MCPS Spanish - Vosotros

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know, but it's necessary to learn vosotros if she wants to actually use her Spanish, so... why don't you make her learn it.

OP here

Fair enough. I will probably make her learn it!

[Anonymous]

What about if they get to AP Spanish?

Is it required for AP Spanish? If so, it might be worth pushing the issue.

[Anonymous]

You don’t need it until you go to spain, and then it is vosotros time, all the time! Like a nightmare of people being so friendly while you stammer awkwardly in the ustedes form because it is all you know, but everyone tries to reassure you it is fine, we are friends, you don’t have to use the formal you! You slink deeper into your seat, ruing the day you skipped merrily over the vosotros form in the textbook back in the hallowed halls of mcps.

Don’t worry, you will pick up vosotros in a week. Understanding the pluperfect subjunctive, though, that really only kicks in after the third caña and plate of pulpo a la gallega.

[Anonymous]

There are 570 million Spanish speakers in the world. The population of Spain is 40 million. The overwhelming majority of Spanish speakers an American encounters in their daily life will not be from Spain. I can see learning it, but I also don't see it as some huge MCPS curriculum failure that they're not teaching it. It isn't like they're teaching German and not explaining du vs. Sie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is my kid yanking my chain here? She’s taking Spanish and they are conjugating verbs. She told me that they are not required to learn Vosotros.

What’s the story here? I know we were required to learn it when I took a language in school. Is this truly an MCPS thing or is our teacher just being lazy?

Vosotros is used in classic literature, like in the poetry of Nobel Prize, Pablo Neruda. It should be required.

Pablo Neruda
Puentes

Puentes: arcos de acero azul adonde vienen
a dar su despedida los que pasan
por arriba los trenes,
por abajo las aguas,
enfermos de seguir un largo viaje
que principia, que sigue y nunca acaba.
Cielos arriba, cielos,
y pájaros que pasan
sin detenerse, caminando como
los trenes y las aguas.
Qué maldición cayó sobre vosotros?
qué esperáis en la noche densa y larga
con los brazos abiertos como un niño
que muere a la llegada de su hermana?
qué voz de maldición pasiva y negra
sobre vosotros extendió sus alas,
para hacer que siguieran
el viaje que no acaba
los paisajes, la vida, el sol, la tierra,
los trenes y las aguas,
mientras la angustia inmóvil del acero
se hunde más en la tierra y más la clava?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 570 million Spanish speakers in the world. The population of Spain is 40 million. The overwhelming majority of Spanish speakers an American encounters in their daily life will not be from Spain. I can see learning it, but I also don't see it as some huge MCPS curriculum failure that they're not teaching it. It isn't like they're teaching German and not explaining du vs. Sie.

People who insist that vosotros must be taught should also insist that vos must be taught.

[Anonymous]

Do all school districts stop teaching vosotros?

How about in college.

My kid likes languages, so if she’ll need it later, it would seem worthwhile to just learn it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a Spanish major in college (graduated in the mid-90s) and never learned vosotros well. In my ten years of Spanish instruction, only one teacher ever used it, and she was from a country where they used it.

Same experience. I picked up the present tense of vosotros easily during college/study abroad in Spain, but I don't know the other verb tenses. I think it's good to know what it is, but I'm not sure I would push it at this point.

[Anonymous]

My kid is in span 4 in mcps and im pretty sure she learned it.
I hear it all the time in the spanish shows i watch on netflix!

[Anonymous]

It's not necessary, forget about it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in span 4 in mcps and im pretty sure she learned it.
I hear it all the time in the spanish shows i watch on netflix!

Mine is in Spanish 4 and knows it exists, but hasn’t learned it.

[Anonymous]

I'm Mexican and have never used Vosotros outside of reading the bible. If I went to Spain and heard it used or had to use it, I could. However, my Spanish friends typically use Usted (like I do).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm Mexican and have never used Vosotros outside of reading the bible. If I went to Spain and heard it used or had to use it, I could. However, my Spanish friends typically use Usted (like I do).

Among friends, Spaniards use tú and vosotros, not Usted. We use Usted for formal communications, roughly the equivalent of when you would call someone "Mr. Smith" or "Mrs. Jones" in English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in span 4 in mcps and im pretty sure she learned it.
I hear it all the time in the spanish shows i watch on netflix!

OT, but what Spanish shows?? If they are appropriate for MSers, i’ll Have my kid watch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 570 million Spanish speakers in the world. The population of Spain is 40 million. The overwhelming majority of Spanish speakers an American encounters in their daily life will not be from Spain. I can see learning it, but I also don't see it as some huge MCPS curriculum failure that they're not teaching it. It isn't like they're teaching German and not explaining du vs. Sie.

People who insist that vosotros must be taught should also insist that vos must be taught.

ha! You can learn that one real fast by getting catcalled nonstop.