SSppeeaakk SSppaanniisshh aatt WWoorrkk...Tip #3 - Reverse engineer difficult-to-pronounce words and...
Transcript of SSppeeaakk SSppaanniisshh aatt WWoorrkk...Tip #3 - Reverse engineer difficult-to-pronounce words and...
SSSpppeeeaaakkk SSSpppaaannniiissshhh
aaattt WWWooorrrkkk
30 Tips and Strategies
for Speaking and
Understanding Spanish
on the Job,
Starting NOW
by Lily Ann Fouts, M.S.
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 2
Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Tip #1 - Know how to pronounce the Spanish letters 5
Tip #2 - Know what the accent marks are all about 7
Tip #3 - Reverse engineer difficult-to-pronounce words and phrases 9
Tip #4 - Use associations and humor to remember words and phrases 10
Tip #5 - Know the basic greetings 11
Tip #6 - Learn the basic expressions of politeness 13
Tip #7 - Know your numbers 13
Tip #8 - Combine gestures with simple phrases 16
Tip #9 - Have a clear idea of what you need to communicate 17
Tip #10 - Prioritize your communication needs 18
Tip #11 - Find versatile phrases you can use in many different situations 19
Tip #12 - Be a control freak 20
Tip #13 - Ask yes/no questions 21
Tip #14 - If a yes/no question isn't possible, be sure you'll still be able to understand the answer 22
Tip #15 - Use "esto" a lot 22
Tip #16 - Find "fill-in-the-blank" sentence patterns 23
Tip #17 - Practice new phrases in the exact physical position you'll be in while using them in real life 24
Tip #18 - Make flash cards for anytime review 25
Tip #19 - Record the phrases with your phone or MP3 player's voice recorder and listen to them over and over 26
Tip #20 - Vividly visualize yourself speaking Spanish 26
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 3
Tip #21 - Say something in Spanish every chance you can 27
Tip #22 - Use your learning style to your advantage 28
Tip #23 - Enlist the help of Spanish speakers around you 28
Tip #24 - Use cheat sheets for all routine tasks and procedures 29
Tip #25 - Repetition, repetition, repetition 30
Tip #26 - Stick to the relevant stuff 30
Tip #27 - Keep a pen and paper handy for writing/drawing 31
Tip #28 - Use technology to your advantage 32
Tip #29 - Find a study partner 33
Tip #30 - Be consistent, pace yourself, and never give up 34
Appendix A - "Esto" Cheat Sheet 35
Appendix B - DINA Cheat Sheet 37
Appendix C - Sample Workplace Cheat Sheet 39
References 41
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 4
Introduction
Welcome to a new and effective approach to learning Spanish for work! I'm glad you've chosen to start this journey. My name is Lily Ann Fouts. In Mexico they often called me Lilí or Liliana. I moved down there at the age of 8 with my single mom and younger sister. It's a long story, but basically Mom "kidnapped" us from our biological dad--who had obtained legal custody of us--to protect us from his abuse.
Mexico was the best thing that ever happened to me! While we hid out from my father, the police, and the FBI, I learned to speak fluent Spanish and became immersed in the culture of Latin America. We developed friendships in Mexico which have lasted to this day. After five years in Mexico, we returned to the U.S. and a few years later I studied Education and Spanish in college, graduating with honors.
I love to teach and over the years have taught in bilingual elementary classrooms, college Spanish classrooms, and--most enjoyably--many different workplaces. My clients have included educational institutions, libraries, hospitals, dental offices, a manufacturing plant, and more!
After getting married to an adventurous world traveler a couple of years back, teaching classes on-site has become impractical for me, but I haven't lost my love of teaching Spanish. During the 2012-2013 summer season in Antarctica, my husband and I worked at the South Pole Station. Although I now have a Master's degree, I felt so excited at the opportunity to live and work at the South Pole that I took a position as a dishwasher just to get down there. One of my co-workers in the galley turned out to be a radiology technician in the "real world" up north, and when she learned I spoke Spanish she told me she wished she could speak some Spanish for work. I decided to teach her a little bit, and made a cheat sheet for her to use when she returned to work in the medical field. She was thrilled!
My experience at the South Pole motivated me to pursue my passion for teaching Spanish again--but now I do it all online, since we're always on the move! I hope you find a lot of value in the free materials I put together for you here in this e-book as well as on my website, www.SwiftSpanish.com. What you'll learn in this booklet is the result of many years of teaching, training, trial and error, and refinement. You can learn the basics of Spanish for the workplace in just weeks. Use the tips and strategies in this eBook to get started NOW!
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 5
Tip #1 - Know How to Pronounce the Spanish Letters
Your Spanish won't do much good if nobody can understand you! Almost
everyone who learns Spanish as an adult will have an accent, but proper
pronunciation (accent aside) is achievable by anyone. Luckily, most Spanish
letters are pronounced pretty much the way English letters are. Here are the
ones that are different:
The Spanish vowels--A, E, I, O, and U--are pronounced
“ah,” “eh,” “ee,” “oh,” and “oo” respectively.
Always pronounce the A like the A in salsa or arch (ah).
Always pronounce the E like the E in egg or exit (eh).
Always pronounce the I like the I in gila monster or
tortilla (ee).
Always pronounce the O like the O in taco or nachos (oh).
Always pronounce the U like the U in flute or tune (oo).
The important thing to remember is that each vowel only has one sound (unlike
some of our English vowels, which can start out with one sound and “glide” into
another sound. The long "A" for example starts out saying "eh" and then glides
into "ee"). Spanish vowels are always pronounced the same way–there are no
“long” and “short” vowels like we have in English. A is always “ah,” E is always
“eh,” and so on.
The letter G has hard and soft sounds. The hard G is like
our English hard G in the word “garden,” but the soft G
is pronounced like an H, much like in the word "gila
monster." Don’t pronounce it like a J like we do in
English. The G is soft when it is followed be E and I. It
sounds like “hay,” and “he.”
To make a hard “gay/ghee” sound, you spell it like this:
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 6
GUE/GUI. This is one instance where the U is silent. The sounds “gway” and
“gwee” are pretty rare in Spanish, but you distinguish them with the special u
with dots over it: Ü. Using this special U (güe/güi) tells the reader that the U is
not silent.
The letter H is silent in Spanish, like it is in our English
words "hour" and "honor." You pronounce the word
as though the letter were not even there. For
example, the word hora (hour) is pronounced “ora.”
The letter J sounds like our English H. You’ve probably
heard of jalapeños, or maybe San José, California…
The double LL. Although the single L is pretty much the
same as in English, the double L is pronounced like our English Y. Most of us are
familiar with tortillas and quesadillas. Maybe some of us have even vacationed in
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The LL used to actually be considered a separate letter in
the Spanish alphabet, with its own section in the dictionary and everything. That
changed quite a few years ago, however.
The letter Ñ is the only letter in the Spanish alphabet
which does not exist in the English alphabet. It sounds
like the “ny” in canyon or the “ni” in onion and union.
Maybe you’ve seen it in Cañon City–a town in Colorado,
or La Niña–one of Christopher Columbus’s three ships, or
the el Niño climatic phenomenon that happens every few
years.
QUE and QUI are used in Spanish to make the sounds "kay" and "key." It's
pronounced like in our words “bouquet,” and “quiche.” The U is silent Like the U
in "gue" and "gui" (see above), though many Americans may be tempted to say
“kway” or “kwee.” If you need to say “kway” or “kwee,” spell it CUE and
CUI. (The letter K is rarely used in Spanish.)
The letter R seems to be the most dreaded of the Spanish consonants. The rolled
R, which you often hear when a word begins with R or when there is a double “rr”
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 7
inside the word, is very difficult for most Americans to
pronounce. Although your inability to properly
pronounce the R will instantly give you away as an
American, you’ll still be understood, which is the most
important thing to keep in mind. Don’t worry too much
if you can’t get it just right. The R is not always
rolled. Sometimes it is “flapped,” similar to the way we
Americans flap our tongue against the ridge inside our
mouth when we say the “tt” in the words “letter,” and “butter,” or the “dd” in
“ladder.” Generally you roll the R when it appears at the beginning of a word, and
“flap” it when it appears in the middle of a word.
The letter X usually sounds just like our X in English, but once in awhile they
pronounce it like an H. For example, México is pronounced “MEH-hee-co.” This is
uncommon, but something to be aware of. Occasionally there are other ways to
pronounce the X, too, but they are so uncommon that we won’t worry about
those here.
The letter Z sounds like an S in Latin America. In Spain it
is pronounced differently, but we’ll focus on Latin
American pronunciation here because that is what we’ll
be more likely to encounter in the workplace here in the
U.S. Perhaps you have heard of pozole, a popular soup
in Mexico. It is pronounced ‘posole’ (and often spelled
that way in the States).
Tip #2 - Know What the Accent Marks Are All
About
Another key to proper Spanish pronunciation is knowing where to put the
emphasis when you're saying a word. In Spanish, emphasizing the wrong syllable
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 8
of a word could actually change its meaning! There are some general methods
for pronouncing Spanish words with and without accent marks–knowing which
part of the word to place the emphasis on (in other words, which part of the word
to say the loudest). The basic rules are:
1. If a Spanish word ends in a vowel, N, or S, emphasis is placed on the second-to-
last syllable in the word, regardless of how long the word is.
2. If a Spanish word ends with any other consonant besides N or S, emphasis is
placed on the final syllable, regardless of the length of the word.
3. Accent marks override the first two rules. Emphasis should always be placed on
the syllable that has the accent mark. Also, if the emphasis is placed anywhere
but the last or second-to-last syllable in any word, that word should have an
accent mark in it.
Placing the emphasis on the proper part of the word is important, because
sometimes emphasizing a different part of the word can change the meaning
entirely.
If you’re in the healthcare or child care field, you may encounter the word
“vomit” from time to time. In Spanish, the word is vómito. However, if you spell
it vomito it means “I vomit,” and if you spell it vomitó it means “you/he/she
vomited.” Two other common words that change meaning with an accent mark
are el papa/el papá (the pope or the dad) and mama/mamá (he/she/it suckles,
or mom). There are also some single-syllable words whose meaning changes
depending on whether or not they have accent marks, for example "si" means if,
while "sí" means yes; and "el" means the, while "él" means he or him.
Rule 1 (vowel/N/S) Rule 2 (other consonants) Rule 3 (accent marks)
vomito (I vomit) vomitar (to vomit) vómito (vomit)
trabajan (they work) trabajad (work [command]) trabajó (he/she worked)
limpio (clean) limpiar (to clean) limpió (he/she cleaned)
grapas (staples) veloz (fast) lápiz (pencil)
persistentemente (persistently)
telefonear (to phone) teléfono (telephone)
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 9
Tip #3 - Reverse Engineer Difficult-to-
Pronounce Words
and Phrases
If you encounter a long or
difficult-to-pronounce Spanish word, don't panic! Many people try to pronounce
the word by starting at the beginning of the word and slowly working their way
through it. This process takes longer than necessary. Instead, do this: write
down the word and then put slash marks through the word to mark off the
separate syllables. Then, just pronounce the last syllable, all by itself. Once
you're comfortable saying the last syllable, say the last two syllables. Repeat
them until you have them down. Then say the last three syllables, and so on, until
finally you are saying the whole word. Since you've become comfortable saying
the end of the word, it will roll off your tongue much more easily than when you
try to pronounce the word starting from the beginning! As an example, let's look
at the phrase "fecha de nacimiento" (date of birth).
fe/cha de na/ci/mien/to
Pronounced: FAY-chah day nah-see-mee+EN-toe
Say "toe."
Say "me+EN-toe" (run the "me" and the "EN" together in a single syllable)
Say "see-me+EN-toe" (Hey, that almost sounds like "See me IN tow"--see Tip #4
on humor and association.) Say this as many times as you need to until it just
flows off your tongue, then...
Say "nah-see-me+EN-toe" a few times.
Keep adding syllables one-by-one until you're saying the entire phrase with ease!
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 10
Tip #4 - Use Associations and Humor to
Remember Words and Phrases
With a little imagination, many Spanish words or parts of words sound like certain
English words. One effective way to remember words and phrases might be to
listen to the sound of the Spanish word, think of what it sounds like in English,
and then make vivid mental images of those things--preferably involving as many
of your senses as possible--to help you remember the Spanish words. Create a
short story in your mind to help you visualize the words and associate them to the
Spanish word you are trying to memorize.
For example, imagine you are trying to memorize the word muéstreme (show
me). It sounds a little like the words "moist-tray-may" in English. In your mind's
eye, visualize a moist tray. I see a brown plastic cafeteria style tray covered in
water droplets.
For the "may," I imagine that it is the month of May, and that the brown cafeteria
tray got left out in the middle of a flower garden and the sprinklers are on and it is
getting very moist!
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 11
To connect it to its meaning (show me), I imagine I need to get somebody to show
me where this tray goes, since it is obviously not in its place! Moist-tray-may.
Muéstreme. Show me.
Try it next time you're having trouble remembering a particular word or phrase!
Tip #5 - Know the Basic Greetings
Almost every single interaction begins with the same basic greetings. It's
important to learn these to break the ice and establish initial trust with the people
we talk to. Here are the most important ones to learn:
English Spanish Pronunciation
Hello Hola OH-lah
Goodbye Adiós ah-DYOSE
Good morning Buenos días bway-noce DEE-ahs
Good afternoon Buenas tardes bway-nahs TAR-dess
Good evening/night Buenas noches bway-nahs NO-chase
See you later Hasta luego ah-stah LWAY-go
See you tomorrow Hasta mañana ah-stah mah-NYAH-nah
Until next time Hasta la próxima ah-stah la PROKE-see-mah
Have a good day Que le vaya bien kay lay vah-yah bee+EN
How are you? ¿Cómo está? CO-mo ess-TAH?
Very well, thank you Muy bien, gracias MOO+ee bee+EN, GRAW-see-ahs
Fine, thank you Bien, gracias bee+EN, GRAW-see+ahs
So-so (more or less) Más o menos MOSS oh may-noce
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 12
English Spanish Pronunciation
Not very well No muy bien No moo+ee bee+EN
Very bad Muy mal moo+ee MALL
That's great! ¡Qué bien! KAY bee+EN!
I'm sorry Lo siento Lo see+EN-toe
And you? ¿Y usted? ee oo-STEAD?
What's your name? ¿Cómo se llama? CO-mo say YAW-mah?
My name is... Me llamo... may YAW-moe...
Nice to meet you Mucho gusto MOO-cho GOOSE-toe
Likewise Igualmente ee-gwall-MEN-tay
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 13
Tip #6 - Learn Basic Expressions of Politeness
Politeness is important all over the world, and the Spanish-
speaking world is no exception. If you come across as rude and
distant, you won't win the trust or admiration of the people
you're trying to work with. A little "please," "thank you," "excuse
me," and "I'm sorry" can go a long way. Here are the most
important expressions of politeness to learn:
English Spanish Pronunciation
Please Por favor pour fa-VORE
Thank you Gracias GRAW-see+ahs
Thank you very much Muchas gracias MOO-chahs GRAW-see+ahs
You're welcome De nada day NAH-dah
It's not a problem No es problema NO ess pro-BLEH-mah
Just a moment. Un momento oon mo-MEN-toe
Excuse me (coming through). Con permiso cone pair-ME-so
Pardon me (interrupting, etc). Perdón pair-DOAN
Tip #7 - Know Your Numbers
There's hardly an aspect of life where numbers don't come up. You'll need to use
them for telling time, the days of the month, doing financial transactions, getting
ages and dates of birth, identification numbers, addresses, and so much more.
Here are the numbers, followed by six ideas for learning them.
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 14
Numerals and Spanish Pronunciation
1. uno OO-no
2. dos dose
3. tres trace
4. cuatro QUA-trow
5. cinco SINK-oh
6. seis sase
7. siete see+EH-tay
8. ocho OH-cho
9. nueve NWAY-vay
10. diez dee+ESS
11. once OWN-say
12. doce DOE-say
13. trece TRAY-say
14. catorce caw-TORE-say
15. quince KEEN-say
16. dieciséis dee+ess-ee-SASE
17. diecisiete dee+ess-ee-see+EH-tay
18. dieciocho dee+ess-ee-OH-cho
19. diecinueve dee+ess-ee-NWAY-vay
20. veinte VEIN-tay
21. veintiuno vein-tee-OO-no
22. veintidós vein-tee-DOSE
23. veintitrés vein-tee-TRACE
24. veinticuatro vein-tee-QUA-trow
25. veinticinco vein-tee-SINK-oh
26. veintiséis vein-tee-SASE
27. veintisiete vein-tee-see+EH-tay
28. veintiocho vein-tee-OH-cho
29. veintinueve vein-tee-NWAY-vay
30. treinta TRAIN-tah
31. treinta y uno train-tah ee OO-no
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 15
32. treinta y dos train-tah ee DOSE
40. cuarenta qua-REN-tah
50. cincuenta seen-KWENN-tah
60. sesenta say-SEN-tah
70. setenta say-TEN-tah
80. ochenta oh-CHEN-tah
90. noventa no-VEN-tah
100. cien see+EN
101. ciento uno see+en-toe OO-no
200. doscientos dose-see+EN-toes
300. trescientos trace-see+EN-toes
400. cuatrocientos qua-trow-see+EN-toes
500. quinientos key-nee+EN-toes
600. seiscientos sase-see+EN-toes
700. setecientos say-tay-see+EN-toes
800. ochocientos oh-cho-see+EN-toes
900. novecientos no-vay-see+EN-toes
1000. mil meel
1,000,000 un millón un mee-YOAN
2,000,000 dos millones dose mee-YO-nace
3,000,000 tres millones trace mee-YO-nace
0. cero SAY-row
Here are some ideas for learning the numbers:
For numbers 1-10, take a deck of playing cards and use them
as flash cards (see Tip #18 on using flash cards). Remove the
face cards. If you have a language learning partner (Tip #33)
play against them--whoever calls out the correct number
first keeps the card; most cards wins.
For numbers 1-12, practice by rolling dice and calling out the
number as quickly as possible. To play against a partner,
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 16
have a stack of pennies, poker chips, beans, or some other small token. Whoever
calls the number correctly first gets a token. Most tokens wins.
For the multiples of ten (10, 20, 30, 40, etc.), use the playing cards and pretend
each number has a zero after it. (So 2 becomes 20; 6 becomes 60; etc.) Do the
same for multiples of 100 (so 2 becomes 200; 6 becomes 600; etc).
For random 2-digit numbers (e.g. 53, 19, 42, 67, etc) put
two playing cards together (take out the 10s to
avoid confusion). So if you randomly draw an 8
and an ace, it would represent the number 81:
ochenta y uno. If you drew an ace and a five, it would
represent the number 15: quince. Do this for three digit
numbers, too, if you like!
Keep on practicing and drilling yourself until you can say the numbers in Spanish
without hesitation!
Tip #8 - Combine Gestures With Simple
Phrases
When they can't yet speak a language, most people rely on charades and physical
gestures to get their message across. Knowing a few simple phrases can help
clarify these gestures and make you a more effective communicator. Here are a
few phrases you can use:
Show me, please. Muéstreme, por favor.
(MWAYS-tray-may, pore fa-VORE.) (For a tip to
help you remember the word muéstreme, see
Tip #4 on Associations.) This is useful if the
Spanish speaker is trying to explain where
something is or trying to describe anything that
they can easily show you. You can have them
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 17
point a place out on a map, or physically take you somewhere, or pull out a
physical object to show you.
Do this. Haga esto. (AH-gah ESS-toe.) This is an extremely versatile phrase. If
you’re trying to give someone instructions and you don’t know all the words to
explain it but you can show it, just say “Haga esto” and demonstrate for them!
On the other hand, if you see a Spanish speaker doing something they
are not supposed to, you can say No haga esto–DON’T do this.
Like this. Así. (ah-SEE.) Maybe you
asked someone to do something and
they’re doing it wrong, or they are trying
to figure something out. You can come
alongside them and demonstrate the
proper technique as you say “Asi.”
There’s a lot you can do with just a little
bit of Spanish if you can find ways to pair
useful sentences like these with gestures.
Tip #9 - Have a Clear Idea of What You Need to
Communicate
As you learn Spanish, be very conscious about the language you use regularly and
what your actual needs are in the workplace. One of the key concepts to quickly
learning Spanish for work is that less is more. Sit down and think through a typical
day at work. What are your usual routines and procedures? Are there certain
things that you say over and over throughout the day to your clients or co-
workers? What phrases do you say most often? What are the most critical and
important things that you say in your daily routines?
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 18
If you're a medical professional, are there certain procedures you do every day
with your patients? What commands, questions, and statements do you use in
every case?
If you're a teacher, what are the most important things you need to say to your
students? Are there classroom management phrases you use every day? "Raise
your hand please," "Sit down please," "Quiet please"?
If you're a construction worker, are there
certain safety phrases, commands,
instructions, or compliments that you say
regularly?
If you're a supervisor, is there a set of
instructions or information that you need
to convey to your employees?
Spend some time thinking about what the greatest language needs are, and then
write them down. Try to distinguish between "nice-to-know" phrases and "NEED-
to-know" phrases. If it's practical to do so, keep a notebook with you on the job
and take notes of what you say and do throughout the day. Look for patterns.
Write down all the important, regularly-used phrases you can think of. Develop a
clear idea of what your objectives are and what you need to say in Spanish to
communicate most effectively with your Spanish-speaking clients and co-workers,
then focus your efforts where it matters most.
Tip #10 - Prioritize Your Communication Needs
To expand on the thought of Tip #9, take your list of high-use
phrases and prioritize them. There are several ways in which
you might choose to do this, depending on your needs.
One way is to prioritize in order of most used to least used.
Following the 80/20 rule, which 20% of the phrases in your list
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 19
get used 80% of the time? Order your sentences accordingly, and then begin
learning your most used phrases first.
A second way to prioritize might be to first put your sentences into logical groups.
Group your sentences according to each procedure or situation. For example, if
you're a law enforcement officer, you might put all the phrases you use in a
routine traffic stop into one group, and all the phrases you use when responding
to a car accident into another group. Once you have all your phrases grouped by
situation, prioritize the groups in order with the most common situation at the
top.
A third option for prioritizing is to look not at the most used sentences, but the
most critical ones. Maybe you use some sentences more, but other sentences are
actually more important to your business or to the safety of the workplace. Think
about what sentences are the most critical to the operation of your business--
what 20% of your phrases will yield 80% of your results--and start with those.
Eventually, of course, you'd like to learn all your phrases, but by prioritizing you
increase your effectiveness from day one. Arranging your phrases into a logical
order also helps to break the learning task into manageable steps that you can
start tackling right away. Choose the method that makes the most sense for you
and get started!
Tip #11 - Find Versatile Phrases that You Can
Use in Many Different Situations
There are some sentences that you can use in such a way that they can mean a lot
of different things depending on the way or the context in which you use them. A
change in your body language or tone of voice can alter the meaning of a single
word quite dramatically.
For example, think of the word "No" (which, conveniently, is the same word in
Spanish). You can say "No" with an emotionless, calm voice, to answer a
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 20
question. Or you can say "No" as you put your hand up to stop someone from
giving you something or physically doing something to you, to indicate that you
don't want it. If someone is approaching you aggressively, you can be more
forceful and shout, "NO!" If someone is about to do something or go somewhere
dangerous, a sharp "No!" shouted at them could bring them to a halt. If
something bad has just happened, you can scream, "Nooooooo....!!" So the word
"No" is a great example of a versatile phrase that you can use in many different
ways.
Here are some more phrases that can be very versatile:
Por favor. (pore fa-VORE.) You might remember this means "Please." You can
use it not only to be polite, but also combine it with gestures, hand motions, and
facial expressions to ask to borrow an item, take someone's coat to hang up,
invite someone to have a seat, and more.
Haga esto (see Tip #8) is another example of a very versatile phrase. As you think
about what phrases you'd like to learn for your job, try to think of versatile
phrases like these that can be used in many different scenarios.
Tip #12 - Be a Control Freak
The more of a beginner you are, the more important this tip is.
In order for you to be able to carry on two-way communication
with any degree of success, you not only need to be able to
make yourself understood, you also need to be able to
understand what the Spanish-speaker is trying to say to you. I
have a hearing loss and I have to ask "what?" a lot. With
Spanish, you may find yourself doing the same thing. Having
them repeat, slow down, or explain themselves in a different way may help you to
understand much better. Here are a few phrases to control them accordingly:
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 21
Speak more slowly, please.
Hable más despacio, por favor.
AH-blay MOSS dess-SPA-see+oh pore fa-VORE.
Repeat, please.
Repita, por favor.
ray-PEE-tah, pore fa-VORE.
I don’t speak much Spanish.
No hablo mucho español.
No AH-blow MOO-cho ess-pah-NYOAL.
I don’t understand.
No entiendo.
No en-tee+EN-doe.
Tip #13 - Ask Yes/No Questions
If you need to get some information from the Spanish-
speaker, avoid open-ended questions at all cost. Do not
ask things like, "What happened here?" or "What did you
do yesterday?" or "What symptoms have you been
having?" Once they begin to answer, you'll wish you'd
never asked. Instead, learn to ask questions that have a
yes or no answer. "Is anybody hurt?" "Did you have fun
yesterday?" "Have you been vomiting?" Then when they answer, you'll get it. If
they try to tell a story when you've asked a yes/no question, remember Tip #12--
Take control! Tell them to answer with yes or no:
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 22
Answer with yes or no, please.
Responda con sí o no, por favor.
Ray-SPONE-dah cone SEE oh NO, pore fah-VORE.
Tip #14 - If a Yes/No Question isn't Possible,
Be Sure You'll Still be Able to Understand the
Answer
Yes/no questions aren't always possible, so if you must ask an open-ended
question it should be one in which their answer can be short and limited, such as
a number (“How old are you?” ”How much did this cost you?”), a day or date
(“What day did it happen?” ”What’s his date of birth?”), or another question that
would give a simple, definite answer (“Where are you from?” ”What is your
name?”). Don’t let them tell long stories unless you want some Spanish listening
practice. Bring the conversation back under control.
Tip #15 - Use "Esto" a Lot
"Esto" means "this." You can combine the word
"this" with action words to express a lot of
commands, without having to learn the name of
each object you're referring to. We learned one
example of this in Tip #8: Haga esto--Do this.
Other things you could say with the word "this"
would be: Take this off, Put this on, Read this, Drink this, Eat this, Move this,
Clean this, Fix this, I need this, I want this, Throw this away, etc. If you're referring
to more than one item, say "estos" (these). The basic formula is:
[Action Command] + [this/these] + ["stuff"]
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 23
The "stuff" can be anything like an expression of time (e.g., "Do this now"), a
person or place (e.g., "Take this to Mr. T"), or any other words that would help to
complete the sentence so you can communicate what you need to say. "Stuff" is
optional in many cases. Take a look at the cheat sheet in Appendix A and circle or
highlight the action words you would use at work. Don't worry about learning the
words that aren't relevant to your job unless you just want the extra challenge.
Write down the super relevant phrases and make your own cheat sheet for the
job!
Tip #16 - Find "Fill in the Blank" Sentence
Patterns
A similar concept to using "esto" phrases (see Tip #15) is to find other sentences
that you can use over and over and just change one or two words in a fill-in-the-
blank style. The following formula uses what I call the D.I.N.A. words because
they express Desire (want to), Intent (going to), Need (need to/have to), or Ability
(can). By learning the DINA words and the basic formula, you can simply plug in
relevant workplace words--it's much faster than trying to learn the proper
conjugation of every single Spanish verb. (If you don't know what I mean by that,
don't worry about it. Just learn these formulas!)
Here's the master formula with some examples below:
[DINA word] + [action] + ["stuff"] + [./?]
Necesito (I need) limpiar (to clean) esto (this).
¿Puede (Can you) reparar (repair) esto mañana (this tomorrow)?
Queremos (We want) ir (to go) al parque (to the park).
¿Van a (Are y'all going to) comer (eat) la sandía (the watermelon)?
Just like the "esto" phrases, the action is any action a person could do, and "stuff"
is usually optional and it's just any words that help to complete the sentence. In
these DINA phrases, the "stuff" might actually be the word "esto"! The sentence
can be changed to a question simply by changing the tone of your voice from a
command or statement to a question tone, with a rising inflection at the end.
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 24
Fortunately, these are yes/no questions (see Tip #13)! See Appendix B for a DINA
cheat sheet!
Another handy fill-in-the-blank phrase is: ¿Cuál es su ___? It means, "What is
your ___?" Fill in the blank with:
name nombre NOME-bray
last name apellido ah-pay-YEE-doe
address dirección dee-reck-see+OWN
telephone number número de teléfono NOO-mare-oh day tay-LAY-foe-no
date of birth fecha de nacimiento FAY-chah day naw-see-me+EN-toe
place of birth lugar de nacimiento loo-GAR day naw-see-me+EN-toe
etc.
Tip #17 - Practice New Phrases in the Exact
Physical Position You'll be in While Using Them
in Real Life
Most people study sitting in a chair and leaning
over a book. This is a completely different
context from what most people are in at
work. Muscle memory can play into language
learning. If you learn while sitting and looking
down, then it may be harder for you to recall
what you learned while standing or walking
around. As you learn and rehearse new phrases, try to put yourself into the
physical position you’ll be likely to be in when you actually use the phrases at
work. Will you be on the phone? Will you be walking around? Will you be
standing in front of a patient? Try to use props (phones, tables, tools, etc) to
simulate your actual work environment as you learn and repeat new phrases and
put yourself into the physical position you will be in when you say them.
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 25
Another thing you can do is to create a subtle motion that you can link to a phrase
that you're trying to learn. For example, when you're learning the phrase,
"Repita, por favor," (see Tip #12) you can make a little circular motion with your
finger. Do this motion each time you say the phrase. When you're ready to use
the phrase in real life, if you have trouble remembering it, do the motion. Often
the muscle memory will kick in and doing the motion will help you to remember
the phrase. Try it!
Tip #18 - Make Flash
Cards for Anytime Review
Flash cards are a great way to help you
review and remember the phrases you're
learning. You can easily carry them in your
pocket and review for 1-2 minutes at a time, while waiting in line at the post
office, sitting in standstill traffic, while on hold on the phone, or any other
moment of "dead time" throughout the day. For a nice, portable set of flash
cards, take some standard 3x5 index cards and cut them into fourths. Write the
English phrase on one side and the Spanish phrase on the other. Use a rubber
band to bind the cards into a neat, "pocketable" package that you can quickly pull
out and review at any time! If you're a visual learner, use colored index cards and
color-code your phrases in a way that makes sense to you. For example, if you
are a nurse and use different sets of phrases depending on which procedure
you're doing, color-code the index cards according to the phrases related to each
procedure (taking vital signs, drawing blood, giving an injection, assessing
symptoms, etc.).
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 26
Tip #19 - Record the Phrases with Your Phone
or MP3 Player's Voice Recorder
and Listen to Them Over and
Over
The best way to learn Spanish for the workplace is to speak,
speak, speak as much as possible! When you don't have
people around to speak with, practice speaking into a voice
recorder. If you can find a native speaker, have them speak the
phrases into the recorder for you to listen to over and over. Then
record your own voice and compare. Try to imitate the native
speaker as closely as possible. Practice speaking the phrases over and over, and
then listen to them over and over. The more you can expose yourself to the
language, the faster you'll learn!
Tip #20 - Vividly Visualize Yourself Speaking
Spanish
Visualization is a powerful tool used by professional
athletes and highly successful people around the
world. When you combine it with real-world practice,
it will help you to achieve your Spanish goals much
faster! Studies have proven that mental practice is
almost as effective as physical practice. Here's how to
prime your brain for occupational Spanish success:
Close your eyes. Imagine yourself speaking Spanish
with your clients or co-workers. Imagine that you have
achieved your goal, and your Spanish is just flowing
from you fluidly and easily. Imagine the scenario as vividly as possible. Who is
with you? Imagine their reactions to you. Are they nodding with understanding?
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 27
Are they talking back in an animated conversation with you? What are you
wearing in this scenario? Do you have a work uniform on? How are you feeling?
Are you proud and happy about being able to communicate in Spanish with ease?
What kind of environment are you in? Are you on a noisy construction site? In a
quiet medical office? In a busy classroom? What are the sights, sounds, and
smells around you?
Do not allow yourself to imagine anything but perfect success. Every single day
for a few minutes at a time, practice visualizing speaking perfect Spanish.
Tip #21 - Say Something in Spanish Every
Chance You Can
Many people will spend time in their homes or cars trying to learn Spanish from a
book or audio program, but are too embarrassed to go meet and talk to real
people. However, communication is a two-way street and you can only fully learn
if you push past your comfort zone and commit to speaking Spanish with real
people, at work if possible. After all, isn't learning Spanish for work your ultimate
goal? If you need to, take a cheat sheet with Spanish phrases on it to work with
you and start out by referring to your sheet!
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you could actually use your Spanish,
and then suddenly it’s gone? Does your mind ever go blank when you try to
speak Spanish?
Try this: think of ONE (just one) sentence you will use in Spanish at the very next
opportunity you have. Don’t try to remember everything; just focus on that one
phrase. Maybe it’s something as simple as hola (hello), or it could be a bit longer,
like Sientese, por favor (Have a seat, please).
As they say, if you don’t use it, you lose it, so make a fail-proof way for yourself
to use your Spanish as often as possible! Once you’ve mastered saying one
phrase, focus on another, and then another. The more often you practice, the
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 28
more comfortable you will become, and the less often you’ll find your mind going
blank.
Tip #22 - Use Your Learning Style to Your
Advantage
Some people tend to prefer learning by seeing
something. Others prefer hearing it. Still others
prefer to learn by physically doing something. Most
of us have a combination of these different learning
styles. Try to learn in more than one way. Read
it. Listen to it. Say it. Manipulate it. Color code it. Sing
it. Listen to background music while you learn. Make motions to go with it. Role
play it. Discover what methods are most effective for you and use those to your
advantage as you learn Spanish.
Tip #23 - Enlist the Help of Spanish Speakers
Around You
What if we could partner up with the Spanish speakers we encounter in our
places of work and trade languages with them? If you could help a Spanish
speaker to learn English and have them help you to learn Spanish, what a great
partnership that would be! I love the idea of a world in which everyone can speak
two or more languages! I've found that many Spanish speakers are happy and
excited to help English speakers learn their language, so if you ask them questions
most of them will be glad to help.
If you need to learn the word for something, you can point to it or find a picture
of it and ask, "Qué es esto?" (KAY ess ESS-toe?) What is this?
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 29
You can also ask, "¿Cómo se dice esta acción en español?" (CO-mo say DEE-say
ESS-tah ox-see+OWN en ess-pa-NYOAL?) and then do an action that you want to
know the word for. It means, How do you say this action in Spanish? For example,
if you want to know how to say "to breathe" in Spanish, ask, ¿Cómo se dice esta
acción en español? Then breathe in and out in an exaggerated way.
You could also ask, ¿Cómo se dice ___ en español? where the blank is something
in English that you want to know how to say in Spanish. For example, ¿Cómo se
dice "get up please" en español? (How do you say "Get up please" in Spanish?)
But of course, this only works if the Spanish speaker knows enough English to
translate in which case you can probably just ask them in English, How do you say
___? But in the interest of
keeping up on our Spanish
practice it doesn't hurt to ask
this in Spanish even if you are
talking to someone who can
speak a little English...
Another time you might use "Cómo se dice" is if you see a Spanish word, perhaps
on a sign or brochure, and you're not exactly sure how to pronounce it. You can
write it down or show them the word, and ask, ¿Cómo se dice esta palabra? (CO-
mo say DEE-say ESS-tah pah-LA-bra?) How do you say this word?
Once you learn a little Spanish, it becomes easier and easier to learn more!
Tip #24 - Use Cheat Sheets for All Routine
Tasks and Procedures
Is there a particular task or procedure that you do all the time as a routine part of
your job? Write down the phrases you'll need to know for that procedure, get
them translated into Spanish, learn how to properly pronounce them, and then
put them down on a sheet of paper or an index card that you can refer to while
you're going through that procedure with a Spanish-speaker. Do this until you've
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 30
Repetition
Repetition
Repetition
Repetition
Repetition
got the phrases committed to memory. Use the "esto commands" (Tip #15) and
fill-in-the-blank DINA phrases (Tip #16) to get started! See Appendix C for an
example cheat sheet.
Tip #25 - Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
Repetition is key to getting the important
phrases you need to know into your long-
term memory bank. Repeat phrases until
you are saying them in your dreams at
night. Repeat them until you feel like you
couldn't possibly repeat them again, and
then repeat some more. Vary your
practice. Repeat using different voices
(sing-song, whisper, growl, normal voice, etc).
Repeat in front of a mirror. Repeat with a
study partner. Repeat into a voice recorder and
then listen to the phrases multiple times, too (Tip #19). Repeat with flash cards
throughout the day(Tip #18). Repeat a sentence over and over until it just pops
out without you even having to think about it.
Tip #26 - Stick to the Relevant Stuff
Many people are scared by verb conjugations and other grammatical details and
start spending time trying to understand them instead of moving on and actually
using the language. If you need to become fluent in Spanish and thoroughly
understand how the language works, it might be worth spending more time on
grammar. For most workplace needs, though, this is not the case. Don’t let
grammar rules stop you from finding out the right way to say a phrase you need
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 31
to know, and then moving on. Grammar is irrelevant unless you're a grammar
geek who really gets it.
The foods, the animals, articles of clothing, household items... Many people start
out learning Spanish by labeling everything in the house with Spanish words
and/or learning lists of vocabulary words. Knowing these words will do nothing
for your ability to communicate on the job if they have nothing to do with your
work and/or you can’t put them into a useful sentence. If you want to know the
Spanish names of things for personal enrichment purposes, that is fine, but it
won’t help much at work. Focus on learning phrases you’ll really use at work,
rather than isolated and irrelevant words.
Finally, it’s important to be able to pronounce the language clearly enough to be
well understood by the people you’re trying to communicate with, but don’t
despair if your pronunciation doesn’t sound native. Unless you’re an undercover
spy, that doesn’t matter so much. The more you practice, the better your
pronunciation will become over time. Don’t spend so much time trying to roll
your Rs properly that you don’t actually get out there and talk! People will still
understand you if you can’t roll your Rs. Stick to the stuff that's really relevant to
communicating what you need to say at work.
Tip #27 - Keep a pen and paper handy for
writing/drawing
Sometimes if you can't express what you need to say, you
can draw it out in a "Pictionary" style and get the other
person to guess your meaning. Also, there are times
when it really helps to see a word written out. If a
Spanish speaker is trying to communicate something to
you but you just can't seem to get the word they're
saying, sometimes having them write it out for you can
make all the difference. Keep a pen and paper nearby for
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 32
instances like these where it might come in handy. If you need a Spanish speaker
to write out something they are trying to say to you, hand them the pen and
paper and say:
Escríbalo aquí, por favor. (ess-SCREE-bah-lo ah-KEY, pore fa-VORE.) Some people
remember this because “escríbalo” sounds like “scribble.” It means, Write it here
please.
Tip #28 - Use Technology to Your Advantage
While there is nothing quite like the ability to
fully communicate, human-to-human, there is an
impressive collection of technological tools now
available to people looking for translation, and
these tools are getting better all the time. Years
ago, when online translators first came out, I
used them more as a source of good comedy
than as a serious tool for translation. With their
accuracy improving dramatically, I now often use
them as a starting point if I have a large amount
of text I need to translate. I simply paste my text
into the translator, then proofread the
output. There are still always mistakes and changes from the original intent of
the passage, but it’s usually quite accurate. If you’re near a computer, make use
of Google Translate or any other free translation software widely available on the
internet. If you have a smart phone, there are many wonderful apps–many of
them free or just a dollar or two–which can come in very handy for
translation. Some apps, including Google Translate, will translate voice-to-voice,
allowing a person to speak into the phone in English, and the phone will speak the
translation in Spanish, and vice versa. Obviously there are some situations that
merit complete accuracy and for those it is best to get your phrases translated by
a fluent speaker of Spanish, but in many cases technology will work in a pinch.
The internet is also a wonderful place to find human study partners (see Tip
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 33
#29). Use these tools to your advantage as you work to understand your Spanish
speakers!
Tip #29 - Find a Study Partner
It can help a lot to have another
live person to practice with. I
remember before a trip to
Romania in 2005 I found
somebody else who was also
planning to make the trip and
we met with each other every
week to practice learning
Romanian. By drilling each
other and working together, we
were able to enjoy our trip more because, unlike the others in our group, we
could communicate with the locals, at least on a basic level. Not only did we
enjoy it more, but the locals were very impressed that we had taken the time and
effort to learn their language, and they really appreciated it and made us feel
extra special! Years later, a friend of mine ran into someone that we had met in
Romania. They remembered our group and me in particular because of the effort
I had made to speak their language.
See if you can find a friend or co-worker who would be interested in studying with
you. Ideally, find someone in your career field who will be interested in learning
the same kinds of phrases that you need to use at work. Drill each other, test
each other, role play together. Get creative and invent games and contests with
each other to help you master the language you're working on learning.
If you can't find a person to practice with you face-to-face, go online. There are
many language learning communities online where you might be able to find
someone who would be willing to partner with you to learn Spanish. Within your
particular career field, do you belong to any forums or online communities?
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 34
Could you find someone online--maybe even a group of people--in your career
field who would like to learn with you? With tools like Skype, Google Hangouts,
Facebook, etc. there are many ways to interact with other learners in the virtual
world.
Tip #30 - Be Consistent, Pace Yourself, and
Never Give Up
No matter how motivated a person is, there is only so much they will be able to
retain after awhile. Learning Spanish in short, frequent sittings is much better
than learning it in long, occasional sittings. Try to work on it a little bit at a time in
short segments a few times each day, then think about what you’ve learned for a
few hours before tackling any more.
It takes regular practice, preferably daily, to become good at a new language. If
you spend hours at a time working on Spanish but then do nothing for a week or
two, you won’t make much progress. Practice regularly and consistently.
Some people have to work harder than others, but I believe that with enough
dedication anyone can learn enough Spanish to be effective in most job
situations, and it will only take a few weeks if you push yourself. It’s easy to give
up, but take a deep breath and try a new approach. Use the tips in this book to
give you new ideas and insight on ways you can learn Spanish for the workplace.
If what you are doing now isn’t working for you, try something new. You can do
it! Never give up!
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 35
Appendix A - "Esto" Cheat Sheet (from Tip #15)
Mix and match the words below to create relevant commands you can use in the workplace. Use the blank spots to add your own words!
[Action command] + [this/these] + ["Stuff"].
Answer/Conteste...
esto/estos
Arrange / Arregle..
Begin / Empieze...
Bring / Traiga... please. /por favor.
Build / Construya...
Buy / Compre...
Carry / Cargue...
Change / Cambie...
Check / Compruebe...
Clean / Limpie...
Close / Cierre...
esto/estos
Combine / Combine...
Complete / Complete... to [place] / a [place].
Copy / Copíe... to [person] / a [person].
Correct / Corrija...
Cut / Corte...
Delegate / Delegue...
Do / Haga
Draw (picture) / Dibuje...
Drink / Tome...
Eat / Coma...
esto/estos
Eliminate / Elimina...
Examine / Examine...
Explain / Explique...
Fill / Llene...
Find / Encuentre... now. / ahora.
Finish / Termine.... tomorrow. / mañana.
Fix / Repare... later. / luego.
Follow / Siga... quickly. / rápido.
Get up (oneself)/Levántese... first. / primero.
Grab / Agarre...
esto/estos
second. / segundo.
Have / Tenga... third. / tercero.
Hold / Sostenga...
Improve / Mejore...
Install / Instale...
Label / Marque...
Lay down (oneself) / Acuéstese...
Learn / Aprenda...
Leave / Salga...
Make / Haga...
esto/estos
Measure / Mida...
Modify / Modifique...
Move / Mueva...
Observe / Observe...
Open / Abra...
Operate / Opera...
Organize / Organize...
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 36
Pay / Pague...
esto/estos
Practice / Practique...
Prepare / Prepare...
Print / Emprima... with this. / con esto.
Pull / Jale... with him. / con él.
Push / Empuje... with her. / con ella.
Put on (oneself) / Póngase... with them. / con ellos.
Raise / Levante... with us. / con nosotros.
Read / Lea...
Release / Suelte...
Remember / Recuerde...
Remove / Remueva...
esto/estos
Repair / Repare...
Replace / Reemplaze...
Say / Diga...
Sell / Venda...
Send / Mande...
Share / Comparta...
Study / Estudie...
Take / Lleve...
Take off (oneself) / Quítese...
Take out / Saque...
esto/estos
Throw / Tire...
Try / Pruebe...
Turn / Voltee...
Use / Use...
Watch / Mire...
Weigh / Pese...
Write / Escriba...
esto/estos
[Miscellaneous word] + [this/these] + ["stuff"]. I like / Me gusta...
esto/estos
I need / Necesito... item. / artículo.
I want / Quiero... item. / artículos.
thing. / cosa.
things. / cosas.
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 37
Appendix B - DINA Cheat Sheet (from Tip #16)
D = Desire (want to) Use to express your wants or ask what others want to do.
I = Intent (going to) Use to tell or ask what you or others will do.
N = Need (need to/have to) Use to inform, command, or ask what is needed.
A = Ability (can) Use to inform or ask someone to do something or find out if
someone is able to do something.
Look in a Spanish-English dictionary to find relevant actions and words to add to
the "action" and "stuff" column. I've started you off with a few. Which of these
sentences could you use every day at work? Write them down and learn them!
[DINA phrase] + [action] + ["stuff"] + [./?]
De
sire
(w
ant
to)
I want to... Quiero...
answer contestar
.
Do I want to...? ¿Quiero...
?
You/He/She want(s) to... Quiere...
.
Do you/Does he/she want to...? ¿Quiere...
begin empezar
now ahora
?
They/Y'all want to... Quieren....
.
Do they/y'all want to...? ¿Quieren....
clean limpiar
?
We want to... Queremos...
eat comer
.
Do we want to...? ¿Queremos...
?
Inte
nt
(go
ing
to)
I'm going to...
Voy a...
explain explicar
.
Am I going to...? ¿Voy a...
?
You're/He's/She's going to...
Va a...
finish terminar
this first esto primero
.
Are you / Is he/she going to...? ¿Va a...
?
They /Y'all are going to... Van a....
leave salir
tomorrow mañana
.
Are they/y'all going to...? ¿Van a...
?
We're going to... Vamos a...
make hacer
supper la cena
.
Are we going to...? ¿Vamos a...
?
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 38
[DINA phrase] + [action] + ["stuff"] + [./?] N
ee
d (
ne
ed
to
, ha
ve t
o)
I need to... Necesito...
go ir
.
Do I need to..?.
¿Necesito...
?
You/He/She need(s) to... Necesita...
.
Do you / Does he/she need to...?
¿Necesita...
learn aprender
Spanish español
?
They/Y'all need to... Necesitan....
open abrir
the door la puerta
.
Do they/y'all need to...? ¿Necesitan....
?
We need to...
Necesitamos...
organize organizar
the room el cuarto
.
Do we need to...?
¿Necesitamos...
?
I have to... Tengo que...
practice practicar
a lot mucho
.
Do I have to...? ¿Tengo que...
?
You have to / He/She has to... Tiene que...
prepare preparar
.
Do you / Does he/she have to.? ¿Tiene que...
?
They/Y'all have to... Tienen que....
.
Do they/y'all have to...? ¿Tienen que....
read leer
everything todo
?
We have to...
Tenemos que...
remember recordar
this esto
.
Do we have to...?
¿Tenemos que...
?
Ab
ility
(ca
n)
I can... Puedo...
.
Can I...? ¿Puedo...
help ayudar
?
You/He/She can... Puede...
.
Can you/he/she...? ¿Puede...
lift levantar
your arm su brazo
?
They/Y'all can... Pueden....
.
Can they/y'all...? ¿Pueden....
?
We can... Podemos...
use usar
these estos
.
Can we...? ¿Podemos...
?
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 39
Appendix C - Sample Workplace Cheat Sheet
(from Tip #24)
Span
ish
for
the R
adio
logic
Tech
nolo
gis
t
(A)
AH
-gah
ES-
toe
po
r fa
h-V
OR
.
PA
H-r
ay-s
ay a
h-K
EY
Res
-PEE
-ray
pro
-FO
ON
-do
e e
e ex
-A
H-l
ay;
ah-O
H-r
a re
s-P
EE-r
ay d
ay N
WA
Y-
voe
ee m
ahn
-TEN
-gah
. A
h-O
H-r
a P
WA
Y-d
ay r
es-p
ee-R
AR
.
Ah
-KW
AY-
stay
-say
[d
ay e
s-P
ALL
-d
ah]
ah-K
EY/e
n E
S-ta
h c
ah-M
EE-
yah
.
PW
AY-
day
...
...ah
-SA
IR E
S-to
e?
...la
y-vo
n-T
AR
la p
ee+
AIR
-nah
/el
pee
+AY/
el B
RA
-so
?
See+
EN-t
ay-s
ay, p
or
fah
-VO
R.
Lay-
VO
N-t
ay-s
ay, p
or
fah
-VO
R.
Hag
a es
to, p
or
favo
r.
Pár
ese
aqu
í.
Res
pir
e p
rofu
nd
o y
exh
ale;
ah
ora
res
pir
e d
e n
uev
o y
man
ten
ga.
Ah
ora
pu
ede
resp
irar
.
Acu
éste
se [
de
esp
ald
a] a
qu
í/en
est
a ca
mill
a.
¿Pu
ede.
..
...
hac
er e
sto
?
...le
van
tar
la p
iern
a/el
pie
/el b
razo
?
Sién
tese
, po
r fa
vor.
Levá
nte
se, p
or
favo
r.
Do
th
is, p
leas
e.
Stan
d o
ver
her
e.
Take
a d
eep
bre
ath
in a
nd
exh
ale;
no
w
take
an
oth
er b
reat
h in
an
d h
old
it.
You
can
bre
ath
e n
ow
.
Lie
do
wn
[o
n y
ou
r b
ack]
her
e/o
n t
his
ta
ble
.
Can
yo
u...
...
do
th
is?
...
lift
you
r le
g/fo
ot/
arm
?
Sit
up
/sit
do
wn
, ple
ase.
Get
up
, ple
ase
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 40
Span
ish
for
the R
adio
logic
Tech
nolo
gis
t (B
)
Co
-LO
-kay
el P
AY-
cho
co
ne-
tra
la P
LAH
-
cah
.
DO
AN
-day
lay
DW
AY-
lay?
MW
AY-
stra
y-
may
, po
r fa
h-V
OR
.
Po
r K
WA
N-t
oe
tee+
EM-p
o a
h t
ay-N
EE-
do
e el
do
e-L
OR
E?
Ah
tay
-NEE
-do
e el
do
e-L
OR
E p
or.
.. ..
.mo
ss/M
AY-
no
es d
ay _
DEE
+ah
s?
…m
oss
/MA
Y-n
oes
day
_ s
ay-M
AH
-n
ahs?
…m
oss
/MA
Y-n
oes
day
_ m
ace/
MA
Y-
sess
?
Ah
tay
-NEE
-do
e...
..
.to
se?
..
.fee
+EH
-bra
y?
..
.dee
-ah
-RR
AY-
ah?
..
.NA
H+o
o-s
ay-a
h?
..
.mah
-RA
Y-o
h?
..
.VO
E-m
ee-t
oe?
...c
on
e-h
ess-
tee
+OW
N?
..
.dee
-fee
-co
ol-
TOD
D p
ah-r
ah
r
ay-s
pee
-RA
R?
Co
loq
ue
el p
ech
o c
on
tra
la p
laca
.
¿Dó
nd
e le
du
ele?
Mu
éstr
eme,
po
r fa
vor.
¿Po
r cu
ánto
tie
mp
o h
a te
nid
o e
l do
lor?
¿Ha
ten
ido
el d
olo
r p
or.
..
...
más
/men
os
de
# d
ías?
... m
ás/m
eno
s d
e #
sem
anas
?
... m
ás/m
eno
s d
e #
mes
/mes
es?
¿Ha
ten
ido
...
...
tos?
...
fieb
re?
...
dia
rrea
?
...n
ause
a?
...
mar
éo?
...
vóm
ito
?
...co
nge
stió
n?
...
dif
icu
ltad
par
a re
spir
ar?
Pu
t yo
ur
ches
t u
p a
gain
st t
his
bo
ard
.
Wh
ere
do
yo
u h
urt
? S
ho
w m
e, p
leas
e.
For
ho
w lo
ng
hav
e yo
u (
has
he/
she)
bee
n in
pai
n?
Hav
e yo
u (
has
he/
she)
had
th
e p
ain
fo
r...
...m
ore
/les
s th
an #
day
s?
...
mo
re/l
ess
than
# w
eeks
?
...m
ore
/les
s th
an #
mo
nth
/mo
nth
s?
Hav
e yo
u (
has
he/
she)
had
...
...
cou
gh?
...
feve
r?
...
dia
rrh
ea?
...
nau
sea?
...
diz
zin
ess?
...
vom
itin
g?
...
con
gest
ion
?
...tr
ou
ble
bre
ath
ing?
©Lily Fouts 2013 www.SwiftSpanish.com Page 41
References:
LeVan, Angie. 2009. Seeing is Believing: The Power of Visualization. Psychology Today. Retrieved from:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/flourish/200912/seeing-is-believing-the-power-visualization
Ranganathan, V.K., et al. 2004. From mental power to muscle power: gaining strength by using the
mind. Neuropsychologia. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14998709