Prepositions are small words usually found in front of a noun that help establish its relation to another word in the sentence. Examples of prepositions in English include: in, under, with, for etc. Spanish has three key prepositions to do with location: a, de, en.
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A number of German words have made their way into the English language. Some of them we accept as a matter of course as they have been around for a long time. Others, have come into English rather recently. While most words maintain the same or similar meaning some change their meaning slightly when transplanted from one language to another. For example, the word angst. Below you will find a list of common German words and phrases used in English.
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Proper pronunciation is key to communicating in any language. Without proper pronunciation, it can become very difficult to make yourself understood. Review the guidelines below to better understand Spanish word syllabification and stress.
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Historically, German and English have shared a number of similar or even identically spelled words such as:
der Student, das Haus, die Maus, die Medizin
This is due to the fact that both languages stem from a common proto-Germanic language as well as the fact that they have imported words from the same languages such as French. Over time, these words have come to be part of each language without people giving much thought to it. However, in recent history a large number of English words have been adopted by German speakers, especially the youth culture.
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Other than Latin, Arabic is the language with the greatest influence on the Spanish-language. Arabic speakers entered the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) in the year 711. Accompanied by Berbers, these Arabic speakers were pushing into Europe to spread the new faith of Islam that had been founded in 622.
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New students often ask me: how long will it take for me to become fluent?
This is a very difficult question to answer. Many factors go into a person’s ability to learn a language. I often discuss how long it takes my average student to achieve certain milestones, such as being comfortable in everyday conversations, or being confident in a business setting.
After I work with students for a few sessions and get to know their learning styles, I can answer this question with greater certainty. There are five key factors that I believe determine how fast someone can learn a new language:
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German is spoken by approximately 100 million people all over the world. It is an official language in: Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland as well as provinces found in eastern France and northern Italy. German speakers have also emigrated to numerous other countries. Here are some more interesting facts about the German language:
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When studying a new language it is important to understand the culture that envelops and supports that language to truly understand it. North American society and Latin society have many similarities but also some differences. Below I will discuss two fundamental institutions in Latin society; family and church.
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Prepositions are important words in sentences as they show the relation between the words. Common prepositions in English include: with, in, for, to etc. One major difference between English and German grammar is that each preposition in the German language is associated with a specific case. Here we are looking at a specific subset of prepositions called two-way prepositions which can be used with either the accusative or dative case. The following is the complete list of nine two-way prepositions:
Read moreA number of verbs in the Spanish language undergo a stem change in the present tense form. There are three categories of stem changing verbs and dozens of verbs in each of the three categories. These verbs must be memorized individually. Below are examples of each.
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