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Nohemí: tiene un poco más de veinte años de edad. Vive con su familia: su mamá, su papá y siete hermanos. Dos de sus hermanos son mayores y los otros cinco son menores.
Ella es maestra de escuela y le gusta enseñar a los niños. Ella prepara los planes para sus clases todas las noches. Es una maestra muy dedicada.
Nohemí es muy simpática y le encanta la música. Tiene un radio y una pequeña colección de casettes. Su papá toca el piano en la iglesia.
Nohemí no es rica pero está contenta con su vida.
The sound "e" is used by Nohemí the way English speakers use "uh," as a verbal pause while she formulates what she's going to say next. When you pause in the middle of a Spanish sentence, it will sound much more natural if you use "e" instead of "uh" (which actually sounds worse in Spanish than it does in English).
In normal conversation we don't always speak in complete sentences. Sometimes we begin with one thought and then change mental direction mid-sentence. Listen to yourself and to your friends. How often do you start a sentence one way, take a mental turn, and end it quite another.
Following these changes is more difficult when we're learning a new language.
We are not sure of what we are hearing in the first place and we may think we have to make the two fragments into one logical thought. It won't work, and this makes us doubt our understanding. Worse yet, while we are busy trying to make sense out of two partial thoughts, the speaker continues talking and soon we find we are completely lost.
Relax. "Go with the flow." You can always ask for clarification when the person pauses (or, in the case of these videos, just play it again). Wait to look at the translation until you're sure that you've done everything you can to understand without it.
Mi nombre es _______________ y vivo en un lugar que es muy ______________, a la vez __________________. Es un lugar que está cerca a ___________________ que se llama _____________________.
What does "bell" mean in this context?
a metal object that makes a noise when struck
Nohemí says that the place she lives is very lovely but very humble. What do you think that she means by humble? What do you imagine when you hear this description? Click on the answer you believe most appropriate.
ANSWER: My house is not proud.
ANSWER: My house is really ugly.
Read the following selection, thinking carefully about the underlined words. Each of them is similar to a word you already know in English.
Use the same strategies you'd use if you were trying to understand a bad phone connection. If you only heard " ____habit__d" could you guess what the person had said? What about " ext ___nd? " and "G_lf_ of México?"
El territorio habitado por (by) los mayas se extiende desde (from) las montañas de Guatemala hasta (to) las llanuras (plains) de la Península de Yucatán; y de las costas del Golfo de México hasta las playas del Mar (sea) de las Antillas.
Los extensos y fértiles valles (valleys) de esa (that) región reciben agua (water) de los ríos Chiapa y Usumacinta. Las lagunas y los ceotes (lime-stone sink-holes) de la Peninsula de Yuicatán causan suficiente humedad para desarrollar (develop) una agricultura próspera.
Vocabulario
a la vez
bello
cerca
lago
lugar
orillas
at the same time
beautiful
near
lake
place
banks, shore
Some of the sounds you hear are not words, and not all of the sentences are complete.
Composition in Spanish
Write your own personal introduction using Nohemí's introduction as a guide. Turn it in to your instructor.
Figuring out meaning from the context
You may have heard someone say that "She is the bell of the ball." Although that expression isn't as common as it used to be, you can probably figure out the meaning from the rest of the sentence, or context.
a girl in a bell-shaped dress
the most beautiful girl.
Geographic and cultural information:
Check your understanding