The most important tool you can use to learn Spanish – or any language for that matter – are mnemonics.
A Mnemonic is a memory “trick” that is a lot of fun…and very easy to learn.
But you rarely – if ever – see it taught in traditional Spanish textbooks, classrooms or courses. […]
Here’s the free list of 119 Spanish Words about music that you can pick up and start using instantly.
119 Instant Spanish Words about music
Here’s a Free video lesson to get you speaking about music in Spanish: […]
I’ve got a new video for you today.
It’s always bothered me that most Spanish classes have no sequence.
Things just stand all alone.
That sucks! […]
This pattern is so natural you’ll be able to speak with it instantly.
Even if just starting out with Spanish the speak-to-learn video system will have you speaking in flowing sentences.
Not only is this pattern easy, it’s almost instant to use. It’ll quickly become part of your Spanish communication repertoire.
You can pick […]
Last year, I fulfilled a 20-year promise to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge around my 50th birthday.
I made two Spanish lessons about turning 50 and throwing a birthday party.
This year for my 51st birthday I’ve arranged to sleep in the Sydney zoo with my kids. […]
I‘ve got a new Spanish video for you. It’s a follow up to the one I sent a few days ago.
Like the first conversational Spanish booster this one too has lots of useful friendly conversational Spanish. It’s Spanish you can use right away in real life situations. […]
A few days ago I posted an audio lesson. Recibió muchos comentarios positivos. (It received a lot of positive comments.)
Many comments were along the lines of this one from Lynn:
Love Marcus and his methods of teaching, but for me I need to see and hear the words as I think it gives me more confidence […]
They are designed to plug right into the language patterns from Synergy Spanish.
That’ll make it easy to add everyday expressions to your repertoire and give your Spanish a natural conversational flow.
Can you do me un favor and give this audio a try. […]
In 2007 Jerry Seinfeld, the famous New York Comedian, inadvertently became a guru of getting things done.
Aspiring comedian Brad Isaac asked Jerry’s advice on how to become great. The answer is now known as the Seinfeld method of productivity.
Here’s how it works:
First you pick a fun activity you can do everyday.
To stay […]
Marcus here with a Spanish Beyond the Textbook tip for you.
It’s official I have become my dad.
Well actually my mom.
In the morning getting ready for school I used to hear my mom say, “get a wriggle on”
or
“Get a move on”.
Now my daughter has hit the age when it takes forever to get ready. Why get […]
My wife is from Mexico City. When we got married her family welcome me with open arms, except for…
a few of my wife’s male cousins who seemed a little menacing.
One pulled me aside and said you WILL look after […]
Your first challenge in moving in the Spanish speaking world is to make yourself understood. We can get you there in record time with Synergy Spanish.
But once you get in the game you’ll find there’s a new challenge. Spanish speakers speak really quickly.
I mean REALLY REALLY QUICKLY.
It takes a while for your […]
One of my favorite jokes as a 7 year old was from Blanca Nieves y los Siete Enanitos. (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.)
The dwarf in the play said, “the stepmother isn’t pretty and she isn’t ugly.”
She’s pretty ugly.
That’s pretty funny when you […]
One of the most common Spanish expressions is me gusta. You’ll use it everyday. Ten cuidado (be careful) though because it does have a red-faced-booby-trap.
One time I was left blushing when I said, “no me gusta Alejandro Fernández pero me gusta […]
Serenades still sometimes happen in Mexico.
We got woken up one night by una serenata under la ventana de nuestra vecina (our neighbor’s window).
My wife thought it was so romantic. A real life vision from the time of sus abuelos (her grandparents).
The girl didn’t seem pleased though. She just stayed inside. She didn’t even show her […]
One of the best and highest paid soccer players in the world is Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal.
Recently he was complaining that opposition players always hack him down with fouls. According to Ronaldo he gets no protection from the referees while other players are carefully watch after.
Then he added, “por ser rico por ser guapo […]
Here’s a dictionary of some of the most deceptive expressions in Spanish.
It’s an extension of the original Spanish Beyond the Dictionary, dictionary.
It’s a dictionary of Spanish words and expressions I call Comprehension Killers.
Their meanings are deceptive. They can trick you. And that makes it hard when you’re trying to keep up with […]
Here’s an extension of the Spanish Beyond the Dictionary, dictionary.
Even though you’ll hear these collocations on the streets, in the bars and cafes and all the time when Spanish speakers chat among themselves…
They can be invisible to non-native Spanish speakers.
That is until someone points them out. Then all of a sudden you start noticing […]
Most of my students are over 40 and many in their 70s and 80s. So, it was a pleasant surprise to hear from this young man. He’s about to use his Spanish ability for a new adventure. Here’s Young Joseph’s story:
Hola Marcus
I have been a student of your Shortcut to Spanish courses, Synergy Spanish, the […]
Here’s a very quick quiz,
Warning: It’s not as easy as it looks.
In fact, if you get more than 5 out of ten correct, you’ll be doing well.
How many of these very common Spanish phrases do you know? Grab a pen and translate these […]
I have always wanted something like this to offer you, and now someone else has created it… and made it free.
Best of all, it’s a great tool for understanding more of what people say to you.
You know, having a good vocabulary goes a long way to understanding more Spanish, especially when your friends speak fast. […]
Some people mentioned that they had trouble downloading the Bonus Spanish Lesson. You may remember on the page we had MP3 players so you could play the Spanish lessons online.
Looks like those players slow down the download, so here’s some direct links that will […]
Did I goof by saying that you speak to children with informal Spanish?
You may remember in my Synergy Spanish blog post, when to use Informal Spanish, I advised you to use informal Spanish when speaking to kids.
Well, it turns out that it’s not always the case, at least […]
“You can know every word in a sentence and still not understand”
That’s what the coordinator said to me when I was teaching English in Mexico to post graduate students.
You know what…
She was right, it can happen.
But she believed lack of comprehension was always about grammar and I believed it almost always about words.
You see, if […]
At times Spanish just seems to fly by so fast.
The average is 4 words per second and sometimes it seems like some people speak even faster than that.
rat at tat tat
A machine gun volley of Spanish words flying at you so fast you start to feel lost.
What can we do?
Can anything be done?
Yes, there is […]
Quite a few people asked if I would be able of help them with dealing with Spanish spoken quickly.
The answer is yes, large sections of the audio newsletter will be dedicated to training your ear for Spanish. You’ll learn to understand everyday Spanish, the way people naturally speak and express themselves, and you’ll learn to […]
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