learning-spanish-language-strategy

Learning Spanish–The Curse of Humberto

Richard Cummings

learning-spanish-language-strategyIf you intend to travel to another country to learn a language, you must focus on speaking that language and not English, otherwise you will suffer what I call The Curse of Humberto.

Have you ever fancied something that is a great challenge for you?  Perhaps you wanted to be a pianist but lacked the requisite digit dexterity?  Or you wanted to be a singer but your voice constantly fell flat?  Or you wanted to be a professional parachutist but suffered a great fear of heights?  But, in the face of these challenges, you said, “I’m going to do it anyway.”  And your passion for the pursuit overcame your limitations.

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Google Transcribe Review: A Cool New Feature of Google Translate

Richard Cummings

google-transcribe-reviewIf you enjoy using Google Translate, you’re likely to be a fan of a cool new feature that was released called Google Transcribe.

Google Transcribe, a result of Google’s cloud speech-to-text recognition, was bundled with the Google Translate app recently in March of 2020.

Simply put, Google Transcribe does live speech-to-text [which is cool by itself] but it does transcriptions from one language to another instantaneously.

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using-google-translate-pronunciation

The 5 Best Ways To Learn Spanish [2020 Edition]

Richard Cummings

using-google-translate-pronunciationWhat is the best way to learn Spanish?

Spanish is spoken widely throughout the world and in ever-increasing numbers in the United States. This is probably why so many visitors write me and ask: “What is the best way to learn Spanish?

To answer this question, we polled 1,000 people who are native English speakers and are now fluent speakers of Spanish.

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spanish-pronoun-la-le-lo-se

Spanish Pronouns: “LaLeLoSe”, A Simple Explanation

Richard Cummings

spanish-pronoun-la-le-lo-seI am going to give you a simple explanation of Spanish Pronouns and when to use “La” vs “Le” vs “Lo” vs “Se”. In fact, it might be too simple so I will also give you resources that make it more complicated.

Spanish Pronouns: What Did She Just Say?

One of the most difficult things when learning Spanish is understanding the use of pronouns. And, learning these pronouns academically is only part of the battle. The other part is actually understanding native speakers when they string all of these pronouns together.

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Spanish-Pronunciation-rules

Spanish Pronunciation: The Three Golden Rules

Richard Cummings

Spanish-Pronunciation-rulesSpeaking Spanish should be easy.

Normally, they pronounce each letter as it is. With me, the problem often lies in emphasis, in stress. Where should you place the stress on a particular word in Spanish?

In my first month Living In Uruguay, I was off to meet my friends in a salsa club on a street called Rincon. I knew that I was near the place, but I could not locate the street. I saw this amiable older women and decided to put my Spanish learning to the test.

I politely asked:

Me: Dónde está la calle Rincon? (Where is the street Rincon?)

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Spoken Spanish: Essays, Viajar de forma diferente (Paulo Coelho)

Richard Cummings

paulo-coelho-spoken-essaysThis page contains a reading in Spanish from Paulo Coelho’s book:  Como El Rio Que Fluye: Pensamientos Y Reflexiones 1998-2005.  This reading will not only provide you with the tools to learn and pronounce new vocabulary in Spanish, it will also expose you to the timeless ideas of Paulo Coelho.

Below, you will find an .mp3 version of the reading which you can play on your computer right now or download to your computer for playing locally or transferring to your phone or tablet.  The text has also been provided so that you can follow along during the reading.

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spanish-verbs

The Challenge of Learning Spanish Verbs

Richard Cummings

spanish-verbsSpanish verbs are like roadblocks.

You’re cruisin’ down the freeway, carefree with lots of momentum on your side and then, BAM, you hit a roadblock.

I had not yet learned the best ways to learn Spanish when I started my Spanish learning process on Tuesday, July 18th.  Granted, today is only Wednesday the 19th, but I must diatribe about the negative verb vibe.

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