Why does the course use “durante dos meses” for “for two months” instead of saying “por dos meses”? Wouldn’t durante mean during?
I was wondering why the course teaches el dinero en efectivo for cash instead efectivo which also means cash.
The same lesson also teaches efectivo (adj.): “effective”; it almost seems as though the writers are trying to re-derive the idiomatic usage of efectivo (n.): cash from el dinero en efectivo: “effective money”?
There are numerous cases where the audio and the text don’t match, and it marks it as incorrect
The one that just tripped me up was
el guía de turistas ; la guía de turistas
which the audio does not have the feminine version, but it marks it incorrect when you omit it. It’s frustrating because it feels like it’s making me memorize the flashcards, not learn the language.
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Pelirrojo means redhead not ginger
Ginger is a redhead, isn’t it?
R, 3. juuli 2020 10:49 Bill J Hoskins via Memrise <[email protected]> kirjutas:
@Atikker: technically, yes a “ginger” is a “red head” … but its considered kind of derogatory (which, I must admit, I find EXTREMELY amusing that they used the word “ginger” for a language course instead of “red head.”
Alright; couple of questions:
Why “ahi” instead of “alli” for the word “there?”
Is it just me or is the Spanish pronunciation more Argentine/South American than Mexican? (and that’s fine but shouldn’t the course technically be called “Spanish (Latin American)” instead of “Mexican?”
To be clear, I work in a prison with a LOT of Mexican inmates who barely speak English … I’ve double check on some of these pronunciation issues. For example, the word “tortilla.” Mexican Spanish pronounces it “tor-tee-ya” whereas the course pronounces it “tor-tee-ja.” This is the same as with the word “llama.” Mexican would pronounce the phrase “coe-moe say yahmah” whereas the course says it “coe-moe say jah-mah.” This is same with the Y pronunciation; for example the word “yo.” Every Mexican I’ve heard pronounces it simply “yo” whereas the course pronounces it “jo.”
Now, to be clear I’m not claiming to be a Spanish expert. I had three years in highschool and that was over 20 years ago. But I work around a lot of Mexicans (many of which are doing prison time for selling drugs and just waiting to get picked up by ICE … they are legit Mexicans speaking legit Mexican Spanish) and I’ve been to Mexico and Panama (also over 20 years ago) where the “ll” and “y” were pronounced more like the “y” sound. I’ve also been to Argentina (love that country) and noted that they pronounce the “ll” like a “j” and the “y” like a “j.”
So to reiterate, is the course intentionally going for more of an Argentine flair (I don’t legitimately know if any other South American countries have the same or similar pronunciations or if it is just Argentina)? If not, why the more Argentine pronunciations? And I’m perfectly fine with a more Argentine flair; like I said, I love Argentina.
Thanks for the time and response.
Or not thanks for the response? Its been over a month since I posted this … am I supposed to @ someone specific to get a response?
Thanks Olaf!! As I said in the Greek thread, I’m really bad with web and forum stuff so I’m not always sure how to do certain things.
Also @angileptol regarding the “Ahi” vs “Alli” thing, I got farther in a grammar and in the lessons and think I know the difference (alli did come up in part 3 if I recall) so that question is answered.
When using pronunciation, some words seem to be impossible to say correctly.
Here are my most problematic ones:
Course 1: sé, que, tu (tus), llamarse.
Course 2: pagar, porque, como, solo un poco, ¡Oh no!, o, bastar, hay
(btw ese is odd because in most other examples you don’t do the words in brackets)
Course 3: el centímetro, caro, el kinder, el gramo, gastar, el doctor; la doctora, haré, pesa 60 kilos, la tonelada.
Course 4: el futbol. ayudé, lo amé, esperé. And con ganas de…
Course 5: el vídeo, cuando, el bufet, si lluvia te mojarás, si, te mojarás.
Course 6: solo háblame, la tasa.
Course 7: basar, quemar, no puedes hacer un omelet sin romper algunos huevos.
I also note that often you can play the official recording into the speaker and it is accepted as a correct answer. This is great. But for most of my list above the official recording is not accepted as valid!
It would be wonderful if the syllables that are wrong could be highlighted. Especially on some of the longer phrases.
When did Mexicans begin speaking Castellano? I grew up in San Diego with plenty of Mexicans around. My father taught Mexican Spanish for 20 years. The double ll was always pronounced as an “h” sound, as in hope; the y was pronounced the same as the English y as in yellow or yes. The castillan pronunciation in this course drives me batty because it is wrong!! I’m doing this course as a refresher after being away from California and Spanish speakers for a very long time.
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Working with Spanish (Mexico) 4 on an Android tablet, I have an issue whereby many of the new words introduced do not have an English translation showing. Some words do have a translation, but for some reason many of the latest words do not. I assume that this is some kind of error. I need to use a separate dictionary in order to progress.
This is the EXACT question I asked (though worded different because I didn’t know it was called “Castellano,” I just knew its how they speak in Argentina) … don’t hold your breath on an answer ….
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Well, going on 7 months since I posed this question and @angileptol has been tagged regarding the issue a couple times … don’t hold your breathe on an answer (oh, and I found out another name for it is “Rioplatense” because the dialect is spoken mostly in the Rio Plata are of Argentina).
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