Hola 👋🏻 Gracias por estar aquí.
Did you know that Spanish is spoken in 21 countries around the world (counting Puerto Rico 🇵🇷)?
The globe in Master Spanish Weekly’s new logo highlights the countries where Spanish is spoken. Including Equatorial Guinea (yes, Spanish is spoken in Africa too).
Spanish is a living language, shared across cultures, accents, and everyday experiences.
This newsletter exists to help you connect en Español, wherever that connection takes you.
Last Saturday: Alex Honnold Climbed Taipei 101
Last Saturday, climber Alex Honnold, the American free-solo rock climber, made history again. He climbed Taipei 101 in Taiwan, a 508-meter skyscraper with 101 floors, without ropes or safety equipment. Live on Netflix.
Why do people do things like this? I think the answer applies to language learning, too.
Learning Spanish isn’t about doing extreme things. It’s about choosing, again and again, to engage with the language: reading, listening, trying, and making mistakes along the way.
👉 Read about Honnold’s climb in Spanish. Here are three headlines you can explore:
¿Qué se siente escalar un rascacielos? (The New York Times)
Alex Honnold dice que le pagaron una “suma vergonzosa” por escalar el Taipéi 101 (Independent en Español)
Lesson of the Week: Talking About How You Feel in Spanish.
Doing hard things brings up nerves, focus, and confidence. Learning Spanish does too. That’s why today’s lesson is talking about how you feel in Spanish.
We normally use these vers to express it:
sentirse
estar
tener
dar (miedo, vergüenza, pena, nervios, náuseas)
Here are a few examples:
Structure | What it’s used for | Example (Spanish) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
sentirse + adjective | How you feel emotionally or mentally | Me siento nervioso/a antes de hablar. | I feel nervous before speaking. |
estar + adjective | Temporary states or conditions | Estoy tranquilo/a ahora. | I’m calm now. |
tener + noun | Internal states or conditions | Tengo miedo de equivocarme. | I’m afraid of making mistakes. |
dar + noun | Emotional or physical reactions | Me da miedo hablar en público. | Speaking in public scares me. |
dar + noun | Social or emotional reactions | Me da vergüenza preguntar. | I feel embarrassed to ask. |
dar + noun | Emotional reactions | Me da pena decirlo. | I feel sorry / shy to say it. |
dar + noun | Nervous reactions | Me dan nervios antes de la clase. | I get nervous before class. |
dar + noun | Physical reactions | Me dan náuseas. | I feel nauseous. |
✏️ English often says “I feel…”.
Spanish chooses different verbs depending on the type of feeling.
Mini Quiz – Talking About How You Feel in Spanish
Test your knowledge on today’s lesson:
Choose the best option.
1. “I feel nervous before speaking.”
A) Estoy nervioso antes de hablar.
B) Me siento nervioso/a antes de hablar.
C) Tengo nervioso antes de hablar.
2. “Speaking in public scares me.”
A) Tengo miedo hablar en público.
B) Me da miedo hablar en público.
C) Estoy miedo hablar en público.
3. “I’m under pressure today.”
A) Tengo presión hoy.
B) Estoy bajo presión hoy.
C) Me siento presión hoy.
4. “I feel calm now.”
A) Me siento tranquilo/a ahora.
B) Estoy calma ahora.
C) Tengo calma ahora.
5. “I have doubts.”
A) Me siento dudas.
B) Tengo dudas.
C) Me dan dudas.
Gracias
Gracias por leer y seguir aprendiendo conmigo.
Aprender un idioma también es aprender a manejar lo que sentimos mientras lo hacemos.
Un abrazo.
Alejandro.
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