Spanish 1

Spanish 1Reading Booklet

Spanish 1Travelers should always check withtheir nation's State Department forcurrent advisories on local conditionsbefore traveling abroad.Booklet Design: Maia Kennedy and ‰ Recorded Program 2018 Simon & Schuster, Inc. Reading Booklet 2018 Simon & Schuster, Inc.Pimsleur is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio,a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Mfg. in USA.All rights reserved.ii

Spanish 1ACKNOWLEDGMENTSVoicesEnglish-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . . . . . . Ray BrownSpanish-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . . Christian RojasFemale Spanish Speaker . . . . . . . . Monica CanavanMale Spanish Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luis CortesWritersMonica Canavan Emily TaylorEditorsPaula Billups Joan SchoellnerBeverly D. HeinleReviewerSantiago CovarrubiasProducer & DirectorSarah H. McInnisRecording EngineerPeter S. TurpinSimon & Schuster Studios, Concord, MAiii

Spanish 1Table of ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Nine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Eleven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Thirteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Fourteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Fifteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Sixteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Seventeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Eighteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Nineteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-Seven. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Twenty-Nine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Thirty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35557596163

Spanish 1IntroductionWelcome to the Third Edition of Pimsleur’sSpanish 1.Spanish is the most widely spoken of theRomance languages, which are a Latin branch ofthe Indo-European language group. This branchincludes French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian,among others. Spoken primarily in Central andSouth America and in Spain --- and by a sizeableand fast-growing population of speakers in theU.S. --- Spanish is the first language of more than350 million people, more than any other languageexcept Mandarin Chinese. It’s the official languageof twenty-one countries and is one of the six officiallanguages of the United Nations. Furthermore,Spanish is a common second language---the moststudied after English--- and the third most commonlyused on the Internet after English and Mandarin.The language can be called either “Spanish” or“Castilian.” The name “Castilian” derives from theKingdom of Castile (meaning “Land of Castles”), oneof several kingdoms that spread across the Iberianpeninsula during the Middle Ages. “Spanish” is amore recent name that first referred to Spain as acountry and was later applied to its predominantlanguage as well.

Spanish 1Modern Spanish evolved from several dialects ofLatin that were spoken in north-central Iberia duringthe 8th or 9th century. During this early period itwas influenced by local languages such as Basque.Eventually it spread into the surrounding area, particularly the south, where it was further influenced byArabic. In the 13th century, King Alfonso X (knownas “Alfonso the Wise”) was the first king to useCastilian extensively. He also began to standardizeit by assembling court scribes and supervising theirwriting --- in Castilian --- on works of history, law,astronomy, and other fields, thereby establishingCastilian as a language of higher learning.In the 15th century, Old Castilian, or Old Spanish,began to evolve into what is now Modern Spanish--- the difference being mainly one of pronunciation(the devoicing and shifting of sibilant consonants).Someone who can read Modern Spanish can learnto read Old Spanish with very little difficulty. Thedifference is much less stark than between ModernEnglish and Old English.Beginning at the end of the 15th century, theexpansion of the Spanish Empire took Spanishbeyond Spain’s borders --- to the Americas, parts ofAfrica, and several island groups in the Pacific, amongother locations. It became an important languagefor government and trade. In Africa, Spanish is nowthe official language of only Equatorial Guinea, and2

Spanish 1it is no longer spoken by many people in the Pacific.In the Americas, however, the descendants of theoriginal Spaniards continued to use Spanish; and inthe 19th century, as the colonies overthrew Spanishrule, the new leaders encouraged the populationto become fluent in Spanish in order to strengthennational unity. Today it’s the official language of mostSouth American and Central American countries.The Third EditionIf you have completed previous editions ofthis course, you will notice that a few things havechanged since the last update.Languages are constantly evolving and reflectingchanges in their societies. Spanish is no exception.Just as first names like Bernarda or Anselmo areno longer first picks for Central or South Americanbabies, the Spanish you hear spoken in Latin Americatoday is not the same Spanish you heard twenty ormore years ago, and certainly no longer the Spanishyou learned in school, even though the grammar isstill largely the same.For example, it’s no longer common to refer tothe USA as Norteamérica, but rather Estados Unidos;and instead of Perdón for Excuse me, we have introduced Disculpe, which is now used more frequently.Changes have also been made to reflect the current3

Spanish 1value of the peso, the cost of items, and the use ofthe American dollar. In general, the scenarios andconversations have been updated so that a personof any age will find them familiar and useful.Also reflected in this new edition is a generaltrend in Latin America towards casual interaction. Although speaking politely and addressingpeople correctly is always important, especiallyfor beginning language learners, it is also usefulto learn to interact more casually while traveling,working, or vacationing in Latin America. With thisrevised edition, you’ll practice asking questionsboth politely (¿Dónde quiere comer?) and casually(¿Dónde quieres comer?). You will also learn whenand where to use the casual tú form (¿Cómo estás,Sebastian?) versus the formal usted form (¿Cómoestá usted, señora?) But you will hear much less ofseñor and señora, and señorita has been phased out.With this newest edition of Spanish 1, what youare learning is neither stilted textbook Spanish,nor street Spanish, but rather everyday Spanish asspoken in Mexico and most of South and CentralAmerica. Of course there are regional accents,and expressions used in one country may not beused in another. If you travel to the seaside, thecountryside, the mountains, or small towns, youmight need to ask people to repeat themselves orspeak more slowly. This is a common occurrence in4

Spanish 1any language, and no one course can cover everypossible regional variation. However, using theSpanish taught in this course, you can expect to beunderstood throughout the Spanish-speaking world.Remember, speaking Spanish clearly andnaturally is not always easy to do at an introductorylevel, and you may want to repeat a lesson a fewtimes. The Pimsleur Method has a proven successrate and you will find that it is well worth the effort.We hope you enjoy this Third Edition.The Spanish AlphabetThe Spanish alphabet once had thirty letters.In addition to the twenty-six letters of the Englishalphabet, ch, ll, rr, and ñ were considered separateletters. However, after a revision by the SpanishRoyal Academy in the 1990s, only the ñ remains —for a total of twenty-seven letters. Some dictionariesand some Latin American countries still continue touse the old system.Unlike in English, Spanish pronunciation of theletters and letter combinations is very consistent,although again there are regional differences.For example, you may hear the ll combinationpronounced either like English “y” or like English“j.” A “y” as in the word yo may be pronounced as“y,” “j,” or occasionally “sh.” Nevertheless, once you5

Spanish 1know the basic guidelines, you will be able to readSpanish easily.Reading LessonsReading is a critical part of learning and understanding a new language, but it may be for differentreasons than you think.If you’re like most people, you learned to speakyour native language well before you learned to readit: you learned reading later—and it’s a differentskill, which uses a different part of your brain.The symbols you see on a page—the alphabet—are a sort of shorthand for the sounds they represent.Inside those sounds is where meaning actually lives.Not only is reading a piece of a language puzzle,learning to read gives you a chance to learn alanguage from a different direction than how youlearn to speak in the audio lessons. This combinationapproach will help you build a solid bridge towardfluency. You’ll be able to isolate sounds in the spokenlanguage that you couldn’t quite catch throughlistening alone, and you’ll begin to notice patternsin words that will help you create a web of understanding in your mind. This is the natural progressionDr. Pimsleur followed in all of his language courses.6