Zaban

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Lessons for English speakers

Learn to read Spanish

A short, active path into reading Spanish: five vowels that never move, nine real words decoded before the alphabet, ser against estar, the verb ending that replaces the pronoun, and two short stories before your first book.

13 core sections · ≈ 34 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 50 min with everything

Reading

3 sections
14

First reading with help: two animals meet

≈ 4 min
What you'll learn
  • Spanish books mark speech with a dash, not quotation marks, and the tag turns around: dice DaraDEE-seh DAH-rah — says Dara.
  • Read the Spanish line first, then use the pronunciation and the English under it.
  • Every word carrying the scene has appeared earlier, or is explained just above the passage.
  • If a line resists: find the doing word, read its last letter to see who, then check for a no in front.
  • Re-read once without looking at the English.

“Hello,” says the fox.

—Hola —dice el zorro.

OH-lah — DEE-seh ehl SOH-rroh

A dash opens the spoken line, and a second dash opens the tag that says who spoke — no quotation marks anywhere. Inside the tag the speaker follows the verb: dice el zorro, says the fox. Some editions use angled quotes, « », instead.

Two new pieces before the story

aah — to — + dóndeDOHN-deh — where
¿Adónde vas?ah-DOHN-deh bahs“Where are you going?”
where somebody is going asks “to where”, with the verb go
preguntapreh-GOON-tah — asks
responderrehs-POHN-deh — answers
the two tag verbs the passage uses beside diceDEE-seh — says

Mina y Dara

  1. Mina, el ratón, está en el camino.

    MEE-nah, ehl rrah-TOHN, ehs-TAH ehn ehl kah-MEE-noh

    Mina, the mouse, is on the road.

  2. Dara, el zorro, viene.

    DAH-rah, ehl SOH-rroh, BYEH-neh

    Dara, the fox, comes.

  3. —Buenos días, Mina. ¿Adónde vas? —pregunta Dara.

    BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs, MEE-nah. ah-DOHN-deh bahs — preh-GOON-tah DAH-rah

    “Good morning, Mina. Where are you going?” asks Dara.

  4. —Voy al bosque, porque tengo hambre —responde Mina.

    boy ahl BOHS-keh, POHR-keh TEHN-goh AHM-breh — rrehs-POHN-deh MEE-nah

    “I am going to the forest, because I am hungry,” answers Mina.

  5. —¿Tienes amigos? —pregunta Dara.

    TYEH-nehs ah-MEE-gohs — preh-GOON-tah DAH-rah

    “Do you have friends?” asks Dara.

  6. —Tengo muchos amigos —dice Mina.

    TEHN-goh MOO-chohs ah-MEE-gohs — DEE-seh MEE-nah

    “I have many friends,” says Mina.

  7. —Yo tengo pocos amigos —dice Dara.

    yoh TEHN-goh POH-kohs ah-MEE-gohs — DEE-seh DAH-rah

    “I have few friends,” says Dara.

  8. —Ahora tienes un amigo —dice Mina—. Adiós.

    ah-OH-rah TYEH-nehs oon ah-MEE-goh — DEE-seh MEE-nah. ah-DYOHS

    “Now you have one friend,” says Mina. “Goodbye.”

  9. —Gracias. Adiós, Mina —dice Dara, y va a la casa.

    GRAH-syahs. ah-DYOHS, MEE-nah — DEE-seh DAH-rah, ee bah ah lah KAH-sah

    “Thank you. Goodbye, Mina,” says Dara, and he goes to the house.

Two delayed recalls before the harder story

No hints. You met both several sections ago.

  1. camino
    Show answer +
    el caminoehl kah-MEE-noh“the road”
  2. hambre
    Show answer +
    el hambreehl AHM-breh“hunger” — and tengo hambre is “I am hungry”.