Download the following sample is from the very beginning of the volcano

***THE FOLLOWING SAMPLE IS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF
THE VOLCANO SPANISH LESSON****
__________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTOR: Volcano Spanish. Lesson 1
INSTRUCTOR: In this Spanish course, I will show you how to quickly and easily
expand your Spanish vocabulary. You may find this hard to believe, but you
already know literally thousands of Spanish words.
When you finish with this Spanish course, you will have the tools in order to build
an enormous Spanish vocabulary just by following a few simple rules and applying
them to your knowledge of the English vocabulary.
There are certain words that exist in both Spanish and English that are spelled the
same way or almost the same way, and that have the same meaning or very similar
meanings. These words are called cognates.
The Spanish language evolved from Latin over the last two thousand years.
Although the English language is not as closely related to Latin as Spanish, the
English language still borrows thousands of words from Latin. Many of these
words are the same words that Spanish uses. Spanish and English have also
borrowed many words from Greek. As a result, Spanish and English have
thousands of cognates in common. This is another reason why you can quickly
build a huge Spanish vocabulary based on the English words that you already
know.
But be aware that there are certain words that have a common origin in Latin but
have very different meanings in Spanish and English. These words are called false
cognates. You may have also heard the terms false friends or "amigos falsos." But
you should be happy to know that the overwhelming majority of these words,
which are spelled the same or almost the same, have similar meanings in the two
languages.
While learning these Spanish cognates, or Spanish words that are similar to
English words, be aware that many of these words may also have a slightly
1
different spelling from English and the pronunciation is almost always a little
different. All you have to do is make some slight changes in the spelling of many
English words and they become Spanish words. In fact, there are many Spanish
words which are spelled exactly the same way as their English counterparts.
In this lesson, you will learn about 7 groups or 7 categories of these Spanish
cognates. Let’s begin with the group of Spanish cognates that end in the letters OR. These Spanish words, which end in the letters O-R, are stressed on the last
syllable. Normally, these words are spelled the same way in both Spanish and
English.
Later in this lesson, I will have lots of interactive exercises for you to do. But for
right now, I want you to repeat the following Spanish words after the Spanish
speaker. Keep in mind that the Spanish word “el” means “the.” And the Spanish
word “un” means “a’ or “an.” Now repeat after the Spanish speaker.
(Group 1- Spanish words that end in the letters O-R)
SPANISH SPEAKER:
el actor
el autor (author)
el coautor (co-author)
el color
el director
el doctor
el humor
el motor
el error
el profesor
el tractor
el doctor
el inspector
el instructor
el opresor
el editor
un favor
un conductor
un inventor
2
interior
exterior
superior
ardor
candor
censor
fervor
furor
honor
horror
INSTRUCTOR: The next group of Spanish words, which are similar to English
words that you already know, end in the letters A-L. In most cases, you will find
that the spelling of the words are identical in the two languages. It is very
important that you repeat after the Spanish speaker if you want to develop proper
pronunciation and an authentic Latin American Spanish accent. Now repeat the
following Spanish words:
(Group 2- Spanish words that end in the letters A-L)
SPANISH SPEAKER:
abdominal
accidental
animal
anual
arsenal
artificial
brutal
canal
capital
carnal
catedral (cathedral)
central
***THE FOLLOWING SAMPLE IS FROM 3/4 INTO THE VOLCANO
SPANISH LESSON****
__________________________________________________________________
3
INSTRUCTOR: Now let’s do an exercise. I will say a phrase in English and then
you will translate the phrase by saying it in Spanish. The Spanish speaker will then
say the correct response in Spanish. Be sure to say the correct answer before the
Spanish speaker and then make sure that you repeat the correct answer after the
Spanish speaker in order to make sure that you develop an authentic Latin
American Spanish accent.
I will assume that you already know the following:
The Spanish word “es” means “is.” Although, there are actually two ways to say
“is” in Spanish, in this lesson we will use the Spanish word “es.” And in order to
say “is not” we will use the Spanish phrase “no es.” As a reminder, the Spanish
word “un” means “a’ or “an.”
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice? How do you say?: The cable is important.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El cable es importante.
INSTRUCTOR: The phrase ¿Cómo se dice? means “how do you say?” or “how
does one say?
INSTRUCTOR:¿Cómo se dice?: The cable is not important.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El cable no es importante.
INSTRUCTOR: Make sure that you say the correct answer before the Spanish
speaker says it. And then repeat the correct answer after the Spanish speaker in
order to make sure that you develop an authentic Latin American Spanish accent.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The animal is important.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El animal es importante.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The professor is important.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El profesor es importante.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The actor is romantic.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El actor es romántico.
4
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The actor is NOT romantic.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El actor no es romántico.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The criminal is brutal.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El criminal es brutal.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The monument is essential.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El monumento es esencial.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The festival is special.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El festival es especial.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The doctor is competent.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El doctor es competente.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The doctor is incompetent.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El doctor es incompetente.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The instructor is intelligent.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El instructor es inteligente.
INSTRUCTOR: . ¿Cómo se dice?: The hosptial is excellent.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El hospital es excelente.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The cereal is horrible.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El cereal es horrible.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The restaurant is terrible.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El restaurante es terrible.
5
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The president is sociable.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El presidente es sociable.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The cable is flexible.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El cable es flexible.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The material is durable.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El material es durable.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The president is democratic.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El presidente es democrático.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The author is cordial.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El autor es cordial.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: The lubricant is transparent.
SPANISH SPEAKER: El lubricante es transparente.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se dice?: An accident is tragic.
SPANISH SPEAKER: Un accidente es trágico.
INSTRUCTOR: You can change the above sentences into questions just by
changing the word order. For example, ¿Es sociable el presidente? means “is the
president sociable?” But in normal, everyday conversational Spanish, you are more
likely to hear Spanish speakers use the same word order as a sentence and then
simply add a rising intonation at the end of the sentence in order to ask a question.
For example, ¿El presidente es sociable? English speakers commonly ask
questions the same way in English. For example, I can ask “is the president
sociable?” Or I can use the same word order as a sentence and add a rising
intonation at the end of the sentence in order to form a question. For example, I can
ask “the president is sociable?”
6
INSTRUCTOR: Let’s do another exercise. I will say a question in English and
then you will translate it by asking the same question in Spanish. Use the same
word order as a sentence but add a rising intonation at the end in order to form a
question. Make sure that you say the question in Spanish before the Spanish
speaker. And then repeat the question after the Spanish speaker in order to make
sure that you develop proper pronunciation and an authentic Latin American
Spanish accent.
INSTRUCTOR: ¿Cómo se pregunta? How do you ask?: Is the cable is
important?
7