Why CarlÍsimo?
1. I prioritize connected speech.
When somebody speaks, they‿usually‿blend‿most‿or‿all‿of‿their‿words‿together. This is called connected speech. When people speak naturally, they do not pause after every single word.
Connected speech challenges the learner because it is hard to tell where one word ends and the next one begins. This can happen even when the learner knows every word someone is saying.
In my personal journey to English fluency, I focused on speaking and neglected listening comprehension. As a result, I struggled to understand “rapid-fire” spoken English (which is actually normal speed!) because I hadn’t spent enough time listening to shorter, bite-size chunks of connected speech.
I always encourage my students to practice listening to naturally spoken Spanish, which is also why I created the podcast “Quotidian Spanish.” Check out my podcast tab! It consists of short audio episodes with carefully guided practice on this skill.
2. Linguistic Descriptivism, not Prescriptivism
Some people say “ain’t” isn’t a word. Thinking this way is called a prescriptivist approach to language, meaning that language has to be spoken in accordance to pre-existing, arbitrary rules.
On the contrary, I personally adhere to the modern idea of linguistic descriptivism. This is a scientific approach because it describes how people naturally use language rather than prescribing how language SHOULD be used. If there is a speech community that uses a specific type of grammar, pronunciation, accent, or vocabulary, then linguists deem it natural and grammatical as opposed to declaring it wrong, bad, or distasteful.
That being said, this doesn’t mean that linguists disregard the importance of a prescriptive, normative style of speaking and writing for certain settings (college papers, English exams, job applications, etc).
3. The Interlinear Gloss
The interlinear gloss is a powerful tool used in linguistics. It helps us see the internal structure of a sentence in the target language. Check it out:
This tool functions as an x-ray machine. It reveals word order and other grammatical elements in a way that might be less transparent to see in a regular translation.
I love to use the interlinear gloss with students whenever we need to get into the nitty gritty of Spanish sentence structure. It is especially helpful when the word order significantly differs from that of English.
