España

Voy a España en dos semanas para diez días. Mi vuelo salir el once de Marzo y voy a llegar en Madrid medio día, Sabado. Cuando yo exito la aeropuerta, voy a caminar por El Parque del Retiro, entonces, voy a comer cine. No sé dondé... Ayer, yo compré: una mochilla, un dario, un libro de viaje, y algunas ropas. Yo tengo mi pasaporte y mi camerá. Primero voy a ver Madrid, pero entonces Barcelona en tren y entonces Valencia en tren tambien. Gracias Rocket Spanish, 'mega verbs' y mis amigos aqui; yo espero que estoy listo.

¿Como fue su viaje?

El viaje fue bien. Me vuelo llegó en Madrid pero me tomó un tren a Seville y entonces Barcelona. La comida fue delicioso -buen jamon- (si claro) y la gente era agradable.

Excelente Kless, yo espero visitar España algún dia... Me permites hacer algunas pequeñas correciones? (Can you allow me to make some little corrections?). It would be something like this: Me fue bien en el viaje (or El viaje estuvo bien). Mi vuelo llegó a Madrid pero yo tomé (or simply tomé) un tren a Sevilla y despues a Barcelona. La comida estuvo deliciosa (or la comida es deliciosa)-buen jamon- (si claro) y la gente era agradable... ;) In english you would say "my flight arrived at Madrid" or something similar, the "at" in spanish can translate to "a" or to "en", but in this case the "a" is the correct one, cause otherwise, using the "en" it would sound something like "my flight arrived in Madrid"... ;) Si necesitas mas ayuda, no dudes en contactarme...(If you need more help, just contact me ). Y muchas felicidades por tu viaje exitoso a España!!!! Oleeeee! :P

Gracias por la ayuda Cristian. Estoy aprendiendo mucho aqui. "Me fue bien en el viaje" sounds very, very wierd to me:) but I know what I originally said probably sounded very weird to you! pero.. me gusta "el viaje estuvo bien". Cual es el diferencia entre "Estuvo" y "Fue" y "Era" todo son "palabras de pasado" ¿no? ¡muchos gracias por todo!

Muy bien Kless, por nada o de nada ( its a common respond for a "Gracias", it means "youre welcome" eventhougt it translate directly to "for nothing" or "of nothing", trying to say "ohh you dont have to thank me, it was nothing" ;) got it?). Que bueno que estas aprendiendo mucho en Rocket, MUCHAS FELICIDADES AMIGO!!!! (Its good that you are learning a lot with Rocket, CONGRATULATIONS MY FRIEND!!! And yes, your expression "El viaje fue bien" sounded kindda wierd, but im sure any spanish speaking person would get the point !!! "Estuvo" comes from the verb "estar" (to be)....and to be in past is "it was" or simply "was" so "Estuvo" means "it was" , but its also used to indicated something or someone in a certain position... "El estuvo en la fiesta" (he was at the party), "El estuvo en cama" (He was in bed or he stayed in bed") in the case of "Fue" it comes from the verb "Ser", this also translates to "be", but its used in diffrent ways. For example its not the same "I used to be a police man" that "I was a police man"....both sentences in fact say the same thing, but in a diffrent way...in the case of "fue" you can used it to translate the 2 english sentences.. "El fue un policia" or "El era un policia".... BUT you cant use "estuvo" cause it doesnt make sence at all "El estuvo un policia"...cause it would say "He was at a police" pr "He stay a police" :S hahaha. "Era" comes from Es (El es, ella es, ellos son,blah blah...)., which again it also has to do with "to be" , in i used it in the sentence "El era una policia" (he used to be a police man). SO IN FEW WORDS...Era y Fue are almost the same, as in "he was" or "he used to be".... And "Estuvo" has to do more with positioning something or someone at a certain place or time or in a certain condition "El estuvo despierto toda la noche" (He stayed awake all night long)... Bueno, tengo que irme, nos vemos luego (Well, i need to go now, but see you later soon).

(#Q*$& es dificil pero.. yo creo que algún día, voy a entender. Gracia por la ayuda otro vez.

@Kless *Gracias por la ayuda otra vez :) "Vez = time" and is a feminine noun. "Otro = another" but has to agree with the noun it qualifies. So in this case "another time" would translate as "OTRA vez". Hope that helps.

:( so many mistakes.. by the way I was hoping someone could help me with this. I work as an EMT and during a call (towards the end) I told my patient "mejorate pronto" (mejor-a-te-pronto) meaning (get better soon) and she told me (in english) that I just told her to die soon and she laughed about it. She could have been joking with me but I really feel that she didn't understand what I was saying and I swear I said it just as it is said in the survival spanish audio. Btw she was from Mexico.

Hey Kless. I'm am going to Spain this month and I have some questions. I am going by boat to Santander and then the plan is to travel along the northern part, Bilbao, Basque Country etc down to Barcelona and Valencia. How did you find travelling by train? Did you travel by bus at all? I am hoping that the staff at the hostels will be able to help me with booking tickets and advising me. It's my first time travelling alone :S Good job on the Spanish by the way. I've just finished Rocket Spanish stage 2 and am now having a go at the bonus parts, mega Spanish plus working through another book that I have. By the way, mejorate pronto doesn't sound anything like dying to me.

I took a bus down to Seville, then to Malaga, then to Valencia&Barcelona. The only train I took was the AVE (alta-velocidad) from Barcelona to Madrid which was awesome. I liked traveling by bus, as it was affordable and didn't take forever. Every hostel I stayed in had great staff who were eager to help. I strongly suggest you check out hostelworld.com and look up reviews. Stay in hostels that come recommended, etc. Bus stations were easy enough to navigate and understand routes, prices. Barcelona was cool. La Sagrada Familia, La Rambla, the beach are all nice. I'm pretty sure one of the neighboorhood bars I walked into, all the men were speaking catalin (not spanish) and I looked funny saying "me gustaria un cerveza". Great trip though and I also must suggested that you take your time and really soak everything in. Ask "que me recomienda" a lot!

Mejorate pronto....muerete pronto....read both, very fast, and maybe they would sound very simiilar hahhaa.. for example if you dont pronounce the "J" sound in a strong way (like the H in english "hot" or "home") it would sound as if you say "muerete pronto"·

Thanks for the tips Kless. Yeah I think I might have the same problem in the Basque country where they speak Euskara I think it's called. Could be interesting haha.

I would be shocked if the hostels/hotels/restaurants you went to in Basque county couldn't communicate to you in Spanish (or even in simple English). You'll be fine. The folks in Spain were friendly, and the women are beautiful.

hola