The verb "Ir" which means "to go"

So here is a video on the verb "Ir". "Ir" means "to go" is an irregular verb, since if you drop the ending, you have nothing left!!! Now you may begin to notice that every verb you want to use seems irregular in some way, but the reality of the situation is that most verbs are in face regular, it's just the most commonly used verbs are the ones that will have irregularities, that stems from the fact that a language will evolve faster through use. And so the most used verbs are the ones most likely to go through changes over time...anyway, now I am rambling! Enjoy and let me know if you have any more questions! Adiós

Definite and Indefinite articles

Here are 2 lessons on the definite and indefinite articles in Spanish. The definite articles are "el", "la", "los" and "las". When translated, these words mean "the", but are categorized in masculine/feminine, and singular/plural. You can also use indefinite articles, which follow the exact same concept, but instead of use "un" for "el", "una" for "la", "unos" for "los" and "unas" for "las". The difference is that instead of meaning "the" the indefinite articles mean "a/an" or "some".

Ser vs Estar

Since the verb's "ser" and "estar" both in English mean "to be" but in reality are two different words, I gave this lecture on the difference between their uses. In reality there are more circumstances where you can use either one, but the method I taught included some of the main ideas. If you do have any further questions please leave a comment/question and I will respond. The video is a little fuzzy so here are the conjugations if you need Ser: yo soy, tú eres, él/ella/ud. es, nosotros somos, ellos/ellas/uds. son. And for Estar: yo estoy, tú estás, él/ella/ud está, nosotros estamos, ellos/ellas/uds. están.

Informal vs Formal (tú vs usted)

In Spanish, there are 2 ways to address someone, in a formal way or an informal way. When in English, a lot of our formal/informal speaking will depend on how we say things, in Spanish, it's indicated more on what we say. This lesson explains more about speaking formally vs informally in Spanish.

Conjugating regular verbs!

Here are a few videos on conjugating regular verbs. Normally I teach them separately, but with this post I think I will keep them all together. Time to saturate yourself with conjugations!!! In my second year Spanish class I did go over them all together, only because it was a review. My advice is to watch the -ar verb conjugations first, then the -er/-ir one, and then you can watch the one which covers all of them...but that's just me!!!

The verb "estar"

The next verb here is the verb "estar". Like the verb "ser" it also means "to be", but even though it's translated to the same thing in English, it really is a different word since it cannot be used interchangeably.

The verb "ser" and subject pronouns

 I have decided to start out this blog with the verb "ser" and the subject pronouns. The video explains them well, but the verb "ser" is one of the most common verbs you will use. In it's non-conjugated form, or the infinitive, it means "to be". I also taught the subject pronouns, or the words I, You, He, She, We, They etc. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about it. Thanks

Welcome to the Blog!

Hola, welcome to my blog. Let me introduce myself. My name is Steve Funk and I am a Spanish teacher. I am in my eighth year teaching Spanish right now and I absolutely love the language. As an instructor in education, I have been amazed on how much learning has been impacted by technology and so I decided that I would create this blog with the intent to give anyone who would like to learn a foreign language an opportunity to do so, for FREE! In my years as a Spanish speaker; I learned Spanish in 1997 when I lived in Chile for a couple of years, so many people have said "Man, I wish I learned another language" or "Now that I am older, I wish I listened more in Spanish class in high school". I have never heard however, "Man I wish I learned math better" or "I wish I understood photosynthesis more". I also earned my Master's Degree in Spanish Literature, Linguistics and Civilization from California State University San Bernardino in 2009. Well, the videos I post are from me actually teaching at Redlands East Valley High School in Redlands Ca. So here is your chance to finally listen in Spanish class. I also want to encourage questions you might have regarding any concept and I will try to keep up with the blog and answer the questions. Also, you can always send me an email stevefunk78@gmail.com and I would be happy to answer any questions you have. This is a work in progress, and my goal is to make it the most effective blog on learning Spanish in existence! ¡Disfruten!