Learning the demonstratives adjectives and pronouns in Quechua.

There are two differences between the demonstratives adjectives in Quechua and the ones in Spanish. First, in Spanish it is necessary to make an agreement between the noun and the adjective. This rule takes place no matter the type of adjective we are talking about. Additionally, when talking about agreement, we usually are referring to gender and number. For example, in the phrase esa casa, the word esa is working as a demonstrative adjective which is singular and feminine because of the noun casa. So, if having a plural noun, the adjective has to be plural as well. On the contrary, in Quechua there is only one word for saying ese/s,esa/s (chay), that is to say, we could say chay wasikuna or chaykuna wasi(plural) and chay wasi(singular). Therefore, there is no, at least, grammatical gender agreement when using the demonstratives in Quechua although number is pointed out by adding –kuna to one of the words in a noun phrase.

Secondly, when dealing with the demonstrative pronouns and the verb ser for pointing out something, in Quechua ser (kay) does not have a grammatical representation like in Spanish. As an example, we could compare the following:

ImaTAQ jaqay…¿Qué es aquello?
JaqayQA p´anqa. Aquello es un libro.
ImaTAQ jaqayKUNA. ¿Qué son aquellos?
JaqayKUNAqa llimphi./JaqayQA llimphiKUNA. Aquellos son unos colores.

The suffixes –qa and –taq are only showing up euphony. This means that in Quechua, the demonstrative pronouns only work with how far is the object from the speaker. With regard to the concept of distance, it is the same as in Spanish, even in English.  

In summation, what we know about the functional use of demonstrative adjectives and pronouns can help us to learn them in Quechua.

By Gladys Alanoca

Learning Spanish by writing short stories

Students can learn new vocabulary and improve grammatical structures by writing their own short stories. Also, they can write down something related to their experience in the country where they have been to or where they currently are. Additionally, they to some extent can say something about the culture. Moreover, they have the chance to figure out when to use linking words.

Writing short stories is a strategy which should be used by students that have an intermediate level of the language since the only requirement is a basic knowledge of a language. The main knowledge needed is to know the general structure of the sentence in Spanish. For example, using new and different vocabulary helps the student practice different tenses.

On the other hand, this strategy is not traditional and demands the student to work and participate more in a class. In addition, both teachers and students work together and as a result, the student starts getting confidence in the language.

One way for teaching Spanish through short stories is by asking the student to write sentences about some sequential pictures; for example pictures related to daily activities.

 To conclude, Spanish learning by writing short stories is an amusing activity and useful for encouraging students to learn Spanish.

By Carmen Alanóca.