On The Road Again

Class 23 had a wonderful mixture of useful vocabulary and in-depth discussions about subtle differences between similar verbs. I usually jot down notes about each class - this class filled the paper.

Today's class used David's mother's upcoming trip to Mendoza as an excuse to teach travel vocabulary. This is actually quite useful as we are smack dab in the middle of trying to make travel plans for the fast-approaching summer break. I learned the difference between the micro (long-distance bus) and the colectivo (inner-city bus), as well as a new word for suitcases (valijas) - not equipaje as I learned in high school. Two days ago my wife was discussing our potential travel plans with another mom from the kids' school and I overheard her talking about going to the "Cataratas." This came as a bit of a surprise as I have been fairly hands-on with the planning and I had never heard this destination as an option. Well, I learned that Las Cataratas means the waterfalls (Iguazu) which is the first stop on our travel itinerary.

Class 23 also served as a reminder that direct translations of English to Spanish don't always work. For instance, I was recently telling someone about how I help to bring the kids to school in the morning - I used the verb traer (to bring). Come to find out, the use of the similar verbs traer (to bring) and llevar (to take) actually depends on where the speaker is at the time he/she is speaking. Thus, using traer would have been fine if I was having my conversation at the school. Instead, I was at a local café, meaning llevar was the correct verb to use.

This rule also holds true for ir (to go) and venir (to come). One of my Argentine friends emailed me today and asked if I'd like to meet him for lunch this week. He wrote, "podés venir el miercoles (can you come Wednesday)?" Because of the previously discussed rule, I should answer, "sí puedo ir (yes I can go)" rather than "sí puedo venir (yes I can come)" as I am not in the place where the lunch will be happening.

Bueno, entonces... Learn Spanish was also able to throw in a little telephone vocabulary at the end - verbs for to answer, to hang up, wrong number, etc. Those concise high-yield segments are extremely useful.