Synergy Spanish Systems Blog

You know, I get a lot of love for my Synergy Spanish and Bola de Nieve courses.

But every now and then I get a nasty email…

Like this one that came in the other day…

Well, with all your hype about having a ‘better way’ you are still doing one thing which ALL systems (but one) do wrong! You start verbs in the present tense which is awkward and nearly useless. At least 80% of what one talks about to another is in the past tense as in what one did –this morning, yesterday, last week, etc. But with your (and all other systems) one is left saying, “I go to the store this morning” or “I buy six books yesterday” or “I wash my hair this morning” Why don’t you start with preterito, as Madrigal does? I know people who have lived in MX for several years and are still stuck in the present tense which is an awkward and nearly useless tense. You keep bragging that your system is better and more in touch but it is no different form the archaic academic model. You are not better than the system which my French son-in-law ridicules because at age 10 he was taught to say, “My tailor is rich.” He and his school mates laughed because none of them had a tailor and they all knew tailors, NONE of whom were rich.

If you want to say you are doing something different ……. do something different.

Voy a responder a las criticas

Firstly, this person hasn’t done the Synergy Spanish course. They are judging my complete body of work on a portion of the free samples.

Secondly, in the attack-Marcus email itself, only 17% of the verbs were in the past. In that same email, 24 of the verbs were in the present tense.

There goes the theory about the present tense being useless and that 80% of verbs we use are in the past.

We have to be careful what we accept as the only way to do something…

The word for that is dogma…

I’m constantly examining the way I teach and looking for better ways.

That’s why it took me so long to release the follow up to Synergy Spanish - Bola de Nieve.

I wanted to make sure that it would be as easy to use as Synergy Spanish, and when it came time to teach the past it would flow naturally from what you already knew.

And speaking of the past…

I’ve found the fastest way to speak in the past is to use  frequently used Spanish patterns.

Here’s an example of how we get you started speaking in the past. It comes from the second advanced concepts lesson in Bola De Nieve.

Here’s an excerpt from advanced concepts 9

The past tenses in Bola de Nieve - Advanced concepts 9 may be beyond your current skill level, but if you become a Bola de Nieve member, it’s simply another easy step.

Notice on those audio lessons, I don’t mention grammar labels.

However, if you’re into grammar you will notice the use of 3 different past tenses…

• the preterit indicative
• the imperfect indicative
• the perfect tense indicative

and all that happened in just in a few minutes of audio. However, the important thing isn’t the grammatical labels, why do the names sound so intimidating, what’s really important is being able to use the language. Here’s what some of first group of Bola de Nieve students have to say about actually using the language.

The key to dominating any Spanish verb in any tense.

I’m going to reveal one of my teaching secrets…

I almost wanted to keep it to myself because I have never seen a Spanish course that teaches this way. It’s one of the keys (I have six others) to why I get perhaps more praise than any Spanish teacher anywhere.

Yet, anyone can teach this way, there is nothing difficult about it…all you need to do is turn the approach to verbs sideways.

Then, instead of being a barrier to communicating in Spanish, the verbs become easy to use. You’ll find that they’re not so mysterious after all.

Unfortunately, the way most people learn Spanish is more likely to lead to failure than success. Most people study verbs vertically, for example a typical approach takes 3 model verbs and lists them like this…

Yes, it’s a good reference, (except for the overuse of pronouns).

However, as a foundation to speaking Spanish in real situations, making friends, doing business or pursuing a romance…

Forget it…

Here’s what’s wrong…

If you memorize the verbs that way, vertically, you then have to mentally go through the chart before you can speak.

Imagine if you had to stop and think about theory before you spoke with a verb in English.

…………..…Imagine if……………………………………………………….. you had………………to stop and………………………………….think about a bunch of theory before……………………………………………you spoke in English

That’s how most people train themselves to speak Spanish.

Instead, in Bola de Nieve, I teach you to approach Spanish verbs horizontally.

What that means is you start by focusing on the 1st person verbs, which mostly end in the letter O…

hablo, tengo, como, vivo, puedo, necesito, alquilo, visito, invito, quiero, veo

Once you know this single piece of theory you know enough to practice Spanish in context, just like you will in the real world.

After a short time, if you want to say I live, you don’t have to think, you just say - vivo…you already have the pattern in your mind.

No vivo en Canada, vivo en los Estados Unidos.

If you want to say I eat, the same thing applies… it’s instant - como

No como mucho chile

If you want to say I speak, you instantly know I speak- hablo

En casa siempre hablo español con mis hijos

To say, I see, again… with just a little practice, your mind knows instantly, without thinking – veo

No veo a mis hijos.

Here is an example of the first easy step with an audio lesson to show you what I mean, and here’s an action guide to get you started.

Here’s another audio example, this time the horizontal approach gets you using complex Spanish, reflexive verbs in the past, right away.

I hope you can see the uncommon sense in the horizontal approach to Spanish verbs…

It’s one of the most important things I can teach you about learning Spanish. It’s the key to dominating any Spanish verb in any tense and speaking with confidence, security and fluency.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think

Last Saturday Elena and I had a wonderful invitation to share paella.

Our friend, who’s father was Spanish, is somewhat of an expect in the art of preparing paella. And it really is an art. She pre-prepares every ingredient separately before it all goes in the pan, so the whole process takes hours.

I just love the whole ritual, anticipation and good times that go with paella.

Everyone, has their own way of preparing paella and their own special combination of ingredients. There are a lot of variations, which makes it always interesting.

The same thing happens with Sangria, everyone has there own recipe.

Our friend Roberto prepared a delicious sangria. I watched him prepare it…here’s the recipe, more or less…nothing is really measured

1/2 Bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja, Shiraz)
2-3 Lime cut into wedges
Juice of a about 6 limes (the variety here in Mexico are small about the size of a golf ball)
1-2 peach
12 green grapes
1-2 apple
1-2 orange
1 orange cut into wedges
A whole lot of sugar (my guess about half a cup)
Mineral water, about a cup
1 Shot of vodka

On the other hand here in Mexico, the food of choice for casual times with friends and family is carne asada. It is pretty tasty too.

Back in OZ we used to enjoy barbecues, but we were kind of like cave men chowing down on giant slabs of meat.

Here in Mexico the meat is cut very fine, which to me seems to improve the flavor. Then once you add a little salsa, cilantro, and guacamole… on a tortilla… yum…

So to me there’s no winner. They both are a great way to get together with friends, although the carne asada is a lot easier…