Thursday, 5 February 2026

Thinking in Spanish

 

 Thinking in Spanish


After years of finding it difficult to get hold of a good textbook or manual that can work alongside lessons to strengthen concepts and help with further examples I found a channel on You Tube with a very similar perspective to the one I offer.



Avoid the hurdle of being constantly blocked by too much logical decision-making and instead repeat, practice, incorporate and assimilate in a more natural way. Be open to the differences and be ready to make conscious repeated practice of new patterns and expressions so they are internalised and you can let language flow more freely.


Saturday, 6 December 2025

Hola, ¿qué pasa?

 Hola, ¿qué pasa?


Una página web con muchos clips con noticias y otras cosas.

It might sound a bit robotic but this speed is good to build confidence and you have the transcripts.


Hacer clic aquí: Hola, ¿qué pasa?

Monday, 30 September 2024

Madres paralelas

 Madres paralelas


Esta película está disponible a veces en BBC iplayer. En estos momentos: octubre 2024.


En la película podemos escuchar muchas expresiones coloquiales y habituales. También podemos ver cosas culturales, como la tortilla de patatas, que es un plato muy especial en la cultura española. Es un plato que hacemos a menudo en una fiesta o en una reunión de amigos. 


Vocabulario y expresiones habituales en español

Many expressions that we use very frequently in conversation can be translated differently in different contexts. All languages have their own set of expressions used in conversation, to convey understanding, empathy, surprise, disbelief etc... and sometimes these expressions can be used in different contexts so there is no exact equivalence between languages. We can learn these expressions by listening to native speakers and paying attention to those little words or short phrases that convey so much meaning while we have a conversation. 


Listen for this in the film:


En español: Ya

Traducción en la película: Yeah

This is a very common expression we use all the time in conversation. It is used to show we understand, we follow the conversation or we acknowledge the other person´s feelings. It can also be translated as: ´I know´ or ´right´.


En español: lo sé, lo sé

Traducción: I know

En español, usamos el pronombre de objeto directo ´lo´, literalmente la traducción sería ´I know it´ pero en inglés, decimos ´I know´.


En español: ¡Cuánto tiempo!

Traducción en la película: It´s been a long time!

En otros contextos, esta expresión correspondería a ´long time no see!´ pero aquí esta traducción no sería apropiada por el contexto (two ex lovers in a possibly awkward moment of seeing each other after a while)


En español: Toma (while giving something to someone)

Traducción: Here you are (or just ´here´)


En español: Pasa, pasa

Traducción: Come in


En español: vale

Traducción: OK


En español: Está bien

Traducción: it´s OK (in this sentence, with ´it´s´, we don´t use ´vale´ but ´bien´)


En español: Ya está

Traducción en la película: that´s it

This is something we would say when we have finished doing something or we want to finish a discussion. It could be translated differently depending on the context: I´ve finished, I´m done, that´s it.


En español: Pues tú dirás

Traducción en la película: I´m listening

(Literally: ´well, you´ll say...´) This is an expression we use to show we are ready to listen to whatever the other person has to say. Another possible translation would be ´go on´ or ´go ahead´.


En español: un beso / un besito

This is a very common way to end a phone conversation or a text message/email when writing to a friend: a kiss


En español: ¿Me ayudas?

Traducción en la película: will you help me?

We use the present to indicate an imminent action. This is also very common as a way of requesting something. It seems very direct for an English speaker but the fact it´s a question and not the imperative (´ayúdame´) means it is still a gentle request, not harsh or too direct.


En español: Ha flipao (flipado)

Traducción en la película: she has flipped

Probably, the translation si rather ´she was shocked´ or ´she was in shock´.


En español: ¡Vaya!

Traducción: Oh dear

This expression can be used in many contexts to show surprise, joy, commiseration 


En español: ¡Venga!

Traducción en la película: Go on!

It can also be used to express hurry or to encourage someone to do something: come on, hurry up



In a fancy bar:

En español: ¿Qué va a tomar la señorita?

This is a very old-fashioned way of asking: what would you like to have?

It is using the third person to refer to the customer (va a tomar), as if she was royalty. This is probably still used in fancy restaurants.  

Thinking in Spanish

   Thinking in Spanish After years of finding it difficult to get hold of a good textbook or manual that can work alongside lessons to stren...