Gender issues?

Gender issues are very important. There is a growing  awareness of the debate on gender in society nowadays. This is all good.

Now I’d like to consider the vital importance of gender in language learning!

Especially in Spanish language learning.

Spanish is very concerned with gender. All nouns (the NAMES of things) have a given gender. This means that some THINGS are considered FEMININE  while others are considered MASCULINE. This may not seem important but depending on the ‘gender’ of each thing, there are certain patterns to follow.

In my experience over the years teaching Spanish, most textbooks and learning programmes present the MASCULINE form of nouns and pronouns first, and expect the FEMININE form to be understood by osmosis! Well I am revolutionising Spanish language learning here and now, by presenting the FEMININE  form first.

Girl power!

In the following, I’d like to begin showing first the FEMININE form of nouns and how to use the ‘indefinite article’ ( ‘a’ or ‘an’ as in ‘a table’ or ‘an orange’ = UNA [Pronunciation: OONA]  

Note: UNA also means ONE, as in the number one. 

 

Una amiga   A friend (who is a girl) / one friend

Una casa      A house / one house

Una flor        A flower / one flower  

 

Una falda      A skirt / one skirt

Una mesa      A table / one table

Una bolsa       A bag / one bag

Una nieta    A grand-daughter / one grand-daughter 

 

Some important words are a little tricky to pronounce without hearing them first.

Una hija   [pronunciation: EEHA]    A daughter / one daughter

Una botella   [pronunciation: BOTEYA]   A bottle / one bottle

Una manzana  [pronunciation: MANTHANA] An apple / one apple 

 

Try and memorise these few nouns with the indefinite article  (UNA) which goes with them. I am so excited because in my next post you will be able to start using them in important sentences!  

I really hope this helps. 

Please ask any questions if I haven’t been clear.