Spanish Words For Today

Countries where Spanish is an official language. Map from Wikipedia.

Spanish is a useful language to learn. It is widely spoken as a first language in several South American countries. It is spoken as a second language in much of the USA. In Europe it is spoken in Spain and Spanish speaking islands. Portuguese and Italian are similar to Spanish.

I am brushing up - beginning again - my knowledge of Italian. I was learning Italian on Duolingo a year ago. This year I am learning Spanish. So I am doing Italian for Spanish speakers, which enables me to learn Spanish at the same time as learning Italian. The instructions are in Spanish, mostly only one to three words, often similar to English words. Because they are repeated even the unfamiliar words gradually get drilled into my mind. You could do the same with any two languages from the most common ones learned by speakers of your second language. 

I note down new words in my A5 notebook (book size). I create columns quickly by folding each page in half vertically, making two sections, then again to make four creases. To write more neatly without overlapping columns to crush in long words and phrases, I draw a line vertically with a pen or pencil, using a ruler or anything else straight nearby on the desk. 

I head the columns Spanish-English. An alternative would be to use the right hand half of the page for English-Spanish. Or to use the right hand page for English-Spanish.

Spanish - English Easy Words

adios - goodbye . The English is from God be with you. Adios comes from to God. a - dios, to the deity

buen - good (like French bon as in bon voyage, good journey)

buenos noches - good evening / good night

continuar - (to) continue

errores - errors

excepto - except

medala - medal

Perfecto/a (adjective matching masculine or feminine noun) - perfect

perfil - profile (both words have the letters p r f i l in that order. The e in the Spanish jumps to the end of the English word.

veloz -/velocity/speed/time

voz - voice

What is the difference between a medal and a medallion?  The shorter word is for the smaller object. A medal is attached to a ribbon and worn as an award for an achievement in a military battle or a sports contest. A medallion is larger, a souvenir of an important occasion and displayed on a stand on a shelf, and given or kept in a box lined with colourful contrasting shiny satin, if made of silver or gold bought as an investment. 

English - Spanish

(to) continue - continuar

except - excepto

good - buen

profile - perfil

velocity/ speed / time taken - veloz (starts with the same four letters)

voice - voz (starts with the same two letters and ce and z sound similar)

Wikivoyage phrasebook explains  pronunciation and origins of words, and similar sets if words

Spanish - English (The first pronunciation is from Spain, where the language originated, the second is from Latin America.)

círculo (THEER-koo-loh/SEER-koo-loh) → circle

circulo (theer-KOO-loh/seer-KOO-loh) → I circulate

circuló (theer-koo-LOH/seer-koo-LOH) → he/she/it circulated

estás (ehs-TAHS) → you are

estas (EHS-tahs) → these

origen (oh-REE-hehn) → origin

orígenes (oh-REE-hehn-ehs) → origins

ciudad (thee-yoo-DAHD/see-yoo-DAHD) → city

ciudades (thee-you-DAH-dehs/see-yoo-DAH-dehs) → cities

A Spanish restaurant with a Spanish guitarist in Manila, the Philippines was called Circulo.

I have listed them in reverse and underlined the syllable you emphasize

English - Spanish

circle - circulo 

I circulate - circulo emphasis on the middle syllable, the same as the English

he/she/it circulates - circuló

city - ciudad (thee-yoo-DAHD/see-yoo-DAHD)

Accents show words which are pronounced the same but have different meanings: Eight words, sixteen meanings.

él (he) el (the)

té (tea) te (you [object])

tú (you [subject]) tu (your)

mí (me) mi (my)

dé (give [present subjunctive]) de (of/from)

sí (yes) si (if)

sé (I know) se (one [pronoun])

más (more/plus) mas (but)

Useful Websites For Learning Languages

duolingo.com

Spanish Phrasebook in Wikivoyage and Wikitravel

Italian phrasebook in Wikivoyage and Wikitravel

translate google

https://translate.google.co.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Spanish_words_borrowed_from_Italian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Spanish_origin

Please share links to this blog post.