Spanish Lesson #30: How to Write About Yourself

The author is an online writer who speaks Spanish and enjoys teaching others.

Writing About Yourself

It's time for lesson #30. Today's not about learning, but about applying what we've learned in the past twenty-nine lessons. Every ten lessons, we'll have a project lesson that will focus on being able to translate what we learned to the written page. Since I can't see you all in person, this is the best way to test your skills. I know it sounds hard, but it won't be if you practice. Once you've finished the project and you're serious about learning Spanish, shoot me an email (from my profile) and I'll be happy to read and edit your work.

Today's Goals: To learn and be able to express ideas pertaining to oneself. In this lesson, you will be required to discuss your past, present, and future.

Today's Vocabulary

Today's lesson will have the usual hodgepodge of vocabulary words. I'm hoping that these lists will give you a sneak peek into the world of the Spanish language. Once I've used all the words I could possibly use, we'll start learning them in different ways, using them in sentences and pronouncing them throughout the day. We're on lesson thirty now. Thirty weeks have passed since I started writing these lessons. I must say, that time has flown and I hope that everyone has learned new material from these lessons. There's still a TON of things to learn. We'll get to them as time goes on. Check out Today's Tips. I think you'll enjoy them.

Today's Tips: Go outside, take a walk and see what things in your environment can be discussed using the Spanish language. Take a dictionary in case you want to learn a new word. Take a friend along for the trip as well.

Verbs

To Breed/To Raise/To Bring/To Bring up (Rear): Criar

To Cross: Cruzar

To Cover: Cubrir

To Fulfill/To Keep (A Promise): Cumplir

To Give: Dar

To Owe/Must/Ought: Deber

To Decide: Decidir

Reflexive Verbs

To Hurt Oneself/To Feel Sorry For/To Complain/To Regret: Lastimarse

To Wash Oneself: Lavarse

To Get Up/To Rise: Levantarse

To Clean Oneself: Limpirase

To Be Called/To Be Named: Llamarse

To Go Away/To Leave: Macharse

To Look At Oneself: Mirarse

Nouns

Seed: La Semilla

Glasses: Las Gafas

Lizard: La Largatija

Sire: El Majestad

Bacon: El Tocino

Cookies: Las Galletas

Chips: Las Patatas

Adjectives

Fabulous: Fabuloso(a)

Excellent: Excelente

Noisy: Ruidoso(a)

Quiet: Silencioso(a)

Shy: Tímido

Writing About Yourself (Requirements)

Hey everyone! So here's your first project. Every ten lessons we will have one to test our Spanish knowledge. Today's Project is Writing About Yourself. The scenario is very straightforward. Pretend that you're writing to a pen-pal who lives in Mexico. There are several things you need to do for this. Read the bullet list below of things you must do in order to complete the project. Think of it as a writing exercise.

• Greet pen-pal. This can be... hola, buenos días, etc.
• Ask pen-pal how things are going. This can be... anywhere from how are you doing, to what's new.
• Introduce yourself.
• Tell pen-pal three things about yourself. One "thing" must be a list of three adjectives that describe you.
• Describe things you used to do as a child.
• Describe where you live and what you do for a living
• Describe what you want to be.
• Ask all these questions back and provide a farewell.
• Anything extra you want to add, do so!!

My Sample Paragraph

Okay, everyone! Here's my paragraph. In parentheses, I will explain what some terms or words are in case you do not know them. Just refer to the number below the paragraph. This was super fun for me because I'm a writer and I love to write things in general. Maybe one day I'll get a pen-pal from a Spanish-speaking country. Check it out!

Querido (1) Matteo,

Mi nombre es(2) Aubrey. Yo soy de Atlanta, GA y yo vivo in Hampton, GA. Tengo veinteicuatro(3) años. ¡Mucho Gusto! Espero que sea(4) bien. Estoy contento con mi vida aqui en Los Estados Unidos(5). Trabajo cómo(6) un cajero(7). Y También escribo los libros fantsáticos(8) y artículos(9) para HubPages.com. Soy listo, chistoso, y simpático. Me gusta leer libros y escribir. Quiero llegar a ser un escritor de los libros. Quiero escribir para siempre(10). ¿Y usted? ¿Qué the gusta hacer? ¿Qué quieres llegar a ser?¿Cómo eres?(11) Lol, lo siento. Cuando era un niño, prenguntaba(12) muchas preguntas. Quiero conocerte(12). ¡Preguntame algo! ¡Adiós!

Tu Amigo, Aubrey

1. Dear
2. My name is
3. Twenty-Four
4. You might be (Subjunctive)
5. The United States
6. In this, as
7. Cashier
8. Fantasy Books
9. Articles
10. For always/Forever
11. What kind of person are you?
12. I used to ask
13. To get to know you

Homework

It's been an awesome week and I hope everyone has enjoyed themselves today. Now that you have written your work, shoot me an email and ask any questions you'd like. Also, there is a video below this paragraph. It's one of my favorite songs by the duo Sin Bandera. It's called Para Alcanzarte (To Discover You). Take a look at that and see if you can write any familiar words down. It might even help you translate the song itself. Hope you enjoy it!

Next week, we will learn about Sports! See you then!

Also Check Out...

• Spanish Correspondence - Writing Letters in Spanish
  An overview of the greetings and salutations used in personal and business letters in Spanish.

Comments

Patty on January 07, 2015:

In awe of that anewsr! Really cool!