas? Thats because das is a plural masculine noun, while tardes is a plural
feminine noun. You will learn more about agreement in lesson 3.
Okay, now that you know how to greet someone in Spanish, lets learn how to ask for a persons name. To ask
one person, who is a new acquaintance, this question, say:
Cmo se llama? This is used as Whats your name? but it literally means How do you call yourself?
Cmo is the question how. Se llama is a formal 2nd person singular form of the verb llamarse, to call
oneself.
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Disc 2
In English, to is used to mark the basic verb form that doesnt agree with any particular subject, such as
you or he. This basic form is called the infinitive. In Spanish, such verb forms are marked by an ar, -er,
or ir ending, for example hablar to talk, comer to eat and vivir to live. So what about the se in llamarse?
Some verbs in Spanish are whats called reflexive; their infinitives have a se at the end to indicate this. This
se is roughly parallel to oneself in English.
When the form of a verb is changed to agree with a subject, this process is known as conjugation and the
changed form is a conjugated form. For example, the present tense conjugation of the verb to be in English
is:
I am
You are
He is
She is
we are
yall are
they are
Note that there are really only 3 present-tense forms of the verb to be; am, are, and is. And most English verbs
have even fewer forms! However, as you will see, there are 6 present-tense forms of each verb in Spanish.
In the case of llamarse, these forms are:
Me llamo
Te llamas
Se llama
nos llamamos
os llamis
se llaman
These forms correspond to different possible subjects. However, it is important to remember that me, te, se,
nos, os, se are not subject pronouns. These are actually the corresponding forms of the reflexive se on the
infinitive. Note that when a reflexive verb is conjugated, the proper form of se is placed before the conjugated
verb form. So, if me, te, se, nos, os, se are not subject pronouns, what are the subject pronouns of Spanish?
Well learn them next.
Subjects can be 1st person (if they include the speaker, like I or we), 2nd person (if they include the person being
spoken to, like you or yall), or 3rd person (used when speaking about others, like she, he, or they). Subjects
can also be singular or plural, and in Spanish, 2nd person subjects can be formal or informal, as well. In these
lessons, verb forms will be given according to the standard Spanish subject pronouns, which are:
Yo, I
T, you (singular informal)
Ud., you (singular formal)
l, he
Ella, she
nosotros, we
vosotros, you (plural informal)
Uds., you (plural formal)
ellos, they (masculine or mixed gender)
ellas, they (feminine)
Ud. and Uds. are often abbreviated as u-d and u-d-s, respectively.
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Disc 2
Nosotros has a feminine form nosotras that is used if we are all women, as does vosotros, which becomes
vosotras if yall are all women. You may be wondering why, with so many subject pronouns, there are only
6 conjugated present-tense forms of verbs. The answer is that the third person singular verb form is used, not
only with l he and ella she, but also with Ud., the formal singular you. Likewise, the plural 3rd person verb
form is used with ellos, ellas, and Uds.
So how does one know which forms of you to use? In most Spanish-speaking countries, the singular t form
is used with friends and children, while the singular Ud. form is used with a person you have just met or with
someone older than you. (In Argentina and some other countries, a vos form is used instead of the informal t
form, but we do not use the vos form in these lessons.) In the plural, a similar distinction is maintained between
the informal vosotros and the formal Uds. forms if you are in Spain; in Latin America, however, the vosotros
form is not used. When in Latin America, use the Uds. form when addressing a group of people both in formal
and informal situations.
Do you remember the subject pronouns of Spanish? See if you can list them.
You should have listed
Yo, t, usted, l, ella, nosotros, vosotros, ustedes, ellos, and ellas
If we put the conjugated forms of llamarse together with appropriate subject pronouns, they sound like this:
yo me llamo
t te llamas
Ud. se llama
l se llama
ella se llama
nosotros nos llamamos

vosotros os llamis
Uds. se llaman
ellos se llaman
ellas se llaman
It is important to remember that subject pronouns are most often omitted in Spanish, unless they are needed
to clarify or emphasize who the subject is. As an example, here is a partial conversation. Listen and repeat
(escucha y repite).
A: Buenos das. Good day.
B: Hola. Cmo se llama Ud.? Hello. What is your name?
A: Me llamo Mara. Y Ud.? My name is Mary. And you?
B: Me llamo Patricia. My name is Patricia.
A: Mucho gusto. Nice to meet you.
B: Encantada. Nice to meet you.
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Disc 2
Note that Ud. was included to clarify the subject of the 3rd person verb form, but yo was omitted since the
subject is clear from the verb form in this case. Listen and repeat again (escucha y repite otra vez):
A: Buenos das.
B: Hola. Cmo se llama Ud.?
A: Me llamo Mara. Y Ud.?
B: Me llamo Patricia.
A: Mucho gusto. .
B: Encantada.
Now check your memory again; can you remember all of the conjugated forms of the verb llamarse?
Try to list them.
You should have listed:
me llamo
te llamas
se llama
nos llamamos
os llamis
se llaman
OK, now that youve met someone and asked for his or her name, lets learn how to ask how your new
acquaintance is doing. You already know the word for how, cmo, but youll need another verb for this
question. The infinitive of this new verb is estar; it is translated as to be in English and is used to talk about
location as well as states or conditions of people and things. The present-tense forms of estar are:
estoy
ests
est
I am
you are
he or she is
estamos
estis
estn
we are
youll are
they are
So, you might ask a new acquaintance, Cmo est Ud.? or ask a friend, Cmo ests?. A very informal way
to ask this, similar to asking Whats up? in English, is to ask Qu tal? This idiomatic expression has only
one form.
Now can you list the conjugated forms of estar.
estoy
ests
est
estamos
estis
estn
Now lets talk about how one might answer the question Cmo ests?. Here are some ways you might be
feeling when someone asks:
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Disc 2
Bien
Muy bien
As-as
Mal
Muy mal
well
very well
so so
badly
very badly
You might also wish to thank the person for asking, by saying gracias Thank you or muchas gracias
Thank you very much.
Now lets see how much you remember. How would you answer these words and questions?
Buenas tardes. If you said hola or buenas tardes in return, thats right! How about:
Cmo se llama Ud.? If you said me llamo and your name, thats great! Now try:
Mucho gusto. Did you say mucho gusto in return? Great! If youre a woman, you might also have said
encantada, or encantado if youre a man. OK, how would you answer:
Cmo ests? You might have said estoy bien or estoy as-as. If youre doing very well, you probably said
estoy muy bien.
Now you can have a brief conversation with someone in Spanish. But theres one thing missing: how will you
say goodbye after the conversation is finished? Here are some possibilities:
Adis
Hasta luego
Nos vemos
Chao
Goodbye
Until later
See you (literally, well see each other)
Bye
Lets see how much of this you can remember. How does one say (Cmo se dice?):
I am well, thank you.
How are you all?
Good afternoon.
Her name is Mary.
Until later!
Estoy bien gracias.

Cmo estn ustedes?
Buenas tardes.
Se llama Mara.
Hasta luego.
How about some of the nouns you heard in lesson 1? Challenge yourself with these:
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
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Soap
Water
Wine
jabn
agua
vino
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Disc 2
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
Salt
Table
Key
Bean
Kilometer
sal
mesa
llave
frijol
kilmetro
Muy bien! Ahora, escucha y repite (listen and repeat):

Es jabn?
No, es champ.
Es un lago?
No, es un ro.
Es agua?
No, Es vino!
Son ames?
S, son ames.
Ud. es mdica?
S, soy mdica.
Somos todos mdicos aqu.
Is it soap?
No, its shampoo.
Is it a lake?
No, its a river.
Is it water?
No, its wine.
Are they yams?
Yes, theyre yams
Are you a doctor?
Yes, I am a doctor.
We are all doctors here.
Did you notice that forms of to be in these sentences were not translated with estar, but rather with a different
verb? The infinitive of this other verb is ser. When to be is used to identify people, places and things, the verb
ser is used instead of estar.
These are the present tense forms of ser:
soy
eres
es
I am
You are
He or she is
somos
sois
son
We are
Youll are
They are
Now practice a few sentences using these forms. Cmo se dice? (How does one say?):
They are keys.
Is is water?
We are ladies
Its shampoo.
Theyre birds.
Son llaves.
Es agua?
Somos damas.
Es champ.
Son pjaros.
Now repeat those sentences in Spanish:

Son llaves.
Es agua?
Somos damas.
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Disc 2
Es champ.
Son pjaros.
Bien! Can you list the conjugated present-tense forms of ser?
soy
eres
es
somos
sois
son
One way you can use ser to identify people is to associate them with their professions or occupations, as in soy
mdica. Mdica is the feminine form of the noun doctor. The masculine form of the noun is mdico. Here are
some other people you might meet. Some are cognates, and you may be able to guess their meanings.
Escucha y repite:
profesor
profesora
estudiante
jefe
jefa
empleado
empleada
cliente
conductor
conductora
piloto
pilota
asistente
asistente de vuelo
mesero
mesera
hombre de negocios
mujer de negocios
turista
Xavier es hombre de negocios.
Soy la jefa.
Somos empleados del banco.
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teacher
teacher
student
boss
boss
employee
employee
client
driver
driver
pilot
pilot
assistant
flight attendant
waiter
waitress
business man
business woman
tourist
Xavier is a business man.
I am the boss.
We are employees of the bank.
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Disc 2
Son Uds. meseros?
Eres asistente de vuelo?
Sois estudiantes, no?
Are you waiters?

Are you a flight attendant?
You are all students, right?
Ahora, Cmo se dice?

We are students.
He is a teacher.
Are they flight attendants?
She is a doctor.
I am a tourist.
Somos estudiantes.
Es professor.
Son asistentes de vuelo?
Ella es mdica.
Soy turista.
Thats great! Did you notice that a in these sentences doesnt have a word translating it in the Spanish
version? Thats because the equivalent of a, the indefinite article, is generally not used in Spanish when
identifying someones occupation, as in Manuel es piloto.
So, now you know two different ways to translate the verb to be in Spanish. The way it is used in a sentence
will determine whether you should translate it as ser or estar. Which verb is used to identify something? ser is
used. Which verb is used to ask someone how he or she is doing, as in how are you today? estar is used. And
which verb is used when identifying someones occupation? Ser is used.
OK, lets put it all together. Here is a conversation between two friends and a third person unknown to one of
them. Most of the vocabulary will be familiar to you.
A: Hola, Ana. - Hi Ana!
B. Buenos das, Carmen. Cmo ests? - Hello Carmen, how are you?
A: Muy bien, gracias. Y t? - Very well thanks, and you?
B: Bien, gracias. - Well, thank you.
A: Ana, te quiero presentar a Jaime Ramrez. - Ana, Id like to introduce you to Jaime Ramrez. l es un
amigo de mi familia. - He is a friend of my family.
B: Mucho gusto, Jaime. - Pleased to meet you Jaime.
C: Mucho gusto. Ud. se llama Ana, no? - Pleased to meet you. Your name is Ana, right?
B: S, Ana Tapia. Cmo est Ud. hoy? - Yes, Ana Tapia. How are you today?
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Disc 2
B: Estoy bien, gracias. Y Ud.? - I am fine thank you. And you?
C: Bien, gracias. Es Ud. estudiante aqu? - Well, thank you. Are you a student here?
B: S, soy estudiante de filosofa. -Yes, I am a student of philosophy.
C: De filosofa? Qu interesante! - Philosophy, how interesting!
B: S, en mi opinin es muy interesante. -Yes, in my opinion, its very interesting Y Ud.? Qu estudia?
And you? What are you studying?
C: Estudio qumica. - I am studying chemistry.
A: Ay! Perdn, Ana, tenemos una clase en 5 minutos.- Oops, excuse me Ana, we have a class in five minutes
B: Es la clase de arte? - Is it the art class?
A: S, estudiamos la obra de Goya hoy. - Yes, we are studing the work of Goya today.
B: Bien, nos vemos luego. - OK, we will see you later.
C: Adis, Ana. Mucho gusto. - Bye Ana, pleased to meet you.
B: Igualmente.- Same here.
A: Chao! nos vemos!. - Bye, see you later.
B: Chao, Carmen. - Chao, Carmen.
Now, repeat the conversation again, this time without the translation.
A: Hola, Ana.
B. Buenos das, Carmen. Cmo ests?
A: Muy bien, gracias. Y t?
B: Bien, gracias.
A: Ana, te quiero presentar a Jaime Ramrez. l es un amigo de mi familia.
B: Mucho gusto, Jaime.
C: Mucho gusto. Ud. se llama Ana, no?
B: S, Ana Tapia. Cmo est Ud. hoy?
B: Estoy bien, gracias y Ud.?
C: Bien, gracias. Es Ud. estudiante aqu?
B: S, soy estudiante de filosofa.
C: De filosofa? Qu interesante!
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Disc 2
B: S, en mi opinin es muy interesante. Y Ud.? Qu estudia?
C: Estudio qumica.
A: Ay! Perdn, Ana, tenemos una clase en 5 minutos.
B: Es la clase de arte?
A: S, estudiamos la obra de Goya hoy.
B: Bien, nos vemos luego.
C: Adis, Ana. Mucho gusto.
B: Igualmente.
A: Chao! nos vemos! .
B: Chao, Carmen. .
You will hear the conversation once more without pauses.
A: Hola, Ana.
B. Buenos das, Carmen. Cmo ests?
A: Muy bien, gracias. Y t?
B: Bien, gracias.
A: Ana, te quiero presentar a Jaime Ramrez. l es un amigo de mi familia.
B: Mucho gusto, Jaime.
C: Mucho gusto. Ud. se llama Ana, no?
B: S, Ana Tapia. Cmo est Ud. hoy?
B: Estoy bien, gracias.Y Ud.?
C: Bien, gracias. Es Ud. estudiante aqu?
B: S, soy estudiante de filosofa.
C: De filosofa? Qu interesante!
B: S, en mi opinin es muy interesante Y Ud.? Qu estudia?
C: Estudio qumica.
A: Ay! Perdn, Ana, tenemos una clase en 5 minutos. .
B: Es la clase de arte?
A: S, estudiamos la obra de Goya hoy.
B: Bien, nos vemos luego.
C: Adis, Ana. Mucho gusto.
B: Igualmente.
A: Chao! nos vemos!.
B: Chao, Carmen.
Ahora, contesta la pregunta:
Cmo se llaman las personas?
Cmo est Carmen?
Es Jaime un amigo de Ana?
Instant Immersion
Se llaman Ana, Carmen y Jaime.

Carmen est bien.
No, es un amigo de Carmen.
18

Disc 2
Es Carmen una amiga de Ana?
Es Ana estudiante?
Es la clase de Carmen y Jaime una
clase de filosofa?
S, Carmen es una amiga de Ana.

S, es estudiante.
No, es una clase de arte.

In lesson 3, you will learn more about gender and agreement, and learn to talk about where people are from
and to describe people and things. You will also learn some useful Spanish verbs.
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Disc 3
In this lesson, you will learn:
-more about gender and agreement in Spanish
-how to use articles
-some new nouns and adjectives
-how to talk about where someone is from and what language/s someone speaks
-some regular Spanish verbs and how to use them
First, lets talk more about agreement. As youve seen, verbs agree with subjects both in English and in Spanish.
They agree in person and number. In Spanish, there is also a type of agreement between nouns and
adjectives, as mentioned in lesson 2. An adjective agrees with the noun it describes in number and in gender.
The articles a/an, some and the also agree with nouns in a similar way. Here are the different forms of these
articles in Spanish:
Forms of a or some
un
(un is masculine, singular)
una
(una is feminine, singular)
unos (unos is masculine, plural)
unas (unas is feminine, plural)
Escucha y repite:
un libro
una tienda
unos taxis
unas playas
a book
a store
some taxis
some beaches
Forms of the
el
(el is masculine, singular)
la
(la is feminine, singular)
los
(los is masculine, plural)
las
(las is feminine, plural)
Escucha y repite:
el libro
la tienda
los taxis
las playas
the book
the store
the taxis
the beaches
Now how about some more nouns to go with these articles? Here are some common ones you might wish to
use.
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Disc 3
Escucha y repite:
un hombre
un chico
un hotel
un autobs
un taxi
un restaurante
un edificio
a man
a boy
a hotel
a bus
a taxi
a restaurant
a building
una mujer
una chica
una playa
una calle
una habitacin
una tienda
una casa
a woman
a girl
a beach
a street
a hotel room
a store
a house
Many feminine nouns end in a, though there are exceptions, such as un mapa, un da, and many nouns ending in
-ema or -ama, for example el drama the drama and el problema the problem. Likewise, many nouns ending
in o are masculine; a common exception is la mano the hand. The best way to know if a noun is masculine or
feminine is to learn that information whenever you learn a new noun; learn a noun along with its article.
To make a noun or adjective plural in Spanish, add s to the word if it ends in a vowel and e-s if the word ends in
a consonant. Here are some plurals of nouns you heard earlier:
El hombre/ los hombres
La mujer/ las mujeres
El taxi/ los taxis
La habitacin/ las habitaciones
Un edificio/ unos edificios
Una tienda/ unas tiendas
Ahora, escucha y repite:
Es un restaurante excelente.
La noche en la playa es bella, no?
Cmo son las habitaciones?
Es un edificio grande.
Son chicos buenos.
Eres una mujer muy inteligente.
Lets see how many things and people you remember. Cmo se dice?
a boy
a girl
a street
a house
a beach
a building
a store
Instant Immersion
un chico
una chica
una calle
una casa
una playa
un edificio
una tienda
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Disc 3
a woman
a man
a hotel room
una mujer
un hombre
una habitacin
Muy bien! Ahora, escucha y repite:

Es una tienda buena.
Its a good store.
Es un hombre viejo.
Hes an old man.
Soy una mujer trabajadora.
I am a hard working woman.
Son chicos inteligentes.
They are intelligent boys.
Es una habitacin bella, no?
Its a beautiful room, isnt it?
These sentences give more information about things and people by using adjectives. Lets practice some
adjectives that you can use to describe the nouns youve learned. Many adjectives have different masculine and
feminine forms, although some do not. In these lessons, whenever a new adjective has different masculine and
feminine forms, you will hear both. Almost all adjectives have a plural form ending in s or es. Escucha y repite:
Bello/ bella
Interesante
Grande
Joven
Perezoso/a
Inteligente
Bueno/a
El Mejor
beautiful
interesting
large
young
lazy
intelligent
good
best
feo/ fea
aburrido/ aburrida
pequeo/a
viejo/a
trabajador/a
tonto/a
malo/a
peor
ugly
boring
small
old
hard working
foolish
bad
worst
Most adjectives in Spanish occur following the nouns they modify, for example:
Una tienda pequea
Una casa bella
Un hombre inteligente
Un edificio grande
Las playas bellas
Los chicos jvenes
Unas tiendas buenas
El restaurante mejor
A small store
A beautiful house
An intelligent man
A large building
The beautiful beaches
The young boys
Some good stores
The best restaurant
These adjectives are usually used to describe characteristics of people or things. When the verb to be is used to
describe the characteristics of people or things, ser is used rather than estar. Do you remember the forms of ser?
Try to list them,
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Disc 3
soy
eres
es
somos
sois
son
Here are some examples of sentences using ser to describe the characteristics of someone or something:
El edificio es bello,no?
Eres muy inteligente.
Las chicas son perezosas.
Bernardo no es muy inteligente.
Soy trabajadora.
Las habitaciones son pequeas.
The building is beautiful, isnt it?

You are very intelligent.
The girls are lazy.
Bernardo is not very intelligent.
I am hard working.
The hotel rooms are small.
Ahora Cmo se dice?

The house is old.
The store is large.
They are young women.
I am old. (o/a)
La casa es vieja.
La tienda es grande.
Son mujeres jvenes.
If you are a man you would have said soy viejo while a woman
would say soy vieja
Muy bien! You already know that ser is used to identify people and things, for example in Es vino or Son
mdicos. Another example of how ser can be used to identify is when you ask or tell where someone is from.
Here are two new words youll use to ask that question:
de
dnde?
(de is a preposition, meaning to or from)

(dnde? means where)
So, to ask where a new acquaintance is from, you might say:

De dnde es Ud.?
Note that the word order in this question corresponds to from where are you? The informal version is
De dnde eres?
Here are some country names that one might use to answer this question:
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Disc 3
Escucha y repite:
Los EE.UU.
Espaa
La Argentina
Inglaterra
Italia
China
The United States

Spain
Argentina
England
Italy
China
Mxico
el Canad
Francia
Alemania
el Per
Japn
Mexico
Canada
France
Germany
Peru
Japan
Some of these country names are commonly used with the article, though most are not. Of course there are
many others! So if you are from the US, how would you answer the question De dnde es Ud?. If you said
Soy de los Estados Unidos youre right!
That means I am from the United States.
Somos de Japn.
Eres del Canad?
Son Uds. de Alemania?
Francisco es de Espaa.
Ella es de Italia.
Los chicos jvenes son de la Argentina.
Did you notice that from Canada was translated as del Canad? When de directly precedes the masculine
singular article el, the contraction del is formed.
You might also want to ask what language or languages a person speaks. Using the formal Ud. form, this
question would be:
Qu idiomas habla?
Informally, the question would be Qu idiomas hablas?
Qu ? is the question what? and un idioma is a language. This question also uses hablar, to speak or to talk.
Hablar is whats known as a regular verb; it is conjugated in the same way as many other regular verbs in
Spanish. You already know two Spanish verbs that are irregular, ser and estar. There are 3 types of regular verbs
in Spanish; next well learn how to conjugate verbs of one type, and some examples of this type.
First, lets take a closer look at an infinitive. A Spanish infinitive consists of 2 parts, the root and the infinitive
ending. In the case of hablar, the root is habl- (h-a-b-l) and the ending is ar, spelled a-r. This ending is
characteristic of one of the 3 types of regular verbs; their infinitives end in ar and their conjugated forms have
the same set of endings, as well. What are the conjugated forms of such verbs? Lets take hablar as an example
to illustrate.
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Disc 3
To conjugate hablar first remove the infinitive ending ar. Then add the appropriate conjugated endings
according to the subject, which are:
-o for the yo form
-as (a-s) for the t form
-a for the Ud. form
-a for the l form
-a for the ella form
-amos (a-m-o-s-) for the nosotros form

-is (-i-s) for the vosotros form
-an for the Uds. form
-an for the ellos form
-an for the ellas form
So, once conjugated, the present tense forms of hablar sound like this:
hablo I speak, I am speaking
hablamos we speak
hablas you speak, you are speaking
hablis yall speak
habla he/she/it speaks
hablan they speak
Note that the present tense forms of Spanish verbs can be translated either with the simple present in English or
the present progressive that is hablo can be translated as I speak or as I am speaking.
Here are some other regular verbs that are conjugated in the same way:
Bailar
to dance
Caminar
to walk
Comprar
to buy
Desear
to want or desire
Escuchar
to listen to
Llamar
to call (vs. llamarse).
You will notice that this infinitive lacks the reflexive marker se that we saw in the reflexive llamarse to call
oneself.
Mirar
to look at, or to watch
Pagar
to pay
Tomar
to take (as in tomar el autobs, to take the bus)
Trabajar
to work
Necesitar
to need
There are many more! The majority of Spanish verbs are in this category. In addition to regular verbs ending
in ar, there are two other types of regular verbs in Spanish: those whose infinitives end in er (e-r), and those
ending in ir (i-r).
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Disc 3
You will learn some verbs of those two types later in this lesson. Now try applying the ar conjugation to a
couple of different verbs. Can you list the 6 forms of tomar, to take?
tomo
tomas
toma
tomamos
tomis
toman
Great! How about necesitar, to need?

necesito
necesitas
necesita
necesitamos
necesitis
necesitan
And can you list the forms of hablar?

hablo
hablas
habla
hablamos
hablis
hablan
Excelente! Ahora, Cmo se dice?

Where are you from? (t/Ud.)
De dnde eres? De dnde es?
I am from Spain.
Soy de Espaa.
They are from the US.
Son de los Estados Unidos.
To take
Tomar
We take the bus.
Tomamos el autobus.
To need
Necesitar
To listen
Escuchar
Pablo needs to listen.
Pablo necesita escuchar.
We need to take the bus.
Necesitamos tomar el autobus.
What language do you speak? (t/Ud.) Qu idioma habla? Qu idioma hablas?
Muy bien! In order to answer the question Qu idiomas hablas?, youll need to know the names of some
languages. Here are a few commonly spoken ones:
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Disc 3
el espaol
el ingls
el alemn
el mandarino
el hebreo
Spanish
English
German
Mandarin
Hebrew
el italiano
el francs
el rabe
el portugus
el japons
Italian
French
Arabic
Portuguese
Japanese
OK, Cmo se dice?

I speak Spanish?
They speak English.
Do you (Ud.) speak French?
We speak Portuguese.
Hablo espaol
Hablan ingls
Habla Ud. francs?
Hablamos portugus
Bueno, ahora contesta la pregunta:

De dnde eres? Soy de (plus the name of where you are from for example, soy de Mxico)
Hablas italiano? S, hablo italiano. No, no hablo italiano.
Tomas el autobs? S, tomo el autobs. No, no tomo el autobs.
Trabajas mucho? S, trabajo mucho. No, no trabajo mucho.
Escuchas msica ahora? S, escucho msica ahora. No, no escucho msica. ahora
Miras mucha televisin? S, miro mucha televisin. No, no miro mucha televisin.
Eres hombre o mujer? Soy hombre or Soy mujer.
Excelente! Now that you know how to use regular ar verbs in Spanish, lets see how the regular er and ir verbs
work. Their present-tense endings are very similar, in fact only the nosotros and vosotros forms have different
endings for these two verb types. First, lets look at a regular verb ending in er, comer
To conjugate comer first remove the infinitive ending er. Then add the appropriate conjugated endings
according to the subject, which are:
-o for the yo form
-es (e-s) for the t form
-e for the Ud. form
-e for the l form
-e for the ella form
-emos (e-m-o-s) for the nosotros form

-is (-i-s) for the vosotros form
-en for the Uds. form
-en for the ellos form
-en for the ellas form
So, once conjugated, the present tense forms of comer sound like this:
como
comes
come
Instant Immersion
I eat
you eat
he/she eats
comemos
comis
comen
we eat
yall eat
they eat
27

Disc 3
Aprender
Beber
Comprender
Creer
Leer
To learn
To drink
To understand
To believe
To read
See if you can list the present-tense forms of beber.

bebo
bebes
bebe
bebemos
bebis
beben
Now try leer.

leo
lees
lee
leemos
leis
leen
Muy bien! The verb creer (to believe or to think) is often followed by the word que, meaning that, and a
phrase, as in Creo que ella habla ingles. How would you say, I think that he understands?
Creo que
comprende
OK, Cmo se dice ?
We drink wine?
They understand English.
I think that they understand English.
Hes learning Spanish.
Bebemos vino.
Comprenden ingles.
Creo que comprenden ingles.
l aprende espaol.

Lees muchos libros? S, leo muchos libros. No, no leo muchos libros.
Aprendes espaol? S, aprendo espaol
Comes mucha pizza? S, como mucha pizza. No, no como mucha pizza.
Comprendes japons? S, comprendo japons. No, no comprendo japons.
OK, now lets look at a regular verb ending in ir, vivir (to live).
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Disc 3
To conjugate vivir first remove the infinitive ending ir. Then add the appropriate conjugated endings according
to the subject, which are the same as those for er verbs except in the nosotros and vosotros forms:
-o for the yo form
-es (e-s) for the t form
-e for the Ud. form
-e for the l form
-e for the ella form
-imos (i-m-o-s) for the nosotros form

-s (-s) for the vosotros form
-en for the Uds. form
-en for the ellos form
-en for the ellas form
So, once conjugated, the present tense forms of vivir sound like this:
vivo
vives
vive
I live
you live
he/she lives
vivimos
vivs
viven
we live
you all live
they live
Abrir
Asistir
Decidir
Escribir
To open
To attend (Asistir is usually followed by prep. a)
To decide
To write
See if you can list the present-tense forms of decidir.

decido
decides
decide
decidimos
decids
deciden
The verb vivir is often followed by the word en, meaning in, and a place, as in Vivo en el Canad. How would
you say, They live in Mexico?
Viven en Mxico
Muy bien! Ahora, Cmo se dice?
I write well in English.
Do you (t) live in England?
They open the store.
We decide.
Escribo bien en ingles.

Vives en Inglaterra?
Abren la tienda.
Nosotros decidimos.

Vives en los Estados Unidos?
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Disc 3
S, vivo en los Estados Unidos. No, no vivo en los Estados Unidos
Escribes bien? S, escribo bien. No, no escribo bien.
Asistes a clase? S, asisto a clase. No, no asisto a clase.
Excelente! Ahora, escucha y repite la conversacin:
En una fiesta: At a party
A: Hola. - Hi.
B: Hola, Cmo ests? - Hi, how are you?
A: Bien, gracias. Me llamo Antonio. - Fine thanks. My name is Antonio.
B: Mucho gusto Antonio. Me llamo Ins. - Pleased to meet you Antonio. My name is Ins.
A: Encantado. De dnde eres, Ins? - Pleased to meet you. Where are you from Ins?
B: Soy mexicana, de Oaxaca. Y t? - I am Mexican, from Oaxaca. And you?
A: Soy de Los Angeles. - I am from Los Angeles.
B: De veras? Qu interesante. - Really? How interesting! Hablas ingls entonces? So, you speak English?
A: S, hablo ingls, espaol y japons. - Yes, I speak English, Spanish and Japanese.
B: Hablas japons? - You speak Japanese?
A: S, trabajo para una compaa multinacional en LA - Yes, I work for a multinational company in LA y a
veces necesito hablar japons en mi trabajo. and sometimes I need to speak Japanese in my work.
B: Qu bien! - How nice!Yo hablo un poquito de ingls, pero no mucho. - I speak a little bit of English, but
not much Escucho mucha msica en ingls. - I listen to lots of music in English.
A: S? Qu tipo de msica escuchas? - Oh yeah, what type of music you listen to?
B: Escucho muchos tipos,- I listen to lots of types, trabajo en una tienda de msica. - I work in a music store.
A veces es muy aburrido, pero escucho mucha msica buena.- Sometimes its really boring, but I listen to a
lot of good music. Comprendo un poquito de ingls, pero no lo leo ni lo escribo - I understand a little bit of
English, but I do not read or write it. T lees y escribes japons? - Do you read and write Japanese?
A: Un poco, s. - A little yes.
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Disc 3
B: Comes mucha comida japonesa? - Do you eat a lot of Japanese food?
A: S, creo que es excelente. - Yes, I think its great!
B: Qu fascinante es tu trabajo, no? - Your work is so fascinating, isnt it?
A: Para m, s. Hablo con muchas personas interesantes. - For me yes, I talk to lots of
interesting people.
B: Pues, Ins, deseas caminar en la playa un poco? - So, Ins, would you like to walk on the beach a little
O deseas bailar?- or would you like to dance?
B: Gracias, deseo caminar un poco. - Thanks, I would like to walk a little. La playa aqu es muy bella! - The
beach here is really beautiful.
A: S, y la noche tambin. Vamos. - Yes, and the night is too. Lets go.
Now repeat again without the translation:
A: Hola.
B: Hola, Cmo ests?
A: Bien, gracias. Me llamo Antonio.
B: Mucho gusto Antonio. Me llamo Ins.
A: Encantado. De dnde eres, Ins?
B: Soy mexicana, de Oaxaca. Y t?
A: Soy de Los Angeles.
B: De veras? Qu interesante. Hablas ingls entonces?
A: S, hablo ingls, espaol y japons.
B: Hablas japons?
A: S, trabajo para una compaa multinacional en LA y a veces necesito hablar japons en mi trabajo.
B: Qu bien! Yo hablo un poquito de ingls, pero no mucho. Escucho mucha msica en ingls.
A: S? Qu tipo de msica escuchas?
B: Escucho muchos tipos trabajo en una tienda de msica. A veces es muy aburrido, pero escucho mucha
msica buena Comprendo un poquito de ingls, pero no lo leo ni lo escribo. T lees y escribes japons?
A: Un poco, s.
B: Comes mucha comida japonesa?
A: S, creo que es excelente.
B: Qu fascinante es tu trabajo, no?
A: Para m, s. Hablo con muchas personas interesantes. Pues, Ins, deseas caminar en la playa un poco?
O deseas bailar?
B: Gracias, deseo caminar un poco. La playa aqu es muy bella!
A: S, y la noche tambin. Vamos.
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Disc 3
Heres the same conversation without pauses.
A: Hola.
B: Hola, Cmo ests?
A: Bien, gracias. Me llamo Antonio.
B: Mucho gusto Antonio. Me llamo Ins.
A: Encantado. De dnde eres, Ins?
B: Soy mexicana, de Oaxaca. Y t?
A: Soy de Los Angeles.
B: De veras? Qu interesante. Hablas ingls entonces?
A: S, hablo ingls, espaol y japons
B: Hablas japons?
A: S, trabajo para una compaa multinacional en LA (y a veces necesito hablar japons en mi trabajo).
B: Qu bien! Yo hablo un poquito de ingls, pero no mucho. Escucho mucha msica en ingls.
A: S? Qu tipo de msica escuchas?
B: Escucho muchos tipos trabajo en una tienda de msica. A veces es muy aburrido, pero escucho mucha
msica buena. Comprendo un poquito de ingls, pero no lo leo ni lo escribo. T lees y escribes japons?
A: Un poco, s.
B: Comes mucha comida japonesa?
A: S, creo que es excelente.
B: Qu fascinante es tu trabajo, no?
A: Para m, s. Hablo con muchas personas interesantes. Pues, Ins, deseas caminar en la playa un poco? O
deseas bailar?
B: Gracias, deseo caminar un poco. La playa aqu es muy bella!
A: S, y la noche tambin. Vamos.
Cmo se llaman las personas?
De dnde es Antonio?
Dnde trabaja Antonio?
Qu idiomas habla Antonio?
Cree Antonio que la comida japonesa es mala?
Se llaman Ins y Antonio.

Es de Los Angeles.
Trabaja en una compaa multinacional.
Habla ingls, espaol y japons.
No, cree que es buena.
Dnde trabaja Ins?

Es muy interesante el trabajo de Ins?
Habla japons Ins?
Ella escribe o lee ingls?
Trabaja en una tienda de msica.

No, es muy aburrido.
No, ella no habla japons.
No, no lee ni escribe ingls.
[ni is the word for nor]
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Disc 3
Cmo es la playa, en la opinin de Ins?
Qu desea Ins, caminar o bailar?
Es muy bella.
Desea caminar un poco.

In lesson 4, you will learn some new irregular verbs, numbers from 1-100, and how to talk about the weather, as
well as how to ask and give directions.
Instant Immersion
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Disc 4
In this lesson, you will learn (en esta leccin vas a aprender):
-how to talk about the weather
-how to talk about where people are going and what they are doing
-the numbers from 1-100 and how to talk about age in Spanish
-some important irregular verbs and how to conjugate them and
-useful vocabulary for asking for or following directions
First, lets talk about the weather. To do this well need a new verb, hacer to do/ make. Hacer is an irregular
verb, which means it does not follow the same pattern as regular verbs do when they are conjugated. In the
present tense, only the yo form of the verb hacer is different from those of a regular er verb. These are the
present-tense conjugated forms of hacer:
hago I am doing, I am making
haces you are doing, you are making
hace he/she is doing or making
hacemos we are doing or making

hacis you all are doing or making
hacen they are doing or making
In addition to meaning to do or to make, hacer is used idiomatically in the 3rd person singular to talk about
many types of weather. Here are some types of weather you might encounter it is important to remember that
explicit subject or pronouns are never used in these expressions. Escucha y repite:
Hace calor. Its hot (literally this expression means it makes heat).
(calor, fro, sol and so forth are actually nouns rather than adjectives.)
Hace mucho calor
Hace fro
Hace mucho fro
Hace fresco
Hace sol
Hace viento
Hace buen tiempo
Hace mal tiempo
est nublado
est despejado
est lloviendo
llueve
est nevando
nieva
Instant Immersion
Its very hot

Its cold
Its very cold
Its cool
Its sunny
Its windy
Its nice weather
Its bad weather
Its cloudy
Its clear
Its raining
It rains, or its raining
Its snowing
It snows, or its snowing
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Disc 4
If you want to know what the weather is like in a certain place or at a certain time, you can use the question
Qu tiempo hace?
Do you remember the forms of hacer? See if you can list them.
hago
haces
hace
hacemos
hacis
hacen
Bueno, ahora, Cmo se dice?

Its cold
Its hot
Its really hot
Its raining
Its windy
Its cloudy
Hace fro
Hace calor
Hace mucho calor
Llueve or est lloviendo
Hace viento
Est nublado
OK, ahora contesta la pregunta:

Qu tiempo hace? Your answer should tell what the weather is like where you
are. Hace fro? Hace sol? Est lloviendo?
Weather changes with the seasons. You might want to know, for example, what the weather is like in the winter,
or in the month of June. To ask those questions, youll need to know the names of the months and seasons in
Spanish. Escucha y repite:
Los meses
enero
febrero
marzo
abril
mayo
junio
julio
agosto
septiembre
octubre
noviembre
diciembre
Instant Immersion
The months
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
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Disc 4
Las estaciones
la primavera
el verano
el otoo
el invierno
The seasons
spring
summer
autumn
winter
En el Canad, hace mucho fro en diciembre. In Canada, its very cold in December
Qu tiempo hace en Los Angeles en el verano? What is the weather like in Los Angeles in the summer?
Hace mucho calor en el verano.
Its very hot in the summer.
En la Argentina, llueve mucho en julio.
In Argentina, it rains a lot in July.
Es invierno en la Argentina en julio!
Its winter in Argentina in July.
En Alaska, nieva mucho en invierno.
In Alaska, it snows a lot in the winter.
As you might have guessed, youll also use hacer if you want to ask what someone is doing. Can you figure out
how to ask What are you doing? If you said Qu haces? or Qu hace?, youre right!
Qu haces?
Llamo a Laura.
Qu hacen Uds.?
Escuchamos msica venezolana.
Qu hace Ud.?
Leo una novela.
Qu hace Pablo?
Abre la puerta.
Qu hacis?
Escribimos cartas postales.
Qu hacen los chicos?
Miran la televisin.
Qu hacemos?
Vamos a la playa!
What are you doing?

I am calling Laura.
What are you all doing?
We are listening to Venezuelan music.
What are you doing?
I am reading a novel.
What is Pablo doing?
He is opening the door.
What are you all doing?
We are writing postcards
What are the boys doing?
They are watching TV.
What are we doing?
We are going to the beach!
The last sentence, Vamos a la playa! uses another irregular verb, the verb ir, which means to go. These are the
present-tense forms of ir:
voy
vas
va
Instant Immersion
I am going
you are going
he/she is going
vamos
vais
van
we are going
you all are going
they are going
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Disc 4
To tell where someone is going, follow the correct form of ir with the preposition a, meaning to, for example:
Adnde vas?
Voy a la tienda.
To where are you going?

I am going to the store.
Whenever a directly precedes the masculine singular article el, the two form a contraction, al, as in
Vamos al restaurante.
Vas al hotel?
We are going to the restaurant.

Are you going to the hotel?
Now see if you can list the forms of ir.

voy
vas
va
vamos
vais
van
Bueno. Cmo se dice?

Were going to the beach.
Are you (vosotros) going to Madrid?
Theyre going to a restaurant.
Im going to the hotel.
Vamos a la playa.
Vais a Madrid?
Van a un restaurante.
Voy al hotel.
As in English, the verb meaning to go can also be used to refer to future actions in Spanish. To do this, use the
appropriate conjugated form of ir, followed by the preposition a and the infinitive that expresses the desired
action. Here are some examples: escucha y repite:
Voy a tomar el autobs.
Vas a trabajar hoy?
Vamos a aprender espaol.
Dolores va a vivir en Guadalajara.
Vais a comer pronto?
Pablo y Ana van a bailar salsa.
I am going to take the bus.

Are you going to work today?
We are going to learn Spanish.
Dolores is going to live in Guadalajara.
Are you all going to eat soon?
Pablo and Ana are going to dance salsa.
Ahora contesta la pregunta:

Vas a trabajar hoy? S, voy a trabajar hoy. No, no voy a trabajar hoy.
Vas a mirar televisin? S, voy a mirar televisin. No, no voy a mirar televisin
Vas a comer pronto? S, voy a comer pronto. No, no voy a comer pronto.
Vas a ir a Mxico en marzo? S, voy a ir a Mxico en marzo. No, no voy a ir a Mxico en marzo.
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Disc 4
Lets say you want to answer the question Vas a ir a Mxico en marzo? and give a specific date. To do that
youll need to know some numbers; youll hear those shortly. Numbers also come in handy when youre talking
about someones age. Escucha y repite:
Cuntos aos tienes? (literally this question is asking how many years do you have)
Tengo 20.
(literally, I have twenty)
In Spanish, one does not talk about being a certain age, but rather about having a certain number of years. The
verb meaning to have in Spanish is tener, which is another irregular verb. These are the present-tense forms of
tener:
Tengo
tienes
tiene
I have
you have
he/she has
tenemos
tenis
tienen
we have
you all have
they have
Escucha y repite:
Tengo muchos amigos.
Tienes una pregunta?
Tenemos las llaves.
Ana y Marcos tienen una clase ahora.
I have many friends

Do you have a question?
We have the keys.
Ana and Marcos have a class now.
Now see if you can list the forms of tener.

tengo
tienes
tiene
tenemos
tenis
tienen
Remember the question Cuntos aos tienes? Un ao is a year, Cuntos is the question how much? or how
many? and it works like an adjective. It will agree with the noun it modifies in gender and number, as in these
examples:
Cunto dinero tienes?
Cuntos aos tiene Federico?
Cunta televisin miran las chicas?
Cuntas habitaciones desea Ud.?
Instant Immersion
How much money do you have?

How old is Federico?
How much TV do the girls watch?
How many hotel rooms do you desire?
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Disc 4
In order to answer questions like these, youll need to know some numbers. Lets start with the numbers from
1-30.
Escucha y repite:
Los nmeros de 0-30
0 (zero) 1 (one) 2 (two) 3 (three) 4 (four) 5 (five) 6 (six) 7 (seven) 8 (eight) 9 (nine) 10 (ten) 11 (eleven) 12
(twelve) 13 (thirteen) 14 (fourteen) 15 (fifteen) 16 (sixteen) 17 (seventeen) 18 (eighteen) 19 (nineteen) 20
(twenty) 21(twenty one) 22(twenty two) 23 (twenty three) 24 (twenty four) 25 (twenty five) 26 (twenty six) 27
(twenty seven) 28 (twenty eight) 29 (twenty nine) 30 (thirty)
Lets repeat those again without the translation:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
Now see if you can list the numbers from 0-10:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Now try counting from 10-20:
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ok, how about counting from 20 to 30:
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Did you notice that the numbers in the twenties are essentially twenty and one, twenty and two, and so on?
The numbers in the thirties through nineties work the same way. Now lets count by tens from 30 to 100.
Escucha y repite:
30 (thirty) 40 (forty) 50 (fifty) 60 (sixty) 70 (seventy) 80 (eighty) 90 (ninety) 100 (hundred)
Repeat once more without the translation:
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The number 100 is pronounced cien when in isolation, but ciento when followed by additional numbers, as
in ciento uno, ciento veinte, and so forth. OK, can you count by 10s from 0-100? This time youll hear each
number after a pause, so you can check your pronunciation.
0, 10, 20, 30 , 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100
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Disc 4
Now lets do a few addition and subtraction problems. Ms means more or plus, while menos means less or
minus.
Cuntos son 10 + 5 15
20 + 10 30
3 + 8 11
40 + 60 100
55 4 51
80 10 70
99 2 97
18 3 15
Great! At this point, you should be able to answer the question Cuntos aos tienes? The verb tener is used in
a number of idiomatic expressions like this in which the verb to be is generally used in English. Here are some
common expressions of this type. Escucha y repite:
Tener hambre
To be hungry (literally, to have hunger)
(As with the weather expressions, these expressions use nouns where in English you would use adjectives)
Tener sed
To be thirsty
Tener sueo
To be sleepy
Tener que
To have to
(Tener que will be followed by an infinitive describing what it is one has to do)
Tener suerte
To be lucky
Tener calor
To be hot
Tener fro
To be cold
Tener miedo de
To be afraid of
Tienes hambre?
Tenemos mucha suerte.
Los chicos tienen fro.
Uds. tienen sed?
Are you hungry?

We are very lucky.
The boys are cold.
Are you all thirsty?

Cuntos aos tienes? Tengo .....
(followed by a number expressing your age, for example; Tengo treinta y cinco)
Tienes que trabajar hoy? S, tengo que trabajar hoy. No, no tengo que trabajar hoy.
Tienes hambre ahora? S, tengo hambre ahora. No, no tengo hambre ahora
Tienes sueo ahora? S, tengo sueo ahora. No, no tengo sueo ahora.
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Disc 4
Heres another question. Can you tell what this question is asking?
Adnde vas?
Thats right, Adnde vas? means Where are you going?
Some possible answers to this question are:
Voy a casa.
Voy al trabajo.
Voy a la tienda.
I am going home.
I am going to work.
I am going to the store.
Of course, there are lots of places you might like to go. What if you dont know how to get where youre going?
In this section, youll learn the names of some places around town, and how to ask for directions.
First, here are the names of some places in town you might want to visit.
Escucha y repite:
La agencia de turismo
El almacn
El ayuntamiento
El banco
El centro
El cine
La farmacia
El hotel
La iglesia
El mercado
El museo
El parque
El supermercado
The tourism agency

The department store
The city hall
The bank
Downtown
The movie theater
The pharmacy, or the drugstore
The hotel
The church
The market
The museum
The park
The supermarket
When you want to ask about the location of something or someone, youll use the verb estar, for instance in
Dnde est la iglesia? (Where is the church?). Another verb you can use is quedar, then your question would
be Dnde queda la iglesia? Try asking the location of these places:
Cmo se dice?
Where is the museum?
Where is city hall?
Dnde est el museo? or Dnde queda el museo?

Dnde est el ayuntamiento? or Dnde queda el
ayuntamiento?
Where is the market?
Dnde est el mercado? or Dnde queda el mercado?
Where is the tourism agency?
Dnde est la agencia de turismo? or Dnde
queda la agencia de turismo?
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Disc 4
Vas al cine mucho? S, voy al cine mucho. No, no voy al cine mucho.
Compras vino en el supermercado? S, compro vino en el supermercado. No, no compro vino en el
supermercado.
Vives en el centro? S, vivo en el centro. No, no vivo en el centro.
Vas al parque mucho? S, voy al parque mucho. No, no voy al parque mucho.
Dnde compras medicina? Compro medicina en la farmacia.
Dnde miras mucha arte? Miro mucha arte en el museo.
OK, now suppose that you ask someone for directions to a place youd like to visit. Here are some words and
phrases that person might use to answer your question.
Escucha y repite:
Siga por esta calle
Siga derecho
Siga recto
Doble a la derecha
Doble a la izquierda
Cruce la calle
Continue along this street

Continue straight ahead
Turn to the right
Turn to the left
Cross the street
Una cuadra
Una manzana
Una bocacalle
Una esquina
Un semforo
Perdn
Medio/a
A block
A block
An intersection
A corner
A traffic light
Excuse me.
Half
OK, if someone gave you the following directions, what would you do?
Cruce la calle
Doble a la derecha
Doble a la derecha en la esquina
Siga derecho
Siga derecho una cuadra y media
En la bocacalle, cruce la calle
Instant Immersion
You will cross the street

You will turn to the right
Turn to the right at the corner
Continue forward ahead a block and a half
At the intersection, cross the street
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Disc 4
Something else that might come in handy when giving or following directions is a few prepositions.
Escucha y repite:
Cerca de
Lejos de
Al lado de
Enfrente de
Detrs de
Close to
Far from
Next to
In front of
Behind
Cmo se dice?
The bank is in front of the city hall.
Where is city hall?
The supermarket is not far from here.
We are in front of the park.
The movie theater is next to the hotel.
The pharmacy is on the corner.
El banco est enfrente del ayuntamiento.

Dnde est el ayuntamiento?
El supermercado no est lejos de aqu.
Estamos enfrente del parque.
El cine est al lado del hotel.
La farmacia est en la esquina.
Excelente! Ahora, escucha y repite la conversacin:

A: Perdn, seor. Buenas tardes - Excuse me, sir. Good afternoon.
B: Buenas tardes - Good afternoon.
A: Dnde est el museo? -Where is the museum? Est cerca de aqu? - Is it close to here?
B: No est lejos. - Its not far. Siga dos cuadras por esta calle. - Continue two blocks along this street.
Hay una bocacalle. - There is an intersection.
A: Sigo a la bocacalle. - I continue to the intersection.
B: S, en la bocacalle doble a la derecha. - Yes, at the intersection turn right.
A: A la derecha? - To the right?
B: S, siga dos cuadras ms. - Yes, continue two more blocks. Hay un banco en la esquina. - There is a bank
on the corner.
A: Un banco? Qu bueno! - A bank. Thats great! Necesito cambiar dinero.- I need to exchange money.
B: S, el banco est en la esquina, en el edificio viejo. - Yes, the bank is on the corner, in the old building.
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Disc 4
A: Gracias. Y hay una farmacia cerca de aqu? - Thank you, and is there a pharmacy close to here?
A: S, hay dos. - Yes, there are two. Una queda una cuadra al norte del banco. One is one block to the north
of the bank.
B: Al norte del banco. - To the north of the bank.
B: S, y para llegar a la otra, - Yes, and to get to the other doble a la izquierda en la bocacalle, - turn left at
the intersection y siga media cuadra ms. - and continue half a block further.
A: A la izquierda en la bocacalle.- To the left at the intersection.
B: S, donde est el semforo. - Yes, where the traffic light is
A: Pero el banco est a la derecha. - But the bank is to the right.
B: Correcto. - Correct.
A: Muchas gracias, seor. - Thank you very much sir.
B: No hay de que. Adis. - Dont mention it, good bye.
A: Adis. - Good bye.
This time you will hear the conversation again without the translation.
A: Perdn, seor. Buenas tardes.
B: Buenas tardes.
A: Dnde est el museo? Est cerca de aqu?
B: No est lejos. Siga dos cuadras por esta calle. Hay una bocacalle.
A: Sigo a la bocacalle.
B: S, en la bocacalle doble a la derecha.
A: A la derecha?
B: S, siga dos cuadras ms. Hay un banco en la esquina.
A: Un banco? Qu bueno! Necesito cambiar dinero.
B: S, el banco est en la esquina, en el edificio viejo.
A: Gracias. Y hay una farmacia cerca de aqu?
A: S, hay dos. Una queda una cuadra al norte del banco.
B: Al norte del banco.
B: S, y para llegar a la otra, doble a la izquierda en la bocacalle, y siga media cuadra ms.
A: A la izquierda en la bocacalle.
B: S, donde est el semforo.
A: Pero el banco est a la derecha.
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Disc 4
B: Correcto.
A: Muchas gracias, seor.
B: No hay de que. Adis.
A: Adis.
You will hear the conversation one more time, this time without pauses.
A: Perdn, seor. Buenas tardes.
B: Buenas tardes.
A: Dnde est el museo? Est cerca de aqu?
B: No est lejos. Siga dos cuadras por esta calle. Hay una bocacalle.
A: Sigo a la bocacalle.
B: S, en la bocacalle doble a la derecha.
A: A la derecha?
B: S, siga dos cuadras ms. Hay un banco en la esquina.
A: Un banco? Qu bueno! Necesito cambiar dinero.
B: S, el banco est en la esquina, en el edificio viejo.
A: Gracias. Y hay una farmacia cerca de aqu?
A: S, hay dos. Una queda una cuadra al norte del banco.
B: Al norte del banco.
B: S, y para llegar a la otra, doble a la izquierda en la bocacalle, y siga media cuadra ms.
A: A la izquierda en la bocacalle.
B: S, donde est el semforo.
A: Pero el banco est a la derecha.
B: Correcto.
A: Muchas gracias, seor.
B: No hay de que. Adis.
A: Adis.
Qu busca la mujer?
Est cerca o lejos el museo?
Adnde va la mujer para cambiar dinero?
Queda el banco en un edificio nuevo?
Qu est una cuadra al norte del banco?
Dnde est el semforo?
Busca el museo
El museo est cerca.
Va al banco
No, queda en un edificio viejo.
Una farmacia est una cuadra al norte del banco
Est en la bocacalle.

In lesson 5, you will learn the names of the days of the week, and how to tell the date.
More numbers and lots of vocabulary you can use while shopping.
Instant Immersion
45

Disc 5
Bienvenidos a leccin 5. En esta leccin vas a aprender:
-the days of the week and how to tell the date
-more numbers
-how to use haber, a very irregular verb
-how to use verbs with a stem change, a common irregularity and
-useful vocabulary for shopping (when you are studying vocabulary, some useful things to try
are: naming things in your home, in the store or elsewhere or making up a sentence or definition using the word
in Spanish).
Bueno. Primero, contesta la pregunta:
Qu mes es?
Qu estacin es?
Qu da es?
You should have given the current month, for exemple Es junio.
In our example, the answer would probably be Es verano.
To answer the question Qu da es? youll need to know the days of the week.
Aqu estn los das de la semana:

lunes
martes
mircoles
jueves
viernes
sbado
domingo
La semana
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
The week
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
Cmo se dice?
Today is Tuesday
Its Friday
The week
Hoy es martes
Es viernes
La semana
OK, lets say you also want to know the date. You can use the question Cul es la fecha? to find out. Cul is
the question which and it also has a plural form, cules. La fecha, as you may recall, is the date. Escucha y
repite:
el ao.
la fecha.
Cul es la fecha.?
Instant Immersion
the year
the date
What is the date?
46

Disc 5
To tell the date in Spanish, the structure you will use is equivalent to Its the 10 of May, en espaol Es el 10
de mayo. If its the 1st of the month, use primero (first) instead of uno; otherwise, just use the numbers youve
already learned.
Cmo se dice?
Today is the 4th of September.
Its the 13th of January.
Is it the 19th of August?
Hoy, es el cuatro de septiembre.

Es el trece de enero.
Es el diecinueve de agosto?
Muy bien! Now say you also want to talk about what year it is. How would you ask the question What year
is it? If you said Qu ao es?, thats right! Of course, to talk about years, youll need to know a few more
numbers. Ahora, vas a aprender ms nmeros. Escucha y repite:
100 (hundred), 200 (two hundred), 300 (three hundred), 400 (four hundred), 500 (five hundred), 600 (six
hundred), 700 (seven hundred), 800 (eight hundred), 900 (nine hundred), 1000 (thousand), 2000 (two thousand),
3000 (three thousand), 4000 (four thousand), 5000 (five thousand)
Cuntos son
100 + 450
1000 + 200
2000 + 313
600 + 100
550
1200
2313
700
These larger numbers may also come in handy while shopping, depending on the exchange rate and the value
per unit of the currency youre using. Next, youll practice some other vocabulary that might be useful while
shopping. First, here are some things you could be looking for in a store:
Escucha y repite:
Un mapa
Una gua turstica
La pelcula
Un rollo de pelcula
Unas pilas
Unas bateras
Un sombrero
La locin bronceadora
Una botella de agua
Las sandalias
Una toalla
El traje de bao
Una camiseta
Un suter
Un paraguas
Instant Immersion
a map
a tourist guide
the film
a roll of film
batteries
batteries
a hat
sunblock
a bottle of water
sandals
a towel
the bathing suit
a T-shirt
a sweater
an umbrella
47

Disc 5
Los zapatos
las aspirinas
una vendita
un vendaje
unos fsforos
un imperdible
una revista
un peridico
un telfono pblico
la gua telefnica
por favor
shoes
aspirins
an adhesive bandage
a bandage
matches
a safety pin
a magazine
a newspaper
a public telephone
the phone book
please
Cmo se dice?
A bathing suit
I need a bathing suit.
We need some aspirins.
Do you (Uds) have a safety pin?
Where is the film?
Un traje de bao
Necesito un traje de bao.
Necesitamos unas aspirinas.
Tienen un imperdible?
Dnde est la pelcula?

Qu son cinco cosas que traes a la playa?
Here are some possible answers: un rollo de pelcula, una botella de agua, locin bronceadora, una toalla, un
traje de bao, unas sandalias, un sombrero.
Qu buscas si tienes sed?
Busco una botella de agua.
Qu necesitas si tienes fro?
Necesito un suter.
Qu necesitas comprar si est lloviendo? Necesito comprar un paraguas.
There are different kinds of stores you could visit, depending on what you need to buy. You already know 4 of
these types of stores:
La farmacia
El mercado
El supermercado
El almacn
El quiosco
La tienda de ropa
La zapatera
La droguera
La droguera
La frutera
Instant Immersion
The pharmacy
The market
The supermarket
The department store
The kiosk or newsstand
The clothing store
The shoe store
The drugstore
The drugstore
The fruit store
48

Disc 5
You will find that the ending era is added to many types of products in the name of the store that sells
those products.
You should have recognized La farmacia, El mercado, El supermercado, and El almacn. Here are some other
words and expressions that might be handy while shopping:
caro/a
barato/a
de venta
Ir de compras
aceptar
pagar
la tarjeta de crdito
el efectivo
los cheques de viajero
el dinero
la caja
expensive
cheap or inexpensive
on sale
to go shopping
to accept
to pay
credit card
cash
travellers checks
Money
the cashier
Aceptar and pagar are regular ar verbs.

Cmo se dice?
To go shopping
I want to go shopping.
Were going to the supermarket.
The shoes are expensive.
Do you (Uds) accept credit cards?
Hes going to pay in cash.
Do you (t) have money?
Ir de compras
Deseo ir de compras.
Vamos al supermercado.
Los zapatos son caros.
Aceptan tarjetas de crdito?
Va a pagar en efectivo.
Tienes dinero?
Bien, ahora contesta la pregunta:

Dnde compras aspirinas?
Dnde compras zapatos?
Pagas mucho con tarjeta de crdito?
Vas de compras mucho?
Compro aspirinas en la farmacia o compro aspirinas en la

droguera.
Compro zapatos en la zapatera.
S, pago mucho con tarjeta de crdito. No, no pago mucho con
tarjeta de crdito.
S, voy de compras mucho. No, no voy de compras mucho.
Excelente! Lets say youre looking for something specific in the store, like a map. You could use the Uds.
form of tener to ask whether there are any maps available, as in Tienen mapas?. Another, very common way to
ask such questions is to use the very irregular verb haber. Only the 3rd person singular form of this verb is used
Instant Immersion
49

Disc 5
as a main verb; that form in the present tense is hay. Hay is translated as there is or there are. It is similar in
meaning to the verb existir. The thing which exists follows the verb haber, both in questions and in statements.
Here are some examples. Escucha y repite:
Hay mapas?
Hay pilas? Necesito pilas para mi radio.
Hay venditas?
Hay muchos edificios grandes aqu.
Hay un sombrero en la mesa.
Hay un supermercado en el centro.
Are there maps?

Are there batteries? I need batteries for my radio.
Are there adhesive bandages?
There are many large buildings here.
There is a hat on the table.
There is a supermarket downtown.
Cmo se dice?
There are good stores here.
Is there a bottle of water on the table?
Are there bathing suits?
There are bathing suits behind the towels.
Hay buenas tiendas aqu.

Hay una botella de agua en la mesa?
Hay trajes de bao?
Hay trajes de bao detrs de las toallas.
Ahora, escucha y repite la pregunta:

Cunto cuesta el sombrero?
How much does the hat cost?
This question uses a new verb, costar (to cost). Costar is whats known as a stem-changing verb. In this type
of verb, the endings are the same as those of regular verbs. However, the final vowel sound of the stem or
root of these verbs changes in some of its conjugated forms. Listen to the present-tense conjugation of costar:
cuesto
cuestas
cuesta
costamos
costis
cuestan
Did you notice that the o of the stem changed to the sound ue in all forms except nosotros and vosotros? This
is the pattern that the change in vowel sound will always follow with such verbs. It is also true that this change
occurs only when the vowel in question is in the stressed syllable of the conjugated form. Listen again to the
forms of costar and see if you can hear where the stress falls:
cuesto
cuestas
cuesta
costamos
costis
cuestan
If you are using a dictionary, the dictionary will indicate when a verb is a stem-changing verb. The change from
o to ue is one of 3 common types of stem change. Here are a few other verbs with this same type of change:
Instant Immersion
50

Disc 5
poder
dormir
volver
devolver
to be able to (poder is always followed by infinitive)

to sleep
to go back (used with people)
to return (to give back, used with things)
See if you can list the conjugated forms of dormer (to sleep).
duermo
dormimos
duermes
dorms
duerme
duermen
Great! How about poder (to be able to)?
puedo
podemos
puedes
podis
puede
pueden
Two other types of stem-change are quite common. One is the change from e to ie, as occurs in these verbs:
querer
to want
(querer can be followed by a noun or the infinitive of another verb)
preferir
to prefer
recomendar
to recommend
pensar
to think
As an example of this type, here are the present-tense forms of querer (to want):
quiero
quieres
quiere
queremos
queris
quieren
Can you conjugate preferir (to prefer)?

You should have listed these forms:
prefiero
prefieres
prefiere
preferimos
prefers
prefieren
Another common stem change is from e to i, as occurs in these verbs:

pedir
servir
Instant Immersion
to ask for or to request

to serve
51

Disc 5
As an example of this type, here are the present-tense forms of servir (to serve):
sirvo
sirves
sirve
servimos
servs
sirven
Now, can you conjugate pedir (to ask for)?

pido
pides
pide
pedimos
peds
piden

Im asking for aspirins.
We can pay in cash.
You (vosotros) can buy a map here.
Can I buy a tourist guide here?
They are sleeping in the hotel room.
Do you want to go shopping?
He prefers to shop in the supermarket.
Pido aspirinas.
Podemos pagar en efectivo.
Podis comprar un mapa aqu.
Puedo comprar una gua turstica aqu?
Duermen en la habitacin.
Quieres ir de compras?
Prefiere ir de compras en el supermercado.

S, quiero ir de compras. No, no quiero ir de compras.
Prefieres ir al cine o mirar televisin?
Prefiero ir al cine. Prefiero mirar televisin.
Puedes hablar espaol?
S, puedo hablar espaol. No, no puedo hablar espaol.
Duermes mucho?
S, duermo mucho. No, no duermo mucho.
Hay muchos parques donde vives?
S, hay muchos parques donde vivo. No, no hay muchos
parques donde vivo.
Compras zapatos en una zapatera o en un almacn?
Compro zapatos en la zapatera o Compro
zapatos en un almacn.
One other place you may want to visit while youre out shopping is the post office, el correo. Here is some
vocabulary that would be useful in the post office. Escucha y repite:
el correo
una carta
una tarjeta postal
el franqueo
un sello
Instant Immersion
post office/ mail

a letter
a postcard
the postage
a stamp
52

Disc 5
As an example of this type, here are the present-tense forms of servir (to serve):
sirvo
sirves
sirve
servimos
servs
sirven
Now, can you conjugate pedir (to ask for)?

pido
pides
pide
pedimos
peds
piden

Im asking for aspirins.
We can pay in cash.
You (vosotros) can buy a map here.
Can I buy a tourist guide here?
They are sleeping in the hotel room.
Do you want to go shopping?
He prefers to shop in the supermarket.
Pido aspirinas.
Podemos pagar en efectivo.
Podis comprar un mapa aqu.
Puedo comprar una gua turstica aqu?
Duermen en la habitacin.
Prefiere ir de compras en el supermercado.

S, quiero ir de compras. No, no quiero ir de compras.
Prefieres ir al cine o mirar televisin?
Prefiero ir al cine. Prefiero mirar televisin.
Puedes hablar espaol?
S, puedo hablar espaol. No, no puedo hablar espaol.
Duermes mucho?
S, duermo mucho. No, no duermo mucho.
Hay muchos parques donde vives?
S, hay muchos parques donde vivo. No, no hay muchos
parques donde vivo.
Compras zapatos en una zapatera o en un almacn?
Compro zapatos en la zapatera o Compro
zapatos en un almacn.
One other place you may want to visit while youre out shopping is the post office, el correo. Here is some
vocabulary that would be useful in the post office. Escucha y repite:
el correo
una carta
una tarjeta postal
el franqueo
un sello
Instant Immersion
post office/ mail

a letter
a postcard
the postage
a stamp
53

Disc 5
A: Gracias. Y hay sombreros? - Thank you. Do you have hats?
B: S, pero no muchos. - Yes, but not many. Estn detrs de las camisetas, all. -They are behind the Tshirts, over there.
A: Excelente. Y hay pelcula? - Excellent! Is there some film?
B: S, aqu al lado de las revistas. - Yes, here next to the magazines.
A: Bueno, necesito un rollo de 24, tipo 200. - OK, I need a roll of 24, 200. Gracias. Y voy a comprar este
sombrero, tambin. - Thank you, and I am going to buy this hat too.
B: Muy bien, seorita. - Very well, seorita. Va Ud. al parque Carabobo? - Are you going to Carabobo
park?
A: S, quiero ver especialmente el lago ornamental y las estatuas. - Yes, I specially want to see the
ornamental lake and the statutes.
B: El parque es muy bello. - The park is very beautiful. Tambin recomiendo la catedral. - I also
recommend the cathedral es del ao 1790. - it is from 1790. La arquitectura es maravillosa. - The
architecture is marvelous.
A: S, tambin deseo ir a la catedral. - Yes, I also want to go the cathedral. Est en el centro, no? - Its
downtown, right?
B: S, Seorita. Al sur de la plaza. - Yes, seorita, to the south of the plaza.
A: Gracias. cunto por todo? - Thank you. How much for everything?
B: A ver1250. - Let me see, 1250.
A: Bien. Aceptan tarjetas de crdito? - OK, do you accept credit cards?
B: Claro, Seorita. - Yes, we do, seorita.
A: Aqu est. - Here it is.
B: Gracias, un momento. Firme aqu, por favor. Gracias. - Thank you, one moment. Sign here please.
Thank you.
A: Gracias a Ud. adis. - Thank you, good bye.
B: Adis. - Good bye.
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54

Disc 5
This time you will hear the same conversation without the translation
En la tienda:
A: Buenos das.
B: Buenos das, seorita. A la orden.
A: Busco una gua turstica, por favor. Quiero visitar las ruinas y otros sitios histricos.
B: S seorita. Tenemos 4 guas difererentes. Aqu estn.
A: Cul de las 4 recomienda Ud.?
B: Creo que esta gua es la mejor.
A: Bueno. Cunto cuesta?
B: 120.
A: Bien, tambin necesito un mapa local.
B: Hay un mapa excelenteaqu.
A: Gracias. Y hay sombreros?
B: S, pero no muchos Estn detrs de las camisetas, all.
A: Excelente. Y hay pelcula?
B: S, aqu al lado de las revistas,
A: Bueno, necesito un rollo de 24, tipo 200. Gracias. Y voy a comprar este sombrero, tambin.
B: Muy bien, seorita. Va Ud. al parque Carabobo?
A: S, quiero ver especialmente el lago ornamental y las estatuas.
B: El parque es muy bello. Tambin recomiendo la catedral es del ao 1790. La arquitectura es maravillosa.
A: S, tambin deseo ir a la catedral. Est en el centro, no?
B: S, seorita. Al sur de la plaza.
A: Gracias. Cunto por todo?
B: A ver1250.
A: Bien. Aceptan tarjetas de crdito?
B: Claro, seorita.
A: Aqu est.
B: Gracias, un momento Firme aqu, por favor. Gracias.
A: Gracias a Ud. adis.
B: Adis.
This time you will hear the same conversation without pauses.
En la tienda
A: Buenos das.
B: Buenos das, seorita. A la orden.
A: Busco una gua turstica, por favor. Quiero visitar las ruinas y otros sitios histricos.
B: S seorita. Tenemos 4 guas difererentes. Aqu estn.
A: Cul de las 4 recomienda Ud.?
B: Creo que esta gua es la mejor.
A: Bueno. Cunto cuesta?
B: 120.
A: Bien, tambin necesito un mapa local.
Instant Immersion
55

Disc 5
B: Hay un mapa excelenteaqu.
A: Gracias. Y hay sombreros?
B: S, pero no muchos Estn detrs de las camisetas, all.
A: Excelente. Y hay pelcula?
B: S, aqu al lado de las revistas,
A: Bueno, necesito un rollo de 24, tipo 200. Gracias. Y voy a comprar este sombrero, tambin.
B: Muy bien, seorita. Va Ud. al parque Carabobo?
A: S, quiero ver especialmente el lago ornamental y las estatuas.
B: El parque es muy bello. Tambin recomiendo la catedral es del ao 1790. La arquitectura es maravillosa.
A: S, tambin deseo ir a la catedral. Est en el centro, no?
B: S, seorita. Al sur de la plaza.
A: Gracias. Cunto por todo?
B: A ver1250.
A: Bien. Aceptan tarjetas de crdito?
B: Claro, seorita.
A: Aqu est.
B: Gracias, un momento Firme aqu, por favor. Gracias.
A: Gracias a Ud. adis.
B: Adis.
Busca. Una gua turstica, un mapa local, un sombrero y un rollo
de pelcula.
Cunto cuesta la gua turstica?
Cuesta 120.
Hay sombreros en la tienda?
S, hay sombreros en la tienda.
Dnde estn los sombreros?
Estn detrs de las camisetas.
Dnde est la pelcula?
La pelcula est al lado de las revistas.
La seorita va a visitar el parque Carabobo?
S, va a visitar el parque Carabobo.
Es feo el parque?
No, es bello.
De qu ao es la catedral?
Es de 1790.
Dnde est la catedral?
Est en el centro, al sur de la plaza.
Cunto cuesta todo?
1250.
Qu son 3 cosas que busca la seorita?
Instant Immersion
56

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