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Building · taught by Jean Manesca Simulacrum · A1 CEFR
The first course of Don Carlos Rabadan’s 1846 application of Manesca’s Oral System to Spanish. Lessons compiled from real New York classroom records beginning Wednesday the 4th of November 1840. The method: no translation in the presentation phase, no grammar tables, every item introduced orally, drilled through real questions, and carried forward into every lesson that follows. The pool accumulates.
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Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The first lesson of Manesca’s Oral System applied to Spanish — compiled from a real classroom, Wednesday the 4th of November 1840. The basic frame: ¿TIENE USTED? / TENGO. Six nouns, four adjectives, and SÍ, SEÑOR. Each item enters the pool immediately and is drilled against every prior item through the mouvement. Pool: 14 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The interrogative ¿QUÉ? (placed before the noun). Five new nouns — el hierro, el botón, el candelero, el bronce, el clavo — three adjectives (nuevo, bonito, feo), and two structural words: DE (genitive constructions: el candelero de bronce) and UN (indefinite article). Pool: 25 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The negative and positive indefinite pair: NINGUNO (none — NINGÚN before a noun) and ALGUNO (some — ALGÚN before a noun). These answer each other directly. Three new nouns: el dinero, el paño, el papel. Pool: 30 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
Two colours (amarillo, blanco), two new nouns (un abanico, un saco), and the second verb: ¿QUIERE USTED? / QUIERO. From this lesson the mouvement mixes both verbs freely. Pool: 35 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
EL ALGODÓN, UN MELOCOTÓN, MADURO, EL LÁPIZ, VERDE, and ¿CUÁL? — the interrogative pronoun that refers back to a noun already named, distinct from ¿QUÉ? which precedes one. Pool: 41 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The four TENER idioms — states that English expresses with TO BE but Spanish with TENER: tener miedo (be afraid), tener frío (be cold), tener calor (be warm), tener sueño (be sleepy). Then un palo, corto, un chaleco, largo, el cobre. Pool: 50 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
QUE as relative pronoun (personal pronouns expressed after it). DEL contraction (de + el). The third verb: ¿NECESITA USTED? / NECESITO. Six new nouns, one adjective (hermoso). Three verbs now mix freely in the mouvement. Pool: 60 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
People and trades enter the pool: UN HOMBRE, ALTO, UN SASTRE, UN DEDAL, LINDO, UN MARINERO, EL HILO. The possessive genitive drilled intensively — el paño del sastre, el del marinero. ¿Qué hilo tiene usted? / Tengo el del marinero. Pool: 67 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The possessives MI (my) and SU (your — context-dependent) arrive. Nine new items: un zapato, pequeño, negro, el vino, un guante, encarnado, el vino tinto (TINTO for wine only), el pescado. Pool: 76 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The fourth verb: ¿BUSCA USTED? / BUSCO. Remark 15: YO is expressed when the same pronoun is repeated in a sentence. DE MÍ (of me — oblique case of YO). Plus: mi criado, salado, un repollo, fresco, mi hermano, un cuaderno. Pool: 84 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
AQUEL (that — far from both speakers) arrives, extending possessive genitive: el pan de aquel panadero, el de aquel panadero. Four new nouns: un panadero, un cortaplumas, mi cocinero, mi hijo. The fifth verb: ¿CONOCE USTED? / CONOZCO. UN ÁRBOL. Pool: 92 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
AÑEJO (matured/improved by age — wine, cheese), EL MOSTO (unfermented grape juice). ¿QUIÉN? (who? — Remark 19: USTED is a third-person contraction; all its verb endings and possessives are borrowed from the third person). EL CUIDADO — the fifth TENER idiom: TENER CUIDADO DE (to take care of). Pool: 96 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
DE ELLO (of it — neuter oblique, always after a preposition). ÉL (he/it nominative, accented — distinct from EL the article). PERO (but — Remark 20: when the answer pronoun disagrees with the question tenor, express it: “No señor, pero YO lo necesito”). ALGÚN JABÓN. UN BARBERO. Pool: 101 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The sixth verb: VEO / VE (I see / he sees / you see). From this lesson Rabadan gives only first and third persons; the student conjugates all three orally. LO QUE (what/that which — compound neuter relative pronoun). UN PAÑUELO, UN ZAPATERO, UN BASTÓN, PARDO (brown — not applied to complexions or bread), UN PLATO. Pool: 108 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
DE ÉL (of him/it — oblique of ÉL after a preposition). The genitive formula EL SUYO / EL MÍO (Remark 21: use these when an adjective intervenes between possessive and noun). Eight new nouns: un potro, algún aceite, algún becerro (calfskin), un becerro (the animal), un pájaro, un nido, un molinero. MORADO (purple). Closes with the first construed conversation. Pool: 118 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
LE — the masculine accusative pronoun (Remark 22: grammatically correct for animate and inanimate masculine nouns; LO is colloquially used for inanimates but is strictly neuter). UN APRENDIZ with trade compounds (UN APRENDIZ DE SASTRE — no second article). UN BARRIL, ALGUN CARBÓN, UN HERRERO, UN TENEDOR, DE PALO, ALGUN CORDOBAÑ, SU AMIGO DE USTED. The personal preposition A (Remark 23). Pool: 128 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
AL (A + EL — Remark 24, parallel to DEL). UN CAPITÁN. UN REMO. ¿A QUIÉN? (Remark 25: QUIÉN as object takes A). UN CACHORRO. ALGUN CORCHO. UN TAPÓN. UN CAJÓN — with Remark 26: when QUIÉN is nominative, the personal pronoun is expressed in the answer. Pool: 136 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
Six possessive formulas (Remark 27): MI and SU cannot precede adjectives — when an adjective intervenes, use EL MÍO / EL SUYO instead. The six standard forms: EL MÍO BUENO, EL MÍO DE ALGODÓN, EL MÍO VIEJO DE BRONCE, EL SUYO NUEVO, EL SUYO DE COBRE, EL SUYO BLANCO DE HILO. EN ÉL (in it — masculine). Pool: 138 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
PARA (for — dative) in three forms: PARA MÍ, PARA USTED, PARA ÉL. ALGUN TRIGO. The seventh verb: YO TRAIGO / ÉL TRAE (to bring/fetch — all three persons: yo traigo — usted trae — él trae). DEL MOLINO as ablative construction. Pool: 145 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The three-way demonstrative system complete (Remark 28): ESTE (near speaker), ESE (near listener — when THIS is answered by THAT), AQUEL (far from both / former conversation). ESE and AQUEL cannot answer each other. VACIÓ, LLENO (+ LLENO DE constructions). UN CABALLERO, ALGUN CHOCOLATE, UN ALMACÉN, UN OBRERO, UN LABRADOR. Fourth construed conversation. Pool: 154 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
UN TRABAJADOR with chained possessive genitives. UN NAVÍO. UN GRANO / ALGUN GRANO. UN FRASCO — with Remark 30: the object of an active verb may be transposed elegantly before its nominative; Remark 31: if ambiguity arises, use A before the object even when not a human being. Pool: 158 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
Remark 32: when HOMBRE or MUJER is preceded by an adjective of age, complexion, country, religion, vice or virtue — the noun need not be expressed; the adjective becomes a substantive: UN VIEJO, UN NEGRO, UN BLANCO. ANCIANO (aged — before noun: MI ANCIANO PADRE; standalone: UN ANCIANO). Pool: 167 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
ME — the objective pronoun (dative and accusative) for YO. LE…A USTED reinforced formula. Remark 33: LE/ME followed by their full formula when pronoun disagrees with question, roles are reversed, or QUIÉN is the object. Remark 34: YO expressed at beginning of sentence unless answering. UN TORO, ALGUN SEBO, UN FRANCÉS, UN CARNERO, ALGUN LACRE, UN CORDERO. Pool: 174 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
The most important structural arrival since Lesson 1. Remark 35 introduces the feminine gender: nouns ending in -A, -D, or -IÓN are feminine; LA is the feminine definite article; ESTA / ESA / AQUELLA are the feminine demonstratives; LA MÍA / LA SUYA are the feminine possessive formulas. Eleven new items. Pool: 185 items.
Open lesson →Jean Manesca Simulacrum
Remark 36: adjective gender agreement — adjectives ending in -A or -E are indeclinable; others add -A (CHICO → CHICA, BUENO → BUENA; GRANDE → GRANDE). ALGUNA / NINGUNA (feminine). Eight new feminine nouns including exceptions (una mujer, una flor — both end in -R but are feminine). Fifth construed conversation. Pool: 193 items.
Open lesson →