"...en cierta forma..."

It is so wonderful working with a language that is so phonetic: you write exactly what you say. I am daily going through one episode of a television series in Spanish. When I hear a word or phrase I don't understand, I hit the pause button, bring up the translation web site page and type in what I heard: more often than not it works. This particular phrase didn't seem to "Google" translate very well into English ("somehow") but it's used all the time in French ("en quelque sorte"). I can likewise imagine that it's used quite a bit in Spanish so it's a good one to know. Other actual translations for this phrase into English: - "...to a certain extent..." - "...in some ways..." - "...after a fashion..."

It came up as "in some ways" in Bing translator. The dictionary meanings are certain and shape, as I am sure you know. But all of them point toward the same meaning. I suppose it is one of those more idiomatic than literal phrases that litter both languages...sorry, I could not resist alliterating.

It came up as " in some form". Situations will come up "in some form or another". I am studying Carnaval and it keep saying "desfile" for parade instead of "parada". I think I'll google "parade" and see what it says. Results of google translate Parada means stop in Spanish. I realize Parada means parade in Filipino. Oh well. .

Parade came up as desfile in my Barron's dictionary. It translates parada as a military parade, more like what would be called a review in English (think the Soviet troops passing past the dignitaries on May Day. It also translates as a stop, as in parada de taxis.

Interesting for such a simple word. I can't do more than a few minutes of listening to radio or television in Spanish. Maybe if there is a translation in the bottom of the screen, I might do a longer show. It sounds like Greek to me. I'll just stay with Rocket Spanish and keep accumulating those points. I probably would earn a million points and still not be able to hold a long conversation with a new Spanish friend.

Pienso que las palabras son más complicadas de lo que paracen.

I understand the above sentence except for paracen. I googled and paracentesis keeps coming up. Maybe you mean parecen?

Yes that is what I mean. I am a great speller in English and I can spot a misspelled word a mile away. But I am still making mistakes like this in Spanish and it can really change the meaning of a sentence! ¡Debo ser más cuidado!

If your experience is like mine, you will lose your capacity to spot misspelled words and there will be days when you speak no language well. :-) p.s. I have only seen "cuidado" used with tener, so you may need to say something like: "¡Debería tener más cuidado!" I could be wrong...