BUILD is currently looking for people interested in teaching a fun, low stakes, foreign language class once a week. Email us with your interest!
Teachers Needed!
Aug 28th, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
BUILD Administrators needed!
Aug 28th, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
BUILD is currently looking for:
- A PR Officer
- A Fundraising Officer
Email us with your interest!
Intermediate French 3/2/2017
Mar 6th, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
This week in class we reviewed numbers. English speakers usually find French numbers to be difficult to remember and say quickly, especially higher numbers. This website is useful to review: http://www.woodwardfrench.com/lesson/numbers-from-1-to-100-in-french/
We talked about how numbers might come up in conversation:
Quelle âge as-tu?
J’ai trente ans.
Dans quelle année es-tu né?
Je suis né en 1986. (mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-six)
Quelle heure est-il?
Il est 4h45. (quatre heures quarante-cinq)
Good numbers to know are: the year you were born, the current year, and how old you are!
Nous sommes en 2017 (deux mille dix-sept).
There are two ways to say years. Take 1992, for example:
- mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-douze (one thousand nine hundred ninety-two)
- dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-douze (nineteen ninety-two)
Another quick point about numbers: if you want to say first, second, third, etc. you add “ème” at the end of the number (except for 1, it’s the exception!):
- 1st / 1er : premier/ère
- 2nd / 2e : deuxième
- 3rd / 3e : troisième
- 15 15e : quinzième
- 100th 100e : centième
Beginning French 2017
Mar 1st, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
Week 0- the basics (1)
| Français | Anglais | Exemple=Example |
| Pronoms | Pronoums | |
| Je
Tu Il/elle/on Nous Vous Ils/elles
|
I
You He/she/ colloquial ”we” We You They (masc/femin) |
|
| Questions | Questions | Common rule (like englih): Question+verbe+pronom |
| Qui ?
Que? Quand Où ? Comment ? Pourquoi ? Quel(s) Quelle(s) Quoi ? Qu’est-ce-que? Est-ce que? |
Who?
What? When? Where? How? Why? Which? (masc) Which? (femin) What? What is? Is it? |
Qui es-tu? = Who are you?
Que veux-tu? =What do you want ? Quand arrives-tu? =When do you arrive Ou es-tu? =Where are you? Comment vas-tu? = How are you? Pourquoi pas? = why not? Quel est le tien= which one is yours? Quelle heure est-il?= what time is it? C’est quoi? = what is it? Qu’est-ce-que c’est? = what is it? Est ce que c’est vrai ? = is it true ? |
| Phonétiques | Phonetics | Like |
| Ou | /u/
|
Oui (eng=we) |
| Oi | /wa/
|
Moi (eng= mwa) |
| On/om | /ɔ̃/
|
Bonjour (listen at link below) http://www.wordreference.com/fren/on |
| O/au/eau | /o/
|
Beau (eng= bo) |
| È/ai/être | /ɛ/
|
Air (eng=air)
Belle àDisney princess |
| É/ez/er/et | /ˈɛ̃/
|
Hey or Beyoncé |
| E/eu/oeu | /ʒ/ /ø/ | Je àJe m’appelle or voeux or veux
Or le monsieur (“on” exception) http://www.wordreference.com/fren/monsieur |
| An/am/en/em | /ɑ̃/ | Enfant or emploi or encore |
| In/im/ain/aim/ein | /ɛ̃/ | (j’ai)Faim or bien or plein
http://www.wordreference.com/fren/faim |
| Un | /œ̃, yn/ | Défunt or emprunt |
Pronunciation is key: practice it by looking up words in the example section or others at http://www.wordreference.com/
Week 1- the basics (2)
- Révision de pronoms et phonétique
- Mots typiques du prof
- Très bien= very good
- D’accord ? = agreed ?
- Ça veut dire quoi ? = what does it mean
- Compris ? = understood ?
- On va= we are going to
- Alors= so
- Répétez après moi= repete after me
- Voilà
- Oui/non= yes/no
- Be familiar with the meaning of these sentences as the professor will use them very often
- Present tense of
| Auxiliaire ETRE (To be)
o Je suis o Tu es o Il/elle/on est o Nous sommes o Vous êtes o Ils/elles sont
|
Auxiliaire AVOIR (to have)
o J’ai o Tu as o Il/elle/on a o Nous avons o Vous avez o Ils/elles ont
|
- Know how to conjugate (auxiliary) verbs by heart
- Presentes-toi (introduce yoursel)
| o Je m’appelle…
o J’ai …ans o J’étudie…/je n’étudie pas je travaille à o Je viens de/je suis de… |
o My name is…
o I am… years old o I study…/ I do not study I work at o I come from/I am from… |
Hebrew all levels class 1 2017
Mar 1st, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
Shalom lekulam!
This week, we learned how to read. Yes, it’s that easy! We went over the Hebrew letters and the sounds they make, as well as the short vowels, and how they work together to form syllables and words. We transliterated English phrases in Hebrew and read them out loud.
We also learned some basic expressions and greetings.
Lastly, we listened to the song “Ani Veata” (me and you), and translated it together.
Toda raba, lehitraot!
Intermediate Arabic class 1 2017
Mar 1st, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
Assalamu Aleikum!
This week, we started out with reading and listening to Mahmoud Darwish’s “Rita”, performed by Marcel Khalife. This is a romantic poem about the relationship between a Palestinian and an Israeli, before Israel was established. We discussed it’s meaning and it’s historical context.
Later, we focused on conversation in Ammia (dialectic Arabic). We said a few words about ourselves and talked about the benefits of learning Ammia.
Tsharrafna! Minshoufkom al-Usbu’a a-Jaai.
Farsi 2/28/17
Mar 1st, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
Today in class with the help of the textbook, we began learning the letters and their orthography.
- The letters are:
- Long and short vowels
- آ
- ب – بابا ، آب
- د – داد، بابا آب داد.
- ن – نان، بابا نان داد.
- ر – بار، باران، آرد، ران، دارا.
- ا – دارا انار دارد. برادر انار ندارد.
*Note: the last one is /ae/ sound as in cat.
Extra Resources!
www.aparat.com
www.iranproud.com
www2.live.irib.
www.aparat.com
www.imvbox.com
www.bia2.com
www.radiojavan.com
www.tabnak.com
www.vimeo.com
www2.live.irib.ir
www.iranitv.com
www.hamedtv.com
list of singer! • Bijan Mortazavi • Moein • Mehrshad • 7th band • Mansour • Kamran & Hooman • Andy • 2afm • Shadmehr Aghili • Hayedeh • Googoosh • Leila Foroohar • Arash • Omid • Jamshid • Shahram Shabpare • Afshin • Carlo Venti • Benyamin • Black cats • Arian band • Maziar Falahi
Beginning Arabic
Feb 24th, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
Hello Everyone!
During our first Novice Arabic B.U.I.L.D. class of the semester, everyone participated in brief introductions and discussed previous language experience. The entire first class was devoted to learning the Arabic alphabet (i.e. the name of each letter, the pronunciations of each letter, and how diacritical marks change the pronunciation of each letter). Please come to the next class if you can; the more students the merrier!
Here is a link to the Alphabet and Numbers worksheet:
Intermediate French 2/23/17
Feb 24th, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
Today in class we talked about 4 common French verbs: être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), and faire (to do, to make). We conjugated these verbs, created sentences with them, and then practiced writing and speaking the verbs quickly with a game. The conjugations are below:
Etre:
Je suis
Tu es
Il/Elle/On est
Nous sommes
Vous êtes
Ils/Elles sont
Avoir:
J’ai
Tu as
Il/Elle/On a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/Elles ont
Aller:
Je vais
Tu vas
Il/Elle/On va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils/Elles vont
Faire:
Je fais
Tu fais
Il/Elle/On fait
Nous faisons
Vous faites
Ils/Elles font
Then we talked about the “futur proche,” or “near future.” You use this tense to talk about something that will happen fairly soon or at a definite point in the future (tonight, this weekend, next week, at the end of the month, etc.). This tense is formed by using a conjugation of aller plus the infinitive of a verb. Some examples include:
- Je vais pratiquer le français. (I am going to practice French.)
- Tu vas aller à la plage. (You are going to go to the beach.)
- Qu’est-ce que vous allez faire ce week-end? (What are you going to do this weekend?)
For homework, if you have the time, you can do one or more of the following:
- Ecoutez une émission de RFI français facile: https://savoirs.rfi.fr/apprendre-enseigner
- Regardez une vidéo de Comme une Française: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-ZFVrf5NVlmgZ0hItLT0pg
- Utilisez Clozemaster pendant 15 minutes: https://www.clozemaster.com/languages
Intermediate Spanish 2/20/17
Feb 21st, 2017 by Terra Nicoll
The first class of Intermediate Spanish for Spring 2017 was kicked off on Monday 2/20.
The following is what we learned!
Frases Importantes
Greetings and Formalities
Hello Hola Goodbye Adiós See you later Hasta
Goodbye Adiós See you later Hasta
See you later Hasta luego
Good morning Buenos días Good afternoon Buenas
Good afternoon Buenas tardes Good evening/night Buenas
Good evening/night Buenas noches
How are you? ¿Cómo estás?
I’m well. How are you? Bien. ¿y tú?
Nice to meet you Mucho gusto
How’s it going? ¿Qué tal?
What happened? ¿Qué pasó?
Thanks (very much) (Muchas) Gracias
You’re welcome De nada Sorry Lo
Sorry Lo siento
Pardon Perdón
Yes / No Sí / No
Please Por favor
Common Expressions
Do you understand? ¿Entiende?
I do not understand No entiendo
I do not speak Spanish No hablo español
Do you speak English? ¿Hablas inglés? (informal) ¿Habla inglés? (formal) Bless
Bless you Salud
Of course Claro que si
More or less Más o menos
Me too Yo también
Me neither Yo tampoco
Vocab-Building Frases
What does ____ mean? ¿Qué significa?
How is it spelled? ¿Cómo se escribe?
How do you say ______? ¿Cómo se dice ________?
Los Números
1 – uno 2 – dos 3 – tres 4 – cuatro 5 – cinco 6 – seis 7 – siete 8 – ocho 9 – nueve 10 – diez 11 – once 12 – doce 13 – trece 14 – catorce 15 – quince 16 – dieciséis 17 – diecisiete 18 – dieciocho 19 – diecinueve 20 – veinte 21 – veintiuno 30 – treinta 40 – cuarenta 50 – cincuenta 60 – sesenta 70 – setenta 80 – ochenta 90 – noventa 100 – cien
Here is a link to a Spanish alphabet Worksheet: El alfabeto