Complete Spanish

Track 6

1. Recognising a verb without a rule for it Method

There is no rule that turns intention into a verb: it does not end -ation, so you cannot drop the ending and add an r. But you know what intention means, so when you hear a verb like intento you can work out what it must be.

intento
I try, I am trying

The -o ending is what shows this is "I", the same -o that is in quiero.

Intento publicarlo · Intento administrarlo · Intento imitarlo

One Spanish verb form covers both English tenses: intento is I try and I am trying. You get both at once.

2. h is completely silent Pronunciation

The h is written in convertible words but never pronounced. Do not even think it, or it will have a habit of slipping out. Imagine the word starts with the vowel instead.

hospital
hospital (think "ospital")
horrible
horrible
habitual
habitual
habitualmente
habitually

The one exception is ch, which is pronounced like the English /ch/.

Horrible has a double r inside the word, so it rolls. If you cannot manage that yet, say it with a single r: it will be perfectly understood, there is no problem there.

3. v sounds like a soft b Pronunciation

A Spanish v can sound like an English /v/, or like a soft b. Generally in the Spanish-speaking world it is the soft b, so make that association between v and soft b now. Around Argentina and Chile you hear far more of the /v/ pronunciation.

voy
I go, I am going
vamos
let's go (literally we are going)
visitar
to visit
visible
visible
viral
viral
virus
virus (the same word, just read as written)
conveniente
convenient

To feel the difference: hold a small piece of paper in front of your mouth and say an English word like bucket. The paper moves, because that hard b is a plosive, a burst of gathered air. The Spanish soft b does not have that burst.

Do not stress about this sound. Using a v is perfectly fine, and you will pick up the accent of whoever you end up speaking to. It is not a fundamental issue right now.

In visible, keep the s a real s. English pulls it towards a z, /vi-zi-ble/, and that is not what you want.

4. voy, and ahora for now Vocabulary

Voy is I go or I am going, spelled v-o-y. Hook it to the English word voyage to see the connection with going.

ahora
now
a
to (in the sense of direction)
hora
hour

Ahora (a-h-o-r-a) is really the two words a and hora combined, so it is something like "to the hour". That hands you two more words for free.

Voy ahora · No voy ahora · Quiero visitarlo

5. Look for an English word that exists in some context Method

To reach visitar, the route is not a rule but the word visitation, as in visitation rights. It is a word that exists in English but that we only use in certain contexts, and that is enough to convert from.

This is the same skill as the previous track's "long route": you do not need the English word to be everyday, you only need it to exist.

6. Divide the sentence up piece by piece Method

A sentence you assume you cannot take on becomes possible if you build it in pieces rather than all at once.

quiero · cancelarlo · pero · no quiero · cancelarlo · ahora

Quiero cancelarlo, pero no quiero cancelarlo ahora.

The point of the exercise is the realisation that you can think your way through a big sentence. Nothing there needed to be known in advance as a whole.