Are these rules for beginning English students okay?

Question

I'm trying to make a handout of some rules to make learning English a little easier for beginning students in an ESL class for Spanish speakers that I volunteer to help teach. Does anyone have any opinion, corrections or advice about the following? I'm not a native Spanish speaker so if there is a more clear way to say these in Spanish, please do let me know. Thanks. ~ Alba

Reglas – Rules

1. Palabras en inglés no son masculino ni femenino. Por ejemplo: El hombre es alto. = The man is tall. La mujer es alta. = The woman is tall. The = el, la, los, las A = una, un An = una, un solo con palabras que empiezan con un vocal Por ejemplo: an animal = un animal
2. Un adjetivo siempre está enfrente de la palabra que está describiendo. Por ejemplo: El gato gordo en inglés es El gordo gato = The fat cat
3. En inglés no hay diferencia dentro estar y ser. Por ejemplo: Papá es alto. = Dad is tall. Papá está triste.=Dad is sad.
4. Está normal combinar algunas palabras en inglés. Por ejemplo: Papá es alto. = Dad's tall Papá está triste.= Dad’s sad.
5. No hay diferencia dentro usted y tu. Usted = You Tu = You Tambien You es una manera decir Ustedes
6. El infinitivo de los verbos en inglés siempre incluye la palabra “to” antes del verbo Por ejemplo: To study = estudiar I’m going to study = Voy a estudiar To walk = caminar I like to walk = Me gusta caminar
7. La palabra “no” es “no” en ingles cuando está solo pero se cambia en frases. Por ejemplo: Papá no es alto. = Dad is not tall. = Dad isn’t tall. Ellos no están aqui. = They are not here. = They aren’t here.
8. Hay que decir el subjeto de la frase. Por ejemplo: I am tired. = Yo estoy cansada. En español se puede decir “Estoy cansada.” Pero en inglés nunca se dice “Am tired.” Tiene que decir “I am tired.” o “I’m tired.”

Answer 1

Hello Alba

I think your idea of explaining some basic differences between English and Spanish is a good idea. Your ideas above are good.

Also it is good to do it in Spanish for beginners.

This is a quick reply but I would use the "to be" verb as an example of how easy English verb structure is compared to Spanish.

I think there only about 14 variations of the the verb "to be" in English but over 100 in Spanish.

Good luck.

thanks for your time...good point about "to be" - alba3, Jan 23, 2010

Answer 2

You have a lot of topics here, so I'll just address the first one and let others have a bash with the rest:

As a fellow teacher of ESL/EFL, I suggest giving the examples first in English and Spanish after. Let them jump right into it. Since your students are beginners, I would allow them to first get somewhat comfortable with articles and then introduce the use of "an" as opposed to "a."

Over to the other members:

thanks, good suggestions :) - alba3, Jan 23, 2010

Answer 3

No hay diferencia dentro usted y tu. Usted = You Tu = You Tambien You es una manera decir Ustedes.

Dirigiéndose a una o a varias personas, hay un solo pronombre. No se distingue entre familiar y formal, tampoco entre singular y plural. Así que "you" se usa para "tú", "usted" y "ustedes". That's a sort of "how I would say it", comment.

For a "minimal correction" approach: "No hay diferencia entre "usted" y "tú". "usted" = "you" "tú" = "you" También "you" es una manera decir "ustedes"

thanks for the corrections....accent marks are particularly difficult for me - alba3, Jan 23, 2010