The Spanish Dude Podcast (Audio)

I either didn’t learn or don’t remember this from school (as humans, we often block out traumatic events): Indirect object pronouns. As opposed to direct object pronouns. But when I started learning Spanish, I noticed right away–the pronouns were really confusing! One problem is… What is a direct object? What is an indirect object? Then another problem is… In English, direct object pronouns are the same as indirect object pronouns. In Spanish, they’re not. So in this video, I’ll show you: 1) What direct and indirect objects even are (in English). 2) How what they do in Spanish is different than what we do in English. 3) The difference between direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns in Spanish (there’s no difference in English). If pronouns confuse you, watch this video. It’ll really clear things up. Hasta luego! Jordan All resources for this episode can be found here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/indirect-object-pronouns/?podcast

Verb conjugation is an attention hog. Rarely do I have a conversation about learning Spanish without verb conjugation coming up. And with good reason. It’s not easy. Lots of tenses. So many patterns. Plus all those exceptions. But lurking in the shadows… perhaps even more confusing… are the pronouns! Me mi mí. Tú tu te ti. Él, lo, le. OMG!!!! The good news is, just like with verb conjugation, once you focus on ONE type of pronoun at a time, it’s really not that hard. It’s just confusing when you rush it, don’t practice enough, then can’t differentiate one from the other. Tú tu te ti? Come on. You’ve got to be kidding! Well this video… is all about helping you avoid that confusion: Direct Object Pronouns Start with one type of pronoun (direct object pronouns). Focus on them. Learn them. Practice them. When you’re done with this video, you’ll understand what direct object pronouns are, how they’re used in Spanish, and why they’re so tricky for us. And when you’re done with the Practice Worksheet on that page, you’ll start to FEEL how to use them. That’s how it’s done around here. Focus. Learn. Practice. Focus. Learn. Practice. Focus. Learn. Practice. Watch the video, do the Practice Worksheet. Then I think you’ll find, direct object pronouns, suddenly don’t seem so hard anymore. Suerte, Gringo! Jordan All resources for this episode can be found here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/direct-object-pronouns/?podcast

Verb conjugation is an attention hog. Rarely do I have a conversation about learning Spanish without verb conjugation coming up. And with good reason. It’s not easy. Lots of tenses. So many patterns. Plus all those exceptions. But lurking in the shadows… perhaps even more confusing… are the pronouns! Me mi mí. Tú tu te ti. Él, lo, le. OMG!!!! The good news is, just like with verb conjugation, once you focus on ONE type of pronoun at a time, it’s really not that hard. It’s just confusing when you rush it, don’t practice enough, then can’t differentiate one from the other. Tú tu te ti? Come on. You’ve got to be kidding! Well this video… is all about helping you avoid that confusion: Direct Object Pronouns Start with one type of pronoun (direct object pronouns). Focus on them. Learn them. Practice them. When you’re done with this video, you’ll understand what direct object pronouns are, how they’re used in Spanish, and why they’re so tricky for us. And when you’re done with the Practice Worksheet on that page, you’ll start to FEEL how to use them. That’s how it’s done around here. Focus. Learn. Practice. Focus. Learn. Practice. Focus. Learn. Practice. Watch the video, do the Practice Worksheet. Then I think you’ll find, direct object pronouns, suddenly don’t seem so hard anymore. Suerte, Gringo! Jordan All resources for this episode can be found here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/direct-object-pronouns/?podcast

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/

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/

Something different today… It’s different. And intense. Perhaps a little long. I’m pretty sure, it’s the most ADVANCED video I’ve made so far. But it’s important. Really important. For sure, you’ll learn a bunch of new words in this video. Or get to know words you already know, better. But more importantly, you’ll be practicing a vital, new skill. A skill you’ll need in real life if you want to understand Spanish when you read it, or when other people speak it… Watch this video to get the most out of future videos. Watch this video to learn Spanish faster and understand it better. Watch this video to be smarter. Get all resources and links from this video here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/cognates-ultimo-simple/

Something different today… It’s different. And intense. Perhaps a little long. I’m pretty sure, it’s the most ADVANCED video I’ve made so far. But it’s important. Really important. For sure, you’ll learn a bunch of new words in this video. Or get to know words you already know, better. But more importantly, you’ll be practicing a vital, new skill. A skill you’ll need in real life if you want to understand Spanish when you read it, or when other people speak it… Watch this video to get the most out of future videos. Watch this video to learn Spanish faster and understand it better. Watch this video to be smarter. Get all resources and links from this video here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/cognates-ultimo-simple/

I like to talk fast. Maybe that’s why I don’t breathe or blink in my videos? It frustrates me when my mouth can’t keep up with my mind. I need to calm down. I’m working on that. But that doesn’t happen to me nearly as much in Spanish… for a couple reasons: #1 — My mind doesn’t work as fast in Spanish as it does in English =) #2 — We can often say stuff in Spanish with fewer words than in English. We’ve seen this before with subject pronouns: “We sleep” is “nosotros dormimos” or just “dormimos”–without “nosotros”. That’s faster. Well, in today’s video, you’ll see how to make a noun from any adjective you already know. And that allows you to say two different phrases in Spanish–without learning (or even saying) any more words! Faster! All links mentioned can be found here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/adjectives-nouns-spanish/?podcast

I like to talk fast. Maybe that’s why I don’t breathe or blink in my videos? It frustrates me when my mouth can’t keep up with my mind. I need to calm down. I’m working on that. But that doesn’t happen to me nearly as much in Spanish… for a couple reasons: #1 — My mind doesn’t work as fast in Spanish as it does in English =) #2 — We can often say stuff in Spanish with fewer words than in English. We’ve seen this before with subject pronouns: “We sleep” is “nosotros dormimos” or just “dormimos”–without “nosotros”. That’s faster. Well, in today’s video, you’ll see how to make a noun from any adjective you already know. And that allows you to say two different phrases in Spanish–without learning (or even saying) any more words! Faster! All links mentioned can be found here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/adjectives-nouns-spanish/?podcast

If you spend just 15 minutes watching this video and perusing the Word List, you’ll know 50 words you didn’t know before. Fifty good, usable words! There are way more than 50 words that follow this pattern. I just picked out 50 of the most common ones. Watch the video. Use the words. It’s that simple. Get the free resources and all other links mentioned in this episode here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/cognates-ic-ico/?podcast

If you spend just 15 minutes watching this video and perusing the Word List, you’ll know 50 words you didn’t know before. Fifty good, usable words! There are way more than 50 words that follow this pattern. I just picked out 50 of the most common ones. Watch the video. Use the words. It’s that simple. Get the free resources and all other links mentioned in this episode here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/cognates-ic-ico/?podcast

This Spanish Quickie covers another cognate group. Which means more free words! Remember, cognates are free words because they’re basically the same in both English and Spanish. Just knowing these words exist, really is way more than half the battle. They’re a good investment of your time, is my point. Watch the video. Peruse the Word List. Then get out there… and speak some Spanish! The resources for this episode are located here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/cognates-ate-ar/

This Spanish Quickie covers another cognate group. Which means more free words! Remember, cognates are free words because they’re basically the same in both English and Spanish. Just knowing these words exist, really is way more than half the battle. They’re a good investment of your time, is my point. Watch the video. Peruse the Word List. Then get out there… and speak some Spanish! The resources for this episode are located here: https://spanishdude.com/quickies/cognates-ate-ar/

And we’re back! Spanish Quickies, Season 3 starts… NOW! — Since the start of Gringo Español two years ago, we’ve mainly been focusing on grammar. But to use grammar, you need words. So for the next few videos, we’re going to focus on building up your vocabulary. But what words to learn? I say, learn words that are really easy to learn OR really common. And no words are easier to learn than cognates. Cognates are words that are the same in both English and Spanish. And when I say they’re the same, I mean they look the same–they have the same origin (and usually mean the same thing). Cognates are free words basically. If you know a cognate in English, you already know that word in Spanish. There are literally 1000’s and 1000’s of cognates. So there are 1000’s of Spanish words you already know. You just don’t know that you know them. And that’s where today’s video comes in. One thing that’s cool about cognates is, lots of them belong to these groups, where they all follow the same pattern. So once you know how to translate one word in the group, you know how to translate them all. When making my premium course, Fun with Words, I discovered about 30 different cognate patterns (and made a video for each one). So today, I’m going to show you the first cognate pattern, the TION to CIÓN words. Let’s do this! Click here for any links mentioned in this episode or for related episodes.

And we’re back! Spanish Quickies, Season 3 starts… NOW! — Since the start of Gringo Español two years ago, we’ve mainly been focusing on grammar. But to use grammar, you need words. So for the next few videos, we’re going to focus on building up your vocabulary. But what words to learn? I say, learn words that are really easy to learn OR really common. And no words are easier to learn than cognates. Cognates are words that are the same in both English and Spanish. And when I say they’re the same, I mean they look the same–they have the same origin (and usually mean the same thing). Cognates are free words basically. If you know a cognate in English, you already know that word in Spanish. There are literally 1000’s and 1000’s of cognates. So there are 1000’s of Spanish words you already know. You just don’t know that you know them. And that’s where today’s video comes in. One thing that’s cool about cognates is, lots of them belong to these groups, where they all follow the same pattern. So once you know how to translate one word in the group, you know how to translate them all. When making my premium course, Fun with Words, I discovered about 30 different cognate patterns (and made a video for each one). So today, I’m going to show you the first cognate pattern, the TION to CIÓN words. Let’s do this! Click here for any links mentioned in this episode or for related episodes.