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Introduction

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

¡Empezamos! Let´s begin!

Let’s begin an exciting learning journey together in this beginners Spanish course, Getting started with Spanish 1

This might be the first time that you’ve tried learning Spanish or you may have picked up some words and phrases from perhaps travelling across the Spanish-speaking world. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a total beginner or not, we hope that you’ll enjoy this course.

This two-week course is the start of your learning journey. Each week comprises 3–4 hours of interactive activities, explanations and tips about language-learning. It’s a good idea to keep notes either on paper in a notebook or on your preferred digital device; in any case each week you’ll be encouraged to add to your own personal phrase book and decide how best you can go about memorising and practising key phrases and vocabulary. There’s also a weekly quiz for you to practise what you’ve been learning.

You’ll start by learning how to say hello and goodbye at different times of the day. You’ll also learn how to say your name. And you’ll begin to use your language notebook to make a note of the points you want to remember, such as important words, grammar rules, or expressions.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

pronounce vowel sounds and the letter 'h' in Spanish
understand how to type the special characters á é ñ ¿
make introductions using both formal and informal expressions
greet people at different times of the day
recognise the value of keeping a language notebook.

Enjoy the journey!

Open Centre for Languages and Cultures

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

This course has been developed from extract parts of LXS001 - Beginners Spanish 1: ¡Empezamos!. The Open University has launched a dedicated learning centre called The Open Centre for Languages and Cultures. OpenLearn is supporting this project and is providing extracted units of all courses on The Open Centre in our dedicated Language and Cultures Hub.

The Open Centre for Languages and Cultures is the exciting new home for non-accredited language and intercultural communication short courses. You can study a wide range of language and language related subjects with us anywhere in the world, in any time zone, whatever your motivation – leisure, professional development or academic.

It’s the one stop shop for engaging with languages, professional communication and intercultural dialogue.

Our short courses allow us to be agile and responsive to the needs of learners who want to be part of a global society. We offer non-accredited short courses in a range of subjects including modern languages and languages for business and the workplace. We are also leading the way in developing short courses for academic research methods and pre-sessional English with IELTS, which will be available for registration in due course.

The Open Centre for Languages and Cultures is an international leader in online language learning and intercultural communications, built on our pioneering pedagogy and research.

What makes the Open Centre different?

The OU is the leader in online learning and teaching with a heritage of more than 50 years helping students achieve their learning ambitions.
The short courses are underpinned by academic rigour and designed by native speakers experienced in producing engaging materials for online learning of languages and cultures.
The graduating nature of the courses means that learners can build up their language and skills over time.
Learners will also gain a better understanding of the culture(s) associated with the language(s) they study enabling the development of intercultural communication skills.
Learners can mix and match the short courses and study more than one course at a time.

Once this course is complete you will be directed to OpenLearn’s hub for language content where you will be able to build on your newly found language skills.

Now that you’re fully prepared, it’s time to start on Week 1.

Introduction

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Spanish (castellano or español), in its various forms, is the official language in 23 countries, and is spoken in many more. It is the world’s second most spoken first language with millions of learners speaking it as a second or foreign language too.

This week you will learn how to greet people in the Spanish-speaking world, as well as be introduced to some basic Spanish pronunciation.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course LXS001 Beginners Spanish 1: ¡Empezamos!.

1 Greetings

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Learning how to greet someone in another language is not just about learning the right words. Each culture has different customs which may vary, for example according to gender or level of familiarity. Let’s first look at how people greet each other in the Spanish-speaking world.

Table _unit2.2.1 Table 1 Expressions used for greetings

Hola.	Hello.
Buenos días	Good morning
¿Qué tal? / ¿Cómo estás?	How are you?
Muy bien, gracias.	Very well, thank you.
¿Y tú?	And you?

Activity _unit2.2.1 Activity 1

Listen to the following people greeting each other and tick the names that you hear. You will hear five names altogether.

Download this audio clip.Audio player: lxs001_wk1_act_aud001.mp3

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Transcript

Listen to these greetings.

—¡Hola!

—Hola, Antonio. ¿Qué tal?

—Hola, Marta, muy bien, ¿y tú?

—Muy bien, muy bien…

—Hola, buenos días.

—Buenos días, señor González.

—Hombre, Manolo, ¿cómo estás?

—Hola, Lucía. Muy bien. ¿Y tú?

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Now listen to the conversation again and tick the greetings that are used.

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Transcript

Listen to these greetings.

—¡Hola!

—Hola, Antonio. ¿Qué tal?

—Hola, Marta, muy bien, ¿y tú?

—Muy bien, muy bien…

—Hola, buenos días.

—Buenos días, señor González.

—Hombre, Manolo, ¿cómo estás?

—Hola, Lucía. Muy bien. ¿Y tú?

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In Spanish and Latin American countries it is customary to greet female friends and family members by kissing them on one or both cheeks. Among men it is more usual to greet friends with a hug or a pat on the back, although some male relatives and friends kiss as well. In formal or business situations the norm is to shake hands.

Long description

The best way of judging what to do and thereby avoiding appearing too formal is to follow the lead of others or wait to see whether the person you are meeting offers an outstretched hand or leans towards you.

2 Spanish vowels

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

In Spanish there are only five vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, u. These vowels are pronounced with a steady sound of similar length and quality whatever their position in the word. So whether the vowel is at the start, in the middle or at the end of the word – and even when two vowels appear together in a word – each vowel retains its own sound; for example, the sound of the letter ‘o’ is the same in Olga, Curro and Asunción.

Activity _unit2.3.1 Activity 2

Listen and repeat the five vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u) and the Spanish names that you hear. Record yourself as you do this and then listen back to your recording and compare it to the models. You can record yourself as many times as you wish by pressing ‘Re-record’ or ‘Start again’; your last recording will be saved.

3 Listening practice

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Now have a go at Activity 3.

Activity _unit2.4.1 Activity 3

Look at the following names and notice where there are two vowels together. Listen and repeat the names out loud, paying attention to the vowel sounds. Make sure that you pronounce a single steady sound for each vowel.

Matías, Eulalia, Consuelo, Juan, Ignacio, Sebastián, Asunción

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Transcript

Listen to the following names and pay attention to the pronunciation of the vowels, particularly where there are two vowels together.

Matías (Matías)

Eulalia (Eulalia)

Consuelo (Consuelo)

Juan (Juan)

Ignacio (Ignacio)

Sebastián (Sebastián)

Asunción (Asunción)

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Now listen to the audio below and click all the names that you hear.

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Listen to the following names.

(Antonio) An-to-nio

(Elena) E-le-na

(Isabel) I-sa-bel

(Octavio) Oc-ta-vio

(Umberto) Um-ber-to

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4 Pronunciation of the letter ‘h’

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

You will now look at how to pronounce the letter ‘h’ in Spanish.

Activity _unit2.5.1 Activity 4

Listen and pay attention to the pronunciation of the letter ‘h’. How would you describe the way in which this letter is pronounced in Spanish?

hola, Horacio, historia, hotel, hospital, Helena, Honduras, alcohol

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Listen to the following words and repeat them out loud. You can also record yourself and listen back to your pronunciation.

hola Horacio historia hotel hospital Helena Honduras alcohol

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Discussion

Notice that the ‘h’ isn’t sounded at all in Spanish, whether it’s at the beginning or in the middle of a word. This is one of the few exceptions to the rule of sound–letter correspondence in Spanish.

Box _unit2.5.1

Sound–letter correspondence in Spanish

Most sounds in Spanish are represented by a single letter. This is true for all vowel sounds and also for most of the consonant sounds, with a few exceptions. This makes reading and writing much easier than in some other languages, even when you have never seen or heard a word before.

You will now hear the same words one by one. Listen again and practise repeating each word out loud. Record yourself as you do this and then listen back to your recording and compare it to the model.

5 Greetings at different times of the day

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Table 2 lists greetings for different times of the day.

Table _unit2.6.1 Table 2 Greetings for the morning, afternoon and evening

Buenos días.	Good morning
Buenas tardes.	Good afternoon. / Good evening
Buenas noches.	Good evening. / Good night

Buenos días is used in the morning and, in Spain, until lunchtime, even if lunchtime is at 2 or 3 p.m. Buenas tardes is used until around 8 o’clock, and from then on Buenas noches is used.

Activity _unit2.6.1 Activity 5

Listen to the following people greeting each other and click how many times each of the following expressions is used.

Buenos días • Buenas tardes • Buenas noches

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Listen to people using greetings at different times of day.

—Hola, buenos días.

—Buenos días.

—Señoras, señores, buenas tardes y bienvenidos a la Conferencia Anual de la Asociación de...

—Buenas noches.

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How many times is buenos días used?

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How many times is buenas tardes used?

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How many times is buenas noches used?

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Activity _unit2.6.2 Activity 6

Match each greeting with the correct speech bubble.

Figure _unit2.6.1 Figure 1 a) top left, b) far top right, c) top right, d) bottom

Long description

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6 Saying goodbye

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

The most common expressions for saying goodbye in Spanish are given in Table 3.

Table _unit2.7.1 Table 3 How to say goodbye

¡Adiós!	Goodbye!
¡Hasta luego!	See you later.
¡Hasta mañana!	See you tomorrow.
¡Chao! / ¡Chaíto! (LAm)	Bye!

Long description

Many people tend to reply using the expression that they have just heard. If someone says, “¡Hasta luego!” the other speaker often replies “¡Hasta luego!” too.

Activity _unit2.7.1 Activity 7

Listen to the following people saying goodbye to their friends. Match the person’s name to the expression that he or she uses.

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Listen to these ways of saying goodbye.

—¡Hasta luego, Pedro!

—¡Hasta luego!

—¡Adiós, Clara!

—¡Adiós, adiós!

—¡Chao, Liliana!

—¡Chaíto!

—¡Hasta mañana!

—¡Hasta mañana, Aurora!

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Activity _unit2.7.2 Activity 8

Now listen to the greetings and respond with the same greeting.

Activity _unit2.7.3 Activity 9

Now, to revise the language you have learned so far in this course, listen and take part in the dialogues, following the instructions given in the prompts. Say your responses out loud.

Listen and take part in the dialogue

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Listen to the dialogues and reply following the prompts, as in the example.

Ejemplo

You hear: Buenos días.

(Say ‘Good morning.’)

You say: Buenos días.

You hear the model answer: Buenos días.

Now it’s your turn.

[Alarm clock rings.]

—Buenos días.

(Say ‘Good morning.’)

—Buenos días.

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—Hola, buenas tardes.

(Say ‘Good afternoon.’)

—Buenas tardes.

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—Adiós.

(Say ‘Goodbye’ to María Luisa.)

—Adiós, María Luisa.

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—Hasta mañana.

(Say ‘Goodbye, see you tomorrow.’)

—Adiós, hasta mañana.

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—Hola.

(Say ‘Hello, how are you?’)

—Hola, ¿qué tal?

—Muy bien, ¿y tú?

(Say ‘Very well, thanks.’)

—Muy bien, gracias.

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—Hola, ¿cómo estás?

(Say ‘Very well, thanks, and you?’)

—Muy bien, gracias, ¿y tú?

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7 Typing special characters

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Spanish has a variety of accented and special characters and it is important that you use them in writing. The quizzes in this course will mark your answer as incorrect if you leave out an accent which should be there! If you are typing a document, there are several ways of producing these characters depending on the device and the keyboard.

Mobile devices

On most mobile devices with a keyboard on its touchscreen, such as Android or Apple smartphones or tablets, the easiest way to produce an accented character is to press and hold the letter, wait for a popup showing all the possible accents, then slide your finger onto the one you want and let go.

PC

On a PC, desktop or laptop, with a physical keyboard, there are three ways to produce these characters:

Press Ctrl and an accent symbol, then the letter; the accent symbol is ‘ (apostrophe) : (colon) or ~ (tilde). This works in Microsoft Office (including Microsoft Word) on recent computers, but it may not work on older computers or with other applications. You also cannot produce ¿ or ¡ this way.
Hold down the Alt key and type a number code on the numeric keypad; you may need to have the Num Lock on for this to work. Note: you cannot use the number keys above the letters; if your keyboard does not have a numeric keypad (and some laptops do not), then this option is not available to you. The number codes to use are in this ‘Accented character number codes’ document.
In Microsoft Word, on the ‘Insert’ tab, click on ‘Symbols’ then ‘Symbol’ then ‘More symbols’; from the table, choose the character you want and click ‘Insert’.

Mac

On a Mac, desktop or laptop, with a physical keyboard:

for accented vowels, press Option and e, then the vowel key
for ñ, press Option and n, then n
for ü, press Option and u, then u
for ¿, press Option and Shift and ?
for ¡, press Option and 1.

Whichever option you use, make sure you can type all of these characters: á é í ó ú ü ñ ¿ ¡

If you have difficulty, try the Spanish dict or Macworld websites, or search the web for “Accented or special characters on [manufacturer and model of your device OR the name of your software]”.

Activity _unit2.8.1 Activity 10

Try typing the following characters, words and phrases in the box below.

á
é
ñ
¿
Adiós
Hasta mañana
inglés

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Discussion

As you’ve probably realised, if the accented letter you want is already somewhere on your screen, then a further way of writing it is to copy and paste it where you want it to go! But you can’t always count on having an example of the accented letter to hand, so you need to know how to produce them for yourself. It may feel cumbersome to start with, but it will soon become second nature.

8 This week's quiz

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week quiz.

Week 1 quiz

Open the quiz in a new window or tab (by holding ctrl [or cmd on a Mac] when you click the link), then return here when you have done it.

9 Summary of Week 1

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Now you have reached the end of Week 1, reflect a little on what you have learnt.

Activity _unit2.10.1 Week 1 Reflection

In the boxes below, note down what you have found easy, useful or fun, and what was more difficult. If you would like, you can download your weekly reflections.

What was easy, useful or fun this week?

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What was more difficult?

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What do I need to practice?

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¡Enhorabuena!

You have come to the end of Week 1. Next week you’ll be learning how to introduce yourself and other people in formal and informal situations, and you’ll be able to work further on your pronunciation and listening skills.

¡Hasta la semana que viene!

Introduction

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

¡Bienvenido/a a semana 2! Welcome to Week 2!

Long description

It’s natural to ask someone’s name when you first meet them, but you don’t always meet people in the same circumstances. Meeting a parent at a children’s birthday party is not the same as meeting the person who’s going to interview you for a job.

This week you’ll learn the formal and informal expressions used in Spanish to introduce yourself when you meet people for the first time.

Keep writing in your language notebook the things you want to remember. We’ll give you some more tips for this such as adding examples to your notes.

Enjoy the week!

1 Saying your name

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

To start this week, you will learn how to say your name using the verb ser (‘to be’).

Box _unit3.2.1 Verbs: ser (‘to be’)

Verbs in Spanish are conjugated; this means that they change according to which person they refer to. For most verbs, conjugating involves changing the verb ending, but ser and a few other commonly used verbs are irregular which means you need to learn the different forms individually.

Table _unit3.2.1 Table 1 Ser (‘to be’)

	ser
(yo)	soy	I am
(tú)	eres	you are
(usted)	es	you are
(él, ella)	es	he, she is

Soy Martín.		I’m Martín.
¿Eres Mónica?		Are you Mónica?
¿Usted es la señora Pérez?		Are you Mrs Pérez?
Es José María.		He is José María.

Note that in Spanish it is not always necessary to use the personal pronouns for ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’ or ‘she’.

Activity _unit3.2.1 Activity 1

Listen to the audio, in which people are saying their names, and write down the word they all use before saying it.

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Transcript

Listen to people saying their names.

Soy Susana.

Hola, soy Jennifer.

Soy la señora Planas.

Soy Esteban Juárez Torres.

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2 Formal and informal form of address

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

The use of tú and usted for ‘you’ in the singular varies across the Spanish-speaking world.

In Spain, the informal tú is used increasingly not just with friends and family, but among people of the same age in general. Nowadays usted is restricted to formal situations or when addressing elderly people, as a mark of respect, courtesy or polite distance.

Figure _unit3.3.1 Figure 1 Introductions

Long description

In Latin America, the use of usted is the norm in most countries, sometimes even among family members, and tú is used in very few situations. There are differences from country to country, with the use of tú being more widespread in the coastal Caribbean areas, whilst in the Andean areas of Colombia or Venezuela usted is used even between siblings.

Activity _unit3.3.1 Activity 2

Listen to the recording and decide whether people are being addressed using tú or usted.

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Transcript

Listen to these examples of people asking and giving their names. Is the questioner using tú or usted?

—¿Eres Eduardo?

—Sí, soy Eduardo.

—Hola, ¿qué tal? Soy Vanesa.

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—Hola, ¿eres Mónica?

—Sí, soy Mónica.

—Hola, Mónica, ¿qué tal?

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—Buenos días, soy Damián Álvarez. ¿Es usted la señora Manetti?

—Sí, soy Luz Manetti.

—Buenos días, señora Manetti.

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—¿Eres Maribel?

—Sí, soy yo, Maribel Estévez.

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—¿Usted es el señor Llorente?

—Sí, Julián Llorente, buenos días.

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3 Practising the verb ser

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Personal pronouns are used to refer to a person when their name is not being used. In Spanish, the personal pronouns for the singular are shown in Table 2.

Table _unit3.4.1 Table 2 Personal pronouns

yo	I
tú/usted	you
él/ella	he/she

However, personal pronouns in Spanish are optional as the verb already has information about the person.

Example _unit3.4.1

Soy Antonia. – I’m Antonia.

(Soy already signals that it is first person singular.)

When personal pronouns are used, it is generally for emphasis, contrast, or to avoid ambiguity.

Example _unit3.4.2

Soy José María. – I’m José María.

Pues yo soy María Teresa. – Well, I’m María Teresa.

Y yo soy Juan Manuel. – And I’m Juan Manuel.

Activity _unit3.4.1 Activity 3

You will now take part in short dialogues where you will say your name and ask for other people’s. Listen and take part in the introductions by following the prompts. In some cases you will have to decide whether to use tú or usted.

4 Asking and giving names with llamarse

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

The verb llamarse (‘to be called’) is generally used when asking or giving names. To ask someone’s name, you can use one of these two expressions:

¿Cómo te llamas? – (tú, you)
¿Cómo se llama? – (usted, él/ella, you, he/she, it)

Table _unit3.5.1 Table 3 Giving your name using llamarse

me llamo

Me llamo José Antonio.

My name is José Antonio.

lit. ‘I am called…’)

te llamas

¿Cómo te llamas?

What’s your name?

(lit. ‘What are you called?’)

se llama

¿Cómo se llama?

Se llama María del Pilar.

Her name is María del Pilar.

Activity _unit3.5.1 Activity 4

Part 1

Read out loud these key phrases as you listen to them.

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¿Cómo te llamas?

Me llamo Teresa.

Soy María.

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Part 2

Activity _unit3.5.2 Activity 5

You will now take part in some short dialogues. First, you will hear the example below. Listen to it and then continue answering the questions you hear in the same way.

Example _unit3.5.1 Example

You hear: —¿Cómo te llamas? (Josefina)

You say: —Me llamo Josefina

5 Introducing people to each other

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

To introduce people in formal situations in Spanish, you can use the following expressions:

Example _unit3.6.1

Le presento a Carlos Frutos. – Let me introduce Carlos Frutos.

Le presento a la señora Serra. – Let me introduce Mrs Serra.

Le presento al* señor Bustos. – Let me introduce Mr Bustos.

(* a + el → al)

To introduce people in informal situations in Spanish, you can use the following expressions:

Example _unit3.6.2

Este es Carlos. – This is Carlos.

Esta es Consuelo. – This is Consuelo.

Note that you use este when introducing a male, and esta when introducing a female. You can also just motion to each person as you say their name.

If the situation is formal, you can reply as follows.

Mucho gusto.
Encantado. – ‘Pleased to meet you.’
Encantada.

If the situation is less formal, you can respond witht the following:

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?
¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? – ‘Hello, how are you?’

Activity _unit3.6.1 Activity 6

Listen to people being introduced and decide whether the situation is formal or informal.

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Transcript

Listen to people being introduced and decide whether the situation is formal or informal.

(a)

Cristina

¡Hola, Fernando!

Fernando

¡Hola, Cristina! Mira, esta es María, una amiga. Y esta Liliana, mi pareja.

María

Hola.

Liliana

Hola, ¿qué tal?

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Discussion

In dialogue (a) the language used is informal: “Esta es…’’, “¡Hola, ¿qué tal?”. Fernando is introducing his friend María and his partner Liliana to another friend of his, Cristina.

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Transcript

(b)

Sra. García

¡Buenos días, señora Hernández! ¿Cómo está?

Sra. Hernández

Bien, gracias.

Sra. García

Le presento al señor Fernando Cortés, un colega.

Sra. Hernández

¡Encantada!

Sr. Cortés

¡Encantado!

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Discussion

In dialogue (b) the language used is formal: “señora Hernández”, “señor Fernando Cortés”, “le presento”, etc. This conversation takes place in a work context, and the participants haven’t met before.

Activity _unit3.6.2 Activity 7

Listen to the audio below in which you are introduced to a number of people. Respond to the introduction formally or informally according to how they are introduced to you. Say your response out loud. A model answer is provided in the recording, although this may differ from the response you choose.

Note that encantada is said by a woman, encantado by a man; it does not depend on the gender of the person addressed, but on the gender of the person speaking.

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Transcript

Listen to these introductions and respond appropriately.

1. Le presento a la señora García.

—¡Encantada!

2. Este es Luis.

—Hola, ¿qué tal?

3. Le presento a María del Mar Quintero.

Mucho gusto.

4. Esta es Lucía.

—Hola, ¿qué tal?

5. Le presento al señor Torres.

—¡Encantado!

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6 Giving information about people you are introducing

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

You can give more information about the person you are introducing by saying how they are related to you, or how you know them.

Example _unit3.7.1

Este es Andrés, mi marido. – This is Andrés, my husband.

Esta es Begoña, mi esposa. – This is Begoña, my wife.

Esta es mi amiga Isabel. – This is my friend Isabel.

Este es Fede, un amigo del colegio. – This is Fede, a school friend.

Esta es Laura, una vecina. – This is Laura, a neighbour.

Activity _unit3.7.1 Activity 8

Look at the way the lady in Figure 2 introduces her son Ernesto and her grandson Quique. Then fill in the gaps to write full sentences to introduce each person, giving some information about who they are. Follow the example.

Figure _unit3.7.1 Figure 2

Long description

Example _unit3.7.2 Example:

______ es Mireia, mi amiga

Esta es Mireia, mi amiga.

7 Introducing people you know

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

You now know how to greet and introduce people in different situations. Read through Table 4 which lists some more key phrases to use when introducing people you know.

Table _unit3.8.1 Table 4 Key phrases when introducing people

Le presento al señor Iturri.	This is Mr Iturri.
Mucho gusto.	Pleased to meet you.
¡Encantado! / ¡Encantada!	Pleased to meet you.
Este es Jorge, un amigo.	This is Jorge, a friend.
¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?	Hello! How are you?

Based on what you have learned so far in this course, now have a go at Activity 9.

Activity _unit3.8.1 Activity 9

Read the key phrases in Table 4 as you listen to them in the audio below. Click on pause so you can repeat them out loud one at a time.

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Le presento al señor Iturri.

Mucho gusto.

¡Encantado! / ¡Encantada!

Este es Jorge, un amigo.

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?

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Now record yourself introducing people you know. Firstly write down the names of 6 to 8 people you know, such as colleagues, friends or relatives. Then write a sentence to introduce each person, like in the example.

Example _unit3.8.1 Examples

Les presento a Gonzalo Blázquez, mi jefe.

Esta es María, mi hermana.

Key points _unit3.8.1

jefe/jefa – boss

amigo/amiga – friend

vecino/vecina – neighbour

compañero/compañera – colleague

ayudante – assistant

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9 Language notebook

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Remember to take down notes in your language notebook of the things you want to remember.

When you note down a grammar rule, it is a good idea to write down a couple of examples, too, as this will help you to remember quickly how the rules are applied.

When you note down a table or a vocabulary list, it is useful to write down a couple of sentences that would be relevant to you and you could potentially use. For example, if you write down the alphabet, you can also write down how to spell your name, surname and place of birth.

10 This week’s quiz

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

Check what you’ve learned this week by taking the end-of-week quiz.

Week 2 quiz

Open the quiz in a new window or tab (by holding ctrl [or cmd on a Mac] when you click the link), then return here when you have done it.

11 Summary of Week 2

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

You have now completed Getting started with Spanish 1. We hope you have enjoyed it.

If you haven’t done so already, start up a notebook to keep a record of things you learn as you go. This notebook will be your essential companion throughout your studies. When learning a language you may want to keep notes on the main points to remember, such as grammar rules, words or useful expressions.

Revise all the new words and expressions covered this week and try to memorise them. Revisiting them at regular intervals will help you keep everything you have learnt fresh in your memory and ready to use. You can also have mini-conversations with yourself.

Take some time to listen to the audios again and try to repeat out loud what you hear and reflect on what you’ve been doing this week.

Activity _unit3.12.1 Week 2 Reflection

What was easy, useful or fun this week?

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What was more difficult?

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What do I need to practice?

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This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University badged course LXS001 Beginners Spanish 1: ¡Empezamos!.

Visit the OpenLearn’s hub for language content where you will be able to build on your newly found language skills.

Acknowledgements

The Open University — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:44:55 GMT

This free course was first published in February 2021.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence.

The material acknowledged below and within the course is Proprietary and used under licence (not subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this free course:

Images

Introduction

Course image: Photo by Alex Azabache on Unsplash

Introduction: (c) Fernando Rosell Aguilar

Week 1

Week 1, Section 1: (c) Mike Truman

Week 1, Section 6: lightfieldstudios/iStock/Getty

Week 2

Week 2, Introduction: istockphoto.com / DragonImages

Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.

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