Spanish

When i was very young and learning beginner spanish, i thought it was taught that in some parts of latin america, they use some plural form instead of tu when speaking. Is this correct or am I misremembering?

Anyone know of a decent Spanish Word of the Day RSS feed? Preferably one that doesn't involve FeedBurner, Feedblitz, etc...

I used to be confused why "mi nombre es" and "me llamo" seemed to both mean "my name is". I read that "me llamo" really means "I am called" but I guess culturally they use "me llamo" in the same way we use "my name is" even though "mi nombre es" is a more literal translation.

I'm asking because there are a lot of phrases I'm learning that I know how to use but am still confused. If I knew the actual literal translation I would feel more comfortable. Things like "my brother likes basketball" being "A mi hermano le gusta el baloncesto" are confusing. The use of el doesn't confuse me, that's just how it is and I can see past it, we just don't say "I like the basketball" in English. But what is the point of "a" at the start? To? To what? To my brother? I sort of understand le. I'm not sure when to use it, I'm developing an intuitive understanding of when to use me/te/le/nos as opposed to yo/tú/él/ella/nosotros but it's still tricky.

So I'm wondering where I can find actually literal translations of these phrases. So many sites seem to use the phrase to mean "translation" (or maybe I'm misunderstanding the term literal translation but I'd think it is as one to one as possible).

I'm looking for a site that hosts an RSS feed with beginner-level short stories in Spanish. I'm learning Spanish and I think it would be helpful for me to read a bit each day as I'm working through my feed. Is anyone aware of a site like this that I could add? Thanks.

Hello

Would it be okay to only use Dreaming Spanish, read the occasional article in Spanish and watch Spanish series on Netflix? Or do I have to combine it with more in-depth grammar and vocabulary studies?

I am not starting from zero but am not fluent at all.

For those who are on their journey of learning Spanish, what lesson/material are you currently working with?

También, hay personas acá que puede manejar el español o solo estudiantes?

I'm trying to write a thank you letter to my step-mom. My Spanish is terrible, but I'd like to honor her. Can anyone point out changes I should make to the auto translation? I'm sure that the opening line is wrong.

ENGLISH Dear Tere, I am so grateful for the loving care and kindness that you've shared with me over the years, but I'm especially grateful for your help in recovering from my surgery. I ate all of the meals you prepared, and loved them all (especially the enchiladas rojas). Thank you for counting me as one of your kids.

SPANISH Estimado cliente, Estoy muy agradecida por el cuidado amoroso y la amabilidad que ha compartido conmigo a lo largo de los años, pero estoy especialmente agradecida por su ayuda para recuperarme de mi cirugía. Comí todas las comidas que preparaste y me encantaron todas (especialmente las enchiladas rojas). Gracias por contarme como uno de sus hijos.

Apart from the well-known ones, such as Duolingo, I always recommend everyone to use Anki (https://apps.ankiweb.net/). I consider it the best free tool for learning any language, not just Spanish.

You learn without realising it, through flash cards and a methodology based on intelligent repetition.

Here is a list of decks, most of them free, to learn Spanish: https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/spanish

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