Grammar lesson. Pudiera is the imperfect subjunctive. But again, don’t worry about complex terms. Plug the cups with what you want to say and play. You can also use pudiese. They are interchangeable and mean the same thing. From the conversations I’ve heard, I’ve heard pudiera more often and my Colombian friend Fidel said you can use both, but he uses pudiera. He said whatever you’re more comfortable with. My understanding is that pudiese is used more in formal settings and writings, but not sure if that’s totally accurate. If you want to switch to “you could” it’s pudieras or pudiera when formal. Ojalá is always followed by subjunctive. What I learned after using this phrase. It’s subjunctive because it portrays a deep desire, hopeful anticipation, or regretful longing. It actually comes from Arabic origins insha’Allah meaning God willing, but is no longer used commonly as a religious phrase in Spanish. It means I wish, I hope, hopefully, if only, let’s hope so. Interesting fact. Arabic has a huge role in Spanish language development. The Muslims ruled Spain for around 600 years. Many Spanish words are Arabic in origin. Ex. Alcohol (al-Kuhl), azúcar, and alfombra. Alcohol in Arabic was originally makeup, not actual alcohol.

Asking, do you wish you could…? does not use ojalá or pudieras so I skipped it to avoid confusion. It’s ¿Te gustaría poder leer latín? Do you wish you could speak latin. Si pudieras does work as a question. For example, Si pudieras viajar, ¿adónde irías? If you could travel, where would you go?

Mi cuaderno del día 9.

@Dave Raftery nice pdf.

Mi cuaderno del día 11

@Tony Marsh I voted for the Syrian Arabic, but am interested in the Spanish part 2 also. Doesn’t seem like a lot of interest in the Syrian, so if that doesn’t work out, I’ll adapt the notebook course to Syrian. Once I get done teaching my EMS class next week, I’ll slowly be moving forward with the Syrian. It’s winter up here for a long time! Counting spring, which is depressing here with ice, muck, and grey clouds for weeks, it won’t be nice until the middle of May, so I’ll have plenty of time, lol.

@David Viking cool. My daughter is learning Italian. That’s my main heritage. My grandparents came off the boat when they were little. Unfortunately, they stopped speaking it in the home before I was born. May learn some to converse with my daughter when I see her. I did the first lesson in Syrian Arabic before I got busy. Used chat gpt for some of it. It worked really well. Thanks for the tip!

Mi cuaderno del día 10.