Fun with Cognates: Comercial to Alarma (S03E06)

I recently heard a story of a French girl arguing with a Canadian guy about the meaning of “radical” for over an hour. But both their definitions were basically the same–just a little nuanced difference. Hahahahaha. They just don’t get it. That’s not how words work. The different uses of “radical” should be a fun, interesting conversation. Not a right/wrong debate or argument. Words don’t have set definitions. They stand for general ideas. It’s context that gives them their specific meanings. The word “radical” could be used one way in French, and another way in English. “Radical” could be used one way in Florida, and another way in New York. It could be used one way in one sentence, and another way in a second sentence. In my videos, I sometimes make mistakes (okay, lots of times). And on YouTube, there’s no shortage of people willing to correct my mistakes (I really do appreciate it!) But often, a native Spanish-speaker will INCORRECTLY correct me. How can this be? Easy. I’ve traveled a lot. I don’t speak Spanish from Spain or Spanish from Mexico or Spanish from Argentina. I just speak Spanish. Let’s say you grew up only hearing the word “soda” to describe a carbonated beverage. Does that mean “pop” is wrong? Just because you never heard it before? In this video, I answer one of the most common questions I’m asked: Do you teach Spanish from Spain or Latin America? Then you’ll learn about 17 different Spanish words. And when you’re all done with this video, you’ll know some of these words BETTER than most native Spanish-speakers! The Word Lists and other links for this video are here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/cognates-comercial-alarma/

Om Podcasten

If you’ve always wanted to learn Spanish, but didn’t think it was possible because you were terrible at Spanish in high school, or you don’t get sucked into Rosetta Stone-style hype–you’ve come to the right place. I’m a normal person, not some big company and not some native Spanish speaker. I’m not a natural language learner at all actually. My first brush with Spanish ended with me getting an F in high school! But somewhere along the way, I fell in love! I’m not sure if I love Spanish because I love traveling, or I love traveling because I love Spanish (and food). But I love them both. Naturally, I want more people to love what I love, but I know that you probably don’t see Spanish like I do… not yet! That’s the point of this podcast. I want to show you that there is ANOTHER WAY! That most of the strategies and tactics they used to teach us Spanish in high school are IGNORANT. They are ignorant to our plight. I know your mistakes. I understand why you make them. They were my mistakes too! I remember the pain and the agony of having to figure it all out myself because... let’s just say... I was underwhelmed with the resources out there. Well, now with these videos (or audios) you don’t don’t have to waste the years I did.