Season’s greetings

Os deseamos feliz Navidad y que vuestro 2016 sea lleno de salud, felicidad, éxito y amor.
Os agradeceros la confianza que habéis depositado en nosotros y los momentos felices que habéis compartido con nosotros durante estos 11 años. Nos alegraría mucho volver a veros en 2016.

Este año os felicitamos con esta versión flamenca del cuento de Navidad que nos gusta mucho. Más abajo os ponemos la letra para que podáis entender mejor su significado en español.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/JXMhsOxxXS4?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent

Aquí tenéis la letra.

El nacimiento 4º la mayor

Por el caminito que lleva a Belén
una borriquilla, María y José
la luna los sigue, los quiere alumbrar
qué largo camino, cuándo llegarán.

El viento los mira,
María suspira ya no puedo más
tranquila mi vida, decía José
por el caminito que lleva a Belén.

Acelera el paso, andando deprisa
que ya se divisa, espera mi bien.

Se acabó el camino
bendito destino
ya estamos muy cerca
ya se ve Belén.

La noche esta fría
tranquila María buscaré posada
llamaré a las puertas en la madrugada
y tendrás el hijo que tanto esperabas.

Nadie abrió la puerta
un frío silencio hubo por respuesta
las calles vacías, ni un alma despierta
tan solo la luna los miraba inquieta.

Por las calles de Belén, camina José
buscando cobijo
un viejo establo será, donde nacerá
María tu hijo

Nos quedaremos aquí
entre el buey y la mula nos darán calor
y la luz de luna clara, alumbró su cara
llena de dolor.

Cógeme la mano, aprieta con fuerza
que lo estoy sintiendo
el momento se acerca
gritos y suspiros, sangre derramada
y el llanto de un niño en la madrugada.

Has sido valiente
lo puso en sus brazos le besó en la frente
ya tienes tu hijo, fruto de tu vientre
descansa María, que el niño ya duerme.

Casi amanecía
nació aquella noche, dormía María
el niño lloraba José sonreía
y hasta las estrellas a verlo venían.

Llegó la mañana, despertó María
mirando a su niño le dio con cariño
besos de alegría.

Tres magos de oriente, vinieron a verlo
era su destino y un largo camino
para conocerlo.

Pastores llevaron al recién nacío
ropita de abrigo y leña de olivo
pá’ quitarle el frío.

Se marchó la luna, estrellas y luceros
y el sol alumbraba la divina cara
del Rey de los Cielos.

Pastores llevaron al recién nacío
ropita de abrigo y leña de olivo
pá’ quitarle el frío.

Se marchó la luna, estrellas y luceros
y el sol alumbraba la divina cara
del Rey de los Cielos.

Casi amanecía
nació aquella noche dormía María
el niño lloraba José sonreía
y hasta las estrellas a verlo venían.

Por el caminito que lleva a Belén
una borriquilla, María y José.

por Rafael González

Anotaciones:
nacío = nacido
pá = para

Season’s greetings

Os deseamos feliz Navidad y que vuestro 2016 sea lleno de salud, felicidad, éxito y amor.
Os agradeceros la confianza que habéis depositado en nosotros y los momentos felices que habéis compartido con nosotros durante estos 11 años. Nos alegraría mucho volver a veros en 2016.

Este año os felicitamos con esta versión flamenca del cuento de Navidad que nos gusta mucho. Más abajo os ponemos la letra para que podáis entender mejor su significado en español.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/JXMhsOxxXS4?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent

Aquí tenéis la letra.

El nacimiento 4º la mayor

Por el caminito que lleva a Belén
una borriquilla, María y José
la luna los sigue, los quiere alumbrar
qué largo camino, cuándo llegarán.

El viento los mira,
María suspira ya no puedo más
tranquila mi vida, decía José
por el caminito que lleva a Belén.

Acelera el paso, andando deprisa
que ya se divisa, espera mi bien.

Se acabó el camino
bendito destino
ya estamos muy cerca
ya se ve Belén.

La noche esta fría
tranquila María buscaré posada
llamaré a las puertas en la madrugada
y tendrás el hijo que tanto esperabas.

Nadie abrió la puerta
un frío silencio hubo por respuesta
las calles vacías, ni un alma despierta
tan solo la luna los miraba inquieta.

Por las calles de Belén, camina José
buscando cobijo
un viejo establo será, donde nacerá
María tu hijo

Nos quedaremos aquí
entre el buey y la mula nos darán calor
y la luz de luna clara, alumbró su cara
llena de dolor.

Cógeme la mano, aprieta con fuerza
que lo estoy sintiendo
el momento se acerca
gritos y suspiros, sangre derramada
y el llanto de un niño en la madrugada.

Has sido valiente
lo puso en sus brazos le besó en la frente
ya tienes tu hijo, fruto de tu vientre
descansa María, que el niño ya duerme.

Casi amanecía
nació aquella noche, dormía María
el niño lloraba José sonreía
y hasta las estrellas a verlo venían.

Llegó la mañana, despertó María
mirando a su niño le dio con cariño
besos de alegría.

Tres magos de oriente, vinieron a verlo
era su destino y un largo camino
para conocerlo.

Pastores llevaron al recién nacío
ropita de abrigo y leña de olivo
pá’ quitarle el frío.

Se marchó la luna, estrellas y luceros
y el sol alumbraba la divina cara
del Rey de los Cielos.

Pastores llevaron al recién nacío
ropita de abrigo y leña de olivo
pá’ quitarle el frío.

Se marchó la luna, estrellas y luceros
y el sol alumbraba la divina cara
del Rey de los Cielos.

Casi amanecía
nació aquella noche dormía María
el niño lloraba José sonreía
y hasta las estrellas a verlo venían.

Por el caminito que lleva a Belén
una borriquilla, María y José.

por Rafael González

Anotaciones:
nacío = nacido
pá = para

Pradoventura team organizes an exchange meeting with Spanish people

Last Wednesday, we organized an exchange afternoon, a very interesting experience where the students could speak Spanish with natives. Previously, the students had prepared a list with questions to start the conversation with the people who were participating in the meeting.

The event took place at the viewpoint of Prado del Rey, where we enjoyed the wonderful views of our town. It was a fun event in which participants of all ages were able to exchange ideas and make friends. In addition to the benefit for the pronunciation and listening comprehension, our students could increase their knowledge about Spanish culture, because the people from Prado del Rey told them about typical habits of the area and about regional food. At the same time the Spanish learned about German and English culture.

For the Pradoventura team it was great to see that the activity worked well because the cultural exchange and understanding between different nationalities is an important part of our philosophy.

Spanish grammar: The verb “gustar”

– Me gusta aprender español ¿Y a ti? ¿Te gusta?  – Sí, a mí también me gusta.

The Spanish verb gustar is translated with to like.

I like to learn Spanish. And you? Do you like it? – Yes, I also like to learn Spanish.

In Spanish some verbs have the subject after the verb, and they always have an indirect object pronoun. One of these verbs is gustar, which can be a little complicated for students of Spanish. At Academia Pradoventura, we like to make life easier for you, so our teacher Marina Castillo has recorded the following video tutorial explaining the different uses of the verb gustar.

 

Want to keep learning Spanish? Sign up for our fun online classes! For more information click here.

This table might be useful to remember how to use the verb gustar. It is exaclty what the teacher explains in the video.

verbo gustar de vd

¡We like to help all the students of Spanish! And we hope that we have helped you with this video. If you have any question, you can leave us a commento on the blog and we will answer you. ¡Mucha suerte!

Academia Pradoventura support a project for the conservation of the local natural parks

Collaboration with the environmental association O-Live         FINAL

The team of Academia Pradoventura cares a lot about the environment. That is why we have decided to support the Environmental Association O-Live in its work to integrate sustainable rural development, conservation of biodiversity, applied research and ecotourism in a project to protect and to value the natural and cultural heritage of the surroundings of the “White Villages of Andalusia” and the Natural Parks “Sierra de Grazalema” and “Los Alcornocales”.

environmental protection in Spain

Its new initiative, “Fuentes de Vida” (Sources of Life), seeks to recover and adapt sources, stone water troughs and other waterbodies in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, aiming to preserve the amphibian fauna, one of the most threatened animal groups worldwide.

The abandonment of the traditional extensive cattle farming has caused the deterioration of these buildings and thus the disappearance of these biodiversity hot spots, vital for amphibians as well as for other species of insects, birds, reptiles or mammals. Therefore, this restoration is essential in order to make these places sources of life once again.
For each new student, Academia Pradoventura will support the biodiversity conservation by donating € 1 to the Asociación Medioambiental O-Live.
As an appreciation of this collaboration, O-Live will offer a guided tour in its natural reserve to the students and teachers of the language school. The visit will take place on a date to be determined in late summer (August-September).

Find out how you can support the project Fuentes de Vida on the following link:

Project “Fuentes de vida” on the O-live website

Find more information about the Environmental Association O-Live at the following links:

Web site

Facebook

Twitter

Flickr

Fragments from Don Quijote in the Spanish class on the Book Day

Today on the Book Day we pay homage to Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the novel “Don Quixote” which is the most important work of Spanish literature and one of the works of world literature that has been translated into the most languages.

In the Spanish class today with the group of a high A2 level, each student will select a portion of this great book and read it to their classmates. Then they talk about what think about this fragment and what they have understood from it. Our Spanish teacher Irene will tell the students a little about the work of Don Quixote and the life of Miguel de Cervantes Saaveda. So the students carry away another piece of the Spanish culture, which we consider an important part of learning the Spanish language.

There are many famous quotes of Don Quijote. We particularly like this one because there is much truth in it.

Cita de Miguel de Cervantes El que lee mucho y anda mucho

“—Ahora digo —dijo a esta sazón don Quijote— que el que lee mucho y anda mucho vee* mucho y sabe mucho38. Digo esto porque ¿qué persuasión fuera bastante para persuadirme que hay monos en el mundo que adivinen, como lo he visto ahora por mis propios ojos? Porque yo soy el mesmo don Quijote de la Mancha que este buen animal ha dicho, puesto que se ha estendido** algún tanto en mis alabanzas; pero como quiera que yo me sea, doy gracias al cielo, que me dotó de un ánimo blando y compasivo, inclinado siempre a hacer bien a todos y mal a ninguno.”

* old form of spelling ve
** old form of spelling extendido

Fragment extracted from the virtual library of the Instituto Cervantes.
http://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/clasicos/quijote/edicion/parte2/cap25/cap25_02.htm

We wish you a great Book Day!!!

Activity for the Spanish class: The teenage slang

The students of the advanced Spanish levels B1 or B2 often tell me about some difficulties they face when they meet young people and try to have a conversation with them in Spanish. The language used by young people in Spain the so-called ‘jerga juvenil’ which means ‘youth slang’ or ‘teenage slang’ in English. There are countless expressions and words that have a specific meaning for young people. These are unknown for most students of Spanish, because the teenage slang is usually not a subject in the Spanish classes at university or college. But it is a subject that the students are really interested in because they use slang expressions in their own language naturally and want their Spanish to sound as authentic as possible. Many of the expressions or words we hear on television, radio, etc. belong to the teenage slang and have been assimilated in the common language in a way that they are often used without knowing very well that originally this was a code only used by young people. And over the time they have become commoditized and have gained importance and popularity. The youth slang is a way of speaking, and like the Spanish  language, it is continuously renewed and alive. The youth language has turned into a common language or colloquial Spanish and not only young people use it. Increasingly we can hear people of different ages use this kind of language.

The origin of the teenage slang is not defined, but the reason for the creation of this language may be the interest of young people to create a code that is different from the adults’ to mark the age limit. It is a new communication code reserved for certain communicative situations and it is also a proper form of expression of the youth which is more creative , free, expressive and affective.Spanish courses for students in spain for beginner, intermediate and advanced.

After listening to many comments on the youth slang by the students in my class  I decided to do the following activity. It is preferable that the group is dynamic and has more than 5 or 6 students to carry it out. First, I did a short introduction about what the youth slang about its importance in Spain, like the explanation I have given above. I had selected a series of commonly used phrases and vocabulary words from the long list of youth slang you can find currently, that we think may be useful for our students. I chose 24 expressions and vocabulary words for my class and divided the class into two groups: group A (two people) and group B (three people). I had written the 24 expressions on little cards devided into two parts (the expression on the one hand and the meaning on the other hand). Then I put the cards on the table and the whole group had to try to unite expression or word with its meaning according to their intuition. I observed their conversations all the time and helped the students find out the correct connections. Once everything was solved, the students had to deduce in what contexts each expression could be used. The main objective of this activity is that the students talk in Spanish all the time and that they can interpret the meaning of the expressions among them. I was especially attentive to the students’ explanations and thus corroborated the meaning of each expression. Once everybody knew the meaning of all the expressions, I proposed the students to make a dialogue in their small groups, using the youth slang we had just learned.

And here I show you two of the creations of my students:

Dialogue Group A:

Madre: ¿Por qué no estuviste en clase de Historia ayer? ¡Ir a la escuela cada día es muy importante!
Hija: ¡No me ralles! Yo sé lo que tengo que hacer. No pienso que necesite Historia para mi futuro. Además tengo un marrón. Pero no tengo ganas de explicártelo.
Madre: ¡Hacer rabona no es la solución para tus problemas! ¡Tienes que ir a la escuela!
Hija: ¡Bien! Déjame en paz. No fui a clase…Se me fue la olla.

Dialogue Group B:

Ana: ¡Hola tías!
Inés: ¿Qué pasa?
Lucía: ¿Ya habéis escuchado las últimas novedades?
Ana: ¡No, cuéntanos!
Lucía: ¡Ayer, Juan estaba tan colgado que entró en pelotas a una tienda e intentó cubrirse con una toalla!
Inés: ¡No flipes!
Lucía: Pues, la pasma lo arrestó y ahora está en el talego.
Ana: ¡La cagó! ¿Y ahora qué?
Lucía: Da igual, ¡vamos a la discoteca a ponernos ciegas…!

This activity is very interesting, as students interact with each other, they develop creativity, they speak Spanish, get to know the Spanish youth slang and have fun at the same time. I have to say that this activity worked very well and we laughed a lot in class, which is fundamental … learning Spanish and having fun. The students had a great time in class and I laughed a lot with them. I recommend this activity to other Spanish teachers for their groups of the B1 and B2 level.

If you are a Spanish teacher or you are currently studying to be a Spanish teacher and you are not a native speaker, you might be interested in our Didactics and perfecting course for non-native Spanish teachers. In this course you can learn about the latest tendencies of methodology, take away a lot of activities for your Spanish class and exchange ideas with other teachers.

Author: Irene Cañas Moreno

Spanish grammar: Temporal clauses with cuando/cuándo

In the Spanish grammar the use of the temporal clauses is an important topic that the students of Spanish study in the level B1. The temporal clauses indicate the time when the action in the main clause happens, and they always begin with a conjunction. Cuando is the most used conjunction due to the different meanings that it can give to the sentence.

In this videotutorial the Spanish teacher Ángeles Guerrero explains the correct use of the temporal clauses with the conjunction “cuando/cuándo” and when to use it with indicative and when with subjunctive. She also shows when cuándo is written with an accent and when it goes without an accent.

Want to keep learning Spanish? Sign up for our fun online classes! For more information click here.

In the chart you can see the overview of the temporal clauses with cuando that Ángeles showed you on the whiteboard. To practice with it, just save the picture to your device. oraciones temporales con cuandoWe hope this video could help you to improve your Spanish and to understand better how to use the temporal clauses correctly. Now it’s your turn, practice and have fun!

If you liked the class with Ángeles, perhaps you are interested in one of the Spanish courses in Spain that Ángeles and her colleages teach in our language school in Prado del Rey, one of the White Villages of Andalusia.

Happy 2015! This is how we celebrate New Year’s Eve in Prado del Rey

With this video we thank all the students, colleagues and partners of Academia Pradoventura for being a part of the unvorgettable moments of the last 10 years and we wish you a Happy 2015!!!

In the first part you will see an extract of these memories and in the second part you will learn what makes the New Year’s Eve so special in Prado del Rey.

We hope you enjoyed the video. Some of you may have found themselves and others not. We would have liked to include all of you but this way the video would have been “longer than a day without bread” (a Spanish saying).

In this article in the newspaper La Voz de Cádiz you can read where the tradition to celebrate New Year’s Eve wearing fancy dresses (some inhabitants started it after the end of the Spanish dictatorship) and that it is the biggest public celebration in the Sierra de Cádiz.

Spanish grammar: Use of the prepositions por and para

The different uses of the prepositions por and para can be confusing for students who are learning Spanish. In the following video Irene will explain in which case to use por and in which one para. Once you have seen the expanation and examples it won’t be difficult for you to distinguish between these prepositions and with a bit of practice you will soon use por and para correctly.

Want to keep learning Spanish? Sign up for our fun online classes! For more information click here.

The chart sums up  what Irene says in the video and what is written on the whiteboard. You can download it and take it with you.

preposiciones por y paraWe hope this video helped you to understand the different uses of  the prepositions por and para in Spanish and if you have any questions or doubts just leave a comment and we will help you. Now it’s your turn to practice!

In this post you can learn more about the use of prepositions: Use of prepositions with verbs of movement

Conversation class: What would you like to order?

The conversation classes at our Spanish language school are an extra that we give to the participants of the Spanish courses for university students for free once a week. They are a creative space where the students choose the topics they are interested in and the teachers propose interactive activities that give them the opportunity to improve their speaking skills and put into practice what they have learned in class, without being focused on a certain grammatical stucture. Sometimes they create interesting debates and other times funny role plays. Additionally, as we put together the groups of similar levels, the students get to know each other better. In this class there are students from the A1 and the A2 group.

Here we show you one of our conversation classes with our Spanish teacher Marina. The students had learned the vocabulary related to bars and restaurants and how to order food and drinks a few days before. So they chose this topic for the conversation class. Marina prepared some funny situations that could happen in a Spanish restaurant, and the students had to create suitable dialogues and represent the scenes, and they did it so well! Here is the video:

Want to keep learning Spanish? Sign up for our fun online classes! For more information click here.

The activity was a success and we had a lot of fun together! We hope you enjoyed the video.
Many thanks to the students who allowed us to record the class for the blog.

See you soon! 🙂

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