Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

No problem! Only I have you answered

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

It was the same here, no rain since early May....until last night when we had a storm. I was hoping the rain would continue through the day, but no such luck, it's been as hot as ever! :(

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

Agree, preferably a different one than you used. :)
PS. I think you'll find his name is Relámpago, lightning.

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

It's English put into translator into spanish and the result put back into English:rofl:

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

Thank you for the spell check, I thought his name translated into something. I only use reverso.net when I am feeling lazy or for quickness. I do run my finished writing through it though to pick up glaring mistakes. It usually takes me about 2 hours per a4 sheet of writing, I use msword with the spell check/grammar check set to modern Spanish. This helps with the accents so that I don't have to keep inseting symbols.
Do you have a better method please?

Steve

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

buy a spanish keyboard, then you'll have the accents at your fingertips:)

compra un teclado español, entonces tú tendrás los acentos al alcance de la mano:)

word doesn't always get the accents;)



why do online translators always translate into usted?

very few people actually talk like that as a matter of course these days

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

No, not really, some of the machine translations are pretty dire, but they are useful at times, it can give you a rough idea. My advice would be simply to keep studying, there is no substitute for hard work!;) It's good if you can have someone check your work, a native speaker if possible. "wordreference.com" is good, it has a very active and helpful forum, don't be afraid to ask there, it's a place I frequent when I'm not sure of anything, and that's often!:p Other sites I would recommend are below, both will give you loads of examples,
http://www.linguee.es/espanol-ingles
http://es.bab.la/diccionario/espanol-ingles/

I see lynnxa has recommended a Spanish keyboard, that's an option, but I use a UK one and have Spanish configured as well, "shift, alt" simply swaps between the two.

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

Not even on first meetings, older people or officialdom, I thought that it was still polite to use usted, until told otherwise:confused:

Steve

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

Yeah, first encounter, I'll always use it, and then tu if it seems appropriate. Officials and police etc, Ud without question.

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

because every time is the first time ??

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

A spanish friend's Father insisted all his kids addressed him a "usted". He was very old-fashioned. In ordinary conversation you will scarcely need to use either.

I have a tilde on my UK keyboard but can't manage to get it over the N:confused: eg. espan~a!!

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

I don't claim to have dozens of Spanish "friends" like some here but one particular couple we have known for many years, I've done photography work for him, he has given us free weeks in his properties, been invited to the daughters communion, the kids always come to see us, always have a couple of meals at their house etc, and he still refers to me as usted. He's comfortable with that, so am I, although I've always used the tú form with him and his wife.

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

first meeting maybe - older people - some, but by no means all

officialdom..........well I taught english to a spanish lawyer for 3 years & we had a chat about this one day - he reckons that if the person you are talking to carries a gun ;) or wears a full bottomed wig (yes, I know spanish judges don't really) then use usted

even the ones with guns around here wouldn't shoot you for using tú;)

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

Re: Are you affected by the heat?
 

Try typing e s p a tilde n a

That's how the accents work on mine, altho I have ñ as a single key.

A Spanish guy told me once that a tilde is the emphasis. The wiggly bit on the top of the n isn't a tilde and doesn't have a seperate identy. n+wiggly is called 'enya'