Estar - "To Be" Part I

Every Spanish course and textbook must make a decision, which of the two "to be" verbs to introduce to students first.

Estar is roughly equivalent to the English "to be" as is ser.

Let's look at estar (take a quick peek at the image I've included, a view of Earth from Space).

This verb is used to express emotions. For that reason, it is included in most initial chapters. It's common, upon greeting a friend, to ask, "How are you?"

¿Cómo está Ud.?
¿Cómo estás? (tú)

Initial chapters usually model the verb in complete sentences, without much attention to conjugation.

The second most common usage of this verb is to describe location.

At one technology conference I attended, it was suggested that Spanish instructors employ the use of Google Earth to teach the verb estar with regard to location. I imagine you've seen Google Earth maps on the news, where the camera seems to zoom in on the city or region described in the segment.

I picked this up for the traditional classroom right away. I marked points at Celaya, Mexico where my friend Cecilia lives and Batavia, NY, home of the GCC main campus. I also marked La Felguera, Spain, home of my high school alma mater.

Google Earth (link includes video) allows you to fly effortlessly from Spain to Mexico to New York State. (It's a bit dizzying, in fact).

In English, we might discuss these locations in this way,

"Is Celaya far from Mexico City?"

"La Felguera is near the mountains."

"Batavia is between Buffalo, NY and Rochester, NY"

All of these sentences, translated to Spanish, would employ the use of estar.

It's all about location, location, location.

La Felguera está cerca del río Ebro.

Está en Asturias.