August 08, 2007
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200 Words a Day! Newzine #37
A Language in a Day? What BS...Grab a DEMO and pronunciation guide
August 08, 2007
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CONTENTS
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0. INTRO - Learning a Language in a Day! What BS!
1. Some Useful Language Learning Downloads.
2. SPANISH TIP: SER and ESTAR - two tricky verbs meaning 'to be'.
3. FRENCH TIP: Pronunciation Guide available to all - fr:e:e.
4. GERMAN TIP: Uma Thurman will remind you of the time.
5. Demo Program for Download.
6. Monthly CD Draw.
7. Victorious in the Month CD Draw and the Products they can select.
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INTRO - LEARNING A LANGUAGE in a DAY!!
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I nearly choked when I received an email the other day from a big company claiming that you could learn a foreign language in a day, by using their software!!
Language learning is a long term process, and while you can accelerate your learning, and in particular your vocabulary acquisition using modern techniques, there is just no way this sort of garbage - that you can learn a language in a day - should be believed. It is just total BS. Outrageous lies! Sadly a number of beginners might believe this trash...
And believe me ... I have tried their software - and you will not learn a language in a day.
ANYWAY - what is more interesting .... is that...
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1. Some Software Downloads for you...
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...We have put together some very useful fr:e:e downloads, in this issue.
- New Demo Program - Spanish, French, German and Welsh is available for Download.
- French Pronunciation Guide - a fr:e:e download for all French learners
The languages are Spanish, German, French and Welsh.
This is different to the VIDEO demo that many of you have seen. This is a software program with working examples so that you will be able to see the unique workings of the 200 Words a Day! system.
1. Click here for the 200 Words a Day! DEMO download.
2. Install it on your computer.
3. Grab a drink.
4. Follow the program through (5 - 10 minutes).
So if you have already seen the Video Demo, you may like to have a little play with this piece of software that you can download.
For those of you interested in French we also have another download with this newsletter, a Downloadable French Pronunciation Guide. More is explained later in this newsletter in the section on French.
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2. SPANISH TIP: To BE or NOT to BE... the SER and ESTAR question...
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Hola!
Intermediate learners of Spanish know that the Spanish use four words for the English verb 'to be'... and two of them, SER and ESTAR, cause a great deal of confusion for learners.
And two experts Juan and Susan Serrano have written a book on the subject, which lays the a big share of the blame on the WAY the concept is taught in the first place.
A recent emailing by a Spanish course producer/seller attempts to explain the difference between SER and ESTAR in Spanish, but he then explains the difference in exactly the same way as 95% of Spanish teachers, which IS PART of THE REASON that 95% of English speakers learning Spanish confuse SER and ESTAR!
He explains, like thousands of teachers of Spanish language that SER is used for PERMANENT characteristics and ESTAR is used for TEMPORARY.
If you have been taught this concept in this way, you may need to relearn it all over again...
Most Hispanics will tell you that SER-ESTAR is the concept which most frequently stumps 'Mother-tongue-English-speakers' who learn Spanish...
... And it can continue to confound them even after speaking Spanish for decades!
If you do not learn this concept correctly in the first place, you will have great difficulty in ever grasping the basics of this important, but actually quite straightforward concept.
So it is important to grasp the two fundamental differences between the two.
And it is NOT : SER = PERMANENT and ESTAR = TEMPORARY.
Use this rule of thumb and you are heading for confusion.
So ... THINK AGAIN ... right from the STARTING BLOCKS...
The main differences are quite straightforward. Quite sensible, and quite logical....
The fundamental difference is:
That SER is used to describe WHAT something or someone is.
ESTAR is used to describe HOW something is...
The Serranos expand in some detail on the concepts of WHATNESS and HOWNESS.
I have designed a whole course around the SER-ESTAR question, including lots of triggers, explanations, examples and idioms to help you - it's amazing how many facets there are to know about SER and ESTAR!
We look in depth at the WHAT versus HOW concept. Check out the cartoon of the ESTAR Bunny saying, "HOW!" like Chief Sitting Rabbit, with his feathered headress.
Of course there are lots of pictures and cartoons to help you remember the different concepts. All the ESTAR situations have an EASTER BUNNY in the picture, and the SER concepts feature a SER-pent.
And of course few native speakers can explain the difference, because to them, they know intuitively which to use.
In a nutshell WHAT something is - refers to its inherent nature and qualities.
So for example consider two phrases, one using SER and one using ESTAR, and see how the meaning changes.
- la sopa es buena [(the) soup is good)] uses es - a conjugation from SER.
- la sopa está buena [the soup is good] uses está - a conjugation from ESTAR.
The second phrase - la sopa está buena [the soup is good] is referring to HOW the soup is. So in this example you might have just gulped down a bowlful of soup, and you are commenting that this particular soup is good, that is HOW it is. Perhaps yesterday it was not too tasty. But today, this one is good.
See the subtlety... the basic concepts are easy to grasp, but if you do not grasp them, you could be in for some consdirable trouble.
Take a look: Understanding SER and ESTAR in Spanish.
OF course the other two Spanish words for 'to be' are:
(1) To be thirsty, cold, hot (personally) - uses the verb tener, which is reasonably straightforward. No great confusion.
(2) When talking about the weather, e.g. to be hot, as in 'it is a hot day,' the Spanish use the verb hacer. e.g. it is hot - hace calor. In the 200 Words a Day courses these are represented by the character Jimmy HAS HAIR (hacer)... but I digress...
And, until 31 August 2007 we have a great three-for-one special offer for you, ... and get it here now: Special Offer
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3. 200 Words a Day! Courses are now DOWNLOADABLE
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Most of our courses are now available to download so you can begin building up your Spanish / French / German / Welsh vocabulary instantly. The boffins have completed the process of making our courses downloadable... so you no longer have to wait for the CD in the mail.
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4. FRENCH TIP: FRENCH PRONUNCIATION GUIDE SOFTWARE: - DOWNLOAD NOW … FR:E:E!
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Grab this quick and easy-to-understand French Pronunication Guide here now - fr:e:e. Produced inhouse at exceltra HQ, by Dorothée Huleux, from France, this introduction will help you understand the quirks of French Pronunciation.
For those of you who already have a 200 Words a Day! course it will simply blend into your proram, and be available on the Introduction Page menu, after you sign in. A handy addition to the course.
For those without any 200 Words a Day! course you too can download this handy tool, and install it on your computer or laptop.
Click to Download the 200 Words a Day! French Pronunciation Guide.
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5. GERMAN TIP: Can Uma Thurman help you with the time in German?
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Check out our trigger for the time, and the Memory Trigger for telling the time. This cartoon Memory Trigger will also you help you in remembering that lots of German words about the time are feminine... we've given you a big list on the website.
The picture is of actress Uma Thurman (f)looking at her watch because things are getting UR-gent. Feminine character - feminine word... as are lots of other German words about the time, as we list them...and the word UR-gent will remind you of the word...
German Tip - the German for time.
Adiós - au revoir - auf wiedersehen - hwyl fawr.
Kevin Crocombe and the 200 Words a Day Team
www.200words-a-day.com
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6. 200 Words a Day CD-Rom or e-Book to give away each month
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The w*inner of the monthly draw can select a CD-Rom or e-Book from our range which is listed below. The lucky person this month are named below the list of products.
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The Winners of the Draw can select from our list of PRODUCTS
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SPANISH
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200 Words a Day! LEARN SPANISH Course #1 CD-Rom - 1000+ words and common phrases.
- - 1,000 of the most common words and phrases in Spanish, each using a unique cartoon picture with Memory Trigger, voiced by native speakers.
200 Words a Day! LEARN Spanish Course #1 e-Book.
- - to accompany the Learn Spanish 200 Words a Day Course #1 CD-Rom or be used on its own. Over 150 pages of color, and with all the color pictures in the Spanish 200 Words a Day! Course #1 CD-Rom. Read it on the bus, train, plane or in the park on your lunch break. Use it as a learning consolidator or the sole source!
200 Words a Day! LEARN SPANISH Course #2 - 1000+ words and common phrases.
- - another 1,000 of the most common words and phrases in Spanish, each using a unique cartoon picture with Memory Trigger, voiced by native speakers.
UNDERSTANDING POR and PARA - Spanish Grammar Course.
LEARN SPANISH Grammar Course:- - 600+ words and common phrases using POR and PARA. Lots of easy ways to REMEMBER when to use these tricky little words. Word-association cartoon pics will remind you of hundreds of real-life examples. Hundreds of sample sentences, using all the main tenses... so you get to simultaneously practice your verbs in the present, past, future, conditional, subjunctives, you name it. All voiced by native Spanish speakers (of course). A super-consolidation course with new learning, reinforcement of 'already-learned' material and superlearning pics.
UNDERSTANDING SER and ESTAR in Spanish - Grammar Course.
LEARN SPANISH Grammar Course:- - 600+ words and common phrases using SER and ESTAR. Lots of easy ways to REMEMBER when to use these tricky little verbs that cause no end of long-term grief for Spanish learners. Word-association cartoon pics will remind you of hundreds of real-life examples. Hundreds of practice sentences, using all the main verb tenses... so you get to simultaneously practice your ser and estar verbs in the present, past, future, conditional, subjunctives, you name it. All voiced by native Spanish speakers (of course). A super-consolidation course with new learning, reinforcement of 'already-learned' material and superlearning pics. An ESTAR Bunny reminds you of ESTAR concepts and a SER-pent reminds you of SER concepts. Come and meet SER-lock Holmes who will remind you of certain SER concepts.
LEARN 101 SPANISH PROVERBS - 101 Proverbs
All relate to the 200 Words a Day! courses, using the Memory Triggers for the main words, and allow you to put some of the vocab you have learned, into action. The pics in the 101 Spanish Proverbs Course all come from Course #1 or Course #2 Spanish, and if you click on them, they will take you to the ‘Memory Trigger’. A great tool for consolidation of your Spanish learning.
FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE SPANISH COURSE #1 VOLUME 1
Used to train thousands for US State Department diplomats, this is a traditional learning course aimed at providing a solid base in conversational Spanish. Elsewhere on the web for $250-$300 we list it at $47. But grab one at no charge with one of the SUPER BUNDLES currently available. Comes with 12 hours of mp3 audio and 610 pages of pdf manual. Extremely thorough and in-depth.
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FRENCH
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200 Words a Day! LEARN FRENCH Course #1 - 1000+ words and common phrases
- - 1,000 of the most common words and phrases in French, each using a unique cartoon picture with Memory Trigger, voiced by native speakers.
200 Words a Day! LEARN FRENCH Course #2 - 1000+ words and common phrases
- - another 1,000 of the most common words and phrases in French, each using a unique cartoon picture with Memory Trigger, voiced by native speakers.
Learn French Sentences - Course #1
- - This software takes the words from 200 Words a Day! Learn French Course #1 and puts them in to useful,everyday, useable French sentences. Learn the words, learn the sentences, then test yourself. Learn French Sentences - Course #2
- - This software takes the words from 200 Words a Day! Learn French Course #2 and puts them in to useful,everyday, useable French sentences. Learn the words, learn the sentences, then test yourself.
LEARN 101 FRENCH PROVERBS - 101 Proverbs
All proverbs have been selected to relate to the 200 Words a Day! French courses, using the Memory Triggers for the main words, and allow you to put some of the vocabulary you have learned, into action. The pictures in the 101 French Proverbs Course all come from Course #1 or Course #2 French, and if you click on the picture, you'll be taken to the original word's ‘Memory Trigger’. A great tool for consolidation of your French learning.
FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE FRENCH COURSE #1 VOLUME 1
Used to train thousands for US State Department diplomats, this is a traditional learning course aimed at providing a solid base in conversational French. Elsewhere on the web for $250-$300 we list it at $47. But grab one at no cost with one of the SUPER BUNDLES currently available. Comes with 12 hours of mp3 audio and 455 pages of pdf manual. Extremely thorough and in-depth.
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GERMAN
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200 Words a Day! LEARN GERMAN Course #1 - 1000+ words and common phrases
200 Words a Day! LEARN GERMAN Course #2 - 1000+ words and common phrases
LEARN 101 GERMAN PROVERBS - 101 Proverbs
All these German proverbs have been selected to relate to the 200 Words a Day! German courses, using the Memory Triggers for the main words in those courses, and allow you to put into action some of the vocabulary you have learned. The pictures in the 101 German Proverbs Course all come from Course #1 German, and if you click on the picture, you'll be taken to the original word's ‘Memory Trigger’. A great tool for consolidation of your German learning, and hearing German in action.
FOREIGN SERVICE INSTITUTE GERMAN COURSE #1 VOLUME 1
Used to train thousands for US State Department diplomats, this is a traditional learning course aimed at providing a solid base in conversational German. Elsewhere on the web for $250-$300 we list it at $47. But grab one at no cost - gratis - with one of the SUPER BUNDLES currently available. Comes with 12 hours of mp3 audio and 455 pages of pdf manual. Extremely thorough and in-depth.
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WELSH
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200 Words a Day! LEARN WELSH Course #1 - 1000+ words and common phrases
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7. NAME OF THE VICTORIOUS ENTRANTS
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This month our victorious entrant is Adele - redglittercandy of an address in the e-Universe. If your name is one of those please contact us by email within the next 30 days. We will email you so please make sure you have whitelisted our email address, so that our emails are not being filtered out by your filters.
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8. Entering the Monthly CD-Rom or e-Book Draw
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To enter the monthly draw for a CD-Rom, or e-Book of your choice, click on the link Enter the Draw.
You'll need to answer some easy questions (we'll even give you the answers...!).
You can enter every month if you so wish!
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9. Plus some mini courses by email
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Don't forget to also enrol in our 7-part mini-courses. At present we have these available as mini-Spanish lessons, but we will have French 7-part mini-lessons also soon.
Spanish 7-part e-Courses
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10. Frequently Asked Questions and Tutorials
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Check out the Frequently Asked Questions online. It is on the 200words-a-day.com website marked FAQ on the Navbar (Navigation Bar) on the left side of the page.
If you have queries about anything, whether it be about the course or about postage you may find the answers on this page.
Common questions relate to the typing of the different foreign characters, e.g. upside-down question-marks, accents, apostrophes!
Sometimes users are not typing in a little accent or letter here or there, resulting in them dropping points in their tests.
Frequently Asked Questions about 200 Words a Day Accelerated Language Learning
There is also a great deal of help on the Tutorial Pages, which is of particular benefit to course users. If you have ordered the course and are awaiting its arrival in the post you can cover the Tutorials while you wait.
200 Words a Day! Excelerated Language Learning Tutorials - How to Use the Spanish, French, German and Welsh Language Courses
Don't forget there is also a Tutorial on the CD-Rom, which you really should do before starting the course!!
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11. Back Issues of these e-Zines
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All back issues of these ezines are available - gratis, non charge - at the link at the bottom of the newsletter.
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12. Contact Us
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Contact us at any time.
You might find the answers quicker on the FAQ or Tutorial pages as described above, but do feel free to hit us with any questions.
Contact Us
That's it for this newzine.
Don't forget if there is someone you know learning a language, this ezine might be of interest to them. Pass it on.
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Back Issues of these e-Zines
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All back issues of these ezines are available - gratis, non charge - at the link at the bottom of the newsletter.
200 Words a Day! Newzine #37 - ©2007.
08 August, 2007
Transcity Properties Ltd, 32 Alverton, Great Linford, Buckinghamshire, MK14 5EF, United Kingdom
Click to go to the 200 Words a Day Website!