Lección 1: El alfabeto

Start with this video from our friends that guides you through the sounds of Spanish and connects them with their spellings in the Spanish alphabet. (Not endorsed by the video creator.)

Consonantes: Preguntas para considerar (questions to consider)

1. How is the Spanish "J" pronounced? Can you think of words that use it?

2. How is the Spanish "G" pronounced? ¡Ojo! (Watch out!) It has two different sounds in the word "gigante." What are they?

3. Is the "H" always silent? What about "ch"?

4. Are there any sounds that surprised you?

Vocales (Vowels): Preguntas para considerar

1. What sound does "a" make? Is it always the same sound? Name 2 or 3 words that you can think of that will remind you that it makes that sound.

2. What about "e"?  Is it ever silent? Name 2 or 3 words that you can think of that will remind you of what sound it makes.

Now that you've seen and heard the Spanish alphabet, we're going to move on to greetings. There are a lot of different ways to greet people, depending on the time of day, the relationship between the people, and more. Here is a video from our friends with some of the most common. (Not endorsed by the video creator.)

Preguntas para considerar:

1. How do you greet people in the morning? After lunch? At night?

2. How do you say goodbye if you're going to be seeing the same person again soon? If you're not?

3. What are some greetings for your friends? And for people with whom you have a more formal relationship?

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