[Course Forum] First 5000 Words of Spanish: Top Up #6 by ian_mn

Community-Created Courses Spanish (Castilian/Spain)
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This is the discussion forum for the course First 5000 Words of Spanish: Top Up #6

This course covers basic Spanish vocabulary that’s not already included in “First 5000 Words of Spanish” by xoviat, or Top Up courses #1 through #5.

During course construction, I referred to “4000 Most Used Words and Expressions in Spanish and their translation into English” by ISLA, Spanish School in Salamanca. FULL AUDIO

www.learningspanish-spain.com/studyresources/diccionario.docx
www.learningspanish-spain.com/basic-spanish-vocabulary/

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Hi Ian,

In level 2, viaducto is defined as “very long weekend.” The only definition I found elsewhere online was viaduct. Would you mind rechecking this entry? Thanks.

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Hi, I just checked four online dictionaries and the only definition of “el viaducto” I can find is “viaduct”, as you suggest.

But I think that the translation “very long weekend” may still be correct, and may be an Iberian colloquial expression. My original source was ISLA Language School (Salamanca) - see:

http://www.learningspanish-spain.com/basic-spanish-vocabulary/

I will ask ISLA if this is a correct expression, and let you know what they say.

In the meantime, I’ve changed the item to:

el viaducto = viaduct; very long weekend

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It appears to be correct:

A four-day weekend can be referred to figuratively as a bridge: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puente_festivo

As a viaduct is a long bridge, so this is a figurative construction.

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@lurajane - Excellent - and thanks for the link.

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Ah, glad I asked. Idioms are not so easy to find on the internet. Thank you both for the help!

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I got a very helpful reply from ISLA Salamanca in which they indicate that “viaducto” with the meaning “very long weekend” is not frequently used in Spain, and is an outdated expression.

So, I’ve decided to change the item to:

(Level 2): el viaducto = viaduct

This translation is reasonably common, and is found in basic Spanish-English dictionaries, e.g.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/shop-dictionaries/bilingual-dictionaries/illustrated-spanish-english-student-dictionary

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In L3, should there be an accent in los grandes éxitos? Currently, the response is marked incorrect when an accent is included. Thanks.

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Thanks, you’re quite right - the accent was missing and has just been added. The item now reads:

(Level 3) los grandes éxitos = greatest hits

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In L9, the course is not accepting an accent for la película del oeste.

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Thanks very much for letting me know - it’s now fixed.

(There was a missing accent in the original source that got through.)

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Thank you. In L11, reclamación gives the accent over the i instead of the o.

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Thanks again - it’s now fixed.

It looks like I didn’t do my usual final cross check on this course that would have caught these accent-related errors (which came from the original source vocabulary).

I’ll do the cross-check tonight and make any further corrections. I will list any corrections here, for info.

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I did a fairly thorough search, and couldn’t find any more accent errors in Top Up #6.

But I did find one typo in Level 6 (on the Spanish side) that I’ve just corrected - the item now reads:

la inmediatez = immediacy

Please let me know if you notice any more errors. Thanks.

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Thanks again. In L14, leso is defined in its adjective form but is labeled as a noun. Consistent with the adjective definition given, a response of el leso is marked as incorrect.

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Thanks - it’s now labeled as an Adjective.

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Thanks, Ian. I finished all of the Top Up vocabulary courses, which have been a great help. However, I am unable to find the last word in Top Up #6. I show 1056/1057 words learned although every level is checked complete. Maybe this is a problem on my end, but perhaps you have a solution…

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@checkermaster : I think this is a Memrise bug. Other people have pointed out the same bug with other courses. Some time ago I deleted one item from this course, and as a result I’m also seeing 1056/1057 words learned although I’ve also completed the course. So it’s just bug, I think.

You are the first person after me to complete all of the “Top Up” courses. It’s a big job, but covers a ton of useful high-frequency vocabulary - you are persistent and dedicated!

At this point, it might be best to focus on verb forms - using either my Memrise courses or those by other creators.

I currently have a Top Up #7 vocab course in development - it’s based on the subtlex-esp subtitle frequency list - available early 2017, I think.

Best regards and good luck!

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I am enjoying the first verb course. Thank you for the suggestion. Another correction for Top Up 6, L13: la difunta is listed as an adjective instead of a noun.

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Thanks for the flagging the error - I just fixed it.

Edit: by the way don’t spend time figuring out the Level number for any corrections you may have. I always update my spreadsheet first - and can see the Level (and even which course) there.

I’m also finding these verb courses very helpful.

My original plan was to try to learn the verbs (particularly the irregulars) as vocabulary items rather than worry consciously about the grammar. I think the plan is working about half the time, which I think is still worthwhile.

You’ll find some quite unusual phrases in these courses - part of the reason is that the courses include verb forms that conflate with identical words with completely different meanings, e.g. como, fuera. I decided to leave everything in and leave it to the user to ignore these instances as desired.