Una Palabra Sola Episode 7, al principio
What better way to start the new year than at *the beginning* - or, al principio? It’s fitting that I’m currently writing this in the Spring, a few months past the actual launch date, because for me: todo lo bueno empieza cada primavera. As nature thaws, so do my motivation and goals!
al principio: (adv) at or in the beginning; initially; at first
Related words: primeramente (primarily), primero (at first), inicialmente (initially)
Antonyms: finalmente (finally), por fin (at last), al final (at the end)
Related verbs: comenzar (to commence), empezar (to begin, start), dar los primeros pasos (start, take the first steps)
From the Latin “prīncipium”, commencement, origin, beginning
Anytime can be a beginning - it needs to be a conscious choice and have intention behind it. And all adverbs need a verb: so it’s up to you to choose what you want to focus on.
1:06: There can be only one beginning - and it’s the only way to start (because, language).
8:15: Forgetting that a calendar exists for a moment, what times to begin something work best for you? When do you feel ease?
12:41: Can be used to show contrast and growth: at the beginning, I did or thought this way; now, I’m doing or thinking this. Celebrate that!
15:15: It’s good to call yourself out on ways that you’re holding yourself back. Doing things - whatever they are- takes time, energy, intention, and work - and all those are going to be variable throughout the day, week, month, year, or however you like to plan.
For reflection:
What verb do you want to pair up with “al principio” this year? ______________.
Escribe una cosa que quieres dejar y una cosa que quieres empezar este año. __________________________________________________________________________.
Think of the biggest accomplishment you’re the most proud of. What happened in order to accomplish that? Is there something you can do to mimic the support, schedule, or feelings for este año? _________________________________________________________________________________.
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TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
Hola y bienvenidos, hello and welcome to Una Palabra Sola, where we get to learn Spanish one word at a time. I’m your host, Megan Miller, founder and teacher at Aprovechar Language Solutions. Empezamos and let's dive in.
Hola hola otra vez, mis queridos oyentes, hello and welcome back dear, dear, dear, listeners, so bienvenidos a dos mil veintitres. Welcome to 2023. It is a new year, un año nuevo, and if you are just finding us, this is Una Palabra Sola, a podcast where you get to learn Spanish, one word at a time. However, because it is my podcast and I can break my own rules, today, we actually are learning two words. Why? Because it's a phrase, one phrase, two words. And this is simply because it is another year.
1:06
It is another beginning, a new dawn, if you will, a new day, a new year, and just ripe with opportunity. I thought that it was fitting to start the beginning with the beginning… and that is al principio. Al principio es un adverbio; it is an adverb. What does that mean for all you non-grammar folks? Bless you. It means that it changes or transforms the verb that it is near.
So any adverb that you have, it's there for the verb. Any verb is an action. And your subject does the verb to the object, generally speaking. Because this is un adverbio, there is no gender. It is just al principio. And what does this mean? It means at the beginning, it means at first, it can mean in the beginning, at or in the beginning, or it can also mean initially. And I love it when words do this, generally it is used at the beginning of a sentence or a thought. So it is near the verb that it transforms. So, por ejemplo, al principio, pensaba. At the beginning I thought, and that is your past imperfect pensaba, meaning I thought, and I'm continuing to think this, in the past. That has not changed. You can also have it kind of tucked in.
So por ejemplo, nos conocimos al principio del evento. So we met, nos conocimos, we met at the beginning, al principio, del evento. Where did we meet? At the event. When did we meet? That's your adverb at the beginning. This really all comes from Latin. The principium, which means the beginning, the origin, or the commencement. Alright, sinónimos, some synonyms for al principio. Well, we have primeramente, which is super fun to say, especially if you're a little tipsy. Primeramente or kind of primarily we're kind of, you know, at the beginning. Or you can have primero, or at the beginning, primero. Or you can have inicialmente, which is kind of like initially. So fun fact, anytime that you have -mente, but it's not talking about la mente, which is your brain. Anytime you have mente at the end of an adjective it, it's the -LY in English. So primeramente is primarily, and that is the -LY at the end. Inicialmente is initially, and that's that lovely -LY. So anytime you have that mente and it's not talking about your brain, that is that -LY and that is going to be your adverb. All of your synonyms are adverbs. El opuesto, the opposite, your antonyms. Al final. Al final is at the end. So you can have al principio and al final. You can also have finalmente, which essentially is like finally. Really, anytime that you have that “fin”, and this applies to all three of these antonyms, por fin, finalmente, al final, that is at your end. Versus “pri”, like principio, primeramente, primero, principiante, that is your beginning. And that's just all from Latin. All that etymology is just, it is one nepotistic tree from Latin. Some related verbs. You would not use these verbs with your adverb simply because it's redundant. We don't like redundancy. But comenzar is to commence. Empezar, to begin or start, and dar los primeros pasos is like take the first steps towards something.
5:39
All right, so your adverb changes or transforms the verb. Why? Why? Because my friends, mis queridos, it is January and I don't know about you, but this whole new year, new you bullshit just kind of continues every fucking year. So it makes me think that every new year is a new beginning. However, I get very overwhelmed, easily, like loud noises, um, lots of lights. I don't know, a rave is like my seventh layer of hell. I get very overwhelmed, especially with a lot of expectation and around this time of year, expectation is the Halloween candy of January. It is just being passed back and forth. Everyone has too much of it and too much is not a good thing.
So because I get so overwhelmed easily, I like to start my new year planning in August. Why? Because business is a little slower. I can take the time to just start to form my claymation, my hodgepodge of creating and ideating and thinking and slowly kind of forming my expectations. And that means that the new year is a little bit of a blue balls moment for me because I don't buy into the whole new year, new you bullshit. It is not January one, everyone starts something, right?
This is life. We can't just, you know, get off the ride and choose to come back on. All of our baggage and our thoughts and our desafíos and our challenges and opportunities, all the good and the bad, we carry that shit over from December to January. I always like to remind people the beginning doesn't need to be the beginning of a week. Or the beginning of a month, or the beginning of a year, or even the beginning of a day, right? You can begin at any point in time that you fucking choose to begin. There's only one sunrise every day, right? But if the sun is out throughout the day, does it really matter if you got up and watched the sun rise?
8:15
A beginning can be any point in time. So what times work for you? Personally, I am a big believer in Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Savings Time when it hits and what is it? November. And we, what do we do? We fall back. I don't know. It's like doing a cupid shuffle as a mass movement whenever we fall back. And all I want to do is eat potatoes, and watch baking shows, and sleep, and light a bunch of candles.
That's not the time (in my mind, for me, this is me personally, this is not you.) But that to me is not the time to start something new it. It might be the time to start thinking about some of the semillas, some of the seeds that I want to plant. But that planting time is not in the middle of winter. And I think this is why a lot of people, other than the whole expectation, and other than the fact that we are emotional beings, and a lot of times our emotions override our logic because duh.
I think this is why a lot of these New Year's resolutions fail because we, we build it up and up and up and we have all these expectations and then we get disappointed in ourselves, just like helium balloons. It's the dead of winter. Nobody wants to do anything. Um, even if it is kind of the warmest winter on record at this point, thank you, climate change. But I mean, the sun is still going away at what, 4:30, 5:00 every night. So it might be the time for more caring. Caring for yourself, caring for your loved ones, um, showing that you care and just cultivating that care in your life.
10:19
It might not be the time to do something new and exciting. For me personally, that time for new and exciting is in the spring. I love to get up when the sun hits and I am back in bed generally when the sun goes down. All this is to say, anytime can be a beginning. First of all, al principio is an adverb. That means that it needs a verb in order to make any sort of function in life, and that verb can be whatever the fuck you want it to be. That's a wonderful part of language. Anyways. Anytime can be a beginning. A lot of times at the beginning of the year, expectations are blowing and building, and that can be very overwhelming.
So choose your time, choose your beginning. And the wonderful thing about language, specifically adverbs, is they need, they require verbs to function, plain and simple. Whatever that verb is that you want to get to, match it up with al principio. So that verb can be pensar. It can be to think maybe you have a big mindset shift. That verb can be crecer, to grow. That verb can be cultivar, which is also to grow. Cultivar is like to cultivate, and crecer is usually talking about children growing up. You can do really anything, right? There are lots of different verbs. I have 501 behind me in a book. It's very overwhelming, but you can put any of those verbs with el adverbio, al principio, and you can make your own beginning, whatever that is.
So since you know this is not a rollercoaster of madness and we can't just ride one time, get off and then try again later when we're better prepared, it is very much of a constant merry-go-round. And whether or not you're merry, it's going to go ‘round. Life is just a moving bar graph, right? So anytime can be your beginning, and a lot of times what you think is your beginning is actually just the next step. Al principio can be used a lot of times to show that contrast. Well, al principio, pero ahora… Like, at the beginning, but now.
12:41
Al principio, pensé así y ahora, pienso así. Like, at the beginning I thought this; that's your pretérito, like I thought, and I no longer do. Al final, at the end, I think this. So it can show that contrast. As you're thinking about the next 12 months, the next 12 years; however you like to plan or set your expectations, or your intentions whenever you're going through life and thinking about that next step, el próximo paso, think about what that beginning looked like.
First of all, give yourself a pat on the back because generally speaking, growth is something that we don't celebrate enough. “I don't think”- I said it. There we go. I mean, we celebrate a lot of things, right? Like holidays, bank holidays, time off of work, getting a raise, making a baby, if you want that. Getting a dog or a cat, adopting something. Any of these life changes we tend to celebrate, but we don’t (a lot of times) look back and be like, oh, hey, I did that thing.
And at the beginning I was scared very much. Terrified, really. And now I'm doing okay with it. I'll give you an example since you didn't ask. I have been kind of on the lookout for more social engagements. It is now what, three years into COVID and we've all been vaccinated and boosted and shot up and talked about, talked over. Man, the last three years have been exhausting. With that, I believe it is time for me personally to leave the house more and you know, have more of a purpose and a social construct in life with actually friends and meet in person and make eye contact that's not with a webcam. What is this madness?
14:56
I was talking about that today actually, and I was like, I have to put on pants, I have to leave the house. I have to go fill up my car with gas. There are so many steps, I don't know if I can do it. And my friend said to me, listen here, boo boo, you did this plenty of times before you can do it again. And this is my personal al principio. Al principio, pensé que no pude.
However, I'm looking at that now as a contrast and well, I used to leave the house five days a week. I used to go work in an office eight to 10 to 12 hours a day. I used to come home, I used to work on my business and I used to go to sleep. And if I cannot take my happy ass out of this chair and into the real world and go mingle for an hour and then bring my happy ass on back home after making eye contact. Gasp. Then maybe I haven't grown as much as I thought that I would.
Sometimes the things that are holding ourselves back are just us, right? It's our own bullshit. It's very much we create our own bullshit and our own drama. And it's okay to call yourself out on that from time to time, de vez en vez, one of my favorite sayings, just because it's fun. De vez en vez. As you are thinking about beginnings, just remember. Anything can be a beginning. Al principio just needs a verb. You can choose whatever verb that is for you. Maybe that verb is dejar, to leave. Maybe that verb is subir, so to go up, maybe that verb is moverse, you're going move somewhere. Maybe that verb is cuidar, or take care of. Whatever that verb is, just go and own it queridos. Just own that fucking verb. Al principio, at the beginning, because at the beginning there's something energetically fun, right? You're pumped up. You're motivated. The beginning is the best way to start (because it's the only way, because language.)
17:35
Remember, recordatorio, your adverb needs a verb. Any verb that you want. Al principio can happen at any point. Any time can be a beginning. Thursday at 4:00 PM can be a beginning for you. All you have to do is own it. And also, as you are doing planning, making, creating, thinking, analyzing, overanalyzing, enjoy your growth, even if it is something small. Even if it's a small change of, “I used to do this and it bummed me out because every time I would walk away disappointed” or “I used to take part in this group and then something happened and I didn't miss it, so I've not been back.” That is growth, right? You are living more in alignment with what feels good.
And since we cannot get off of this motherfucking rollercoaster of life and emotions and feelings, right? We carry our December baggage into January. Since we can't get off of that rollercoaster, just enjoy it, and just enjoy that growth because whatever is in your life that makes you feel happy. And contented and joyful and full of awe, or even just the more random feelings of, “I've done the best that I can, and I'm good with that. I'm going to pour myself a drink and sit here and enjoy me.” Whatever gives you that feeling, own it. Celebrate it because that is something to be celebrated about. We don't need a ball to fall from the sky for that to be celebrated.
19:49
So celebrate yourselves, queridos. Choose your beginning. Choose your verb. Choose how you want to live, al principio, durante, al final. And also, be sure to check out show notes, sheets, transcript, a lovely, wonderful worksheet, or request a word. Feel free check out or Aprovechar.me or aprovecharlanguagesolutions.com. Until next time, un abrazo fuerte.
Gracias otra vez and thank you so much for coming along with me on this ride to Una Palabra Sola. Be sure to check out the show notes for additional worksheets and materials. If you have a word that you would like me to review, please let me know at AprovecharLanguageSolutions.com. Hasta la próxima vez; until next time.