![\"SoupBowl\"](\"http:\/\/johnkwhite.ie\/caracolas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/SoupBowl.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOf course grammar is important, but the difference between the simple past (I ate) and the present perfect (I have eaten) is confusing to any new language learner. Disguised as pret\u00e9<\/i>rito indefinido<\/i> and pret\u00e9rito perfecto<\/i> in Spanish,* it\u2019s a mouthful. But the real joy in language learning is being understood as we fumble for subjects and predicates in correct number and tense trying to translate our minds to our mouths in reasonably engaging conversation. Chunks are essential: \u00bf<\/b><\/em>Qu\u00e9 tal?, Guten tag, O<\/i><\/b>\u00f9<\/b><\/em> est la toilette?, Hoy hace frio, Was hast du gestern abend gemacht?, <\/i>\u00c0 bient\u00f4t.<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n A friend of mine living in Berlin once told me that the most important phrase one can learn is \u201cHow do you say?\u201d From there, you can build all the language you need. Visiting him for a week, I took his advice, asking \u201cWie sagt man auf Deutsch<\/i>?\u201d over and over as I set out on my own rocky road to learning. Wie sagt man <\/i>fork<\/b>? \u2013 (Gabel<\/i>). Wie sagt man <\/i>spoon<\/b>? \u2013 (L<\/i>\u00f6ffel<\/i>). Wie sagt mann <\/i>knife<\/b>? \u2013 (Messer<\/i>). Or, if your conversation partner doesn\u2019t speak your language (and doesn\u2019t get too annoyed by your persistence) \u201cWie sagt man dies<\/b><\/i>?\u201d und<\/i> \u201cWie sagt man das<\/b><\/i>?\u201d with lots of pointing. This<\/i> and that<\/i> and lots of pointing got me through beginner\u2019s German.<\/p>\n Backs of cereal boxes** help \u2013 wherever one finds the bites. Growing up in Ontario that\u2019s where one learns beginner\u2019s French, rather than in school with its excessive focus on grammar to the exclusion of all else. After 8 years, we could all parse verbs to pass an exam; we just couldn\u2019t use any with confidence in a sentence. Studying at Alliance Fran\u00e7aise wasn\u2019t much better, where the teachers seemed more interested in talking about their lives than enlisting students to talk about theirs. More correct usage followed on paper, without any real practice.<\/p>\n Most language learners like easy words and phrases to practice: Buenos d\u00edas<\/i>, \u00bf<\/em>Qu\u00e9 tal?<\/i>, Hasta luego<\/i>, No te preocupes<\/i>. And where better than the headlines of newspapers, magazines, and catalogues to practice \u2013 bold and chunky with pictures to add voice to the words? In Spain, there\u2019s \u00a1<\/i>Hola!<\/i>, similar to Hello<\/i> or a high-brow National Enquirer<\/i>, with lots of large-print headlines and captioned photo-spreads about the lifestyles of the rich and famous to aid the more nimble. It\u2019s Ast\u00e9rix<\/em> and<\/i> Ob\u00e9lix<\/em> for the jet set.<\/p>\n There are oodles of pictures of model-like princesses and hunky princes (the heir to the Spanish monarchy the Prince of Asturias and his wife Letizia are in every edition***), and the learning is sugared with plenty of spoonfuls of less royal eye candy, though the excessive plastic surgery can be hard to take.<\/p>\n The headlines are not necessarily idioms but they come in easy-to-digest bite-size chunks.<\/p>\n Simple text with simple context and more than a few clueless aristocrats to look down on. Models, hunks, and the simplest of language bites. It doesn\u2019t get any chunkier.<\/p>\n Do we learn language according to rules or in repeatable phrases that are trotted out to fit the occasion? To be sure, regular idioms fill up most of our day: How are you?, Good morning, Where is the bathroom? It\u2019s … Continue reading LA PRINCESA LETIZIA, BRILLANTE EN EL HIST\u00d3RICO VIAJE DE LOS PR\u00cdNCIPES DE ASTURIAS A ESTADOS UNIDOS<\/h5>\n
\u00a0<<Una de las cosas que m\u00e1s me han motivado durante todo este tiempo han sido los hijos y los nietos de todos nosotros. Pensar en el futuro>><\/h5>\n
\u00a0CARMEN Y SABINA, LAS MELLIZAS DE LA BARONESA THYSSEN, PREPARAN SU PRIMERA NAVIDAD EN MADRID<\/h5>\n
* Spanish Past Tense Exercises<\/a>, ISLA.<\/h5>\n
** The back of the Rice Crispies box was a favourite. When you add milk, the cereal goes \u201cSnap, Crackle, Pop\u201d in English, \u201cCric, Crac, Croc\u201d in French, and “Knisper, Knasper, Knusper” in German.<\/h5>\n
*** In the 27 Noviembre 2013 issue, La Princesa Letizia is on the cover in regal cameo and in 24 more photos with her husband on pages 38-50 (8 different outfits). Prince Charles and family are in a photo spread on pages 4-12, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt pages 16-17, the Baronesa Thyssen in full facially operated splendour pages 58-68, and Charlene de M\u00f3naco on page 72. Crisis, what crisis? For the most ridiculous spread, check out Laura Vecino, who appears as the most clueless of the clueless. We do live in the strangest of worlds.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"