Hola.  Today I want to think about el fenómeno of how much español is words that end with one of just 2 letras: la letra -o and la letra -a.  And how, en muchos casos, the words are prácticamente igual en inglés, or if not exactamente igual, very, very similar.

Today is all about building confianza: confianza to listen … or read … and understand.  Confianza to stick an -o or an -a on the end of a word and hope for the best.  It might sound ridículo, but lo importante when it comes to communicating is to have a go!  La persona who says “I’m bueno knackado” when they’re tired gets more mensaje across than la persona who says absolutamente nada!

Claro, la diferencia is en la pronunciación … la forma o manera de pronunciar a word.  So Spanish it up un poco.  You can do it!  If you are in Spanish-speaking compañía say diferencia instead of difference.  “Dee-fe-ren-sia”.  La pronunciación of the word es un poco diference, but we understand it!

Sometimes a word looks realmente similar but la pronunciación es muy diferente.  This is because some letras en español carry different sounds to the sounds they carry en inglés.  I’ll give you un ejemplo:  la letra “V” carries a “b” sound.  Your visit to Aunty María is your “bee-seeta-a Tía María”.  Yes, Tía María means Aunty María!

Visita sounds diferente to visit.  The fact that it looks similar is a big help for us though.

Otro ejemplo of una letra that has un sonido diferente es la letra “U”.  It always makes an “oo” sound en español.  University is universidad … “ooni-bersi-dad” or “oonee-bear-see-dad!”

Here are 4 words for you to try:

• aventura (adventure)
• influencia (influence)
• número (number)
• entusiasmo (enthusiasm)

Of all the words today, entusiasmo is one of mis favoritos.  It sounds good.  The origén of the word is Greek, and means to be filled with God.  The meaning is to have un gran interés and an eagerness for algo.

We have entusiasmo for español, for using español and for el contacto con la cultura that español gives us.  We have entusiasmo for our progreso, and it is práctica that makes our progreso posible, so well done to you for taking this oportunidad to practicar un poco and have a look at all these words.  How many of them ended con la letra -a or la letra -o?

¡Lo hiciste!  You did it!

Feel free to download the words and print them out, and please get in touch if you would like to continuar la conversación.

Hasta la próxima