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Welcome to OuterSpanish -- Learn Spanish free and online!
Thousands of people want to learn Spanish each and every day for a number of reasons ranging from wanting to live abroad in a Spanish-speaking country or for career reasons, or simply just to travel, teach or merely to learn a new culture. Whatever the reason you seek to learn Spanish, OuterSpanish is here to help you learn Spanish.
Learn Spanish Grammar - It's Important!
The main focus of this free online learn Spanish resources is Spanish grammar. You must learn Spanish grammar - the building blocks to reading, writing, speaking and understanding Spanish. The key is to start with one Spanish grammar lesson and feel comfortable with your understanding of it before moving on to the next Spanish grammar lesson, as each progressive lesson will incorporate the Spanish grammar you previously learned.
Speak Spanish, Don't Be Afraid!
To learn Spanish grammar alone is not enough. You have to practice speaking Spanish! You'll make errors and you may even feel stupid when you do. You simply have to get over the fear of making errors and throw yourself out there. If you allow yourself to take chances while you learn Spanish, you won't be as shy, and consequently, you'll practice speaking more Spanish, making more errors and learning from your errors. It's almost a one step back, two steps forward concept. Check out Mixxer, a free site to find native Spanish speakers to do a language exchange.
Listen to Native Spanish Speakers!
The other key development when you learn Spanish is Spanish listening comprehension. The best way to do this is to become comfortable listening to native Spanish speakers. But Spanish grammar plays a big part in this, also. As your Spanish grammar skills improve, so will your ability to understand native Spanish speakers. Also check out Yabla Spanish (LoMás TV)! If you're looking for learn Spanish podcasts, check out SpanishPod.
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If you're looking for a Spanish instructor or tutor, check out Craigslist or try a free lesson from NuLengua, where you can find your own Spanish tutor for as little as $9 per hour. And if you have children or you're looking to teach a toddler Spanish, check out Little PIM.
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About.com Spanish Language
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The Second Conjugation To Learn
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If you're new to Spanish and the matter of verb conjugation, chances are that the first conjugation set you learned was that of the present tense indicative. A good second conjugation to learn is that of the imperfect indicative: It's an easy form to learn, few verbs are irregular in that tense, and it's quite commonly used.
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Honduran Media Provide Fascinating Look at Coup Aftermath
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| It would be hard to come up with a more dramatic political turn of events than has taken place in Honduras this week — and if you know Spanish, the Honduran news media are providing a fascinating look at the politics, passions and intrigue that surround Sunday's coup and its aftermath. The best Spanish-language Honduran sources for news of developments include these: - El Heraldo.hn, a typical online newspaper from Tegucigalpa, the nation's capital.
- Tiempo.hn, from San Pedro Sula, Honduras' industrial capital. This is a great site for pictures, plus you can view the full print edition.
- La Prensa.hn, also from San Pedro Sula. Along with quality video, this news source comes with a clear point of view: "No al chavismo", claman miles de hondureños, reads the current headline. "No to Chavism, thousands of Hondurans cry out," a reference to Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez.
If you can pay attention to cognates and are aware of the basic background of developments, you might be able to understand much of the gist of the articles with a basic knowledge of Spanish. Here are some other words that appears frequently in the articles:
- apoyar, apoyo — support.
- catracho — colloquial term for a resident of Honduras.
- golpe — coup.
- manifestante — protester.
- multitudinario — relating to a crowd or mass of people.
- Mel — the nickname for Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president.
- pancarta — placard
To briefly summarize developments to date: The fairly unpopular President Zelaya, who has moved politically to the left since his election three years ago, was ousted over the weekend in a military-led coup that had the support of many other political leaders, who promise new elections later this year. He was replaced by an interim president, Roberto Micheletti. Those who ousted Zelaya, now in Panama, say it wasn't a coup at all, but a constitutional removal from office. Zelaya has received official support from the United Nations and many other countries in the Western Hemisphere, who continue to recognize him as the lawful leader. He promises to return to the country in a few days, but those now in power are threatening him with arrest.
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Continuing With Seguir
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Just because the dictionary might tell you what a Spanish word means doesn't mean you can always translate it that way and still sound like you're speaking natural English. For example, seguir typically carries the idea of "to continue." So you could try translating "Siguen sin pagarme" as "They continue without paying me." But there's a more natural way of getting that idea across, as our lesson on seguir shows.
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Counting on Contar
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It's fairly obvious that the word "count" in the sentence "I can count on you," and the word "count" in "I can count with my fingers" don't mean the same thing. The same is true with the Spanish equivalents for the verb contar: "Puedo contar contigo" and "Puedo contar con los dedos." And as our new lesson on contar explains, contar also has some other meanings that "count" doesn't have.
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Translating "For" in Time Expressions
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There's no single way to translate the word "for" in time expressions such as "for one year." As explained in today's featured lesson, how you express that concept in Spanish depends, among other things, on the length of time, when the specified activity occurred and whether it is still occurring.
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