Hey Spanish speaking folks...

I posted this topic in the Panama fan force already,( here) but then I sort of realized I would probably get more response around here seeing as Panama isn't a gigantic country and there probably aren't that many Panamese fans online.

So I decided to repost it here:

I don't know much Spanish, so I'll write this in English. I'm from Belgium and I'm going to go to Panama for a year next year to study at the university (don't know where yet exactly) with an exchange program.

I don't speak any Spanish ( I know some words but that's it ) so I was wondering if anyone here could give me some basic phrases and things like that. I refuse to enter a program to learn a language, since that only stiffles your enjoyment anyway if you ask me (hey, I learned English on my own as well, this isn't my native language. ) so it would be really cool if anyone here could give me some things like:

How do you say hello in Spanish? Like when you see someone walking down the street and you just want them to notice you. Like "É Amigo!" or something?

What's

I
You
He/She
We
You
They

What are the conjugations of to be/to have?

What are the basic conjugations of verbs?

How do you say "My name is..."

How do you say "Hello, I'm from Belgium"

How do you say "What's your name?"

How do you say "One beer please"

...what's the deal with the reversed question marks?

Ah, I got so many questions. It'd be cool if someone would want to answer some of 'm.

Also, feel free to tell me anything about Panama/Spanish culture you think I ought to know.

Cheers!

Okay, but you owe me a beer:

How do you say hello in Spanish? Like when you see someone walking down the street and you just want them to notice you. Like "É Amigo!" or something?

There are tons of coloquialisms. You'll learn some at Panamá, but you can always use the standard "Hey!".

What's ¿Qué es...?

I
You
He/She
We
You
They

Yo, tú, él/ella, nosotros, vosotros, ellos

What are the conjugations of to be/to have?

To be = ser/estar (you'll learn the difference with sweat and patience )

Yo soy/estoy, tú eres/estás, él/ella es/está, nosotros somos/estamos, vosotros sois/estais, ellos son/están

To have = tener

Yo tengo, tú tienes, él/ella tiene, nosotros tenemos, vostros teneis, ellos tienen

What are the basic conjugations of verbs?

You better get a good grammar book. Seriously. Beware of the irregular verbs! [face_there_be_dragons]

How do you say "My name is..."

"Me llamo..."

How do you say "Hello, I'm from Belgium"

"Hola, soy de Bélgica / Hola, soy belga"

How do you say "What's your name?"

"¿Cómo te llamas?"

How do you say "One beer please"

"Una cerveza, por favor"

...what's the deal with the reversed question marks?

Easy; you start a question with a reversed question mark, you use a question mark at the end of the sentence. That's all.


Feel free to ask; we used to have a Spanish Learning Desk but it's buried somewhere.

Hehe, thanks man! I'll buy you a beer next time I'm in Spain (you wouldn't happen to live anywhere near Madrid would you? 'cause that's where my cousin lives and thus the place I'm most likely to visit anytime soon.)

Skiara, well, I had 4 good teachers for English:

Monkey Island 3 (The voice acting and me playing this game for days and days and days on end REALLY helped me a lot, I bet my pronounciation sounds a lot like Guybrush's. )

Tolkien (I read Lord of the Rings when I was 12)

Star Wars Aside from watching the movies I also read a lot of EU in English, they're not hard as far as the language level is concerned and it really helps your vocabulary.

The Internet, debating with people online really helps.

Also, you're German and you don't drink beer? (and I'll need it, my e-mail ain't geefmijbier@yahoo.com for nothing geef mij bier being Dutch for give me beer).

By basic conjugations I meant the forms of regular verbs.

Maybe I should buy a grammar book for this.

What's the difference between ser and estar?

Anyway, thanks so far, this'll help me a lot.

EDIT:

Oh yea, do you pronounce Llamo like it is written?

Heh, Im also a self-taught English speaker. Not that I am note any of difference with the well-learned speakers (yeah, Im kidding).


Ser and estar...

My first answer would be "Euh... Go away..."

It's hard for a Spanish speaker to explain the difference between "ser" and "estar". I don't know where to start...

My second answer would be:


"Ser" it's applied to essential characteristics. "Estar" is applied to conditions.

Ex.:

I am handsome = soy guapo
I am handsome, I am a handome person

I am handsome = estoy guapo
I am handsome right now, maybe because I'm wearing my favourite shirt

The apple is green = la manzana es verde
The apple is a green-colored fruit

The apple is green = la manzana está verde
The apple is unripe


I hope it helps!

Mmh, I see I'm going to have to work hard on getting those two right.

I should understand your German for most part, I have 3 hours of it every week so yea and it sounds a lot like Dutch in a lot of cases (though that's not always a good thing).

I thought up another question if you guys don't mind, heh, for some reason I can only think of the German term right now (my brain isn't co-operating )

Possessivpronomen.

What are they in Spanish?

You know, mine, yours etc.

When do you use plural pronouns?

Is it like

My book:

Mi libro

and

My books

Mis libros

Or am I getting this wrong?

EDIT:

Also,

ustedes, When is it used?

Oh, and if anyone would want to amuse themselves I've always wondered what they're singing in this song:

Los Natas - Tomatito (It should stream)

Cool!

Skiara's right, Usted/Ustedes is used when you speak to a person you don't know (quite important, you would never say tú to a person you don't know.) It's much like French, with Vous and so on...


oh, and 'Llamo' would be something like 'Ljamo'.

Just some things you must have to know if you are going to any "spanish-american" country:

They don´t speak spanish as we do at Spain

They speak a kind of "old spanish", as the way the spanish conquerors did when they arrived to America. [Face_exaggerated]

You also have to know that they rarely use Tu/vosotros, they allways use usted/ustedes for friends and not friends.

And you must be careful with the meaning of some words, sometimes the meaning is not the same here in spain and there!

Pisar in Spain = to step on

Pisar in some spanish-american countries = " to fu**"


Anyway it´s easy!

There is another form that strengthen the meaning again (according to my book) like mío, tuyo etc. But I never learned them at school. So it shouldn't be too important in the beginning.

mio-a/mios-as = mine
tuyo-a/tuyos-as = yours
suyo-a/suyos-as = his/hers
nuestro-a/nuestros-as = ours
vuestro-a/vuestros-as = yours
suyo-a/suyos-as = theirs

Here is the diference, and a problem for you:

It is your car = Es "tu" coche
That car is yours = Ese coche es "tuyo" (car = male)

It is your house = Es "tu" casa
That house is yours = Esa casa es "tuya" (house = famale)

Don´t ask why!It´s imposible to explain!


Abuot Ser/Estar = to be:

"It is" your car = "Es" tu coche

"It is" in your car = "Está" en tu coche

Ah, so it's kind of like the French-speaking people in Quebec, they speak French like they did in the 17th century as well.

Looks like I really ought to get me a good grammar book. Thanks so far everyone, it's really been helpful. I'll be posting more questions on here in the future I suppose, so keep an eye on it.