/berkeiby LIBRARY UNIVERSITY Of liCAIIPORN1A EDUCATION I.IBB? //\ r. ,Y- Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/colloquialteacherOObutlrich the SPANISH TEACHER COLLOQUIAL PHRASE-BOOK AN EASY AND AGREEABLE METHOD OP ACQUIRING A SPEAKING KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE BY FRANCIS BUTLER TEACHER AND TRANSLATOR OF LANGUAGES NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1888 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, By FRANCIS BUTLER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. jL~ciu.C4.t7 (H— Ada to Lib* GIFT ! PREFACE. All nations have been, and continue to be, abun- dantly supplied with new methods of acquiring foreign languages ; but, has any one -of these theories suc- ceeded to any extent in producing that speaking knowledge which is the first essential to mutual communication ? Tongue and language were synonymous, but the interpretation thereof has wofully perverted been ; since, among the thousands in this great city who have studied a foreign language, how many may there be capable of common conversation in the tongue which they considered as a necessary ap- pendage to a polite or commercial education ? Alas how few ! The author of this little work aims at nothing new ; has no magical method of imparting a whole language for 25 cents ; has no new theory to ad- vance ;—but wishes herein simply to demonstrate, that if a little child can learn to speak a language tnthout difficulty, much more easily may the same instinct matured by reason and experience, obtain (he same knowledge, in the same old-fashioned way, Trv it -, you cannot fail of success. New York, July 4th, 1849. 743 1 CONTENTS. Page. Parjt. Advice to the Student, Parting, - 113 Pronunciation of tb<3 Spanish Inquiring one s way, - - 114 .Alphabet, - - - - Inquiring for the residence of Remarks, - a person. 116 Articles and Nouns in com- Meeting a friend, - 117 mon use, 17 (»oing and coming, 118 Verbs arranged alphabetically, 21 The walk. 123 Adjectives in common use, - 25 Walk i n a garden, Vl\ Personal Pronouns, 27 F.vening. - 138 Possessive Pronouns, 28 To write a letter, - 1-29 Adverbs, etc., 29 Needle-work, - 131 Interjections. 33 A visit, • 132 The days of the week, and the Drawing, 133 months. .... 34 At an exhibition of paintings. 135 The Numbers. - 34 Expressions of surprise. - 138 To have, affirmatively, follow- Expressions of probability. • 139 ed by an object. 39 Expressions of joy. • • 140 To have, negatively, 41 Expressions of sorrow, - - 141 To have, interrogatively. - 42 .Expressions of blame, • • 142 To have, negatively and inter- Expressions of anger - • 143 rogatively, .... 43 Expressions of antipathy, - 145 To be. affirmatively, - - 44 Expressions of sympathy, • 146 To be, negatively. 47 With the tailor, - • 147 To be. interrogatively, - 49 At a woollen-draper's, - - 151 To be. negatively and inter- At a linen-di'aper's, - - 152 rogatively, 60 At a perfumer's. - - - 154 Titles. 52 At a bookseller's, - - - 156 - To ask questions. - - 52 At a jeweller's, • 159 To salute and inquire after At a watchmaker's, • - 102 the health of some person, 56 To ensrage a man-servant. - 104 Getting up. .... 59 To engage a female servant. 166 To dress one's self, 60 At a shoemaker's. - • - 168 Asking and thanking, - 63 With a dressmaker, • • 169 To consult. .... 65 To play at chess, - - • 171 To affirm and deny. 67 Collection of detached sen- Going to school. ... 70 tences, .... 173 On the Spanish language. - 78 CONJUGATION OF VF.RBS. Of the seasons, 80 Estar and Ser. - - - 269 Of the weather, - - 82 Remarks on Estar and Ser, - 272 Of epochs. .... 85 Haber and Tener. - - - 273 Of the hour .... 88 Remarks on Haber and Tener, 275 News - ' - - - - 90 Amar, regular verb of the Of the age, .... 93 First Conjugation. - - 276 Morning, 94 Irregular verbs of the first con- Of the necessaries of life, - 96 jugation, - - - - 278 Of the tire. - - - - 97 Temer. regular verb of the Coin* to market, ... 99 Second ( onjugation,- - 281 Breakfast, - - - - 101 Irregular verbs of the second Dinner, - - - 103 conjugation, - - - 283 Tea, - - • - - 106 Sufrir. regular verb of the Supper, ----- 107 Tr lrd Conjugation. • • 287 Going to bed. - - 108 Irregular verbs of the third Inquiries relative *o 111 • • 290 a journey, | conjugation, ADVICE TO THE STUDENT, 01* THE METHOD OF STUDYING A FOREIGN LANGUAG& To acquire a speaking knowledge of a foreign lan- guage is not a difficult task, if undertaken in a good humor, and with a fixed determination to make some little progress every day. There are so many little bits of time, which, if devoted to study, would tend rather to relieve than annoy. The time that is disa- greeably wasted in waiting for others, for boats, stages, breakfast, dinner, tea, supper, etc., might be both profitably and pleasureably wiled away, by taking a small and interesting book from the coat pocket. Be- side this, there is the advantage of oftentimes meeting with those to whom you may refer in case of difficulty. The writer has learned more of foreign languages in this way, than he could have acquired in closeted hours u of deep and wearisome toil and study. Many mick» les make a muckle," says the Scotchman ; so say I s and so you will find, if you will follow the simple courae laid down for you. To speak a language, you must begin precisely as a child begins to speak its mother tongue. A child has uever been known to speak his first sentences correct- 6 ADVICE TO THE STUDENT ly but acquires his knowledge of language to the same way as he learns to run. He begins by jumping and springing in his mother's arms, then crawls, then toddles, cautious but resolute, from chair to chair, till after a few self-taught lessons in experimental philoso- phy, he can scamper, unguided and alone. So it is with his pronouncing organs ; he begins with mum, mum, and goes on exercising his tongue, etc., soon adopting a method of his own of regulating his accents to the sounds of others. But I never knew a child stop speaking, because he was afraid of making a mis- take ; if such were the case, this would indeed be a silent world. Don't be afraid ; you will soon be amused at the blunders you have made, and your con- stant progress will impart to you fresh courage. You will acquire a talkative knowledge of a language, by the same means as the child. The majority of those who study a foreign language seldom dream of making any use of it ; they dread the bare idea of speaking a word, but appear to be per- fectly satisfied with having taken so many quarter's lessons, translated from such and such books, and, they rest assured that the Spaniard and the Frenchman talk much faster than an American, and that they Bhall never talk French or Spanish at all. At the same time, they are determined, that when they can epeak tolerably \oell, they will begin ; like Paddy who had made up his mind uot to bathe, 'till he knew buv* ; ADVICE TO THE SXUDBNT I to swim They bar themselves from the only efficient mode of improvement, the habitual practice of speech rigiit or wrong. Your first effort will no doubt ex tract an occasional smile ; but foreigners, I must say, are far less inclined to ridicule, and far more ready to help out a tottering misconstructed sentence, than we are ; and are well pleased to assist the beginner. by politely giving him any assistance required. By avail ingyourselvesof opportunities and means, trifling in themselves, you may acquire a thorough knowledge of a language, without any expense, with scarcely any loss of time; at the same time forming useful and agreeable connections which you may find at all times ready and willing to serve you, merely because you can speak their language. I could give proofs numerous of this, but it would cost too much to print them. You will find more real friendship, and derive more advantage from a foreigner whose language you speak, than you can fairly expect from any other ac- quaintance. Never be afraid to speak, because you fear to ex- press your ideas rather awkwardly. Every time you give utterance to strange sounds, adds to your knowledge of pronunciation, and lessens your bash- fulness, by giving you increased confidence in your- §elf. Always keep some study book in your pocket you will find abundant opportunities for a few min- utes study which (without any sacrifice of time) will not fail to amuse and instruct vou. 8 ADVICE TO THE STVIENT. Decide firmly on devoting so many minutes pel day to study, be they ever so few ; always pronounce what you read ; thus, by accustoming yourself to the sounds, you will be better enabled to understand others. Read every sentence over and over, until you can pronounce as fast as the same amount of English. The daily learning of a little is peculiarly impor- tant in the study of a foreign language. A small fire needs constant feeding. Ten minutes per day, is one hour a week, and ten minutes study will cause an hour's reflection. One hour's study per week, a little every day, for one year, is often more than equal to six months lessons from a master. We always act with more decision, when we depend on ourselves rather than on the assistance of others. I do not mean to recommend my readers to study only one hour a week.