Spanish 1/Community

Chapter 17 (Community)

Recycling / Reciclaje

bolsa plástica - plastic bag
botella de vidrio - glass bottle
caja - box
cartón - cardboard
centro de reciclaje - recyling center
lata - can
llevar - to carry
periódico - newspaper
plástico - plastic
reciclar - to recycle
recoger - to collect
separar - to separate
usado(a) - used
vidrio - glass

Community sights

barrio / urbanización / vecindario - neighborhood
calle - street
comunidad - community
jardín - garden
río - river

Volunteer relations

ancianos - older people
anciano - older man
anciana - older woman
campamento - camp
demás - others
escuela primaria - primary school
gente - people
hospital - hospital
juguete - toy
niños - children
niño - young boy
niña - young girl
pobre - poor
problema - problem
proyecto de construcción - construction project
trabajo voluntario - volunteer work
voluntario, voluntaria - volunteer

Other words

a menudo - often
decidir - to decide
recibir - to receive
Es necesario. - It's necessary.
experiencia - experience
Hay que... - One must...
increíble - incredible
inolvidable - unforgettable
¿Qué más? - What else?
vez - time
otra vez - again

Decir (to say, to tell)

Decir is a verb that has an irregular yo conjugation. While yo is irregular, all the other forms are conjugated using the -ir conjugation. Below is the conjugation for decir:

digo - I say, I tell
dices - you say, you tell (singular)
dice - he/she says, he/she tells
decimos - we say, we tell
decís - you say, you tell (plural)
dicen - they say, they tell

Note: Of course you should remember by now that usted (Ud.) and ustedes (Uds.) conjugate to the 3rd person form.

Indirect object pronouns

Indirect object pronouns indicate the person to, for, or from whom any action occurs.

me - me
te - you
le - he, she, you (formal)
nos - us
os - you
les - them, you (formal)

Preterite of dar

Dar, like decir has an irregular yo conjugation, so I give is doy and you give is das. However, its preterite form is completely irregular from the preterite forms of other -ar verbs, including its nosotros(as) and vosotros(as) forms.

di - I gave
diste - you gave (singular)
dio - he/she gave
dimos - we gave
disteis - you gave (plural)
dieron - they gave

Preterite of hacer

Hacer is also similar to decir and dar because it has anm irregular yo conjugation. However, like dar, its preterite is completely different from the regular -ar conjugation.

hice - I did
hiciste - you did (singular)
hizo - he/she did
hicimos - we did
hicisteis - you did (plural)
hicieron - they did

Vocabulario adicional

ave - bird
canguro - kangaroo
cebra - zebra
cocodrilo - crocodile
delfín - dolphin
elefante - elephant
foca - seal
gorila - gorilla
hipopótamo - hippopatamus
jirafa - giraffe
león - lion
oso polar - polar bear
pingüino - penguin
tigre - tiger

Note: Use ave when referring to a zoo bird and pájaro when referring to a pet bird or wild bird.

Cultural Insight (United Nations peacekeeping missions)

In the 1970s to early 1990s, many Latin American countries and Spain were ruled by dictators. They forced the people to follow their laws and those who refused were put to death. The most notable event was the Argentine crisis of 1976-1983, known as the "Dirty War", in which up to 30,000 people "disappeared" or were executed by the government. In Central America, a storm of civil wars occurred and in Spain, a revolution occurred. UN intervention soon replaced the govenrments with UN administration and in Panama, the U.S. fought a war with the Panamanian government and later established a democracy. The UN soon placed peacekeeping missions in Central America to regulate peace and rebuild schools, hospitals, businesses, and homes for civilians. This lasted until 1997, when the last of UN peacekeepers withdrew from Guatemala.

Country Focus (Paraguay)

Paraguay (Spanish: Paraguay) is one of the only two landlocked countries in South America (along with Bolivia). It lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, bordering Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest, and is located in the center of South America, the country is sometimes referred to as Corazón de América del Sur - Heart of South America along with Bolivia and Brazil.

Paraguay's history has been characterized by long periods of authoritarian governments, political instability and infighting, and devastating wars with its neighbors.

Asunción is the capital and largest city in Paraguay, home to 1,212,112 people

With one of the most homogeneous populations in Latin America, Paraguayans' cultural ancestry can be traced to the extensive intermarriage among the original male Spanish settlers and female indigenous, Guaraní, brides. Paraguayan culture therefore is a fusion of two cultures and traditions: one European, the other Guaraní. More than 80% of Paraguayans are mestizos, and this makes Paraguay one of the most homogeneous countries in Latin America. A characteristic of this cultural fusion is the extensive bilingualism present to this day: more than 80% of Paraguayans speak both Spanish and the indigenous language, Guaraní. Jopará, the mixture of Guaraní and Spanish, is also widely spoken, although it is prevalent in the urban areas and is considered somewhat a mixed pidgin code, not a language.

Factbox:

-Official Languages: Spanish, Guaraní

-Other Languages: Native American languages

-Capital: Asunción

-Government: Democracy

-Area: 406,752 sq km (157,048 sq mi)

-Population: 6,349,000 (101st)

-Religions: Christianity (Catholic 89.6%, Protestant 6.2%, other Christian, mainly Mormon 1.1%) 96.9%, Non-religious 1.1%, Buddhism 0.5%, others (Traditional beliefs, Judaism, Islam) 1.5%

-Human Development: 0.761 (101st)

-Independence: May 14, 1811

-Currency: Guaraní