Now I'm Just Plain Confused

One of the main teaching points that I got out of class 10 was that the present tense can be used when talking about the future. A couple of classes ago we also learned that you can also use the present tense to talk about the past. It seems that context clues are vitally important. I think I need to pay a little more attention to the verb tenses I am hearing in normal conversation to see if this actually takes place, and if there is a time frame into the past or future where the present tense is acceptable. As I said in one of my first posts, it is the switching between verb tenses that gives me the most problems. Being able to use the present tense much more would be a life saver. I just want to make sure that native Spanish speakers do this before doing it myself. I don't just want to be understood, I want to talk like a native. One particularly helpful hint that I have heard used by locals is using the present tense instead of the future tense when you would use "will" in English (such as "we will see each other later" translated to "nos vemos"). This I will definitely put into my repertoire immediately. These little pearls are what sets Bueno, entonces... Learn Spanish apart from Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone relies entirely on context clues for the learner to discern the meaning of verbs and vocabulary. This is a good strategy a lot of the time, however, in instances such as those I talked about earlier in this post, I really love that Bueno, entonces... Learn Spanish stops to explain the concepts.

Other highlights of class 10 were things such as learning how to make weekend plans and medical vocabulary (good for doctors to know, although very basic). I enjoyed learning that you can say "buen finde" to mean "buen fin de semana (have a good weekend)" - I love to use these little local sayings. It makes me feel like less of a gringo (I think the flip-flops and lack of tight black jeans may give me away though).

Class 10 also cleared up something that has been bugging me since I arrived in Buenos Aires. I am always seeing shops that say "fiambres, queso, bife" on the window and I could never figure out what "fiambres" meant. Leave it to Bueno, entonces... Learn Spanish to clear it up for me (fiambres = cold cuts). Now I can walk down the street in peace (and get sandwich meats at a reasonable price).