Spanish Words - 10 Memory Aids

 

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

 Spanish  English

accidente - accident

camara - camera

catedral - cathedral

diploma - diploma

fuerte (as in the island in the Canary islands called Fuerteventura) - strong (pianoforte, fortify)

idea - idea

jugador - player (like juggling, and stevedore who is a dockhand unloading ships)

par - pair 

la radio - the radio

rugby (pronounced roo) - rugby

la television - the television

English - Spanish

accident - accidente

cathedral - catedral

idea - idea

the radio - la radio

Rugby - Rugby

pair - par

player - jugador

strong - fuerte 

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Spanish words - how to remember them

 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

adios - goodbye.  archivo - file (in folders or archives). atletas - athletes.

B

barco - boat (embark on a boat)

C 

capital - capital. carro - car (remember to add o, not a but o, oh no, not my car). confortable - comfortable (change the m to n in Spanish)

Casada - married (a couple living in a casa or house together, casada con, married to/with)

D

 dias - days. diente - tooth (like the English word dentist, or dental floss, or dental work). dificil - difficult. durante - during.

E

 escuela - school. estadio - stadium.  excepto - except

F 

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

J 

jirafa - giraffe. 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

 maestro - teacher. minutos - minutes. mojadas - wet (think of moist)

N

necessito - I need (think of it is necessary)

O

 opera - opera

P

 pasaporte - passport. pescado - fish (like pisces, the fish star sign in the zodiac). Plumas - feathers/plumes.

Q

quieto - still or calm

R

radio - radio.

rapido - fast.

reserva - reservation

rio - river.

roca - rock.

S

 sol - sun, like Costa del Sol, sunny south coast of Spain, soleado - sunny. |See the words beginning with e.)

T 

taxi - taxi. turista - tourist

U 

util - useful (like wartime WW2 utility furniture)

V 

vacio/vacias - empty (adjective similar to vacant, matching masculine or feminine and plural endings of nouns) . ventana - window (like the English words vent, ventilate)

visitar - to visit

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.

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/

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Easy Spanish words for travellers 20 words

 Spanish - English (memory aid)

carro - car (Double the r to remember to roll your r. Add an o because unlike ships traditionally she in English, cars are a man's or boy's toy.)

buena - good (una buena idea = a brilliant/beautiful idea)

buscando - (I am) looking for (busy scanning the surroundings or the horizon)

cielo - sky (like ceiling)

clase - class

costa - coast (as in Costa del Sol in southern Spain)

demasiado - too, too much (think of deluge)

ellas/ellos planean - they (each and every one, female or male, like los angeles meaning the angels is plural for the) plan 

equipage - luggage, (like equipment)

es - is (yes it is)

estatua - statue

gratis - free, no charge

idea - idea

isla - island just drop the last two letters, (it's a small island)

libre - free, unoccupied

los - the (plural, like Los angeles, city in the USA, meaning the angels)

sol - sun

solo - only/solo (both words have the letters o and l)

train - tren (you have to roll your r, or listen for the word said with a rolled r. To roll your r, pull the tip of your tongue backwards along the roof of your mouth whilst breathing out - say three whilst breathing out)

el turista - the tourist

If you know all these words you can now say, it is a car, it is luggage, it is an island, it is a tourist. Raise your voice and your eyebrows to turn a statement into a question in Spanish.

Useful Language Websites

duolingo.com

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Costa+del+Sol

See my other posts on Spanish.

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