Duolingo teaches Spanish as spoken in South America, but the Spanish of Mexico and Spain is very similar.
Let's look at some easy to recognize and remember words. I am learning on Duolingo. I have paid to get the version without advertising. I am learning for an hour or so every day, so it's worthwhile to be comfortable.
Spanish - English words
A
actor - actor (male). actriz - actress. actores - actors. agosto - August. ayer - yesterday (ye in both words)
B
barco - boat (embark on a boat). blanco - white (like a blank piece of paper).
C
conflicto - conflict. copas - cups or glasses
D
datos - not dates but facts, data . Fecha - date.
dias - days. diente - tooth (like the English word dentist, or dental floss, or dental work). dificil - difficult. drama - drama. durante - during.
E
(la) escena - (the) scene. escuela - school. estadio - stadium. excepto - except. Estados Unidos - United States.
F
febrero - February. fecha - date. final - final. fotos - photos. fresco - fresh.
frio - cold (like freezing)
G
grupo - group
H
helicoptero - helicopter. historia - history. hobby - hobby. hola - hello. horas - hours/time.
I
idea - idea. invitadas - guests. invited people. idioma - language.
J
jirafa - giraffe. julio - July. junio - June.
K
(for borrowed words from other languages)
Karaoke - karaoke
kilo - kilo
kiwi - kiwi
L
lago - lake. libro - book (think of library book)
M
mangos - mangoes. (The Spanish for mangoes drops the e, like the plural of the in Los Angeles.) mayo - May. maestro - teacher. minutos - minutes. mojadas - wet (think of moist). Motor - engine. (Motor car is carro.)
N
necessito - I need (think of it is necessary). noviembre - november. nuevos - new (plural adjective, of is masculine plural like los angeles)
O
opera - opera. Note the accent in the Spanish.
P
pantalones - pants (US. UK trousers.) por - for. programa - program.
Q
quieto - still or calm
R
romper - to break (like rupture)
S
silencio - silence.
sucias - dirty (like stained)
T
taxi - taxi. teatro - theatre. tranvia - tram (UK) /streetcar (USA). tren - train. el tren - the train. los trenes - the trains. turista - tourist
U
util - useful (like wartime WW2 utility furniture)
V
viago (accent on the o, emphasized) voyage or travel
W
(for words borrowed from other languages)
web
whisky
X
(For words borrowed from other languages)
xilofono, accent on the first letter o to show the syllable to emphasize)
Y
ya - already yo - I
Z
zona - zone. zoo - zoo. zapatos - shoes.
I was looking for the Spanish spelling of the Spanish word for tramway, when I was directed to the film A Streetcar Named Desire in Wikipedia in Spanish. I was pleased to find a large number of words which are almost the same in both languages.
Try reading the article and write down the words which you recognize. You could write the words you don't know on another page. To start your daily repetition of words, begin with the easy ones, to gain confidence and feel encouraged.
You can switch between the English and the Spanish. At the top of the page is a little notice which says the number of languages. 46 Languages.
Click on that and a list of languages appears. Click on espagnol (with the sign over the n) to get Spanish, then back to English. You can also translate into simple English, but when you go back into the Spanish, you are back in the long version, not simple Spanish.
.jpg)
Useful Websites on Spanish Letters and pronunciation
https://blog.duolingo.com/spanish-alphabet-pronunciation
https://quillbot.com/blog/word-finder/spanish-words-that-start-with-g/
Please follow me and share links to my most useful posts.
.svg.png)
