Abroad in Spain - Travel Blog

¡Ayudadme! That darn “vosotros” verb form.....

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:17:44 GMT

Ok, you may be wondering why I've decided to upload a picture of John Paul II to this post. After all, this isn't a Catholic blog - it's a Spain blog. Well, my loyal readers, the reason is simple. You see, this image illustrates a point. The image came from a popular pamphlet distributed by the Catholic Church in Spain and the caption of the image proves that the vosotros verb form is used quite often in Spain ("venid" and "veréis" are both verbs conjugated for vosotros).

Many Americans (including myself) struggle with the vosotros form of verbs in Spanish because in the United States it is typical to teach Latin American Spanish rather than the Spanish of Spain. Since vosotros does not exist in Latin American Spanish, many students of Spanish from the USA do not learn how to conjugate verbs in the vosotros form. That's why I've decided to put together this little summary of how to conjugate verbs in the vosotros form. I figure that other Americans like myself are probably interested in studying in Spain and need to know how to conjugate verbs for vosotros in order to communicate in Spain successfully.

First, I should mention here that vosotros is the informal version of ustedes (just like tú is the informal version of usted). In other words, you would want to use vosotros when you're talking to a group of friends. Also remember that vosotros is only used in Spain (not Latin America). Now that we have that straight, I'd like to list a summary of the conjugation of vosotros below along with some simple examples of how the verb is used....

The conjugation of verbs with Vosotros as the subject:

Verb Tense	-AR Verbs	-ER Verbs	-IR Verbs	Examples
Present	-áis	-éis	-ís	Vosotros habláis (You all talk) Vosotros vendéis (You all sell) Vosotros vivís (You all live)
Imperfect	-abais	-íais	-íais	Vosotros hablabais (You all were talking) Vosotros vendíais (You all were selling) Vosotros vivíais (You all were living)
Preterit	-asteis	-isteis	-isteis	Vosotros hablasteis (You all talked) Vosotros vendisteis (You all sold) Vosotros vivistes (You all lived)
Future	-éis	-éis	-éis	Vosotros hablaréis (You all will talk) Vosotros venderéis (You all will sell) Vosotros viviréis (You all will live)
Conditional	-íais	-íais	-íais	Vosotros hablaríais (You all would talk) Vosotros venderíais (You all would sell) Vosotros viviríais (You all would live)
Present Subjunctive	-éis	-áis	-áis	Quiero que... Vosotros habléis (I want you all to talk) Vosotros vendáis (I want you all to sell) Vosotros viváis (I want you all to live)
Past Subjunctive	-arais OR -aseis	-ierais OR -ieseis	-ierais OR -ieseis	Quería que... Vosotros hablarais (I wanted you all to talk) Vosotros vendierais (I wanted you all to sell) Vosotros vivierais (I wanted you all to live)

For simplicity's sake, I haven't included the compound tenses or irregularities above; however, you should be able to derive those tenses from the chart without much difficulty. Now, before ending this post, I also want to mention something about vosotros commands....

Vosotros commands:

Affirmative vosotros commands: These are very simple to form. You simply replace the -r of any infinitive with a -d. For example:
       Hablar --> Hablad (Talk!)
       Vivir --> Vivid (Live!)

Negative vosotros commands: These commands are formed by using the same endings as used in the present subjunctive (see the chart above). For example:
        No habléis (Don't talk)
        No vivéis (Don't live)

Ok, I know that this was a bit of a long post; but, it had to be long to give you a good review of the vosotros verb form. I hope that my chart has been helpful to someone out there... stay tuned for more!

Hasta luego,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

Abroad in Spain now has a FREE iGoogle Gadget!!!

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:50:18 GMT

I just wanted to write a quick post for those of you who use iGoogle as your home page. You see, Abroad in Spain now has an iGoogle Gadget that is TOTALLY FREE and will allow you to check out what is new on the site from the comfort of your iGoogle homepage.

Getting the new gadget is easy. Simply click here to install the Abroad in Spain Gadget on your iGoogle page. You can also use the link in the left menu bar to install the gadget. It's that simple!

I hope you enjoy and make use of this new improvement to the site which will allow you to always keep up-to-date with my page. As always, thanks for visiting!

Hasta luego,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

Prime Minister of Spain or British Television Star? You be the judge.....

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:51:08 GMT

There is a joke in Spain that says that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the current Prime Minister of Spain, looks a lot like Mr. Bean, the ridiculous British comedy character. I've decided to place a little image above to allow you to compare the two. Zapatero, of course, is on the left and Mr. Bean is on the right. What do you think? Maybe they were brothers separated at birth....

Hasta luego,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

What's up with immigration in Spain?

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:51:57 GMT

In recent years immigrants have been arriving to Spain in swarms looking for better lives. They have mainly come from places like Africa, Romania, Bulgaria, and some South American countries like Colombia. Immigration, of course, is something that Spain hasn't really had to deal with much before and the topic of immigration nowadays is quite "hot" in the country. In fact, Spaniards are now finding themselves faced with the question of what to do with immigrants arriving to Spain. But those immigrants who are just arriving are not the only worry of Spaniards; according to this recent article in El País, the future of the sons and daughters of new immigrants is also uncertain.

According to the article, many sons and daughters of immigrants in Spain are experiencing a sort of "identity crisis." They aren't "Spaniards" because they were born of foreign parents and don't "look like Spaniards;" however, they also don't really associate themselves with the culture from which their parents came because they have been living in Spain practically all their lives and have in essence been removed from their "home land" before they really had time to live there. The article also goes into issues of teasing and discrimination that many sons and daughters of immigrants can face at school and when looking for jobs. Still, despite these hardships, the article mentions that most immigrants do not regret their decision to move to Spain.

I thought I would write in response to the article in El País because I have seen the immigration issue in Spain first-hand. During my last trip to Spain, I volunteered with the Spanish Red Cross in Valladolid and worked especially with the Immigration Department of the Red Cross. The Immigration Department at the Red Cross has a lot of services for those new to the country; however, I concentrated my work in the "integración social" (social integration) area of assistance. My main task was to teach Spanish to those immigrants who didn't already know it and to work in elementary schools with high immigrant populations and explain cultural acceptance to the youngsters at those schools.

I feel like the work that I did at the Red Cross made a big difference - especially when I went into elementary schools to talk about cultural diversity; however, I was often greeted with hostility by other Spaniards for my work with immigrants. The truth is that some Spaniards view immigrants as "threats" to their country's security and, during my previous trip to Spain, I met Spaniards who did not like the fact that I was helping the Red Cross provide services to immigrant families. In fact, the discrimination that is talked about in the article cited above is very real in Spain... I saw it first-hand in my Red Cross work.

I am grateful that my work with the immigrants of the Red Cross allowed me to see the immigrant's side of the issue. After working with the Red Cross for a while, I soon found that many of the people who had decided to move to Spain had worked very hard to do so and were only interested in a better life for themselves and their families. In fact, most of the immigrant men that I gave Spanish classes to had left their wives and children in their birth countries until their economic situation in Spain was such that they could bring their wives, sons, and daughters to the country. This "splitting" of the family (coupled with no knowledge of the Spanish language and culture) was hard on the immigrants I worked with.

Of course, there are always two sides to the coin. Some immigrants do place a burden on the Spanish system by cramming themselves into over-crowded, crappy apartments and some do bring guns and weapons into the country. I, however, did not witness much of this where I was living in Valladolid. Also, they say that if it weren't for the immigrants who are entering Spain, the country would experience negative population growth. So... who's right?

Honestly, I don't know what the real "answer" to the immigration issue in Spain is and I'd love to get some of the opinions of my readers in this post. Do immigrants help Spain? Do they pose a threat? How much discrimination do you feel exists against immigration in Spain? What is you reaction to the El País article that I cited above? Please remember that I'm not talking about expatriates in this post (those who move to Spain because they simply "like" life there better); instead, I'm talking about those who move to Spain because their economic situation in their home country is so poor that they see no other way to survive but immigration. I'd love to hear what others who have witnessed immigration in Spain think about the issue... please leave your comments here.

Hasta luego,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

"Cartas desde el infierno" by Ramón Sampedro

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:52:53 GMT

I read a lot in Spanish and have decided to add a category to this site entitled "Books" in which I will post information about some of the best "Spanish-related" books that I have read and that I think my readers could be interested in. To kick-off this new section of the site, I'd like to tell you about a book by Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, a man with a tremendous will... to die.

Ramón Sampedro was a sailor from the Galicia region of Spain who, one day when he was in his twenties, had an accident while diving into the sea. This accident left him paralyzed from the head down. After his accident, Sampedro lost his will to live and petitioned the Spanish government for what he referred to as his "right" to euthanasia. His petition was the first of its kind in Spain and was denied by the government. In fact, the judge who heard his trial went one step further by declaring that anyone who helped Sampedro to take his own life would be tried for murder (Sampedro, due to his physical limitations, was incapable of committing suicide for himself and would need someone else's help in order to end his life).

After his petition for euthanasia was denied, Sampedro spent many years living his life in a bed, refusing to use a wheelchair to go outside, advocating for his right to end his own life, and writing with a pen in his mouth and paper laid out at his bedside. Eventually, Sampedro did manage to get help from a friend and did end his own life in 1998. There was not enough evidence to convict the friend who assisted Sampedro of murder; however, she did publicly admit to helping Ramón carry out his final wish after the statute of limitations on the case had run out.

If you're interested in knowing more about the history behind Ramón Sampedro, you may want to check out this Wikipedia article about him or this article in El País that was published after his friend admitted to helping him end his own life.

In any event, the book that I wanted to tell you about is entitled "Cartas desde el infierno" and was written by Sampedro before his death. It is in Spanish and includes a collection of poems, short essays, and reflections on life from Sampedro's point of view. I read the book and really enjoyed it... in fact, the book gave me a lot of insight into what it's like to be living in the state that Ramón was living in and helped me to understand what he was fighting for. It also let me reflect on my own life and the meaning behind it. Surprisingly, the book doesn't really have a sad tone to it and it isn't just a rant from some guy about wanting to commit suicide... it is much more profound and has a deeper significance. If you're interested in learning a little more about the book, you may want to check it out on Amazon at the link below.

If you like the book, you may also be interested in a movie created by Alejandro Amenábar about the life of Sampedro and his fight for his own death. The title of the movie in English is "The Sea Inside" and it too is available on Amazon (the movie itself has English subtitles, you have to listen to it in Gallego / Castellano / Catalán). I own the movie as well and really liked the insight it gave me into Sampedro's life. I'm including the movie link below too.

That about does it for this little book review. I hope you enjoyed hearing my opinion about the titles above. They certainly provide a unique bit of insight into a man who was an important figure in recent Spanish history. Please, leave any comments you have about these titles, Ramón, or anything else below.

Hasta luego,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

Bears eating madroño trees and guys dressed like pirates: My previous trips to Spain.....

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:53:54 GMT

Ok, so you may be wondering what people in pirate hats and bears eating madroño tress (does the bear thing really happen anywhere??) have in common. Well, these are both pictures that I took during previous trips that I made to Spain. In fact, I have made two previous trips to Spain and the trip that I am currently planning for will be my third one (as you can tell, I really like the country). Anyway, I thought it would be appropriate for me to write a short post explaining a little about my previous experiences in Spain.

Before I get started talking about my previous experiences in Spain, I would like to draw your attention to a new tool that I am using on my site: Picasa. For those of you who don't know, Picasa is a tool that allows users to post photos in a sort of "blog style" and then lets anyone access those photos from around the world. Anyway, I decided to post some of the photos that I've taken during my previous trips to Spain on my Picasa account. You can go HERE to view those photos. I encourage you to take a look at them... some are pretty cool. I'm also adding a link to my Picasa account on the sidebar to the left, so you can visit it anytime.

Now, without further hesitation, let me explain to you a little about the two trips that I have made to Spain so far:

Trip #1 - Tour of Madrid and Southern Spain

Ok, my first trip to Spain came in 2003 and involved me visiting Madrid and regions of Spain south of Madrid (like Toledo and Sevilla). This trip was short - it only lasted about two weeks; however, it was great. In fact, it was during this trip that I decided I wanted to return to Spain some day for a much longer period of time. The picture above of the bear eating the madroño tree is a picture that I took during my 2003 trip. It's a famous statue that was located near the Puerta del Sol in Madrid (apparently, these statues are located throughout Madrid - see Bill's post below). I remembered having seen a photo of that statue in one of my high school Spanish books so when I saw it in person I just had to take my own photo. Remember, you can click HERE to view the complete photos from my 2003 trip.

Trip #2 - Study Abroad in Valladolid, Spain

My second trip to Spain came in 2007 when I studied abroad for six months at Valladolid. During this time abroad, I studied at the Universidad de Valladolid and helped volunteer as an English/Spanish translator and teacher for the Red Cross in Spain. I really enjoyed my time abroad and it was this trip that "persuaded me" (I really didn't need much persuading) to pursue the current scholarship that I just won in order to return to Spain for an even longer amount of time. The picture of the "pirate" above is actually a picture of an actor in a Renaissance Fair held in Valladolid that I attended. Remember, you can click HERE to view the complete photos from my 2007 study abroad trip.

Trip #3 - Coming Soon!

As you already know, I'm now preparing for my third trip to Spain. All I know about this trip so far is that I will be in Spain for at least one year and I will be somewhere in the Castilla y León region. As I find out more details, I'll be sure to post them here...

Hasta la próxima,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

A new look to the site.....

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:55:20 GMT

I just wanted to write a small post to comment on my site's new look. Now that the college semester is over and I'm no longer student teaching, I have had more time to do some work on the site. As you can see, I completely re-designed the page and (I think) made it a bit easier to read and navigate. Please, read through the site and leave comments here on its new "look." If you'd like anything changed or find something that doesn't work, you can leave comments about that here as well. I look forward to hearing from you!

Hasta la próxima,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

My reaction to the scholarship.....

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:56:03 GMT

It's been a few days since I was notified that I won a scholarship to go to Spain, and now that I've had time to let it "sink in," I thought I'd write a short post to let everyone know my deepest, innermost thoughts (well, not really that deep). As you can see from the "thumbs-up" picture of me above, the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the scholarship is GOOOOOOOD GOING!!!!

Really, I'm very happy that I have this opportunity to go back to Spain. I loved the country the last time I was there (read about my first trip here) and vowed I would return, I just didn't think I'd be able to return so soon. The truth is that it was this time last year when I returned home from my six months abroad in Valladolid and it's kinda hard to believe that in just a few short months I'll be going back. I really do consider myself pretty lucky to be able to return to Spain in just over a year from the last time I was there.

I'd like to take a few minutes here and explain exactly what I hope this "return trip" to Spain will do for me. As some of my readers probably know, I already have a pretty high level of proficiency in Spanish (near-native). Nonetheless, one of my biggest goals for my return trip is to hone my Spanish skills so that I sound as native as possible. Another big goal for this trip is to integrate myself more fully into the culture (the last time I was there, I went with other Americans and sometimes didn't participate in the "Spanish" way of life as much as I wish I would have). In fact, during my last trip I was just starting to feel as if I "belonged" in the country when it was time for me to leave. I hope that this time I will integrate myself more quickly into the lifestyle because I have already been there once and know more about what to expect.

Now that I know I have a scholarship and am going to Spain for sure in September, my next steps are going to be getting the necessary visa, buying a plane ticket, looking for a place to live in Spain, and packing. Stay tuned over the summer as I write about each of those steps (and much more) as I go through them.

Hasta la próxima,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

Success!!!! (and a bit of technical stuff)

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:57:02 GMT

I want to start off by saying that I'm sorry that I haven't updated this page in a while. I was student teaching (in Spanish) this semester and got quite busy designing lessons toward the end, so... I haven't had time to get online. My student teaching is now over (I got an A+) and I should have time to write on a more regular basis now.

The second (and more important) thing that I'd like to mention in this entry is that I was recently notified that I was awarded the scholarship that I applied for to go to Spain and teach English. If you've been keeping up with this blog, you know that I have spent time in Spain before and applied for this scholarship to have the opportunity to go back to Spain and spend even more time practicing and honing my Spanish skills. (If you are unfamiliar with this blog, you may want to read my fist post to get yourself up to date.) Anyway, I was very excited about the scholarship, in fact I didn't sleep last night after I found out I had won it (haha).

For those of you who are interested in knowing, the scholarship has assigned me to the Castilla y León region of Spain. I was very happy that I got that region because, during my last study abroad experience in Spain, I lived in Valladolid, a large city located more or less in the center of the Castilla y León region. So... I'm glad that I know the area in which I have been placed by the scholarship.

Also for those of you who are wondering, the scholarship that I was given was granted to me by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC). I don't want to sound rude, but I have gotten a lot of emails from people asking me to help them get scholarships in Spain and I am really unable to help those people. Please keep in mind that I have no pull whatsoever in these matters and the only information I know about the scholarship is the information that is on the MEC website which I just linked to. Please, do not direct your questions about scholarships in Spain to me... the MEC and other organizations like the Fulbright organization are the ones in charge of those things and they can help you much more than I can.

I think that's about all I have to say right now about my scholarship. Over the next few days, I hope to post some more about my reaction to winning the scholarship and my next steps to get the visa to go to Spain. Before I close this entry I would like to say that I "think" I have the comment problem on this site fixed and have undone the moderated comments that I had to implement a few weeks ago. Now you can leave a comment without it having to be approved by me; hopefully this will simplify the entire comment-leaving process.

Stay tuned for more new things on the site. Now that I'm done student teaching I'll have plenty of time to update with pictures, information, and lots more....

Hasta la próxima,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com

Application submitted.....

chris@abroadinspain.com (Chris) — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:57:47 GMT

Just the other day I got together the last supporting documents I needed for my scholarship to go to Spain and I just mailed them out yesterday. Now, all I have to do is sit back, relax, and PRAY that they give me a scholarship. hehe I'm thinking that my chances are good, but I'll keep you posted on my status.

On another note: I've been having a small problem with the comment function on this blog and have had to switch to moderated comments. This means that you can still leave comments, but they will have to be approved by me before they are posted. I hope to get the comment issue resolved soon so that moderated comments are no longer necessary. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Well, wish me luck as I anxiously await the results of the scholarship to see if I'm accepted....

Hasta la próxima,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com