Well, a class with an abundance of information and a little sad, but comical, story to go with it and thus provide some much needed entertainment when learning Spanish or any other language. Apparently the hapless student had a torrid time at the Telo the previous evening along with his vecinita Mariana, with the room being a disaster leading to a fairly unsuccessful night…..for sure he could have benefited from the abundance of vocabulary featured in this class…..or are the Bueno, entonces...learn Spanish team feeding us a barrel full of chamuyo and none of these events ever happened……keeps the mind curious I suppose!!

Covered in today’s lesson were house and home descriptions, objects and adjectives to go with them, kitchen and bathroom vocabulary, comparisons and superlatives. Is always good when you stumble across something so simple as superlatives when attempting to learn a language…..all you are required to do is take the adjetivo and add isimo, e.g. guapo – guapisimo and bueno – buenisimo!!! Another worthy topic discussed today were comparisons, also for me an easy function to remember. There are too structures for these with one being mas/menos + adjetivo + que (more/less…..than) and the other tan/no es tan + adjetivo + como (as/not as…..as).

In all a good class with plenty of learning points, which for me is far better than prolonged no destination conversations. And to finish there was a mention of transvestites for tomorrow, could prove to be interesting as I see plenty on my home from work most days!

Image taken from remalau.com

Theme for today: Body talk.

No, we are not talking about complaining about being too fat or too thin, too tall or too short, too ugly or too… you get the idea.  Nope, not that kind of body talk– this is a Spanish blog, not one for bitching (not that we don’t bitch or anything…).

The body talk we are focusing on today is… well, the actual body.  Parts of the body that go beyond pierna (leg), brazo (arm), and cabeza (head).  Because, really, you can only say so much using such broad terms.  Plus, this way we can go along with our medical-theme from one of our posts from the other day.  Here we go!

Elbow = Codo

Ankle = Tobillo

Waist = Cintura

Tongue = Lengua

Crotch = Entrepiernas

Armpit = Sobaco/Axila

Butt/Ass = Nalgas/*Culo

Testicles/Balls = Testiculos/*Cojones/*Pelotas/*Huevos

Breast/Boobs = *Tetas/Pechos/Lolas/Senos

Penis/Dick = *Verga/*Polla/Pene

*These terms are very informal and/or vulgar– not to be used in a formal setting i.e. doctor’s office.

There, that should do you for now.  Have any other good ones to add?

Where are you from and how long have you been in Buenos Aires?

I’m originally from the Bay Area (Orinda, California), but moved to Buenos Aires almost 4 years ago.

How did you learn Spanish?

I had a very influential Spanish teacher in high school who made me fall in love with the language. Also, my dad knew Spanish, which always seemed so cool. I knew I wanted to study abroad in college, so when the time came I decided on Chile. I studied with the University of California program in Santiago in 2004. During that time, among other amazing friends, I met my now-husband. At the time, he didn’t know any English, so I was forced to use my Spanish to make him understand me. For the most part, we speak Spanish to one another at home… so I am always practicing.

How did the initial idea to create a Spanish language learning software come up?

David Garrett, after much frustration trying to learn Spanish, came up with the idea of creating a fun and engaging way to learn that would keep his attention and make him remember words and phrases like he remembered lines from his favorite sitcoms and movies. He presented the idea to me in early 2008, and told me to ‘run with it’. We then developed the idea of the Pizarra Mí¡gica, which helps students follow along with the story between Jimena and David.

Did David have a Spanish background before doing Bueno, entonces…?

He did. One of the hardest parts of the preliminary planning was trying to predict how the student’s Spanish would progress. We wanted to limit recording time to two weeks, which made it hard to have an actor/student learn from scratch. David lives and works in Buenos Aires and therefore is constantly interacting in Spanish, so admittedly he had a bit of an advantage, but a lot of David’s language epiphanies actually happened on set.

What was the most difficult part of producing Bueno, entonces…?

Figuring out how to make it work! We had a great idea, and a lot of smart people involved, but it was awhile before our dream turned into reality. Even after we had all the material recorded, the logistics of editing the audio and putting together the videos was a long process. It’s all so worth it to have a product that we are truly proud of.

What’s your favorite lesson? Why?

Even after listening to the audio for all 30 classes roughly 50 times each, I still enjoy every class. In general, I think the later ones are better – 24 and 27 are probably my favorites. After I watch them, I find my face hurts from smiling/laughing. I have great memories of Jimena and David during recording and their talents really stand out in the final product.

Any advice to Bueno, entonces…users?

Stick with it! Learning Spanish isn’t something that you can do overnight. The Bueno, entonces… series is no different – but the speed and intensity will prepare you to practice with native speakers. It takes time, a little more time, practice and more practice… for some less and for some a lot more. Stay positive and keep practicing!

Argh, matey! Someone stole me amor!

I am becoming slightly concerned with the absence of the profesor from the Bueno, entonces… classes and with today’s class being reasonably full with grammatical points it would have been a perfect opportunity for him to showcase his talents as the alter ego MC Grammar. For those readers who are yet to come across this fine teacher, here is a brief clip of him at work expalining his Pizarra Mí¡gica. My liking of this character, as I’ve mentioned previously, stems from his resemblance to Wordy the Wizard, a man of equal intelligence and help during my school days…..bring him, or them both for that matter, back!!

As I said there was good deal of grammar expalined in this class beginning with definite and indefinite articles, with definite articles, el, la, los and las, used for specific objects and indefinite, un, una, unos and unas, for non-specifics. Then there were Spanish contractions, e.g. a + el becomes al (vamos al (not a el) supermercado) and de + el becomes del (can’t think of an example right now). Finally we were treated to some adverbs of place, although I thought that they were actually prepositions. Anyway, according to Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish the following are adverbs of place: al lado (next to), enfrente (in front of), debajo (below), encima (above), en (in), and entre (between). You can decide for yourselves!

The story, although entertaining, seemed to be going off at a tangent today with David and Jimena having enrolled in Karmasutra and cooking courses respectively, which lead to some bizarre conversations. If want my opinion then yo creo que les faltan algunos jugadores!!

Want to view some clips of our Spanish classes? Head on over to the Youtube channel and see why people are raving about the hilarious new language learning software!

Well, a class with an abundance of information and a little sad, but comical, story to go with it and thus provide some much needed entertainment when learning Spanish or any other language. Apparently the hapless student had a torrid time at the Telo the previous evening along with his vecinita Mariana, with the room being a disaster leading to a fairly unsuccessful night…..for sure he could have benefited from the abundance of vocabulary featured in this class…..or are the Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish team feeding us a barrel full of chamuyo and none of these events ever happened……keeps the mind curious I suppose!!

Covered in today’s lesson were house and home descriptions, objects and adjectives to go with them, kitchen and bathroom vocabulary, comparisons and superlatives. Is always good when you stumble across something so simple as superlatives when attempting to learn a language…..all you are required to do is take the adjetivo and add isimo, e.g. guapo – guapisimo and bueno – buenisimo!!! Another worthy topic discussed today were comparisons, also for me an easy function to remember. There are too structures for these with one being mas/menos + adjetivo + que (more/less…..than) and the other tan/no es tan + adjetivo + como (as/not as…..as).

In all a good class with plenty of learning points, which for me is far better than prolonged no destination conversations. And to finish there was a mention of transvestites for tomorrow, could prove to be interesting as I see plenty on my home from work most days!

Want to check out more from this reviewer? You can see his Rosetta Stone/Bueno, entonces…Pepsi Challenge blog here – and check out clips of our Spanish classes on our Youtube page. Become a Fan on Facebook and learn new Spanish phrases everyday!

This might have been the strongest class thus far, in terms of amount of material they covered and the lack of pointless diatribes and English-language anecdotes. I think today and yesterday should be model classes; David’s personality level is ideal – just enough lightheartedness and humor without being crude and obnoxious.

When the producers of Bueno, entonces… want to inject more story into the lessons, they should simply use some outside anecdotes that make use of a grammar rule or vocabulary – something that happened to David or Jimena in real life Buenos Aires. In this lesson, they spent much of the time covering one’s daily routines, such as going to work, going to the gym, etc. They made use of reflexive verbs as well as using words that express the frequency of things. I’ve always had a little trouble with reflexive verbs, so I found this part particularly helpful.

Reflexive Verbs

Additionally, they covered turning verbs into adverbs by adding “mente” to the ending, like turning easy (facile) into easily (facilmente), which is almost the same as in English, where we simply add the “ly”.

Because of gender assignments, however, there are exceptions. They also covered double negatives (used regularly in Spanish), and the verb conjugations of seguir (to continue), conseguir (to get) and perseguir (to chase). Let’s hope that the strength of this lesson, and the factors that contributed to it, will carry through to the additional lessons.

We are about halfway through the 30 classes, so perhaps this represents a turning point. Rosetta Stone never has any standout lessons, because they all follow the same structure, but it never has any poor classes either – just an even keel at all times.

Want to check out more from this reviewer? You can see his Rosetta Stone/Bueno, entonces…Pepsi Challenge blog here – and check out clips of our Spanish classes on our Youtube page. Become a Fan on Facebook and learn new Spanish phrases everyday!

Things are back to normal at the beginning of week two. Class seven is devoted almost entirely to food – ordering in restaurants, names of food, typical Argentina food, and flavors – which makes this one of the most useful lessons for visitors, other than “where is the bathroom?” I find that, once again, I am appreciating the fact that Bueno, entonces… was produced in Buenos Aires, as they discuss a number of little details about the city, such as the origins of “facturas” (sweet snacks) and other Argentine food traditions.

In this lesson David also recalls his disaster of a date over the weekend, which is interesting and funny. Using these little extracurricular anecdotal stories seems like a good vehicle for teaching vocabulary – it is more interesting than the unconnected sentences used in Rosetta Stone. David’s character continues to mellow out and improve, and it seems that they might be slowly building up a relationship between him and Jimena. Maybe they have her break up with her boyfriend around class 20 or so to further build up anticipation in the story line. Though I am generally the type to shy away from other peoples’ personal drama, if it is kept to a minimum I think it will help carry the lessons.

My only gripe at this point, then, is that I still think it moves too quickly – in terms of how long you have to digest the information. They don’t cover too much terrain per lesson, but they don’t linger on the words long enough. Again, this is because the written vocabulary and grammar is mirroring the natural conversational pace of Jimena and David. But I really think that Jimena could slow down, and pause between sentences. If we want to read and listen to the Spanish, digest every conjugation and noun, and possibly glance down at the English translation, the one second or less they allow for each sentence just isn’t enough.

Check out more from this review blogger here. Go to our Youtube Channel to see video clips from our Spanish classes and find out how learning Spanish is more fun than you thought imaginable with Bueno, entonces…

For the fifth class, a Friday, I decided to break my usual routine of working from a cafí© â€“ loaded up on caffeine – and instead watched the ballad of David and Jimena during dinner at home, and after several beers. It may have been the alcohol, but I was actually looking forward to the class.

The characters continue to grow on me, bit by bit. Because David is getting the basics down, there are able to have a more fluid conversation – though most of it remains in English – and they are covering more interesting grammar and vocabulary. In this lesson of Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish, they went over the various moods and emotions – like being happy, tired or hungry – the use of adjectives with nouns, more verb conjugations, the use of the 2nd and 3rd person, and a number of random, useful words and grammar rules.

Learning feelings and states-of-being

It is still at the comfort level that I am only listening to and reading the Spanish, without needing to glance down at the accompanying English translations. But I think that, when I do need the help of the English, it will move too quickly to catch all of the words I didn’t know. I wish there was a way to adjust the speed of the class – but that would of course lower the pitch of their voices, and it just wouldn’t work. Maybe getting used to the pause button is the trick. But, I’m not there yet, so I won’t worry about it.

There is the strange, faint storyline going on with the 3rd-person instructors – the anonymous male and female voices that take over for David and Jimena to review the material. In general their instruction is neutral, but there is some sort of odd love-triangle-jealousy situation that is poking through. Every final example involves something about Diego and Laura and this other guy, with thinly disguised contempt over the apparent change in sexual partners. And then suddenly the volume of the soundtrack surges, to emphasis the relatively racy statement. It’s a little strange. I think one personal story line is enough for an instructional course – it’s not a soap opera, after all. On the other hand, it is kinda funny.

Check out the reviews of the entire Bueno, entonces… series from this author here. Want to view some clips of our Spanish classes? Head on over to the Youtube channel and see why people are raving about the hilarious new language learning software!