Spanish 1/Chapter 1 (The Basics)

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Chapter 1 (The Basics)

Greetings

Note

Remember:

Grammar (Tú/Usted [Ud.] - Vosotros/Ustedes[Uds.])

In Spanish, there are several ways to say "you." We must differentiate between familiar/formal and singular/plural forms. Tú (singular) is used when talking to someone you know, such as family, friends, or pets. Usted (abbreviated Ud.) is used in formal events, such as talking to a teacher, someone who you don't know well, or a person who has a high title, such as a police officer, etc. In some Spanish-speaking countries (Venezuela and Colombia for example), usted can also be used for a close friend and tú is never used as a polite form. In the same way, vosotros (vosotras in feminine) is the plural of tú and ustedes (abbreviated uds.)) is the plural of usted.

Singular Plural
Familiar tú vosotros/as (Spain)
ustedes (Latin America) RAE
Formal usted ustedes

Time Phrases

Please read ¿Qué hora es?

Numbers

El cuerpo (The body)

School objects

Grammar note

Calendar

Days

Months

Cultural note

[1] Florescano, Enrico (2006). National Narratives in Mexico. Nancy T. Hancock (trans.), Raul Velasquez (illus.) (English-language edition of Historia de las historias de la nación mexicana, ©2002 [Mexico City:Taurus] ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3701-0. OCLC 62857841 . [2] a b Aztec Civilization [3] The Aztec Sun Stone

Aztec calendar

Other words

Alphabet

Country focus (México)

Mexico (Spanish: México) is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the North Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a federal district, the capital Mexico City, whose metropolitan area is one of the world's most populous.

Map of Mexico

Covering almost 2.3 million square kilometers, Mexico is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area and the 14th largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of 111 million, it is the 11th most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world.

As a regional power and the only Latin American member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 1994, Mexico is firmly established as an upper middle-income country.


Mexico is the 12th largest economy in the world by GDP by purchasing power parity. The economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners. Despite being considered an emerging world power, the uneven distribution of income and the increase in insecurity are issues of concern.

Mexican culture reflects the complexity of the country's history through the blending of pre-Hispanic civilizations and the culture of Spain, imparted during Spain's 300-year colonization of Mexico. Exogenous cultural elements mainly from the United States have been incorporated into Mexican culture. As was the case in most Latin American countries, when Mexico became an independent nation, it had to slowly create a national identity, being an ethnically diverse country in which, for the most part, the only connecting element amongst the newly independent inhabitants was Catholicism.

Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City at night, with the Angel of Independence.

The Porfirian era (el Porfiriato), in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, was marked by economic progress and peace. After four decades of civil unrest and war, Mexico saw the development of philosophy and the arts, promoted by President Díaz himself. Since that time, though accentuated during the Mexican Revolution, cultural identity had its foundation in the mestizaje, of which the indigenous (i.e. Amerindian) element was the core. In light of the various ethnicities that formed the Mexican people, José Vasconcelos in his publication La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race) (1925) defined Mexico to be the melting pot of all races (thus extending the definition of the mestizo) not only biologically but culturally as well. This exalting of mestizaje was a revolutionary idea that sharply contrasted with the idea of a superior pure race prevalent in Europe at the time.

The famous Guadalajara Cathedral, a symbol of Mexico

Factbox:

The ruins of Palenque, an Ancient Mayan city that was abandoned by the time Spanish explorers landed in Mexico.
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