Music Monday – Orishas – El Kilo

Happy Music Monday! For today we have some cuban Hip Hop from the band Orishas with their song El Kilo(2005). They have been around for 12 years, making themselves famous in Europe and Latin America.They’ve sold close to a million copies of their three albums, and won several awards including 2 Grammys. Their music is charged with deep lyrics, sticky beats, and that latin flavor that makes them unique. So enjoy them and sing along with Orishas, a perfect way to start your week!

Want to follow along with the lyrics? See them below and practice your comprehension:

Cuban Hip Hop

Lyrics to El Kilo :

A mi estilo te canto mi negro
A mi estilo voyMentira no, tíralo, pásalo písalo, asereo
Se te olvido, que el kilo no tiene
Vuelto no, asereoEntro mi flow, entro mi clan
Mi voz como Jackie Chan
Que es lo que dan, mil cuentos mil
Promesas que enganchan
Yo sí, yo fui lo que te digo pipo
El dinerito es el gobierno
Quien lo raba chico
Habla tu habla como si yo te fuera ajeno
Habla tu, habla política cochina vemos
Pero porque tu esperas
Si el que espera, desesperas veras
Así que juega por la acera verdadera

Estribillo

Es invento es la bala trazante
Que utilizan todos los cuenteros
Los que dicen verdad no son tantos
Dime cuantos y donde los veo
Dime cuanto les costo llegar
Y si son buenos
No es por nada pero no dan ya nervios ni miedo
La mentira puede correr años tiene
Genios eso no lo niego
Recordando los tiempos de ataño
Solo puedo quitarme el sombrero
Lo que tengo es musicalidad viene de lejos
No es robado, ni copiado es más
Es heredado, es otra edad

Estribillo

Te lo advertí más de una vez
Que yo no entro en el juego
De pendencieros mentirosos
Y embusteros viejos
Para el que se atreve
Esta poniendo en juego su pellejo
Tremendo bla, bla, bla, tremendo guaguanco,
Rumberito recoge al Viejo que su tiempo
Ya ha pasado
Y ahora camina de lado embustero

A mi estilo te canto mi negro

La mentira no pasa, si no esperas
Desesperas y que
Ya te paso una vez, son dos
Si no lo ves

Estribillo

_______________________________________________________

How’d you do? It’s really important to practice your Spanish listening with how people really sound, accent and all! In fact, training your ear is one of the most important steps to learning a language, because once you can understand people, you will start getting new words, grammar, and sentence structure.

That’s what so special about Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish I & II- a program unique in its format and structure. It teaches you Spanish at REAL speed, and gets your ears ready for talking folks on the street.

PLUS: You’ll hear Spanish while seeing both the Spanish and English written below, color coded and with road signs so you can pick up grammar and vocabulary easily.

Best thing of all? You can take it ANYWHERE – on your laptop, iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Check out the first Bueno, entonces… class for free & get a discount!: http://www.generallinguistics.com

 

by on November 7, 2011 in Music Monday

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NSFW Spanish Vocabulary

WARNING: STEAMY VOCAB AHEAD. This may not be office appropriate.

We pride ourselves in providing the most useful Spanish phrases, so here is some important vocabulary that we hope you have a chance to utilize at some point (looks like David already has) :

Tenés/Tienes condones? Sí­, tengo condones/preservativos. Do you have condoms? Yeah, I have a condoms. 

Eso es una locura. This is crazy

Más fuerte Harder

Despacito / mí¡s lento. Slower

Despacito / suavecito. Softer

¿Estás acabando / terminando / llegando? Are you coming?

Estás tomando pastillas? Are you on the pill?

La pastilla del dí­a despúes / dí­a siguiente. Morning After Pill

Fue increí­ble. That was incredible

¿Dónde está mi ropa? Where are my clothes?

La pasó muy bien. I had a good time

Now that is the kind of learning Spanish program that we can really get behind. Just try that with Rosetta Stone…

Be safe. Be responsible. Be bilingual.

It just makes life so much easier.

(Check out more clips from our Spanish classes on our Youtube page!)

by on November 3, 2011 in Mini Lesson, Video Clips

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Corta con Tanta Dulzura

Seriously, out with the sweetness. It’s disgusting.

Corta con tanta dulzura.
Corta=Cut it out–>comes from verb cortar (to cut)
con=with
tanta=so much
dulzura.=sweetness.
Ruso
La dulce no quita la sed.
La dulce=The sweet
no quita=doesn’t quench–comes from verb quitar (to take off)
la sed.=(the) thirst.
Arrolla la sed.
Arrolla= Crush
la sed.=(the) thirst.

We’re not so into the lovey dovey couples–we’re more the chase-and-conquer type. And for that, my friend, you need skills.

In the Bueno, entonces… Learn Spanish series, David tries to work his Gringo magic to win over the Argentine ladies, but alas, one must speak Spanish to get beauties of this caliber.

So what are you waiting for? Become a chamuyero in 5 weeks flat! We teach the Spanish you’re dying to know. Try out the Learn Spanish program on your iPhone and go from “Hola” to “Ey hermosa, quieres bailar conmigo?” before you know it.

Check out Bueno, entonces… Learn Spanish I & II today and get the first class for free to see our unique immersion style. http://www.generallinguistics.com

by on August 10, 2011 in Random, Video Clips

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My Teacher is an Old Pervert: A Review of Bueno, entonces…Spanish Lesson #19

To acquire a new language is difficult. I waver between casually enjoying the process and declaring proclamations such as “I will NOT speak English in this country any more! Only Spanish, I must learn this language”. And then I carry my little dictionarrio around and try to be all studious and eventually realize this approach is not for me. I am on the look out for a new Spanish teacher to supplement my lessons through Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish for as great as the program is, I still need guided practice. I had an excellent teacher in theory until he tried to go through a lesson on the names of the body parts in Spanish by touching me…not that that hasn’t been one of my most dreamt of fantasies, it is just that it always features a drop dead gorgeous Spanish teacher followed by a lesson of the names of all the places in the house “mesa”, “cama”, “douche”. Well, I am done with male teachers, getting a female and sidestepping the whole problem.

I thought my handle on the verb “to be” had gotten pretty good, but the reality is that it is still confusing. I realized this when lesson 19 went back and addressed “ser” and “estar”. I completely get the concept but these words are used so much in conversation I don’t even realize I am using them incorrectly. It is great to see the color coding the way they do it on the program because you see it in context and then it locks that image into your head for later use. This is also true for all of the masculine and feminine adjectives, the color coding is helping me to access it for later use in my vocabulary.


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!

by on June 1, 2010 in Bueno entonces... Reviews

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La Palta Se Fue: A Review of Bueno, entonces…Spanish Lesson # 29

So…I haven’t taken a break. I think Bueno, entonces...episodes #28, #29, and #30 need to be watched one after the other. I mean, honestly, after the Jimena jealousy and rant about Martí­n, how could I stop?

Well, I was right, something DID happen between Jimena and Martí­n. Se rompieron! The palta left her. Of course, David is shocked, stunned, almost speechless—almost. In they end they agree that it is una buena cosa para Jimena, un paso importante en su vida.

I think something is going to haaaaapppeeeennnnn (!!!!)

So, that’s exciting. Screw True Blood Season finale, I’m all about the Bueno, entonces…big shabang.

Anyway, we learn about Nahuelito, the sea monster in Patagonia. It has the –ito included because it is small, unlike Nessi. Entonces, los argentinos no tienen un Nessi, pero tienen Messi…que tambií©n es chiquito. Pero poderoso, el chiquití­n. (I just love that word, chiquití­n!)

Then Jimena asks what David likes to do on his vacaciones. He liked to go bowling, nadar con antiparras and go snorkeling with his…esnorquel. We talk about Spanish phrases having to do with traveling in trí©n, avion, micro, delfí­n. Yes, David once was on a dolphin’s back and he said that pensamos que el piel es como plí¡stico, pero realmente es como una alfombra. Hm, interesante.

We finish with David giving Jimena relationship advice. Basically, he says that she needs to meditar and then choose David. End of story.

Can’t stop now…time for Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish class #30! (Check out more clips of the Spanish classes on their Youtube Page.)

by on May 30, 2010 in Bueno entonces... Reviews

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You Got a Perty Mouf, Boy: A Review of Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish Lesson #13

The title – a reference to class 14′s discussion about double negatives and their acceptance and requirement in Spanish as opposed to English where they are reserved for characters in Deliverance.

This class continued our nice run of informative classes and gave me dí©jí  vu about a recent experience of mine. Once a week, I take part in an “intercambio (language exchange)” with a porteña who is looking to practice her English. I was telling her about how we are keeping our children on an American schedule (early to bed, early to rise) rather than exposing them to the late nights of Argentine kids. She was intrigued and asked me to describe a typical day of mine. For the most part I think I did ok, but there were parts I struggled through. David and Jimena did this same exercise in class 14 and it was very helpful to hear how they described a typical day in their lives. I’m sure I’ll have a chance to discuss my daily schedule again and next time I’m hoping it will sound flawless (and more advanced now that I learned a few more words to temporally arrange things).

One of my favorite parts of class 14 was learning the word for “to get (conseguir).” I never realized how much I used this word until I arrived here and I found myself constantly trying to translate it into Spanish. I feel like a thesaurus, constantly trying to thing of a good synonym for it that I know how to say in Spanish. For instance, I would translate “I got the food you asked for from the store” into “I bought the food” or “I have the food you wanted.” I won’t bore you with more examples, but there are millions. Finally, another word I can stop talking around. Thank god.

The other big concept that class 14 covered was sentence structure – particularly when to use “a” to signify the object of a verb, and when you need to proceed a verb with an indirect pronoun (when using a verb signifying something being sent or given to someone else). I know for sure that I have made this mistake when telling people about emails I have sent or making a trip to the post office. Just another example of not picking up on word usage patterns that Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish has illuminated for me.

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!

by on May 28, 2010 in Bueno entonces... Reviews, Mini Lesson

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Might Need The Black Light For This One: A Review of Bueno, entonces…Learn Spanish Lesson #20

Edgy, unrelenting, and borderline inappropriate at times: ways I would describe class 20, and ways many of my friends would describe my sense of humor. So it was a perfect match.

Today’s class used David’s attempt to seal the deal with his hot neighbor as a platform for discussing the “telos (sex hotels)” of Buenos Aires – an interesting part of the local culture. As many children here live with their parents until they are married, often into their mid to late 20s, finding a private place to spend time with your significant other becomes crucial. Therefore, the industry of “sex hotels,” rented by the hour, flourishes and is as much a part of daily life as matí© and soccer. They are scattered throughout the city, in plain sight except for the requisite shrubs making the entrance somewhat inconspicuous, and well-known and accepted by the locals. Interestingly, they are used not only by teens looking to have a little fun, but also by married couples looking to spice things up or grab some time away from the kids. The guide books say that they are extremely clean – even cleaner than you often find local hotels to be. Sounds a little creepy to me, but I guess it’s hard to fit in the backseat of the tiny cars they have here.

Another class and another helpful Spanish phrase, or so I thought. Class 20 introduced the phrase “acabar de” meaning to just have done. For example, “acabo de llegar” means I just arrived. Sounds useful enough until they give the caveat that using acabar without the de means to have an orgasm. That one seems a little too easy to screw up (insert joke here about men screwing up orgasms) so I don’t think I’ll be trying it out just yet.

As Bueno entonces…learn Spanish has a knack of doing, it expertly used a raunchy topic, sex hotels, as a jumping-off point to discuss basic concepts of the Spanish language. In today’s class it was the use of “por vs para (two words meaning for).” Again, like “ser vs estar” this is a complicated discussion that doesn’t necessarily follow hard and fast rules, however, Bueno, entonces… Learn Spanish did a nice job of hitting and reinforcing the most common uses.

Well, for the time being it looks like Jimena won’t be sex-iled for David’s sex-capade (sorry, I ran out of clever words to describe sex I learned freshman year in college) – it looks like he’ll have to settle for the Motel Ocho.

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!

by on May 27, 2010 in Bueno entonces... Reviews, Mini Lesson

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A Review of Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish Lesson #3

Bueno, entonces… In today’s lesson, I continued to learn the remaining numbers from 11-100. Simple. I was also taught about trabajo and different types of empleados and their significa. The lesson also covered some more formal greetings and responses.

Example:
“Hola, que tal?”
“Bien, y usted?”
(Formal) “Bien, es un placer/gusto”
(Informal) “Bien, encantado!”

I think I’ve got this greeting thing down. I’ve noticed though that every time I ask “Que tal?” everyone responds with the same answer. Maybe that is a wonderful thing because I would not understand anything other wise.

The lesson began to introduce conjugaciones distinas de los verbos regulares and irregulares. So so complex. I can already tell that Ser (to be) and Ir (to go) will be giving me a lot of trouble. They are both irregular so the spelling changes completely, making it really difficult to pick up, even with context clues.

The lessons are so simple, everything it set up in a very basic manner, making it really easy to follow along. New words and phrases are repeated over and over with each lessons instead of being stashed in the back of your memory. Repetition is the key! Before leaving the states, Gates and I took some lessons from the Rosetta Stone, very simple. Almost too simple, but it kind of went all over the place. There was a lot of repetition, but I could not imagine being able to hold a conversation even after 10 lessons. I could however tell you that the lady’s hair is long and brown. Or that 5 kids are on top of the table and three are under.

In the video, David mentioned botellas de cervezas. Yes! It’s true! In Buenos Aires, you get a refund for bringing the glass bottle back for recycling! Amazing! People drink anywhere and everywhere, but not as much as you would see them making out! Owww!

Favorite word:
Nenita=babe!

Want to check out more from this reviewer? You can see her 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!

by on May 26, 2010 in Bueno entonces... Reviews, Mini Lesson

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Has Hell Frozen Over?: A Review of Bueno, entonces…Spanish Lesson #9

Well, I was reviewing my last post and I realized that for the first time since I started Bueno, entonces… Learn Spanish and started blogging, that I didn’t say ONE nasty thing about David. I was starting to think that he had turned a corner and realized his attempt at a Mr. Suave act with Jimena wasn’t going to get him anywhere.

Well, looks like I was wrong.

Today’s class looked like it was going to be very, very helpful for me. The major subject matter was telling time. Ever since I was little I have been quite anal about time and being prompt to the point of always being early. I have been wearing a watch since I was 10 and it irks me to no end when people are late. (As you can imagine, I do a lot of waiting around here in BsAs, as apparently I am the only one in town with this trait!!).

Anyway, the class started out well by learning different ways to ask for the time. “Quí© hora es?” (What time is it?), “Me decí­s la hora?” (Can you tell me the hour?), and Sabí©s la hora?” (Do you know the time?). I have studied time before but I thought this was a really good refresher lesson on time for me.

Things with David starting going a bit down hill from here. After many, many tries over the past few weeks to get Jimena to have dinner with him, or go for a drink or basically do anything with him, he seemed to change his tactic. Jimena asked him to post some questions using the things he just learned about time.

Once again he asked when they could go out etc. To no one’s surprise, he gets shot down once again. It was then that decided to try new tactic. He then asked Jimena when she has sex as well as when she masterbates and how often. Yup, you read that right.

I know I have said this before, but what are the odds that Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur or Visual Link would ever even broach that subject, let alone teach it!!

What was then surprising was that Jimena actually gave him answers. While initally taken aback, in her defense, I realized that she was just giving him any answers (another way to reinforce the information he was just taught) rather than answering him with REAL information. I get it now, she realized it was better to just appease him and answer than to just blow him off. Hmm. . .wonder if this will be better approach for everyone. Time will tell.

While no prude, I was just a bit surprised that this was a topic of conversation for a Spanish class. (Not that there is anything wrong with that!!) Just in case you don’t believe me, here is a little peak:

Moving on. In addition to time, we also learned some very important words relating to time but in a different way. Mientras, durante, antes, siempre, nunca, ocasionalmente, generalmente, among others. (To translate, while, during, before, always, never, occasionally and generally).

Another hot topic, but also relating to time, are prepositions that are used when relating to a certain time span. Like, “Voy DESDE mi casa HASTA el banco.” (I go FROM my house TO the bank.) and “Voy DE la cama AL living.”(I go FROM the bed TO the living room.)

All and all I found it to be a very informative and slightly surprising lesson, especially to someone who is as concerned about time as I am.

As for now, I am quite interested to see how Jimena’s new tactic will play out over time. Especially since she finally agreed to get some coffee with him after class. Tomorrow should be quite interesting!!

Chau, Chau!!

by on May 25, 2010 in Bueno entonces... Reviews, Mini Lesson

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Mate Anyone?: A Review of Bueno, entonces…Spanish Lesson #8

I couldn’t wait to get back to the next class since I knew the subject matter would once again revolve around food. But I had forgotten that David was also going to get a little lesson in mate.

If you know anything about Argentina, you know that drinking mate is a very social event. For the few of you that might not actually know what mate is, according to Wikipedia, “Mate is a traditional South American infused drink. It is prepared from steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water. The drink contains caffeine and has a pungent taste like a cross between green tea and coffee, with hints of tobacco and oak.”

But it is so much more than that. No matter where you go in this city you see people, young and old and everything in between, with their mate cups and thermos sharing this time honored tradition with family and friends. Our first meeting with our first Porteño friends Victor and Hernan, was spent drinking mate. While it is an acquired taste, it was something we took too very quickly especially since we had so much fun.

I was curious as to how David was going to like it. Being a Brit and a tea drinker (is that being stereotypical??) I figured he would love it. But NO. HE HATED IT. He could not get over how much he really did hate it. I think he needs to try it again in a much more social atmosphere. It is something you get to share with your friends and at least for me, has been a very special experience.

After David’s mate lesson the class moved on. And to be honest, I felt like it moved all over the place. Let’s see. We started with mate, then moved on to some adjectives, and then over to some more food, and then over to some irregular verbs, and then back to some more food, and then a few restaurant tips. My head was spinning. I have to admit that for me, this was not the easiest class to follow. As soon as I would focus on a subject matter, it switched. I felt a bit exhausted when class was done.

But getting back to food. While I knew most of them already, it is always fun to talk about the different types of food at an asado. While I have my favorite cut of meat here (entraña which is skirt steak), being reminded about the rest is always quite tasty. Bife de lomo (tenderloin), bife de chorizo (strip steak), vacio (flank steak) and you can’t forget about the achuras (innards). Who doesn’t like a good chinchuline (intestine) or morcilla (blood sausage)? I have to be honest, I have tried them both and while I won’t eat a lot of them, they are both pretty tasty when done right.

As a matter of fact this will all come in quite handy when my parents come to visit in a few weeks. We will be having an asado at my house in their honor. There will be a great mix of locals and expats with once again a great mix of English, Spanish and Spanglish. As well as steak, steak and more steak, some achuras and definitely some mate and a lot of vino!!

Hmmm. . .maybe I should get my parents to watch some of the Bueno, entonces… Learn Spanish videos or maybe listen to some samples of Rosetta Stone before they arrive so they can learn some useful Spanish phrases.

by on May 24, 2010 in Bueno entonces... Reviews, Mini Lesson

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