level A2

Spanish academies in Madrid - The Spanish blog - Contrast of pasts

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Hello #Vivers! As you know, our Spanish School is located in the center of Madrid, a few meters from Puerta del Sol. Our classrooms have a maximum of 10 students, and all our teachers are passionate about teaching Spanish. This week with the A2 and B1 groups of our Spanish course for foreigners we have been working on the contrast with the past tenses. With this, we practice oral expression and interaction. If you want to practice the tenses of the past, keep reading and download the worksheet we propose.

The students, in pairs, had to ask questions to their partner and write down the answers. Afterwards, they had to tell the rest of their classmates in a group meeting. For this we have given you the following sheet. The result has been very fun and the students have been able to review the use of past tenses.

We leave you the sheet here, so that both Spanish teachers and students can use it and tell us what you think.

Contrast of pasts. Luis Vives Spanish School. Spanish course for foreigners.

One of the reasons why students come to our center is because they want to learn Spanish, and in the end they discover that they also learn culture and meet students from many countries. If you want to learn to speak Spanish with a Spanish course for foreigners, practicing with communicative activities like this, take a look at the Spanish classes that we offer in the Luis Vives Spanish School. They are sure to adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School, the best option to learn Spanish in Madrid!

Spanish academies in Madrid - The Spanish blog - The word of the day: Guay

Word of the day: "Cool"

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Hello #Vivers! Surely more than once, listening to a conversation between young people, you have heard the expression "cool" or in Spanish class your "teacher" has taught it to you as a possible answer to the question "how are you?"... This It is one of the funniest words in Spanish and you have surely wondered at some point what its origin is. Today in our word of the day, we bring you the meanings and origin of this expression.

The use of this expression became popular in the 80s and 90s. In those years, it became a catch-all word to refer to a thing or a person that is fun, surprising, attractive and fantastic. In this sense, to indicate that something was of good quality, it was associated with the rhyme “cool from Paraguay”, although it has no relationship with the South American country, other than a certain exoticism… Recently, a certain pejorative meaning has been added to the word. by including it in the expression "Ir de cool", which is said of a person who behaves falsely or who boasts of money and fame.

The origins of the use of the word cool

Now, "cool" is a very old word that was originally synonymous with the interjection ouch. Thus, it had the meaning of lament or threat: "Woe is me!", instead of "Woe is me!"; or "Woe to you if you abandon me!" instead of "Woe to you if you abandon me!" Its use already appears reflected in texts from the Middle Ages and we can find the word without any effort in La Celestina (1499), by Fernando de Rojas. Cool acquired its current meaning in the XNUMXth century by phonetically coinciding with the English word gay (funny, bright).

According to other theories, the word "cool" comes from the Eastern Arabic "quwais." This expression means “how good” and is widespread in countries such as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other countries in the region. It is said that in principle it was used in the south of Spain to describe something of good quality and its use was restricted to the trade of "hashish" (cannabis) from Morocco, but towards the 80s it ended up spreading in a broader sense to many areas and began to be used by young people as a synonym for "cool."

"This movie is cool"

«Yesterday we had a great time»

How cool! We go on tour!

Attend Spanish class and enrich your vocabulary in the Luis Vives Spanish School and take a look at the Spanish classes what we offer. They are sure to adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School The best option to learn Spanish in Madrid!

Spanish academies in Madrid - The Spanish blog - Past perfect

The past perfect indicative

By Administrator

February 2

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Learn Spanish

Hello #Vivers! In this week's entry we are going to review the form and uses of the past perfect indicative. We have been seeing it with the students of our Spanish academy for foreigners, and we have observed that it generates quite a few doubts among them. Below you will find a useful infographic. It explains the form of this past tense (regular and irregular verbs) and its use. You will also find some links to online exercises so you can practice it and check if you have learned it.

The past perfect indicative. Spanish academy for foreigners

In the following word cloud you can find some of the temporal markers that are usually used with the past perfect:

exercises to practice

In the following link you can find a lot of online exercises to practice regular and irregular verbs in the Past Perfect Indicative, with which you can practice.

Past Perfect Exercises (regular and irregular participles)

If you want to learn to speak Spanish fluently and improve your grammar, come to our Spanish academy for foreigners. Take a look at the Spanish classes what we offer. They are sure to adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School The best option to learn Spanish in Madrid!

The word of the day: "February"

By Administrator

February 1

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Learn Spanish

Hello #Vivers! We are already at the end of February. This month, the shortest of the year, is characterized by being the month in which almond trees bloom. It is also the month in which lovers celebrate their day, but do you know the origin of the word "February"? We have already told the students who come to our academy to learn Spanish. If you continue reading the new entry on the Spanish blog, you will know it too.

February is the second month of the year and the last in the Roman calendar.

The Sabines, who were one of the Indo-European peoples who lived on the Italian Peninsula (between the Tiber and the Apennines), every year celebrated a purification festival called fever, every February 15. After the founding of Rome, this city used the name of the festivals February to name the month in which they were celebrated: the last of the year.

It is believed that the founder of Rome, Romulus, was the one who unified the many calendars that existed on the Italian Peninsula in the 304th century BC. C. and created a new one, with ten months and 300 days. But this calendar that Romulus made was not very good for such an important territory. In the year XNUMX BC. C. counselor Flavio created another calendar with two more months that were added after December: januarius, dedicated to the goddess Janus and februarius, whose name comes from the ancient purification festival of the Sabines.

The name of this month has been recorded in Spanish since 1129 and is in many modern European languages. For example: february, in English; february, in French; February, in Italian or February, in German.

Source: The origin of words. Illustrated etymological dictionary. Ricardo Soca

If you are looking for an academy to learn Spanish fluently like a native and improve your grammar, stop by. Luis Vives Spanish School and take a look at the Spanish classes what we offer. They will surely adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School The best option to learn Spanish in the heart of Madrid!

Spanish academies in Madrid - The Spanish blog - Present indicative

The present indicative

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Hello #Vivers! Today we are going to review the form and uses of the present indicative. We leave you this useful infographic, which we use in our course to learn Spanish with regular and irregular verbs and some links to online exercises so you can practice it and check if you have learned it.

Uyou are present indicative

1- Ask or give information about the present:

Do you study or work?
Children play ball in the park.

2- Express habitual actions:

I usually eat at 14:30 p.m.

3- Talk about general or universal truths.

The earth is round.
Mexicans speak Spanish.

4- Express future actions to be carried out safely:

Tonight I'm going to the movies with my friends.

5- Give orders and instructions:

To come to school you take the metro and get off at the Sol station, then…

Eexercises to practice

In the following link you can find a lot of online exercises with which you can practice regular and irregular verbs in the Present Indicative:

Present exercises (regular and irregular verbs)

If you want a course to learn to speak Spanish fluently and improve your grammar, come to the Luis Vives Spanish School and take a look at the courses of Spanish that we offer, they are sure to adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School The best option to learn Spanish in Madrid!

The word of the day: "Olé"

By Administrator

January 24, 2023

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Learn Spanish

Hello #Vivers! In our Spanish courses for foreigners, we always try to teach our students to use the words they know best in our language, such as the word "olé". Without a doubt, this is one of the most international words in Spanish. Who hasn't used it or heard it at some point? Although many people relate it to the world of flamenco, bullfighting or football. It is usually used to express admiration for the good work someone does, such as a good Almodóvar film, a good song, or a Mbappe dribble, but do you know what its true origin is?

There are many hypotheses about the origin of this word. There are those who claim that it comes from the Greek verb ololizin, used as a shout of joy. Others say that it comes from the Bible, when Jacob is deceived at his wedding with Rachel, because people tried to warn him that it was Leah and not his beloved, saying Oh, Leah! But the most widespread hypothesis has to do with the Arabic expression Allah (Oh, God). The RAE, on the other hand, notes that olé! comes from the Arabic exclamation Wa-(a)llah (By God!), an exclamation of enthusiasm at surprising or excessive beauty or joy. In the Arabic language, there is no vowel “e” and sometimes the vowel “a” sounds similar to “e”.

Surely Olé is a word that you have used when you wanted to imitate the Spanish. If you want to learn Spanish and enrich your vocabulary, you should start with the Spanish courses for foreigners from the Luis Vives Spanish School. Take a look at the Spanish classes that we offer, they will surely adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School The best option to learn Spanish in Madrid!

Spanish academies in Madrid - The Spanish blog - Curiosities about the Madrid metro

Did you know what?: Curiosities about the Madrid metro

By Administrator

January 20, 2023

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Live and study in Spain

Hello #Vivers! Madrid residents are very proud of their public transport network and specifically of their metro. Students who come to study Spanish in Madrid soon realize that on the metro they can go practically to all parts of the city without having to use the car. Did you know that the Madrid metro is one of the oldest and largest in the world? If you want to know this and any other curiosity, be sure to read this article in our “Did you know…?” section.

The Madrid metro. Did you know…?

The works to install the metro network in Madrid began on September 19, 1916. Three years later, King Alfonso XIII inaugurated this modern means of transport.
The first Madrid Metro ticket cost 15 cents each way. The hours of operation were from 6:20 in the morning until 2:00 in the morning.
The length of all lines amounts to 324 kilometers, making it the seventh longest metro network in the world behind Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, London, Shanghai and New York.
The station where the most lines converge is at Avenida de América with four in total. The line with the most stations is number 1 with 33 stops, but the one that travels the longest distance is line 12, making a total of 40,96 kilometers.
One of the distinctive features of the Madrid Metro is that its trains run on the left, when most Spanish railway infrastructure runs on the right.
The Alto del Arenal station (line 1) is much more important than it seems, since it is home to the Central Post that controls everything that happens in the Madrid underground.

Learn Spanish language and culture and much more information like this in the Luis Vives Spanish School. If you want to study Spanish in Madrid, take a look at the Spanish classes what we offer. They are sure to adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School The best option to learn Spanish in Madrid!

Spanish academies in Madrid - The Spanish blog - Not knowing or J

Not knowing a damn thing

By Administrator

January 16, 2023

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Learn Spanish

Hello #Vivers! Have you ever heard the expression “not even knowing J”? It is an expression widely used in Spain but normally students who come to our courses to learn Spanish in Madrid find it a bit strange.

We usually use this expression, “I don't know a thing” or “I don't understand a thing,” when someone has no idea about something, doesn't know about a certain topic or doesn't understand it, but what is the origin of this expression?

The letter 'j' comes from primitive Middle Eastern languages such as Hebrew, Chaldean and Syriac. The predecessors of this letter were the Greek iota and the Hebrew yod. These were the smallest of the 22 letters used in those languages. Furthermore, in the case of Hebrew, the yod was the beginning or the first feature of each of the letters of the alphabet.

Therefore, to say that someone 'does not know a thing' means that he does not know or know the smallest letter, nor the most insignificant thing; In short, he is ignorant.

If you like the Spanish language and you don't want to be one of those people who doesn't know a thing about our language, you are surely looking for Spanish courses in Madrid to learn to speak Spanish fluently like a native, and improve your grammar. Pass by the Luis Vives Spanish School and take a look at the Spanish classes what we offer. They will surely adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School, the best option to learn Spanish in the heart of Madrid!