When a girl turns fifteen years old in many parts of Latin America her family throws her a special birthday party. Both the girl and the party may be referred to la quinceañera. This term comes from the number fifteen in Spanish which is quince. This age traditionally signified when a girl turned into a young woman. The closest equivalent in North American culture would be a debutantes ball.
Read moreIn Spanish, the preposition a is placed in front of a noun or pronoun that refers to a specific person or persons functioning as the direct object of the sentence. Remember, the direct object is that which receives the action of the verb directly.
For example, in the following sentence Sandra is the subject and Miguel is the direct object.
Sandra sees Miguel. Sandra vee a Miguel.
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Spanish is a member of the Romance family of languages. They are called Romance languages not for being romantic, (which they are!) but for originating from Rome where Latin was spoken. All modern forms of these languages originated from a later form of Latin called Vulgar Latin spoken in the 7th through 9th centuries. To show the similarity between Romance languages here are a few examples of the word for sun:
soleil (French), sol (Spanish), sole (Italian), sol (Portuguese), soare (Romanian)
Read moreIdiomatic expressions or idioms are phrases that do not translate directly from one language to another and are often couched in the history and language of a specific culture. A good example of an idiom is, “it’s raining cats and dogs.” To a native English speaker it is obvious that people’s pets are not literally falling from the sky but to a learner of English this expression could be very confusing indeed!
Below are some useful idiomatic expressions. Integrating idioms into your everyday conversation is essential to achieving fluency in a foreign language.
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Learning a language today has never been easier for those who are unable to go and live in a foreign country to study their target language. There are numerous online resources available to help with listening and comprehension skills as well as to practice verb conjugations and build vocabulary. The challenge can be filtering through these resources to find the best ones. Below are my recommendations of podcasts, websites and apps that can serve as excellent supplemental materials. All sources are free unless otherwise indicated.Below are my recommendations of podcasts, websites and apps that can serve as excellent supplemental materials. All sources are free unless otherwise indicated.
Read moreCowboys of Argentina and Uruguay are called gauchos in Spanish. These are men that live and work their whole lives on the open plains, or pampas, of South America. They have for many generations represented the liberty and romance of this harsh landscape. Although there are not as many of them as in the past they are still viewed as a strong national emblem of their respective countries.
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When learning a new language there are always those words that you just can’t seem to keep straight. They generally look or sound similar to each other and lead to recurring confusion and frustration. Here is a sampling of a list of commonly confused words I have put together for the use of my students.
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Flamenco is a dance that originated in the south of Spain in the region of Andalucía in the 18th-century. This area of Spain has been heavily influenced by Arabic culture as Arab people were in power here from 711 until 1492. Flamenco also has roots in the gitano or Roma (gypsy) culture.
Read moreBoth Spanish and German are gendered languages which means that inanimate objects are either male or female and in the case of German even neuter. However, gender in neither of these languages is totally arbitrary as in many cases the final letter or letters of the word can be a key indicator in determining its gender.
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