Day 01 – Pocket Phrases
Welcome to day 1 of the 28 day challenge. Today I learn my first 6 phrases in Spanish – Pocket Phrases! If you don’t know what I’m talking about check out the Pocket Phrases video in the Foreign Language Smart Start video course.
The 6 Pocket Phrases
English | Spanish |
1. What does this mean? | 1. ¿Qué significa esto? |
2. What is this word? | 2. ¿Qué es esta palabra? |
3. How do you say ____? | 3. ¿Cómo se dice ____? |
4. I don’t know. | 4. No se. |
5. I forgot. | 5. Se me ovlidó. |
6. I need to look it up. | 6. Debo buscarlo (en el diccionario). |
If you want the printable sheet of flashcards, you can download the FREE guidebook over on the link in the sidebar.
I believe you should always start learning these phrases first if you can. It’s because you will be able to use them right away when you encounter words you don’t know. This applies to everyone learning a new language, no matter who you are or what language you are learning.
After you learn these phrases, you will be able to use them as tools to help you learn other things in the language. When you forget something, instead of saying “I forgot,” or, “I need to look it up,” in English or your own language, you can say now say it in the foreign language.
Pronunciation
If you are learning Spanish, a great resource to use for pronunciation is www.spanishdict.com. You can search for words and phrases in either Spanish or English. Plus, if you click the little speaker icon next to the word/phrase, it will give you the pronunciation.
If you are not learning Spanish, Google Translate does something similar. Just be careful when using Google Translate, as it is not always very accurate.
Pronunciation in any language takes time. Don’t worry about getting it right in the beginning. I understand there are different schools of thought on this. But my opinion is that you should start speaking regardless of how terrible your pronunciation is at first. You are a beginner – of course you are terrible right now! Don’t let that stop you from starting.
The main piece of advice for pronunciation I have when you are first starting is – only worry about pronouncing the sentences you are currently practicing. Don’t try to memorize the alphabet and all of it’s phonemes before you start speaking sentences. Instead, do the opposite. Start speaking full sentences right away, and as you do, let those sentences teach you how to perfect your pronunciation.
Links
28 Day Challenge – Spanish 01 – Intro Video
The Foreign Language Smart Start FREE video course (no opt-in required)