Understanding SER and ESTAR in Spanish causes a great deal of difficulty for Spanish learners...

. . .made worse as it is usually taught in a confusing way...

Ask yourself this - If you could find a system that lets you overcome this problem, would you buy it?
Of course you would!

Even people who have been studying, using and speaking Spanish for years still make mistakes with the uses of these two verbs ser and estar in Spanish.

...but if you learn the correct concepts in the first place it will be much easier for you.

Beware the 'Permanent - Temporary' Trap with SER and ESTAR in Spanish

Learners of Spanish language will know that there are several Spanish forms of the English verb 'to be'...

...but two of the forms of the verb 'to be' give no end of trouble to learners.

SER and ESTAR.

If you have been taught that the difference between SER and ESTAR in Spanish is that one is for permanent things and the other is for temporary this could be you that is still struggling with the concept.

Beware of the 'permanent-temporary' trap which is how most Spanish teachers teach the differences between these two forms of the verb 'to be'....

This will lead to confusion.... and will delay your ever getting a grasp on these two concepts...

Even university students majoring in Spanish can struggle with these concepts!

I gave the draft of our course Understanding SER and ESTAR in Spanish to a lady who had a University Bachelors Degree in Spanish and asked her to edit and comment on the draft.

Her reply, "Oh ESTAR and SER in Spanish - I could never really understand the difference between those two!"

Yes, she had passed her degree, having studied Spanish to a high level for years, but she had not confidently grasped the fundamentals of ESTAR and SER!

You can have the tools and not become such a victim! If someone was to give you these tools would you grab them?

The choice is yours.

Learn it properly from the start... or get confused by well-meaning teachers teaching the standard permanent - temporary theory!

There is a much more effective way of understanding the differences between ser and estar in Spanish...

Even native speakers and native-speaking Spanish teachers have difficulty explaining the differences between estar and ser, because for them it is something that just comes naturally.

To learn the differences takes a little bit of effort, but once you understand the basic concepts, your levels of confusion will be conquered!

The exceltra system uses lots of Memory Triggers and cartoon concepts to make your language learning easier, and make your language learning stick!...

How much do you remember from school?!

Probably not much, because very little of it sticks....

...because we are so often taught without hooks to make things stick! We call these Memory Triggers and load our courses with them, so that you will remember things better.

To help you understand and remember the differences between ESTAR and SER in Spanish we have numerous accelerated learning techniques....

My name is Kevin Crocombe and as founder of 200 Words a Day! system I have spent the last few years, with my team of language professionals, artists and programmers, building and developing accelerated language learning technologies to assist the acceleration of your learning.

Thousands of users have benefited from the techniques incorporated into our many software packages.

The more complex the language being learned, the more effective are our methods!

4 Star Award winning software...

In 2005 AVP, the second biggest software distributor to schools in the United Kingdom awarded us its highest 4 star Award for Educational Software.

Anyway,the concepts of the verbs ser and estar in Spanish, have confounded Spanish learners for generations. Even many advanced students, still struggle with when to use the verb 'ser' and when to use the verb 'estar' for the English equivalent of 'to be'.

There are several problems....

Our research shows that the fundamental problem arises from the key fact that most teachers teach that difference between the two is that one - ser is used for permanent characteristics - and the other, estar is used for temporary characteristics.

While this is true for many cases it soon leads the intrepid Spanish learner up the garden path and into many traps.

For example, a person is young for a long time, but that is not permanent. So does one use ser or does one use estar?

When one dies, one tends to stay dead a long time. Using the 'permanent-temporary' rule one might think that one should use the verb 'ser' when saying one is dead... but one does not. One uses 'estar'....

...and there are innumerable other examples that will trap you if you follow the 'permanent-temporary'theory.

Start with the basics...

To understand these two concepts one must go to the original Latin roots of both words, esse (ser) and stare (estar). By understanding these two concepts, you will gain the simple, basic fundamentals of the differences between ser and estar in Spanish.

...and they are simple...

...and our software teaches you these two concepts with the help of some cartoon pictures.

...but if you do not learn them you are doomed to the potential of years of confusion with these two verbs, both of which can mean 'to be' in English.

From there, we develop the fundamental differences between estar and ser in Spanish.

And give you lots more cartoons to help you remember the two.

Because the brain never forgets a picture, and humour makes learning easier.

By remembering things in a silly, zany scene the world's memory masters teach us that we can best remember things. These are people that memorize dozens of decks of playing cards... a skill that you too can easily learn!

Cartoon characters help you remember concepts and words...

We enlist the help of two groups of characters to help you with learning and remembering the differences between ser and estar in Spanish. Learning things with a Memory Trigger - particularly if combined with a picture, or visual image to deepen and strengthen your recall. We incorporate hundreds of graphics and visuals in all our courses.

For 'ser' concepts the Memory Triggers© feature a SERPENT. (a SER-pent... get it?)

SER concepts are made easier for you to remember with a picture of an SER-pent such as our character SERLOCK HOLMES.

Characters such as SERLOCK HOLMES will assist you to remember the concepts of when to use SER in Spanish.

For 'estar' concepts, the Memory Triggers feature a rabbit, an ESTAR bunny (as a play on EASTER BUNNY)!

ESTAR concepts are made easier for you to remember with a picture of an ESTAR BUNNY.

Learn all the tenses of SER and ESTAR in Spanish...

We give you hundreds of examples of the uses of these verbs, in all the main tenses, so that as you progress through the course and consolidate your knowledge you will cover all the conjugations and verb tenses - present, past, future, conditionals, subjunctives etc and consolidate your Spanish with loads of practical sentences.

You will learn the fundamental differences between ser and estar, which will clearly show you why the verb 'estar' is used with being dead in Spanish. Because the Spanish equivalent of 'to be dead' is 'estar muerto'. If you have been taught that estar is used for temporary things (as taught by most teachers) you will be confused by this... and the confusion can last for years!

...But our course Understanding Ser and Estar in Spanish will teach you clearly and simply.

If you have been taught that ser is for permanent things and estar is for temporary, doing our course will quickly clarify for you, the real reasons for when to use ser and when to use estar.

Many teachers of Spanish also teach that ser goes with certain adjectives, and estar goes with certain adjectives.

But the reality is that in most cases either ser or estar can be used, but the use of one or the other simply conveys a slightly different nuance... a slightly different shade of meaning.

To understand the nuances, is not difficult, provided you understand the basic differences between the two verbs, ser and estar.

For example ... you can use estar or ser with the word listo...

ser listo means to be clever.

estar listo means to be ready...

See the slight, subtle difference!

So the choice of which verb to use with an adjective is very important!

Our course will give you the knowledge!

And there is more!

You will get:

• the 100% foolproof way to spot - instantly - whether a ser-estar verb conjugation is from the ser family or the estar family. This simple three-letter-formula works every time, and in researching this course does not appear in any of the other Spanish grammar courses studied!
• Hundreds of practical examples are given in all the main Spanish verb conjugations and tenses, helping you to reinforce your learning.
• Loads of expressions, idioms and sayings.
• Dozens of examples of how the meaning of an adjective changes with the use of ser or estar (like the listo example above).
• You have the ability to test yourself on all the examples
• All your results of all tests are recorded and tracked.
• In tests you can test yourself either on the specific ser-estar word, or on the whole sentence thereby consolidating your broader Spanish knowledge.
• The 'My Worst Words' function will enable to identify the words and concepts that give you the most trouble, and present them to you in a separate, constantly updated lesson.
• Cartoon characters illustrate all the main concepts, enabling deeper, longer and more effective long-term recall.
• You can add your own notes to each and every word, phrase or practical example.
• All ser concepts feature a picture of a SERPENT to assist you remember and recall the concept.
• All estar concepts feature a picture of a bunny, an ESTAR bunny, to assist you remember and recall the concept.
• Like our other courses the program will remind you, at optimum intervals, to re-study all material that you have learned. So you will get a reminder to study your SER and ESTAR material after one day, a week, a month, 3 months and a year - intervals which researchers deem the 'optimum' for best study results.
• All the Spanish words, phrases and sentences are voiced by native Spanish speakers.

So if you value your time and are willing to invest to save it, you need this course!

Yes, if your time is worth money, the amount of that you will save, by learning the concepts correctly in the first place will see you recoup your investment within a few hours!

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Our programmes are designed for PCs including the following operating systems: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000.

Suitable on any device supporting a Windows PC Operating System e.g. XP, Windows 8 or 10.

For Apple Macintosh users: The 200 Words a Day! Language Learning courses can run on your Apple Mac, but require the following previously installed:

1) A PC emulator, VMWare Fusion recommended.
2) A PC System disc is also needed, either Windows 7, 8 (32 bit) or XP recommended.

CDs are required to install the programme on to a Mac.

Not suitable for ipads, iphones.

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Understanding the difference between SER and ESTAR in Spanish
Don't let these tricky verbs estar and ser trip you up in Spanish learning. Learn it the right way, in the first place!
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