1. Something interesting in your local culture, local slang, or an interesting place in your city or country

2. Your favorite…book, movie, hobby…(you decide)

Members of the Lenguajero community will vote for their favorite audiocasts, and the two winners (one English speaker and one Spanish speaker) will each receive a $75 USD gift card to the winners choice of Amazon.com, iTunes, or Mercado Libre, as well as several fanastic language learning programs. Voices en Español is one of the sponsors, so the winners can get a free packet of Cody’s Cuentos story transcripts, if they’d like.

¡Mira!

Author unknown

Había una vez un hombre muy rico. Y había también un hombre muy pobre. Cada uno de ellos tenía un hijo y cada uno de ellos vivía a un lado de una hermosa colina.

Un día, el hombre muy rico subió con su hijo a lo alto de la colina y abarcando todo el paisaje con un amplio gesto de su brazo, dijo:

-Mira, ¡pronto todo esto será tuyo!

En ese mismo instante, el hombre muy pobre subió con su hijo por la otra ladera de la colina y, delante del sol poniente que iluminaba la llanura, le dijo a su hijo sencillamente:

-¡Mira!

Cuando paseamos por la naturaleza, cuando nos encontramos ante un hermoso paisaje, solo de nosotros depende considerar que es un bien común y compartido. Nuestra sociedad ha ido desvalorizando completamente la felicidad “gratuita” y sólo glorifica la propiedad y la compra. Ha valorado el “tener” por delante del “ser” y la economía por delante del individuo.

Sin embargo, ¿necesitamos realmente poseer algo para admirarlo y sentir felicidad? El cuadro de un maestro de la pintura que admiramos en un museo está al alcance de todos. ¿Verdad que así le sacamos más provecho que a lo que está guardado dentro de un cofre?

Letra de la canción: “Las simples cosas” sung by Buika

Uno se despide insensiblemente de pequeñas cosas,
lo mismo que un árbol que en tiempo de otoño muere por sus hojas.
Al fin la tristeza es la muerte lenta de las simples cosas,
esas cosas simples que quedan doliendo en el corazón.

Uno vuelve siempre a los viejos sitios donde amó la vida,
y entonces parece como están de ausentes las cosas queridas.
Por eso muchacho no partas ahora soñando el regreso,
que el amor es simple, y a las cosas simples las devora el tiempo.

Demórate aquí, en la luz mayor de este mediodía,
donde encontrarás con el pan al sol la mesa tendida.
Por eso muchacho no partas ahora soñando el regreso,
que el amor es simple, y a las cosas simples las devora el tiempo.

Check out his blog Fluent in 3 Months, which he frequently updates with creative ways to stay motivated and focused when learning a foreign language.

Unfortunately, the story I selected for Benny was truly a minicuento, so it didn’t give him much of a showcase to speak Spanish. To make up for that, I’m posting a humorous but very practical travel video in Spanish he did for his other blog, Irish Polyglot, explaining how to pack light for a trip.

On his blog Fluent in 3 Months Benny has creative ways to stay motivated when learning a foreign language. He’s also got plenty of video content of himself speaking in different languages over at the IrishPolyglot.com.

“La partida”

de Franz Kafka

Ordené que trajeran mi caballo del establo. El sirviente no entendió mis órdenes. Así que fui al establo yo mismo, le puse silla a mi caballo y lo monté. A la distancia escuché el sonido de una trompeta y le pregunté al sirviente qué significaba. Él no sabía nada ni escuchó nada. En el portal me detuvo y preguntó:

-¿Adónde va el patrón?

-No lo sé -le dije- simplemente fuera de aquí, simplemente fuera de aquí. Fuera de aquí, nada más, es la única manera en que puedo alcanzar mi meta.

-¿Así que usted conoce su meta? -preguntó.

-Sí -repliqué- te lo acabo de decir. Fuera de aquí, esa es mi meta.

Música: “Emocionado” de Fidel Nadal

Me siento emocionado,
por la vida que me ha tocado,
mucho tiempo la he desperdiciado,
pero hoy, la he abrazado si…

Me siento emocionado,
por la vida que me ha tocado,
mucho tiempo la he desperdiciado,
pero hoy, la he abrazado…

Me acuerdo de los días de bajón,
cuando solo en mi vida había tribulación,
no había alegría en mi corazón,
hasta que Rastafari tomo una decisión,
no me dejo solo en esta transición,
él es el que bombea en mi corazón,
él nos da el talento en esta ocasión,
así que hay que seguir y hay que ponerle emoción…

Me siento emocionado,
por la vida que me ha tocado,
mucho tiempo la he desperdiciado,
pero hoy, la he abrazado si….

Me siento emocionado,
por la vida que me ha tocado,
mucho tiempo la he desperdiciado,
pero hoy, la he abrazado…

Me acuerdo de días de perdición,
cuando no había sentido ni había dirección,
yo se que a mucha gente le da inspiración,
escuchar algo nuevo en la estación de radio,
así que ahora no aflojes que falta un montón,
hay que demostrarlo completar nuestra misión,
hablar por hablar esa no es la cuestión,
y cantar por cantar, no, sin noción,
abrazarte a la vida ,
acordarte cuando estabas tirado sin comida ,
no había nadie que te cure tus heridas,
todo parecía una calle sin salida,
te dejaban solo las personas que querías,
como salir de todo esto no sabias,
hasta que escuchaste esta melodía,
te reconforto y te trajo alegría y armonía…

Gracias amigos gracias enemigos,
porque sus pensamientos siempre están conmigo,
no me molesta tener contrincantes,
así cuando entreno yo puedo inspirarme,
tampoco yo quiero destruir a nadie,
vine a construir y a edificarme,
no me malentiendan no se malacostumbren,
gracias a la gente llegamos a la cumbre…

Emocionado,
Por la vida que me ha tocado,
Mucho tiempo la he desperdiciado,
Pero hoy, la he abrazado si….

Me siento emocionado,
por la vida que me ha tocado,
mucho tiempo la he desperdiciado,
pero hoy, la he abrazado si…

“La escuela del hambre”
Un cuento japonés

Esta historia transcurre en el siglo XVII en Japón, durante un periodo de hambre.

Un campesino que no tenía con qué alimentar a su familla se acuerda de la costumbre que promete una fuerte recompensa al que sea capaz de desafiar y vencer al maestro de una escuela de sable.

Aunque no había tocado un arma en su vida, el campesino desafía al maestro más famoso de la región.

El día fijado, delante de un publico numeroso, los dos hombres se enfrentan.

El campesino, sin mostrarse nada impresionado por la reputación de su adversario, lo espera a pie firme, mientras que el maestro de sable estaba un poco turbado por tal determinación.

“¿Quién será este hombre?” piensa. “Jamás ningún villano hubiera tenido el valor de desafiarme. ¿No será una trampa de mis enemigos?”

El campesino, acuciado por el hambre, se adelanta resueltamente hacia su rival. El Maestro duda, desconcertado por la total ausencia de técnica de su adversario.

Finalmente, retrocede movido por el miedo. Antes incluso del primer asalto, el maestro siente que será vencido. Baja su sable y dice:

-Usted es el vencedor. Por primera vez en mi vida he sido abatido. Entre todas las escuelas de sable, la mía es la más renombrada. Es conocida con el nombre de “La que en un solo gesto lleva diez mil golpes”. ¿Puedo preguntarle, respetuosamente, el nombre de su escuela?

-La escuela del hambre -responde el campesino.

I wanted to showcase the variety of accents that exist among Spanish speakers, although I’ll tell you upfront that what I will be podcasting is just a very small sample of the diversity that exists en el mundo hispanohablante. (By the way, if anyone out there with an Argentine, Cuban, Dominican or Puerto Rican accent reads this and would like to participate in a future podcast, please email me.)

There will be at least 12 different stories podcast during the next four weeks, so if you haven’t subscribed to the podcast via iTunes or via Google Reader, now is the time to do so. The complete texts of each cuento will also be posted on this web site. In some episodes, there will be music and you just need to check that epsiode’s “show notes” on this blog for the name and link to the singer or musical group.

First in the lineup is Cristina from Barcelona, Spain reading “Instrucciones para llorar” by Julio Cortázar. Enjoy!

Instrucciones para llorar. Dejando de lado los motivos, atengámonos a la manera correcta de llorar, entendiendo por esto un llanto que no ingrese en el escándalo, ni que insulte a la sonrisa con su paralela y torpe semejanza. El llanto medio u ordinario consiste en una contracción general del rostro y un sonido espasmódico acompañado de lágrimas y mocos, estos últimos al final, pues el llanto se acaba en el momento en que uno se suena enérgicamente. Para llorar, dirija la imaginación hacia usted mismo, y si esto le resulta imposible por haber contraído el hábito de creer en el mundo exterior, piense en un pato cubierto de hormigas o en esos golfos del estrecho de Magallanes en los que no entra nadie, nunca. Llegado el llanto, se tapará  con decoro el rostro usando ambas manos con la palma hacia adentro. Los niños llorarán con la manga del saco contra la cara, y de preferencia en un rincón del cuarto. Duración media del llanto, tres minutos.

Music: “Ya no duele” (featuring Santullo) by Bajofondo

How many times have you heard or read a Spanish expression and then consulted a dictionary for its meaning and turned up empty? Maybe you found a definition right away. But perhaps there have been a few occasions where it took a little bit of digging to find the definition.

There is an easy way to uncover the meanings of Spanish expressions and you can do it by using a monolingual (Spanish-only) dictionary. Here’s how:

Always look up the meaning of an expression by checking the dictionary entry for the first noun mentioned in the expression. The reason? A Spanish verb is more likely than a Spanish noun to be used in multiple expressions. For example, the verbs dar, estar, ir, tener, are used in plenty of Spanish phrases and expressions. An excellent Spanish dictionary will list expressions that contain those verbs, but if there are numerous expressions, most dictionaries usually only list the most commonly-used ones. That’s why you’re better off looking for the definition of a Spanish expression by first checking the entry for the main noun mentioned.

Spanish expressions (frases hechas) are combinations of words whose meaning adds up to something very different from their individual parts.

Take, for example, an expression like “ir al grano.” The verb ir means “to go” while the noun grano can be a seed, a grain of sand or a pimple on somebody’s face. But when ir is added to grano (ir al grano) the meaning changes from a literal translation to a figurative one.

When I checked the dictionary under “IR” there was no definition for the expression. But when I checked “GRANO”, there was the expression with its meaning. Ir al grano means “to get to the point.”

So, to recap, here’s a step-by-step process you can use to find the definition of a Spanish expression.

Step 1: First, look up the primary NOUN

Step 2: If there is no noun, look up the VERB.

Step 3: If there is no verb, look up the ADJECTIVE.

Step 4:  If there is no adjective, look up the PRONOUN.

Most of the time, you won’t have to go down that entire scale. You will usually find your definition by first looking up the noun or the verb. Usually the first two steps (checking the noun or the verb listed in the expression) is enough.

By the way, I strongly believe that once you reach an intermediate-level of Spanish, you should start using a Spanish-only dictionary. Why? A monolingual dictionary usually gives a more comprehensive definition. A good monolingual dictionary will also give you examples as well as multiple definitions. The average bilingual dictionary, because it contains two different languages, generally does not have the space, if it is in book form, to offer the same level of detail.

Of course, there are some electronic or digital bilingual dictionaries which are excellent, but another advantage to using a monolingual dictionary is that it forces you to think in Spanish. That means less translating in your head, which is a good thing.

Previous entry: “How to use a Spanish-English Dictionary”

You may remember Amy from her very entertaining 2008 video 21 Accents. Now she’s back with a short instructional video on how anyone can improve their accent in any language. Amy says the key to nailing an accent is to be intensely fascinated by the language and its native speakers.

Pick a Spanish-speaking region or country which has an accent (and culture) you find appealing and use that as your foundation. Flood your brain with audio samples (music, radio, movies, TV, podcasts, etc.) from that region or country and then try to model your speech as much as possible from that input.

Here’s a summary of Amy’s advice on how to polish any accent:

Vowels & Consonants

Learn exactly what the vowel and consonant sounds and rules are and then practice, practice, practice. This is a particularly important piece for native-English speakers learning Spanish since Spanish has only five vowel sounds whereas English has as many as a dozen sounds for the same letters. For many English-speakers, when they initially start learning Spanish, they naturally revert to using the English vowel sounds when they need to stick rigidly to the five Spanish ones.

Melody, Rhythm & Stress

This is the intonation of the language. Where and when are words stressed? What is the natural rise and fall of the spoken language? How does one reproduce the musicality of the language? I think for many people, this is the hardest part to perfect when learning a foreign language.

Grammar & Vocabulary

Know which grammar structures and regionalisms, etc., go with the Spanish accent you are trying to duplicate. For example, you may be able to do a good Argentine accent, but if you use expressions that are used primarily in Mexico while you are visiting Buenos Aires, it may seem odd.

Think about what it would be like to hear a foreigner with an impeccable American accent using British English words such as “lift” or lorry” instead of “elevator” or “truck.”  You might wonder how they were able to nail the accent but missed learning some basic rules about British vs. American English.

Find the “vibe”

By this Amy means that you need to find the inherent character and personality of the language and then fake it until you make it.

PART I

PART II

It may seem so basic that it’s not even worth mentioning. But last week I discovered that my some of my students were hazy on how to use a bilingual dictionary. That realization made me decide that perhaps there are plenty of other language learners out there who could use a few pointers on how to use a Spanish-English dictionary effectively.

Step 1: Use a reliable dictionary.

For an online dictionary, I recommend Word Reference.com. For an iPhone app, plenty of people have raved to me about the SpanishDict app.

For conventional hardcover/paperback book versions of dictionaries, take a look at Spanish-English dictionaries published by Merriam-Webster or Larousse. I’ve used these in the past and they’re decent. In “What Spanish Dictionary to Use?,” Spanish instructor Ramses Oudt gives a few suggestions.

Step 2: Know what you’re looking for

By this I mean, know what part of speech you need. Are you looking for a noun? An adjective? An adverb? An interjection? The English language has many words that are spelled exactly the same but represent different parts of speech. For example, the English word “well” can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb or an interjection. If you consult a Spanish-English dictionary not knowing which version of “well” you need, it’s likely that you’re going to wind up using the wrong word in Spanish.

3. Use correct spelling of the English word

This is related to Step 2. Once you know which part of speech you are looking for, be sure to spell the word correctly in English. There are numerous words in English which sound the same but are spelled differently and they have different meanings. Words like be/bee; bow/beau; hole/whole; plain/plane, see/sea, etc.  Look up the word “bow” in a Spanish-English dictionary when what you really have in mind is the word “beau,” is going to lead you to use the wrong word in Spanish.

4. Do a reverse look-up

This means that once you find the Spanish word on the English side of the dictionary, flip back over to the Spanish side and check which English word is given for the same word. At times you may be surprised by how the words differ.

Doing this reverse lookup is extremely important. Some Spanish-English dictionaries seem like they were produced by two separate teams of translators who didn’t consult one another when putting the complete dictionary together.

For example, one Spanish-English dictionary I checked for the word guapo told me that its English equivalent was the word “attractive.” What I expected to find was “beautiful/handsome.”

Then I checked the English side of the dictionary for the word “beautiful.” This particular dictionary gave me the Spanish words hermoso, bonito. But when I then checked the Spanish side of the dictionary for bonito to see what English word would appear, it gave me the English word “pretty.”

This is an extended example of what can happen when you’re using an inadequate bilingual dictionary. It may steer you away from the Spanish word that you need. That’s why it’s so important to check and then double check the meaning of the words given for both languages to verify that you’re on the right track.

5. Pay attention to the fine print

A good bilingual dictionary will tell you if a word or phrase is a regionalism used in a particular part of the Spanish-speaking world. The classic example is the verb COGER, which means “to get” or “to catch” in Spain but means “to fuck” in Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Big difference.

Obviously, if your native language isn’t English and you would use a bilingual dictionary paired with your own native language (Spanish-German, Spanish-French, Spanish-Japanese, etc.) these same general steps still apply.

In a future blog post, I will tell you how to use a dictionary to find the meanings of Spanish idioms. I’ll probably post that entry in the next couple of days.

Which Spanish-English dictionaries would you recommend? Leave your suggestions in the comments below or tell me about them via Twitter @SpanishWordz.

I’m usually a stickler about promoting grammatically correct Spanish. But I liked Kharisma’s voice so I went ahead and put this song in the podcast even though I knew that parts of it were grammatically incorrect. I don’t know why the Spanish lyrics are the way they are. I guess it is the artist’s prerogative.

In any case, here are the lyrics. The errors are crossed out, like this, while the correct Spanish is in blue italics.

La mujer

Yo nací de la tierra sin madre o padre [sin madre ni padre]

Caminando el mundo buscando a ti [buscándote]

Tu caí [Te caiste] del cielo un ángel sin pena

Tus ojos cerrados, parando enfrente de mí. [Parándote enfrente de mí con los ojos cerrados]

Tus manos abiertos, llorando enfrente de mi. [Llorando enfrente de mí con las manos abiertas]

Yo nací de la tierra sin madre o padre. [sin madre ni padre]

Tú caí [Te caiste] del cielo buscando a mi.

Yo siempre sabi que tú me quería [Yo siempre sabía que me querías]

Pero ya es muy claro

Que no soy la mujer para ti.

Porque soy del [de la] tierra y el cielo no es para mí.

Yo estaba buscando todo [toda] mi vida

Un alma pérdida que siempre sentí

Yo siempre sabí que tú me quiera [sabía que me querías]

Pero ya es muy claro

Que no soy la mujer para ti.

Porque soy del [de la] tierra y el cielo no es para mí

Entonces voy a volver a la tierra donde yo nací.

Tell us a little about Lenguajero. What prompted you to create the site?

Lenguajero is a website that connects Spanish and English speakers for online language practice and cultural exchange. Natalie Gordon, (my fiancée and business partner) and I provide our members with three effective learning tools: Online Conversation Exchanges using a voice, video and text chat app., a Writing Club to practice writing in the language they are learning (native speakers leave feedback on submissions), and a Smart Flashcard program to help them memorize and retain new vocabulary.

While Natalie and I were living in Medellin, Colombia our Spanish really started to take off, and we started feeling comfortable speaking the language. It was around this point in time that Natalie pointed that, despite the thousands of language learning websites out there, few of them were focusing specifically on connecting Spanish and English learners with one another for conversation exchanges.

Given how much spending time everyday interacting with native speakers had helped in our own learning process, we thought that there was real potential for this type of site. We had our laptops with us, and just decided to start building something.

Currently there are several different social networking language learning sites such as Busuu, Live Mocha and iTalki. How is Lenguajero different from those other sites?

As I mentioned above, it was the observation that none of these learning communities were focusing on just Spanish and English learners prompted us to start working on Lenguajero. We had both tried Busuu and Live Mocha before we left the U.S., but we always felt like the wide open “any language you want” approach made the community more of a social site than a learning tool.

Our focus on just Spanish and English means that every user has something in common with every other user.  This makes it easy for users to connect with one another and help each other out.

How and where did you learn Spanish?

I’m originally from Washington state in the U.S. and Natalie is from Canada. Neither one of us are native Spanish speakers.  In fact, it wasn’t until about two years ago that I really developed an interest in learning Spanish.  I was traveling through Central America, and not being able to have normal conversations with people I would meet was pretty frustrating.  It gave me the motivation I needed to buckle down and start learning.

I took a few Spanish lessons in Central America, and studied on my own when I got back to the U.S.  Then, Natalie and I decided to move to Latin America and immerse ourselves in the language.

We took classes for six months while living in Cuba and Colombia.  We also spent a lot of time reading, watching movies, studying flashcards, spending time chatting with friends and acquaintances, and in general just living day-to-day life in a Spanish-speaking country.

What were some of the difficulties you faced when learning Spanish?

Getting past the initial “This is really hard, and I’ll never understand the Subjunctive” phase.  I remember that for the first couple of months, no matter how much progress I was making, I always felt like I would never be able to speak clearly. Once I just relaxed, and accepted that it was going to take time, I started feeling a lot more comfortable and started to notice big improvements.

What’s the size of your language learning community and when is it most active?

Lenguajero has roughly 5000 members, and it is a pretty even mix between English and Spanish speakers. The site is most active during the week, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I always wonder why mid-week is more popular than the weekends. Anyone have any ideas?

What is the profile of your native Spanish-speaking members?

About 50-60% of our Spanish-speaking members are in their 20s, and are either university students or young professionals. There is a high number of engineers, software developers, doctors and lawyers because it is really important in these fields to learn English.

With that said, the other 40-50% is a complete mixed bag (this goes for both English and Spanish speakers).  Our community is really diverse.  Almost anyone who is learning Spanish or English can come on and find people with similar interests to talk to. We have a 79-year-old Venezuelan and a 78-year-old American who are very active in the community.

Any new features or tools under development that Lenguajero fans can look forward to seeing later this year?

Yes! We just launched Lenguajero – Classroom which helps teachers integrate Lenguajero into their course curriculum, by allowing them to monitor what their students are doing on the site.  The feature is in beta testing right now, and we currently have about 25 classes signed up to try it out.  We will be working closely with the teachers of these classes to improve and expand the tool over the next six months.

We also are planning on adding a few more community features to the site to make it easier for members to interact and share with one another.

We are always looking for ideas on how we can improve the site, and offer things that other sites do not.  If anyone has any suggestions we would love to hear them.  You can reach us through our contact us page.

Follow Lenguajero on Twitter @Lenguajero

see more Funny Graphs

This is a guest post by polyglot blogger Ramses Oudt. Although he speaks multiple languages, he has a passion for Spanish and writes about learning Spanish through immersion at Spanish Only.

If you didn’t listen to a lot of Spanish before starting to speak the language, it’s likely you have an accent. It might be a slight accent, but an accent nonetheless. Even if you’ve listened to hundreds of hours of native Spanish speakers on TV, in movies, in your neighborhood, etc. it’s possible to have an accent. Some people don’t mind, but many do.

Luckily not all is lost. I am a native Dutch speaker and Spanish is my third language. I used to have a terrible accent when speaking Spanish but it has improved tremendously in the last year or so to the point where now most native Spanish speakers don’t even notice it.

How did I polish my Spanish accent? I had to put in a lot of work to get a better accent. And no, it wasn’t something that just clicked, I really had to work hard to get better. But it was definitely worth it because now my Spanish is at a level where I can relax a bit.

Here are 5 steps I made to improve my accent. I believe they can help anyone who has the same goal of speaking more fluent Spanish.

Step 1: Find your weak spots
You can say, “Yeah, I have a foreign accent“, but if you don’t know which part of your speech is bogged down with your gringo accent, you’re going nowhere. So analyze your speech. Record yourself reading the letters of the Spanish alphabet out loud and then choose a short text, like three paragraphs or less, and read that out loud as well.

Once you have this recording of your voice, ask one or two native Spanish speakers, whose accent you like, for feedback. This step is very important. Don’t ask: “How do I sound?” because often they’ll just say you sound great. Ask them to critique specific sounds like the vowels, the letters t and r, etc.

Also, you may find that many native Spanish speakers won’t be able to fully articulate what exactly you’re doing wrong. They know that it doesn’t sound native but they can’t necessarily guide you on how to correct it.

If that’s the case, get a recording of them using the correct sounds plus reading a basic text and use that as your baseline of pronunciation. Then you should imitate, imitate and imitate some more, and keep asking for feedback to see if you’re getting closer.

Step 2: Open your mouth
A common problem for English (and Dutch) speakers is that we don’t open our mouths enough. It’s almost possible to insert something between your lips and not have it fall out and still speak English, that’s how closed we keep our mouths. So open wide in the beginning. When you pratice, pretend like you are speaking to a person who is hard of hearing so that you pronounce words in an exaggeratedly slow manner.

Step 3: Stick to the vowel sounds
The rolled R can be a pain in the butt, but mispronouncing vowels can also contribute to you not sounding Spanish. Spanish only has five vowel sounds, so stick to them. I know English has many more sounds, but Spanish doesn’t. Even diphthongs in Spanish are just combinations of those vowel sounds, so they don’t create new sounds. Focus on learning the five vowel sounds by heart (a, e, i, o, u, el burro sabe más que tú).

Step 4: Practise
Now you know where your pronunciation weak points are and more or less know how to sound, you can start practising. First listen to the correct sound repeatedly to get the precise idea on how to sound. Next copy the sound and produce it yourself. For some sounds (like the trilled r) you may need additional training and guidance, but don’t give up. Keep at it.

Step 5: Use the correct intonation
Intonation is essentially the melody of speech. It’s the way a language rises and falls when spoken and for many of us learning Spanish, it’s the reason why we’re so drawn to the Spanish language. Spanish intonation differs from region to region (just like in English), so it can be quite difficult adopting one that is right for you.

My advice is to pick up intonation little by little. Often this comes naturally if you listen to a lot of Spanish, but sometimes you need to concentrate on one aspect of a region’s intonation. Find a Spanish-speaking region’s accent that you like and have that be your guide.

Enjoyed this post? Follow Ramses on Twitter @spanishonly or visit his blog Spanish Only.

Photo: Gringo by Pragmagrapher

Cierto día, un compañero de colegio señaló en la calle a una mujer, diciéndome:

-Mírala, está muerta.

A mí me parecía imposible que una difunta se moviera con aquella naturalidad entre la gente. De hecho, sabía que era mentira, pero resultaba excitante creérselo, así que le seguí el juego. Mi amigo me aseguró que era capaz de distinguir a una mujer muerta entre mil mujeres vivas.

-¿Pero en qué lo notas?

-En nada en concreto y en todo a la vez. Si te fijas, van envueltas como en una burbuja de paredes invisibles. Cuando seas capaz de percibir esa burbuja, aprenderás a distinguirlas.

A los pocos días de esta conversación, iba dando patadas a las piedras por mi calle, cuando vi a una mujer dentro de la burbuja. La burbuja la puse yo seguramente, pero la mujer era completamente real. La seguí con disimulo hasta la Avenida de América, y luego por Francisco Silvela, hasta llegar a una ferretería en la que entró para salir al poco del brazo de un sujeto muy alto, con bigote a lo Clark Gable. El hombre estaba vivo, desde luego, y no trataba a la mujer como a un cadáver. Al contrario, se acercaba a su cuerpo cuanto le era posible, desplazando la pared de la burbuja hacia el otro lado, y le besaba el cuello a través de esa membrana que parecía no detectar. Entraron en un bar que hacía esquina con la calle de Méjico y se comieron un bocadillo de calamares cada uno. Cuando ella alargaba el brazo para tomar de la barra el vaso de cerveza, sacaba la mano de la burbuja sin romperla, del mismo modo que algunos objetos son capaces de penetrar en una pompa de jabón.

Comencé a centrar mi atención en él. Parecía el prototipo de individuo mundano que por entonces yo mismo aspiraba a ser. Una persona con clase, pensaba ingenuamente, debe moverse con la misma naturalidad entre los muertos y los vivos. Aquel hombre actuaba con una soltura increíble y sabía en qué momento tenía que abrocharse o desabrocharse el botón de la chaqueta o pasarse el dedo índice por el extremo del bigote, como para recoger, más que una miga de pan, un pensamiento. Al salir del bar, él la tomó de la cintura y la atrajo hacia sí con tal violencia que la sacó sin darse cuenta de la burbuja. Entonces abandoné la persecución con la idea romántica de que el amor consiste en rescatar al otro de la muerte, y decidí esperar mi oportunidad.

A los pocos meses llegó al barrio una chica nueva, con burbuja. Era muy joven para estar muerta, pero lo consulté con mi amigo y me dijo que las había de todas las edades.

-Una prima mía de tres semanas está muerta también.

-¿Y qué dicen sus padres?

-No lo saben. La mayoría de la gente no ve la burbuja.

Me enamoré como un loco, y, cuando logré reunir el dinero suficiente, la invité a un bocadillo de calamares en el bar de Francisco Silvela esquina a Méjico. Luego intenté acercarme para rescatarla de la burbuja, pero no se dejó. Y al día siguiente, cuando pasé cerca de un grupo en el que se encontraba ella, noté que me señalaba con expresión de burla. Estaba presumiendo de haberme sacado un bocadillo de calamares, que para nosotros era una fortuna. Entonces, pese a mi timidez, me acerqué al grupo y, apuntándole al pecho con el dedo, le dije:

-Estás muerta. No vayas a creerte que no lo sé.

Todas sus amigas se alejaron un poco, como con miedo a contagiarse, y desde entonces arrastró una vida solitaria, que yo tampoco intenté aliviar, aunque me lo pedía con los ojos. Se casó con un muerto de hambre con el que asiste a misa de difuntos todas las semanas. Continúa en el barrio, y, cuando me acerco por allí, a ver a mis padres, se hace la encontradiza para que la libere de la burbuja en la que sigue atrapada. Pero ahora, aunque quisiera, no podría, porque yo mismo he ido encerrándome durante todos estos años dentro de una membrana transparente y flexible de la que sólo podría rescatarme una mujer viva.

Lyrics for closing music: “La mujer” by Kharisma Montes de Oca

“Ese chico está high.”

“Hay muchos suplidores en San Juan.”

If the Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española gets its way, mangled Spanglish phrases like the ones listed above will eventually become a thing of the past in Puerto Rico. The Academia has published the first edition of the “Diccionaro del Anglicismos Actuales,” which it hopes will cut down on the amount of anglicismos (English words or phrases) that currently circulate in Puerto Rican Spanish.

This new 800-page dictionary containing approximately 3,500 anglicismos wants to show Puerto Ricans that there are perfectly viable Spanish words and phrases that exist that they should be using instead of the English ones.  The Academia hopes to get school teachers in Puerto Rico to take the lead on policing the island’s Spanish since they are in the best position to catch and correct these types of linguistic mistakes.

Will this mean the end of Spanglish expressions like “Te llamo para atrás”?  ¡Ni hablar! Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States and although the majority of Puerto Ricans living on the island do not speak English fluently, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the pull and influence of English is just too strong at this point for the tide to be pushed back. The only way for the English presence in Puerto Rican Spanish to get stamped out at this point would be if it became cool among young Puerto Ricans to use the Spanish equivalents.

————————————————————————————————

“Te llamo para atrás.” Should be: “Te devuelvo la llamada.”

“Ese chico está high.” The correct/formal way: “Ese chico está drogado.” Slang (at least in Spain): “El chico está colocado.”

“Hay muchos suplidores….” “Suplidor” is pure Spanglish [supplier + proveedor = suplidor]. The correct word in Spanish is proveedor.

1). Spain – On the Road Again

This video culinary road trip with chef Mario Batali and actress Gwyneth Paltrow is really quite good. If you’ve never been to Spain, this TV series will give you a great introduction to the foodie culture of Spain. The 13-episodes of this TV show are available on a DVD and there’s also an accompanying book. (Book + DVD combo: $49.95)

2). La Tienda

Speaking of food….the online catalog of La Tienda has plenty of mouthwatering treats. Try the morcilla with onions ($13.95) or the Tetilla queso, a soft cheese made from cow’s milk, from Galicia ($22.50).

La Tienda also has a web site for Europe and the U.K. but the selection of items is different from the U.S. site.

3). 90 Clásicos de la literatura para gente con prisas

This would be a gag gift since it’s a comic book that boils down 90 classic works of literature to the bare essentials. Epics such as Don Quijote, Lord of the Rings and Ulysses all get the same treatment: a “synopsis” presented in a panel of four illustrated squares.

If you don’t find this kind of Cliff Notes approach amusing, then stay away. But if you like the idea of refreshing your memory about some of the greatest literary works and doing that in an unconventional way, ¡adelante!

4). El Baile del Sombrero

If you have little kids or you want to encourage a young niece, nephew or grandchild to learn Spanish, here’s an ideal gift – a CD of kid’s songs in Spanish. The songs revolve around basic everyday activities (taking a bath, going to school, a trip to the zoo, etc.).  It’s a nice way to expose very young children to the sound of the Spanish language.

5. Spanish lessons via Skype

Maybe this will be a gift that you’ll want to give yourself in the new year – online Spanish lessons. There are many Spanish-language instructors currently giving classes online via Skype and their hourly teaching rates are generally quite affordable. Just do a Google search. I’ve seen some instructors charging as little as $10 per hour.  Some won’t charge you for the first class as a way of enticing you to sign up for multiple sessions.

Whether you decide to give something like this as a gift (or just keep it for yourself), make sure you get references from past or current students. Also, if you have to pay for a block of classes, don’t pay for more than three lessons initially. That should be more than enough time to figure out whether the teaching arrangement will work or not.

6. Spanish podcasts & transcripts

Download a series of episodes of your favorite Spanish podcasts, burn them onto a CD and then print out or purchase the accompanying episode transcripts. These days there are so many instructional Spanish-language podcasts to choose from, you could put together an eclectic mix of voices and topics.

It’s an idea that didn’t occur to me until recently, when a reader of my other blog, Cody’s Cuentos, purchased the entire collection of story transcripts. He told me that he was putting together a unique Spanish-learning gift pack for his wife. What a great husband!

7. Book a vacation in Spain

If a trip to Spain in 2010 is in the cards, check out this travel and leisure web site called Smart Box. It has affordable listings for several lovely rustic Spanish casa rurales (country inns and Bed & Breakfasts) like Mas Torrent in Cataluña and Casa Manadero in Extremadura. One-night stays start at 79.90 euros for two people. (On the Smart Box site check under the categories “Estancia Pintoresca” and “Estancia Sabor Rural”.)

OK, this one might be a little hard to completely arrange on such short notice with Christmas only a week away, but it’s always nice to dream, isn’t it?

Photo of Benia de Onis, a village with 230 inhabitants, located in Asturias, Spain.

The Real Academia Española has finally published the definitive manual of Spanish grammar – “Nueva gramática de la lengua española: El español de todo el mundo”

This volume examines, for the first time under one roof, so to speak, the similarites and differences that exist between the varieties of the Spanish language as it is spoken in Spain and Latin America. The series of books, more than a decade in the making, are a massive collaboration between the 22 Academias de la Lengua Española. As a result special attention will be paid, for the first time by the RAE, to specific terms and usages of the Spanish language in the Americas.

If you’re a die-hard lover of Spanish and linguistics, you may be tempted to buy these books now. I’d caution you to wait and see because there are other versions of the books coming out next year.

The initial two-volume set is HUGE (almost 4,000 pages) and the price tag is 120 euros.  A third volume will be released in the coming months. After browsing through the first two volumes it was clear to me that this initial set of books is a scholarly work suited to language/linguistics professors and other academics. It’s not geared to people learning Spanish.

The good news is that the RAE is releasing its nueva gramática in three distinct versions.

The first, the only one currently available, is the complete, unabridged version. The target market for this would be university libraries or Spanish professors and doctoral language students.

Called simply Manual, Version 2.0 of la nueva gramática will be a 750-page tome. It will contain more concise descriptions and succinct explanations than Version 1.0, according to the RAE. It will be published in March 2010.

Target market:  Spanish professors and students of Spanish at the university level.

Version 3.0 is entitled “Gramática básica.” This book won’t be released until a year from now, at the end of 2010. It will be a 250-page paperback designed for the general public.

Target market: Spanish teachers at the primary and secondary school level, as well as non-university-level students of Spanish.

If you’d like to get a taste of what Version 1.0, (the unabridged version pictured below), is like, click here for a PDF that contains a sample of the text, as well as other details about the book series.

Fortunately, there are a few idiomatic Spanish phrases and expressions that are very close to their English equivalents.  Below is a random list I put together for my ReVerb Spanish Twitter feed. These are phrases that if you didn’t know the Spanish idiomatic expression and happened to translate the English phrase exactly to Spanish, you wouldn’t be too far off the mark.  (You can get more details about the origin of some of these phrases as well as and some example sentences here.)

Al pie de la letra: to the letter (to do something exactly as it is said or written)

Apretarse el cinturón: to tighten one’s belt (to cut costs, to reduce one’s expenses)

Armarse hasta los dientes: Armed to the teeth (fully prepared for anything)

Con las manos en la masa: With the hands in the dough (American English: Hands in the cookie jar, i.e. to get caught doing something you shouldn’t be doing.)

Cuando el gato no está, los ratones bailan: When the cat’s away, the mice will play

Estar en el séptimo cielo: to be in 7th heaven (to be extremely happy)

Matar dos pájaros de un tiro: to kill 2 birds with 1 stone

Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Meterse (a alguien) en el bosillo: to have someone in your back pocket, to have someone wrapped around your little finger. (To have someone under your control or influence.)

Ser la gallina de los huevos de oro: to be the goose that laid the golden eggs (to be a source of infinite wealth)

Ser la oveja negra: to be the black sheep

Ser el brazo derecho: to be someone’s right hand (to be an essential assistant to someone)

Tener corazón: to have a heart (to be kind)

Tener estómago: to have a stomach (to be strong)

Tener sangre azul: to have blue blood (to be descended from royalty)

Tirar la toalla: to throw in the towel (to give up)

Tomar algo con un grano de sal: to take something with a grain of salt (to be skeptical)

Want more details and example sentences using these phrases in Spanish? Get a more in-depth explanation for all of the above phrases by reading what I posted on Twitter on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 over here.

This is a guest post written by Alan Malarkey

Unless you are particularly driven and or talented, progressing to the next level and sustaining  interest in learning a foreign language can be a struggle. Finding an ‘intercambio’ or a language exchange partner, is a relatively well-worn path that offers valuable practise.

The basic premise is to find a native Spanish speaker who is willing to converse with you in Spanish in exchange for helping him or her with their English (or whatever your native language is.) Once you find a willing conversation partner, you can agree to meet regularly for a set time.

It only costs the price of a cup of coffee and, depending on the compatibility of the partners, it can work very well. For some it is a route to lasting friendship and in some cases marriage, but even if you’re not in the market for a spouse, doing an intercambio can be a very worthwhile experience.

I’ve done all types of intercambios – from meeting in a café to meeting online and conversing via Skype. Whether you meet in person or online, connections can go astray and patience is often required. Frequently, a one-to-one intercambio can fizzle out because of scheduling conflicts or simply because of the lack of common interests. For that reason, I am a big believer in a group intercambio arrangement.

In Croydon, U.K., we have been running Croydon-Spanish over the last two years. English and Spanish speakers meet for two to three hours in a pub on a Monday evening and we chat informally in the the two languages. It is not very structured and members of the group are simply encouraged to be mindful of each other’s needs and interests and to be patient and positive.

Usually we have a well-balanced group in terms of age, gender and, of course, Spanish and English speakers. Our native Spanish speaking participants are roughly divided between Latin Americans and Spaniards. Often they are young people trying to improve their English as part of a university degree or they are in the U.K. to enhance their CV. Levels of language mastery vary, from the relative beginner to bilingual.

Although this form of learning and practice is probably not suitable for the complete novice and is not a replacement for formal study, the group intercambio provides speaking practice in a social setting. There is quite a high turnover of attendees and the ratio of enrolled members to those attending is quite low, but this is not a bad thing. Apart from myself and a few other loyal and regular members, the group regularly replenishes itself with new participants. Most of all it is just a fun and enjoyable evening.

Here is some advice If you would like to start a group intercambio in your area:

Advertise, advertise, advertise

The key to finding members is advertising but don’t worry, you can do it for free. In London, we use Gumtree.com but in the U.S. you have Craigslist. Don’t forget to put up fliers in local places such as the public library, bookstores and, of course, local community colleges and universities.

Obviously, one of the most effective ways to advertise is thorugh word-of-mouth. Thanks to today’s social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter, it has become easier than before to find and connect with other people who share similar interests.

One way in which I am promoting the group is through a web site [ http://croydon-spanish.ning.com/ ] where members of the group can post photos, videos and also provide links to online Spanish and English learning resources.

Reach out to native Spanish speakers

If you are enrolled in a Spanish class, ask your Spanish teacher to participate in the conversation group and to help you spread the word. If there is a sizable Spanish-speaking population in your community, find out which local publications they read, what groups they participate in and where they hang out. Post your fliers there. (For example, a community group that helps Hispanic immigrants or a church or restaurant.)

Keep it simple

Choose a specific day and time and stick to it. It will be easier to attract people on an ongoing basis if they know that the group meets on the dame day at the same time each month. You will have a harder time building a following if the day and time changes from week to week or from month to month.

Also, with regards to the actual conversations, don’t put any pressure on yourself to come up with topics unless, of course, the group wants that. With my group, discussions take us in different directions. Sometimes we engage in comparing cultural and linguistic differences or surgically dissecting grammar constructions. Other times, we simply chat about life, tell jokes, swap expressions and reveal our hopes and dreams. We rarely feel the need to construct artificial conversation.

If you’d like to get more information or advice about starting your own group intecambio, connect with me via Twitter or drop by my web site and send me a message. Sustain your interest through human contact – what could be better?

Connect with Alan Malarkey on Twitter (twitter.com/croydonspanish) or at http://croydon-spanish.ning.com/

Other articles about this topic:

How to get the most out of group intercambios

Intercambio Etiquette

5 Questions to Ask Your Intercambio

4 Ways to Correct Your Intercambio

Dealing with a conversational hijacker

Photo: “Friends in a coffee house” used under license from iStockPhoto.com

de Juan José Millás ( “Cuerpo y prótesis”)

Un chico y una chica muy jóvenes, de instituto, discutían acaloradamente en el metro. Me acerqué disimuladamente a ellos en el momento en el que la chica decía:

-¿Y por qué las mujeres tenemos que tomar somníferos en lugar de somníferas? Lo lógico es que hubiera somníferos para hombres y somníferas para mujeres.

-Eso es lo mismo que decir que los hombres deberíamos tomar aspirinos en lugar de aspirinas. Pues mira, yo me he pasado la vida tomando aspirinas y soy tan hombre como el que más.

-Ya está. Si no te sale el macho no te quedas contento. Naturalmente que los hombres deberíais tomar aspirinos. Yo, si algún día tengo hijos, les daré aspirinos, del mismo modo que a las hijas les administraré antibióticas cuando les haga falta.

-Y los chicos se sentarán en sillos en vez de en sillas, me imagino.

-Pues sí, se sentarán en sillos y dormirán en camos y comerán el sopo, no la sopa, con cucharos. Las cucharas son para las mujeres.

-Tú estás loca. Vete al psiquiatra.

-Y tú al psiquiatro.

El tren se detuvo, se bajaron y yo continué perplejo cinco estaciones más pensando que la chica llevaba razón. ¿Cómo era posible que una lengua tan sexuada como la nuestra cometiera unos fallos, o quizá unas fallas, de ese calibre? Todo el mundo, muy pendiente de que los niños no jueguan con muñecas ni las niñas con tanques, y sin embargo se obliga a las mujeres a viajar en el metro (en lugar de en la metra) y a los hombres a subir al tranvía (en lugar de al tranvío).

Angustiado por esta imperfección que acababa de descubrir en mi lengua materna (perdón, en mi lenguo materno), miré alrededor y vi a una chica leyendo un libro, lo que me pareció una perversión (debería leer una libra) y a un hombre rascándose la rodilla, cuando lo suyo es que se rascara el rodillo y así sucesivamente.

Llegué a casa (a caso en realidad) y le dije a mi mujer que todo estaba patas arriba. Cuando le expliqué por qué me miró de un modo raro y me pidió que hiciera unas tortillas para la cena.

-Unos tortillos, si no te importa  -le respondí-, puesto que me voy a ocupar yo del asunto. Si quieres tortillas, las tendrás que hacer tú misma.

Por la noche, la oí hablar con su madre por teléfono (por teléfona, para decirlo con propiedad), y tuve la impresión de que me criticaba. Al día siguiente, se fue de casa, dejándome una nota en la que me pedía que no intentara localizarla. Le daba miedo (<<o mieda, por emplear tu lenguaje>>) vivir conmigo. La echo de menos, pero no podría estar con alguien que se expresara tan mal como ella. Así es la vida, o el vido, qué le vamos a hacer.

—————————————————

Glossary:

“instituto” means “high school” in this context.

Somnífero means sleeping pill.

Si no te sale el macho no te quedas contento (Essentially, “You’re not happy if you can’t be the tough, manly guy.) The verb “quedarse” is being used here with the same meaning as the verb “estar.”

llevar razón = tener razón = to be right

This week’s podcast is a very amusing take about this particular aspect of the Spanish language. Written by Juan José Millás, the story is part of “Cuerpo y prótesis,” a wonderful collection of essays and short stories about the superficiality and banality of modern life.  The witty, humorous tone of many of Millás’ essays reminds me a lot of the writing style of American writer David Sedaris.  Millás has a writing style that is  sophisticated yet totally accessible.

Unfortunately, this particular book of Millás is not sold outside of Spain. I looked for it on Amazon with no luck. In any case, here’s a link to it to purchase it from Spain.

I recently stumbled across an interesting piece about “language barrier love” by dating coach Jag Carrao. In the article Carrao outlines the pros and cons of being in a relationship where the two people don’t speak the same language. On the face of it, it would seem like a recipe for disaster but Carrao says there are many advantages to having this type of communication gap.

Among them are:

• No man-terrifying “relationship talks.”
• Fewer heated debates (about politics and religion)
• Less ambiguity about date logistics (aware of the language barrier, he nails down date/time/place to avoid any misunderstanding).
• Exotic charm of endearments uttered in a foreign tongue.
• And most importantly: less conversation, more kissing.

Read the complete article here.

I agree with Carrao’s opinion that when there is physical chemistry or a spark of mutual interest/curiosity the language barrier can kind of cut through the crap that often exists in dating someone who speaks your native language. But I think a language barrier also causes many people to revert to the conventional male/female roles, with the man taking the lead and doing the pursuing of the female, as opposed to the other way around.

Having a language barrier may initially be a fun adventure, but it can mask some serious issues that may come back to haunt the couple down the line. In the initial stages of dating, people are generally on their best behavior. Throw in a language barrier and little things you would’ve easily noticed early on in another relationship with a person who speaks your language, may wind up going unnoticed or swept under the rug. For example, views about women, family, money, etc. Of course a lot of these bigger misunderstandings stem from sociocultural differences, not just the differences in language, but the language barrier may initially cover up these issues.

Have you ever been in relationship where there was a language barrier? How did it turn out? If the relationship lasted, did you and your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife eventually learn the other person’s language and then eventually communicate primarily in one language? Or do you communicate in a hybrid language combining your two native languages?

This expression, (along with “¿comprende?”)  is one that is used frequently and perhaps compulsively by students of Spanish everywhere. In English, the question “Do you understand?” is commonly used to confirm that that the other person is listening and has, indeed, understood what you have said. Normally no pasa nada when someone asks this question in English, unless the tone of the speaker’s voice is aggressive, brusque or condescending.

But in Spanish using this muletilla (verbal crutch), regardless of tone of voice, rankles many native Spanish speakers because of what they think it implies.

“Es como llamarte bruta en tu cara”, (“It’s like calling you ignorant to your face”) says BBC Mundo reader Sonia Janet from  Venezuela.

I used to say “¿me entiendes?” in the same manner I used the expression in English until finally one of my Spanish friends corrected me and told me that it was very annoying. At first I was shocked because no one had ever mentioned it to me before. But then I was grateful that he had mentioned it.

I asked him what a better alternative was and he told me ¿me explico?, (which literally means “Am I explaining myself?”), sounded more polite.  Essentially, it makes the same query as ¿me entiendes? in terms of requesting confirmation of comprehension, but it shifts the responsibility away from the listener and places it squarely on your shoulders to explain yourself better.

However, there is no pleasing everyone.

Another BBC Mundo reader from Tijuana, Mexico writes that ¿me explico? irritates her too. “¡Caray! Es que no soy tonta, ni sorda, ni hablo un dialecto marciano”.

OK, OK, tranquila, chiquilla. 

You can read the BBC Mundo story and reader comments here. It is a fun bit of insight into the way native Spanish speakers view some very common phrases in their language.

Photo from iStockPhoto.com

A good example of this is the expression “It’s Greek to me,” a very common English expression to say that something is confusing or unintelligible. William Shakespeare is credited with popularizing the phrase when he put it in the mouth of a character in his famous play about Julius Caesar. (“…but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for my own part, it was Greek to me.“)

When I first started to learn Spanish I assumed that Spanish speakers would use the same expression because the Greek language has nothing in common with Spanish. Well, I was wrong. In Spanish, the equivalent expression is está en chino (“It’s in Chinese”) or me suena a chino (“It sounds like Chinese to me.”)

It’s not surprising that similar expressions exist in other languages. However, it turns out that the language some other languages use as an example of something strange, odd or unintelligible is….SPANISH!! Can you believe it?!

Blogger Erik Rasmussen turned me on to this subject by forwarding to me a link to the chart below. It shows, in graphic form, what linguists call “the directed graph of stereotypical incomprehensibility” and it’s like a modern-day Tower of Babel.

There are different theories on why Spanish got labeled this way. Some speculate that it is rooted in Spain’s history of conquering different lands. Perhaps native peoples coming into contact with the Spanish viewed los españoles as very odd and incomprehensible and the stereotype stuck. For example, centuries ago King Carlos V of Spain was also emperor of Germany and Austria and his royal court ceremonies were viewed by the locals as strange and unfamiliar.

Fast forward five centuries and there still remains this legacy in some European languages of considering Spanish to be synonymous with something that is confusing, unintelligible or downright fishy.

Here are some examples:
CZECH: To je pro mne španelska vesnice (Literally: “It’s a Spanish village to me.” But the meaning is that something is incomprehensible or confusing.)

GERMAN: Das kommt mir Spanisch vor (“That looks like Spanish to me.”)

ICELANDIC: Þetta kemur mér spánskt fyrir sjónir (“This looks Spanish to me.”)

SLOVENIAN: To mi je španska vas (“To me, it is a Spanish village.”)

SLOVAK: Matematika je pre mňa španielska dedina (Literally, “For me, math is a Spanish village.” In other words, I’m very bad at math, I don’t understand math.)

But it turns out that the language that is most frequently cited as a synonym of something impossible to understand isn’t Spanish, but Chinese.

And what do the Chinese say? According to Arnold Rosenberg, who wrote a paper on the topic 30 years ago, “having seen so many turn to Chinese as the symbol of unintelligibility, one must wonder where the Chinese turn. To Heaven! The Chinese analog of our long-studied expression is (roughly translated) – “It’s heavenly script to me.”

Special thanks to Maria Shipley for helping me with this post.

We are currently in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15  in the U.S. The dates were selected to include the Independence Day celebrations of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Chile, as well as to incorporate Día de la Raza—a holiday celebrated in Mexico on October 12 observing the colonization, exploration, and multicultural heritage of the Americas.

In honor of the occasion, this week’s podcast is a compilation of audio excerpts from two American storytellers, Olga Loya and Antonio Sacre, about the ups-and-downs they faced in developing a strong bi-cultural identity in the U.S.  Their stories are part of the  RaceBridges for Schools project, an interesting program designed to help high school and middle school teachers lead class discussions on issues related to race, ethnicity and cultural identity. The collection of materials offered on their site is high quality and you can’t beat the price – free!

Included in this podcast are “Spanish is dangerous” and “But You Don’t Look Mexican!” by Olga Loya and “Dreaming of Cuba: Stories That Bind” by Antonio Sacre. Olga is Mexican American and Antonio is Cuban American but they share the common experience of trying to develop a bicultural identity in an environment that hasn’t always been open to the idea.

Visit the Race Bridges for Schools web site for transcripts, audio files and teachers’ lessons plans.

Bablingua

BrainPop Español

La Casa Rojas magazine

Learning and Teaching Scotland

Pancho & Pita

Spanglish Lex List

Click on “MORE” to get a more detailed description about each site.

BABLINGUA

Spanish Level: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced

Appropriate for: Middle-school and high school Spanish teachers

Bablingua is a Spanish-language instructional video company with three categories of products: Videos, Icebreakers (very short videos that range in length anywhere from 1 minute to 8 minutes in length), and Vocabulary Cards. Included in the purchased video packages are activities teachers can use with students to build background knowledge before the class watches the videos. There are also Spanish subtitles available. Here is an entertaining video Bablingua did recently about the body language of Spaniards.

Find more videos like this on Classroom 2.0

What stands out: You can select videos based on both topics and grammar points presented.  The overall presentation is excellent, the videos are short, to the point and well produced.

Price: Varies, from as little as $3 for an “icebreaker” video activity up to $45 for a DVD + book package

BrainPOP Español

Spanish level: Intermediate, Advanced

Appropriate for:  Children who are native Spanish speakers in third grade and higher or highly motivated pre-teens learning Spanish

BrainPOP Español is the Spanish version of an educational English web site that teaches children about math, science, art and history through the animated adventures of Moby the robot and Tim, his human friend. It’s clear that the Spanish site is designed for native Spanish speakers so the rate of speech is fast and the vocabulary is not targeted at children just learning the language. That said,  the animation and overall production of the content is impressive. BrainPOP Español offers fascinating material for young students in a format that is entertaining and unique.

Price: Varies, depending on your country and whether the purchase is for individual use or for a school.

La Casa Rojas

Spanish level: Advanced

Appropriate for: High school, university, continuing education

La Casa Rojas is a bi-monthly online magazine that takes you to all corners of the Spanish-speaking world. There is an astonishing variety of articles and topics from daily life to food to history and politics. Recent topics have included a Spanish teacher’s perspective on teaching, an essay about the Colombian Tarzan and a first-person account of walking El Camino de Santiago. Each article is written by a person, usually a native Spanish speaker, living in that country.

What stands out: The majority of the articles are read by their authors giving you a variety of speakers and accents from across Latin America and Spain.

Price: $14.99 quarterly for individuals. Different pricing for schools. Consult web site for details.

Learning and Teaching Scotland

Spanish level: Upper intermediate, Advanced

Appropriate for: High school, university, continuing education

This web site has an excellent collection of videos of young Latino immigrants talking about their life in America. Each one is very short (four minutes or less) and includes English subtitles.

Price: Free

What stands out: The authenticity of the speakers. The young people featured in the videos are very personable and the videos are just the right length to introduce a topic for a classroom discussion.  Click on the box below for video of Ricardo Avalos from Hayword, California talking about what it’s like to be gay, Latino and an immigrant in the U.S. (May take several seconds for the video to load. Video is roughly 3 minutes.)

Pancho & Pita

Spanish level: Beginner

Appropriate for: Very young children

Pancho & Pita are two adorable little trolls who enjoy reading, playing and exploring the world around them with their bilingual pet named Flan. The trio take children on a series of  interactive computer adventures where they learn how to count, recognize colors and shapes and pick up other basic developmental skills in a fun and entertaining framework. The entire interactive game is available in both Spanish and English, so parents who aren’t bilingual can still feel comfortable using the material with their children. There is only one adventure currently available, “¿Dónde están los pollitos?”, but more Pancho & Pita adventures are in the works.

What stands out: The voices are so adorable, the animation is very colorful and the pacing of the game is such that children can go at their own pace. Also, there is plenty of repetition of key words and phrases in both Spanish and English.

Price: $9.95

The Spanglish Lex List

Spanish level: Upper intermediate, Advanced

Appropriate for: University-level students, continuing education

The Spanglish Lex List is the brainchild of Matthew Bennett, a Spanish-English translator in Spain. It consists of a free weekly three-page worksheet that Matthew promises can help you improve your professional Spanish.

What stands out: Matthew takes complex and controversial topics in the news and boils them down to the essentials. The worksheets reduce a teacher’s prep time for a class discussion and students get exposed to an extremely high level of business Spanish.

Here’s how he describes it:

Here are random examples of some exact quotes, (typos included), that I found in online Spanish forums:

“…es mi 3 dia y ya tube una experiencia fea con un irlandes borracho…” [The word "tube" is not Spanish. The speaker meant "tuve," which is "I had."]

“Tubo problemas con este pais por asuntos de la pesca….” [TUBO means "tube" in Spanish. The speaker meant "tuvo," the third-person singular past tense of the verb TENER.)

"Hola, luego de bajar el video de youtube con safari quiero gravarlo en un dvd para ver en cualquier reproductor de dvd, como hago?" [GRAVAR means "to tax." The correct verb is GRABAR, which means to record.).

In English, there are plenty of homophones. If you're a native English speaker, you probably don't even think twice about them when you use and write them. (knew/new, meat/meet, one/won, stair/stare, etc.)

But what about Spanish homophones? How many do you know?

Here's a list of Spanish homophones containing the letters B or V. It's not complete but it gives you an idea of the variety that exists. Remember that the pronunciation of these words are the same but their spellings and meanings are different.

• acerbo: scathing, as in a scathing review (una crítica acerba)
• acervo: heritage, as in cultural heritage (el acervo cultural)
• baca: luggage rack
• vaca: cow
• bacía: a type of container
• vacía: empty
• balido: the bleat of a sheep (baaaa)
• valido: valid
• barón: baron (as in a title of nobility)
• varón: male
• bello: beautiful
• vello: soft, short hair or down (from an animal) or fuzz (on a plant or fruit.)
• beta: Beta. Second letter of the Greek alphabet. In English you see it used in Greek fraternity names ["Kappa Beta Psi, Phi Beta Kappa] or in English words and phrases like “Beta-blockers” or the “beta version” of a software.
• veta: streak or vein that one sees in cuts of wood or meat. (La veta del jamón, la veta de la madera.)
• bienes: possessions, properties
• vienes: form of the verb VENIR
• botar: to bounce, to throw out, to launch
• votar: to vote
• grabar: to record, to engrave
• gravar: to tax
• rebelar(se): to rebel, to revolt
• revelar: to reveal, to develop
• sabia: Feminine form of adjective “sabio” which means wise, learned, sensible
• savia: sap from a tree or a plant

And just for kicks, here’s an online quiz called “Super Saber” where you can test your knowledge of palabras homófonas in a fun way.

Spanish Sentence Database: Ramses Oudt from Spanish-Only has launched a beta site of a Spanish-English sentence database. An excellent way to build one’s vocabulary when learning a new language is to read. And reading new words in sentences, in context, is a great way to cement that knowledge in your memory. Says Ramses:

“Back in 2007, when I started to get serious about learning Spanish there was one major problem to really progress; a sentence database. That’s why I’ve come up with the idea of compiling a big Spanish-English database with only the things you need: bilingual sentences.

Sure, you can get Spanish-English sentences from any place, but not in one place which grows day after day.”

His database, which is still in beta mode, currently has a little over 1,500 sentences but Ramses ultimately expects to grow that number to 10,000. You can read more about it here.

And as a nice accompaniment to Ramses’ database, check out Forvo, an online Spanish pronunciation site. Thousands of Spanish words have been recorded by native Spanish speakers so you can check the pronunciation. But keep it simple. There are currently roughly only 17,000 pronunciations and a random check that I did of their database found, not surprisingly, that many of the words offered are basic, everyday words. But it’s still a tool that can be very useful, especially for the Spanish language learner who doesn’t have frequent contact with native Spanish speakers. By the way, want to know the top 3 most requested pronunciations in their database? They are: mierda, Che Guevera and te quiero.

Karen Bryant at Teaching and Learning Spanish has put together a list of free iPhone Spanish learning apps. These are different from the ones I published on this blog back in July. Some are from companies/organizations that you probably already know but there are some language learning apps that are less obvious that Karen points out.

Do you still get tripped up by where to put the accent marks when you write in Spanish? Reglas para los acentos ortográficos by Prof. Rubén Delgado is an excellent comprehensive cheat sheet, in Spanish. And if you don’t know how to make Spanish tildes and signos de pronunciación like the upside down exclamation point (¡) and question mark (¿) on your computer keyboard, bookmark this page which has instructions for both Mac and Windows users.

And last, but not least, Sand Dune Publishing has released a new line of keepsake journals in Spanish called Entre Tú y Yo: Algunas preguntas que te he querido hacer. Inside each journal are fun, non-sappy, sometimes humorous questions. There are many ways people can use these keepsake journals. Parents can use them to record their own thoughts for their children. Language teachers can incorporate the questions into classroom/homework assignments. Also, I could even imagine the journal being used as an icebreaker in a bi-cultural family as a way to get in the good graces of la suegra.

By Erik Rasmussen

Recently my blogrollmate, Sharon, pointed me to this fascinating article, which you should read all the way through, entitled How Does Language Shape The Way We Think?. It highlights something I’ve noticed in my lingual trek into Spanish: that to properly speak another language, you must change the way you see the world. Because of the organic way that languages have formed, the constructs of various languages inherently contain extra information that is missing from other languages, information that is not thought about by non-speakers. It’s mastering these new understanding of the world around you that are the hardest part of learning another language.

The obvious verbal example in going from English to Spanish is that, in Spanish, there are two different forms of the verb “to be”. Which you use depends on how permanent the state of being is. The phrases “I am tall” and “I am hungry” use the same verb in English, but not in Spanish. This dichotomy is very tricky for English speakers learning Spanish.

Conversely one of the hardest parts of speaking English for native Spanish speakers is how English pronouns must agree with the gender of the subject. “Bob fell and broke his arm.” In Spanish that possessive pronoun is ambiguous, like “its”, because it’s obvious who the arm belonged to. To speak proper English, your brain has to be aware of and providing this extra bit of information. This is very tricky for Spanish speakers.

It’s Not Your Fault

One of my favorite idiosyncrasies of Spanish grammar is how often it sounds like the speaker is not in control of the situation, or not at fault.

Estaba fregando los platos y se me ha roto un plato.

This translates, maintaining the Spanish grammar, to something like: “I was washing the dishes and a plate broke to/for me.” You don’t say, “I broke a plate,” you were just there when the plate got broken. Not only that, but the plate broke itself specifically for you!

Se me cayó la cámara

This is how you say that you dropped something. It translates back to, “The camera fell to/for me.” There’s no verb for “to drop”, in Spanish. You say that the object fell, but that it happened to you.

Se han perdido las llaves

“The keys have lost themselves.” I didn’t lose the keys. They did it to themselves.

La planta que me diste se me ha muerto.

“The plant you gave me has died on me.” I didn’t kill it! And it didn’t just die, it died for me.

And the last one is my favorite…

No me gustas.

“I don’t like you.” One of the first phrases you learn in first-year Spanish is to express your preferences, your likes and dislikes. “Me gusta correr,” if you like to run. “No me gustan las patatas,” if you don’t like potatoes. Notice that the verb conjugation changed there because “potatoes” is plural. This throws students off because they still think of themselves as the subject of the sentence doing the liking, but it’s the other way around. The verb gustar translates closest to “to please”. Instead of thinking “I like to run”, to speak Spanish, you have to rephrase it to, “Running pleases me.” There simply isn’t a verb in Spanish for “liking” something. In Spanish, you are not in charge of what you like or dislike. I like this, this pleases me a lot. I want to like you, but you just don’t please me. It’s not my fault!

See what I mean about how you must change how you see the world to learn a foreign language?

This entry was written by Erik Rasmussen, an American living in Cantabría, Spain. It was originally published on his personal web site, “Erik’s Blog.”   What is your opinion of how language changes the way you think? In what ways have you had to rewire your brain to fully understand some aspects of Spanish? Tell us in the comments section below or click over to Erik’s blog here.

Photo: “She did it!”, used under license from iStockPhoto.com

Apple’s iPhone is one of the hottest gadgets around. Thanks to the iPhone’s popularity, a cottage industry of software, (computer applications called “apps”, for short), has sprung up. These apps allow people to do all sorts of things from the inane (“Hold on!”) to the sane (“Weather Channel”) to the profane (“iGirl – She Obeys”).

Because anyone with an idea and some programming skill can submit an app to Apple, creating a winning app is like the new American Dream. There is currently a digital gold rush as enterprising individuals flood the market with their apps, hoping for a piece of the action. Their intense interest is fueled by “rags-to-riches” stories starring unemployed programmers or teenage geeks who develop apps that quickly generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for their creators. Today there over 35,000 iPhone apps available.

Below is a guest post from Sarah Russel about five Spanish-learning applications for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch. While many iPhone apps are free, some charge a fee. Whether or not a particular app is right for you obviously will depend on your current level of Spanish and what you want out of a language learning tool. Expand your vocabulary? Review grammar? Work on verb conjugations? You get the idea.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch, so I personally cannot vouch for any of these since I have not tried or used any of the apps that Sarah mentions below. I know that I may be running a risk by featuring an article on something that I personally haven’t tried, but maybe this is be a good opportunity for all of us to share what we know. If any of you reading this entry are iPhone/iPod Touch owners and can recommend some worthwhile Spanish-language learning apps, please tell us below in the comments section.

Thanks!

- Eleena

5 iPhone Apps to Help You Learn Spanish

By Sarah Russel

Apple’s iPhone isn’t just any old cellular phone. You can not only make calls, send texts, store your music and play games but actually learn a language as well. With the ability to take your language learning tools with you anywhere there’s no excuse why you can’t expand your mind, communicate your needs and share your language skills no matter where you are. Here are 5 apps to get you started.

1. iSpeakSpanish: Beginners will appreciate this useful mobile tool. Users can copy and paste text from anything and get an instant translation. Of course, the app is much more than that. It also has a voice capability that will read the text aloud, letting you learn how to correctly pronounce a variety of words and phrases.
2. 24/7 Tutor Spanish 101: Through this application you’ll be able to practice your language skills through puzzle games, writing exercises, flash cards and quizzes. The application will help you learn the vocab to successfully deal with family, travel, home, colors, numbers and more.
3. AccelaStudy Spanish: This application aims to make learning a language fun and successful. Along with the basics, users get high quality audio, flashcards and quizzes and study sets. You can create a study plan to ensure you stay on track with your learning.
4. MyWords Spanish: Through this study program you’ll be able to pick up new vocab in both written and spoken forms. You’ll only learn ten words a day so you won’t be overwhelmed by a crazy amount of vocabulary, and you’ll stand a better chance of remembering what you learn.
5. Spanish Verb Conjugation Trainer: In learning any language many students struggle with learning how to properly conjugate verbs, especially those that are irregular. This tool can make it easy to look up and understand how any verb in the Spanish language is conjugated in the past, present, future, imperfect and more.

Sarah Russel runs an Online College Degrees web site. She’s also written about 50 iPhone apps for learning foreign languages. You can reach her at: SarahRussel1234@gmail.com

1). Salma Hayek talking about Colombia’s land mine problem.

Yes, she’s a Hollywood starlet, and yes, she’s breathtakingly beautiful…and yet Salma Hayek always comes across in her public persona as an extremely down-to-earth, genuinely nice lady. In this video clip, Salma talks about the problem with land mines in Colombia. Originally from Mexico, Salma speaks in Spanish in this video. It’s great hearing her speak in her native language while informing us about an important issue.

2). Walk like an Egyptian? How about gesticulate like a Spaniard? 

The British newspaper “The Guardian” has put out an illustrated guide on Spanish hand gestures. The Guardian implies that using these gestures will make the user seem more authentically Spanish. Hmmm, I think the jury might be out on that one! At least it is good for a laugh.

3). The Boston Globe has compiled a collection of stunning photographs from 2009’s San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain. The running of the bulls this year was particularly gruesome and dangerous with one fatality and several serious injuries. Some of the photos are quite graphic but the majority of them are almost cinematic in quality, capturing all the intensity and drama of the event.

4). The Pew Hispanic Center is a treasure trove of hard data about the Latino population in the U.S. Among their reports are: “Mexican Immigrants in the U.S., 2008,” “Who is Hispanic?” and “Between Here and There: How Attached are Latino Immigrants to their Native Country?”

But how to get the items through customs?

In the past, it used to be easy. These days, with tightened airline security measures and weight restrictions related to luggage, there’s less space and more incentive to bring back nothing.

Here are two web sites that will whet your appetite and help you avoid having to deal with pesky U.S. customs.: La Tienda and Amigo Foods.

La Tienda, a Virginia-based company, specializes in food and wine from Spain. It tends to be on the gourmet, upscale side of the gastronomic scale.

Amigo Foods, which describes itself as an “online Latino grocery store,” has a broad selection of products from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America as well as from Spain. A few items, [for example, Spanish blood pudding sausages (morcilla)], are made in the U.S., but the overwhelming majority of the products are imported directly from their countries of origin.

Even if you’re not in the mood to buy any food, it’s still fun to scroll through the pages of these sites. The Amigo Foods website could be especially useful to teachers who need info and photos of items for their classes about food and beverages in different Spanish-speaking countries.

This podcast is a reading, in Spanish, of the first chapter of the novella “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. If you saw the Oscar-nominated movie by the same title, you already know what the story is about…a man who ages in reverse.

Want the text in Spanish? Become a friend of Voices en Español on Facebook. I have posted the Spanish transcript there.

If you’d like to read the entire story in Spanish, you can buy the book at Amazon.com.

But did you know that there are several Spanish words that can be written with or without accent marks and their meanings don’t change? Best of all, both spellings are accepted by the Real Academia Española. In the past I’ve been puzzled when I’ve seen some words in Spanish, like atmósfera and período, spelled with and without accents. Knowing how important the accent mark is, I wasn’t sure if these were typos or accepted forms.

So, after doing a little research, I’ve complied a list of 24 of these words. [Click MORE to go directly to the list.] For each word, the one that is listed first is the version preferred by the RAE. However, both versions are accepted, so as long as you know how to spell the word correctly in Spanish, you don’t have to stress yourself trying to remember exactly where the accent mark goes if you can’t remember where to place the emphasis.

acné o acne: acne

afrodisíaco o afrodisiaco: aphrodisiac

amoníaco o amoniaco: ammonia

atmósfera o atmosfera: atmosphere

austriaco, ca o austríaco, ca.: Austrian

balaustre o balaústre: railing, guard rail (“Cada una de las columnas pequeñas que con los barandales forman las barandillas o antepechos de balcones, azoteas, corredores y escaleras.”)

bimano, na o bímano, na: Having two hands, i.e. a human being.

chófer o chofer: chauffeur, driver

cardíaco o cardiaco: cardiac, having to do with the heart

cóctel o coctel: cocktail

dinamo o dínamo: dynamo

elixir o elíxir: elixir

etíope o etiope: Ethiopian

fríjol o frijol: bean

médula o medula: marrow, as in bone marrow

meteoro o metéoro: meteor

olimpiada u olimpíada: Olympiad, Olympics

omóplato u omoplato: shoulder blade

pabilo o pábilo: A candle wick as well as the burned part of the wick.

pelícano o pelicano: pelican

pensil o pénsil: hanging, dangling

pentagrama o pentágrama: Pentagram, a five-sided geometric figure

período o periodo: period

varices o várices: Varicose veins

Spain essentially shuts down for the summer, particularly in the month of August, when virtually every Spaniard worth his chorizo, takes the month off and either heads to the beach or to the mountains. In recent years, before the global economy tanked, it was common for young Spaniards to travel abroad, many of them using their vacation time to study or practice English in the U.K., Ireland, Malta or the U.S.

But this year, with unemployment levels running high and money tight, many Spaniards are either canceling their vacations entirely or planning to take short trips close to home. Several Madrid businesses have already announced that they intend to stay open during the month of August in order to keep their operations afloat and make up for the reduction of revenue that they’ve experienced already this year. La Cámara de Comercio, Madrid’s equivalent of a Better Business Bureau, predicts that customers will see way fewer “Cerrado por vacaciones” signs in shop windows and estimates that less than 5% of  businesses will close for the summer.

Fortunately for those who decide to stay close to home, there are plenty of things to see and do and many of it free or discounted. Here’s the type of commercial Spanish tourism offices are running to entice Spaniards to vacation close to home:

Here is a random round-up of touristy events:

MADRID: Annie Leibovitz: Vida de una fotógrafa, 1990-2005

An exhibit of roughly 200 photos from this internationally-known American photographer on loan from the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Leibovitz is famous for her photos of celebrities. She was the last photographer to take pictures of John Lennon before he was killed and her iconic photo of a naked, pregnant Demi Moore for the cover of Vanity Fair still makes an impression 18 years later.  The Leibovitz photos will be on display in Madrid until September and is just one of several photo exhibitions currently going on as part of the Photo España 2009 event.

PAÍS VASCO: Las ballenas de Santurtzi

Whale watching trips in July, August and September on the “Pride of Bilbao” ferry from the port of Santurzi (near Bilbao) to Portsmouth, U.K.

NAVARRA: The 1st International Hemingway Doubles and Impersonator Contest

Writer Ernest Hemingway had a lifelong fascination with Spain and it’s mainly because of him why so many people outside of Spain are familiar with the San Fermin festival (the running of the bulls) in Pamplona. To mark the 50th anniversary of Hemingway’s last visit to the festival, the tourism bureau of Navarra is holding a Hemingway lookalike contest. The deadline to enter the contest has already passed but the finalists will be presented to the public in a kind of mini “beauty” pageant and then the winner will be selected on July 4, the day before this year’s San Fermín festival begins.

Also in Navarra…..tourists who stay at stay at least 2 nights at participating hotels in the region will receive up to four free tickets for different local attractions. Click here for more info.

ZARAGOZA: Los Festivales del Ebro

A series of 300 different events and activities during the months of June and July, including a concert by Madonna on July 25.

Do you think most of the phrases you share with us are common to Latin American countries or primarily to Spain? Would it be safe to say that all your material is known in Spain and a portion is also used in Latin America?

Excellent question and I’m glad you’ve raised the issue. Generally I try to stick to common words or phrases that are used universally, are widely known or will be easily understood by native Spanish speakers everywhere. But because I live in Spain and I have been exposed to more Castilian Spanish than Latin American Spanish, you can assume that the phrases you find on this blog would most definitely be used in Spain. Occasionally I may throw in a phrase or two of slang, but if I do I will clearly state that. However, I generally tend to stay away from blogging about slang phrases. Here’s why:

A). It’s highly regional in nature. Some popular slang expressions in el Distrito Federal in Mexico may draw blank stares if used on the streets of Madrid.

B). It is frequently dependent on age, gender or social class. By that I mean it’s a way of speaking between people who belong to the same group. If the person using a particular vernacular doesn’t belong to the group, he (or she) can actually be setting himself (herself) up for embarrassment.

A middle-aged American businessman going around Spain saying “me mola un huevo” (which loosely translated in English means “It’s freaking awesome!”) may think he’s fitting in with the locals. However such an expression coming out of a 50-year-old’s mouth may unintentionally generate snickers of derision instead of nods of admiration, even though the phrase is being used correctly. The reason? The speaker is not a 15-year-old Spanish teenager.

Consider the reaction you have in English when you hear a middle-aged suburbanite using slang that is specific to young girls or rappers. It sounds odd.

I’ve fallen into this trap myself. I once thought it would be OK for me to go around using the terms “macho” or “tronco” when referring to guys until a Spanish friend told me to stop. I thought it was OK to use these words because I had heard people (usually men) using those words to refer to other men. To my Spanish friend it sounded weird for a woman, especially a non-Spanish woman, to use those terms.

Anyway, getting back to your original question, yes, the bulk of the idiomatic expressions you find on this blog are phrases definitely used in Spain. Many of them are also used or, at the very least, understood in Latin America.

However, reader beware.

If you see a particular phrase that you’d like to use in Mexico or Argentina or Puerto Rico, etc., but you’re not sure it will fly, visit the Spanish-English forum at Word Reference.com to get an accurate reality check from native speakers living in those countries. Also, if you have a language intercambio (a conversation exchange with a native Spanish speaker), talking about idiomatic expressions is a fun way to learn more about their culture and clear up these kinds of doubts.

In the future, whenever possible, I will try to make distinctions and provide some alternative phrases used in different countries, especially if I know that the phrase used in Spain might be misunderstood or draw a blank in Latin America. For example, I did this recently on my Twitter page where I gave two different phrases (one used in Mexico, the other in Spain) to refer to wearing out the dance floor.

However, I can’t make any firm promises about how often I will be able to do this since there may be variations of an expression within a region (Cuban vs. Dominican Spanish, for example) not to mention within a country (Mexico City vs. Mexico). I’d rather provide you guys with streamlined content that has been curated in some way, (i.e. edited and boiled down to the essentials), instead of flooding the zone and swamping you with an encyclopedic entry.

Got a question? Drop me a line via the Contact page or leave your question in the comments section. ¡Gracias!

(By the way, notice how the English phrase “black & white” gets reversed in Spanish to “blanco y negro.” For example: black and white movies = películas en blanco y negro)

Here are some common Spanish expressions using blanco or negro.

ESTAR SIN BLANCA: To be broke, to have no money.

DAR EN EL BLANCO: To hit the mark, to hit the target.

EN BLANCO: Blank, as in, “La página estaba en blanco.” “The page was blank.”

Which leads to…. ESTAR EN BLANCO (to draw a blank, to have no idea) which is essentially the same as QUEDARSE EN BLANCO (to have one’s mind go blank).

PASAR LA NOCHE EN BLANCO: to suffer a sleepless night, to be unable to fall asleep

ESTAR NEGRO: To be very angry or to be extremely tanned, depending on the context.

VERLO TODO MUY NEGRO: To be pessimistic about something

PASARLAS NEGRAS: To have a hard time. Andrés las pasó negras cuando perdió su trabajo.

TENER LA NEGRA/TRAER LA NEGRA: To be unlucky, to bring bad luck. (Ese tio me trae la negra. That dude brings me bad luck.)

OK, the first time I heard this expression I was like ¿Qué qué? because my American mind jumped to the erroneous conclusion that it had something to do with race and implying that black people brought bad luck or something. Fortunately, I was mistaken. Turns out “la negra” refers to playing cards or fortune telling cards. The card containing the Ace of Spades historically was considered a bad omen.

Enjoyed this post? Check out Color Coded, Part 1: Verde. Also, get more insights into Spanish verb phrases at Twitter.com/ReVerbSpanish.

Mr. Taylor, Part 2
By Augusto Monterroso

Contados meses más tarde, en el país de Mr. Taylor las cabezas alcanzaron aquella popularidad que todos recordamos. Al principio eran privilegio de las familias más pudientes; pero la democracia es la democracia y, nadie lo va a negar, en cuestión de semanas pudieron adquirirlas hasta los mismos maestros de escuela.

Un hogar sin su correspondiente cabeza teníase por un hogar fracasado. Pronto vinieron los coleccionistas y, con ellos, las contradicciones: poseer diecisiete cabezas llegó a ser considerado de mal gusto; pero era distinguido tener once. Se vulgarizaron tanto que los verdaderos elegantes fueron perdiendo interés y ya sólo por excepción adquirían alguna, si presentaba cualquier particularidad que la salvara de lo vulgar. Una, muy rara, con bigotes prusianos, que perteneciera en vida a un general bastante condecorado, fue obsequiada al Instituto Danfeller, el que a su vez donó, como de rayo, tres y medio millones de dólares para impulsar el desenvolvimiento de aquella manifestación cultural, tan excitante, de los pueblos hispanoamericanos.

Mientras tanto, la tribu había progresado en tal forma que ya contaba con una veredita alrededor del Palacio Legislativo. Por esa alegre veredita paseaban los domingos y el Día de la Independencia los miembros del Congreso, carraspeando, luciendo sus plumas, muy serios, riéndose, en las bicicletas que les había obsequiado la Compañía.

Pero, ¿qué quieren? No todos los tiempos son buenos. Cuando menos lo esperaban se presentó la primera escasez de cabezas.

Entonces comenzó lo más alegre de la fiesta.

Las meras defunciones resultaron ya insuficientes. El Ministro de Salud Pública se sintió sincero, y una noche caliginosa, con la luz apagada, después de acariciarle un ratito el pecho como por no dejar, le confesó a su mujer que se consideraba incapaz de elevar la mortalidad a un nivel grato a los intereses de la Compañía, a lo que ella le contestó que no se preocupara, que ya vería cómo todo iba a salir bien, y que mejor se durmieran.

Para compensar esa deficiencia administrativa fue indispensable tomar medidas heroicas y se estableció la pena de muerte en forma rigurosa.

Los juristas se consultaron unos a otros y elevaron a la categoría de delito, penado con la horca o el fusilamiento, según su gravedad, hasta la falta más nimia.

Incluso las simples equivocaciones pasaron a ser hechos delictuosos. Ejemplo: si en una conversación banal, alguien, por puro descuido, decía “Hace mucho calor”, y posteriormente podía comprobársele, termómetro en mano, que en realidad el calor no era para tanto, se le cobraba un pequeño impuesto y era pasado ahí mismo por las armas, correspondiendo la cabeza a la Compañía y, justo es decirlo, el tronco y las extremidades a los dolientes.

La legislación sobre las enfermedades ganó inmediata resonancia y fue muy comentada por el Cuerpo Diplomático y por las Cancillerías de potencias amigas.

De acuerdo con esa memorable legislación, a los enfermos graves se les concedían veinticuatro horas para poner en orden sus papeles y morirse; pero si en este tiempo tenían suerte y lograban contagiar a la familia, obtenían tantos plazos de un mes como parientes fueran contaminados. Las víctimas de enfermedades leves y los simplemente indispuestos merecían el desprecio de la patria y, en la calle, cualquiera podía escupirle el rostro. Por primera vez en la historia fue reconocida la importancia de los médicos (hubo varios candidatos al premio Nóbel) que no curaban a nadie. Fallecer se convirtió en ejemplo del más exaltado patriotismo, no sólo en el orden nacional, sino en el más glorioso, en el continental.

Con el empuje que alcanzaron otras industrias subsidiarias (la de ataúdes, en primer término, que floreció con la asistencia técnica de la Compañía) el país entró, como se dice, en un periodo de gran auge económico. Este impulso fue particularmente comprobable en una nueva veredita florida, por la que paseaban, envueltas en la melancolía de las doradas tardes de otoño, las señoras de los diputados, cuyas lindas cabecitas decían que sí, que sí, que todo estaba bien, cuando algún periodista solícito, desde el otro lado, las saludaba sonriente sacándose el sombrero.

Al margen recordaré que uno de estos periodistas, quien en cierta ocasión emitió un lluvioso estornudo que no pudo justificar, fue acusado de extremista y llevado al paredón de fusilamiento. Sólo después de su abnegado fin los académicos de la lengua reconocieron que ese periodista era una de las más grandes cabezas del país; pero una vez reducida quedó tan bien que ni siquiera se notaba la diferencia.

¿Y Mr. Taylor? Para ese tiempo ya había sido designado consejero particular del Presidente Constitucional. Ahora, y como ejemplo de lo que puede el esfuerzo individual, contaba los miles por miles; mas esto no le quitaba el sueño porque había leído en el último tomo de las Obras completas de William G. Knight que ser millonario no deshonra si no se desprecia a los pobres.

Creo que con ésta será la segunda vez que diga que no todos los tiempos son buenos. Dada la prosperidad del negocio llegó un momento en que del vecindario sólo iban quedando ya las autoridades y sus señoras y los periodistas y sus señoras. Sin mucho esfuerzo, el cerebro de Mr. Taylor discurrió que el único remedio posible era fomentar la guerra con las tribus vecinas. ¿Por qué no? El progreso.

Con la ayuda de unos cañoncitos, la primera tribu fue limpiamente descabezada en escasos tres meses. Mr. Taylor saboreó la gloria de extender sus dominios. Luego vino la segunda; después la tercera y la cuarta y la quinta. El progreso se extendió con tanta rapidez que llegó la hora en que, por más esfuerzos que realizaron los técnicos, no fue posible encontrar tribus vecinas a quienes hacer la guerra.

Fue el principio del fin.

Las vereditas empezaron a languidecer. Sólo de vez en cuando se veía transitar por ellas a alguna señora, a algún poeta laureado con su libro bajo el brazo. La maleza, de nuevo, se apoderó de las dos, haciendo difícil y espinoso el delicado paso de las damas. Con las cabezas, escasearon las bicicletas y casi desaparecieron del todo los alegres saludos optimistas.

El fabricante de ataúdes estaba más triste y fúnebre que nunca. Y todos sentían como si acabaran de recordar de un grato sueño, de ese sueño formidable en que tú te encuentras una bolsa repleta de monedas de oro y la pones debajo de la almohada y sigues durmiendo y al día siguiente muy temprano, al despertar, la buscas y te hallas con el vacío.

Sin embargo, penosamente, el negocio seguía sosteniéndose. Pero ya se dormía con dificultad, por el temor a amanecer exportado.

En la patria de Mr. Taylor, por supuesto, la demanda era cada vez mayor. Diariamente aparecían nuevos inventos, pero en el fondo nadie creía en ellos y todos exigían las cabecitas hispanoamericanas.

Fue para la última crisis. Mr. Rolston, desesperado, pedía y pedía más cabezas. A pesar de que las acciones de la Compañía sufrieron un brusco descenso, Mr. Rolston estaba convencido de que su sobrino haría algo que lo sacara de aquella situación.

Los embarques, antes diarios, disminuyeron a uno por mes, ya con cualquier cosa, con cabezas de niño, de señoras, de diputados.

De repente cesaron del todo.

Un viernes áspero y gris, de vuelta de la Bolsa, aturdido aún por la gritería y por el lamentable espectáculo de pánico que daban sus amigos, Mr. Rolston se decidió a saltar por la ventana (en vez de usar el revólver, cuyo ruido lo hubiera llenado de terror) cuando al abrir un paquete del correo se encontró con la cabecita de Mr. Taylor, que le sonreía desde lejos, desde el fiero Amazonas, con una sonrisa falsa de niño que parecía decir: “Perdón, perdón, no lo vuelvo a hacer.”

Welcome to La Casa Rojas, a brand new online magazine created by Joan Rojas. If the last name is familiar, it’s because Joan is the wife and business partner of Luis Rojas of Rojas Spanish.

Joan has undertaken an incredible task. She’s assembled a group of approximately 20 writers and bloggers from disparate backgrounds from across Latin America and Spain to write about the culture, food, history, politics and daily life in their respective countries, and all of it in Spanish. Luis also will provide insights into linguistic aspects of the Spanish language.

La Cosa Rojas launched earlier today and is already filled with content from contributors from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Spain and Uruguay, the U.S., with more content on its way from Peru. Also, for some articles, the authors will read their stories, so an audio recording will eventually accompany several of the articles. Yours truly will also be a regular contributor with at least one piece, possibly two, a month. Here’s my first submission: La cocina innovadora de España

The magazine will be visible to the public for the next few days. On June 15 it converts to a membership site, but a three-month subscription is only $15.

Drop by La Casa Rojas muy pronto. Su casa es tu casa.

Just select the newspaper(s) you wish to receive and then either click on the subscribe via RSS or via the iTunes button. That’s it. There’s no fee for this service and each morning a copy of that day’s newspaper will be delivered to you electronically in a PDF-file. It can’t get any easier than that.

P.S. If you are unfamiliar with RSS feeds, click here to get more info about what it is and how to use it. In a nutshell, RSS is an excellent way to receive updates about new blog entries on your favorite web sites without having to give out your email address. I recommend Google Reader but there are plenty of other feed readers you can use. Also, you can subscribe to the newspaper feeds via iTunes and the PDF will download automatically to the podcast section of your iTunes account daily.

Mister Taylor by Augusto Monterroso is a brillant satire about U.S. imperalism in Latin America. It’s been described as a modern fable but its key points are grounded in history. I don’t think I’ve ever read a piece that so cleverly addresses U.S. influence in Latin America and criticizes it at the same time in such a humorous manner.

“Mister Taylor” is a story about Mr. Percy Taylor of Boston, Mass. who winds up living in some unnamed South American country in the 1940s. He’s financially broke and doing nothing, until one day during a walk in the jungle he bumps into one of the natives who offers to sell him a shrunken head.

“Buy head? Money, money.”

That chance meeting leads to an unexpected business opportunity that affects, (or should I say infects), the society of the Latin American country where Mr. Taylor lives.

Believe or not but there was a time when collecting shrunken heads from South America was all the rage in Western countries. I did a little digging around and came across a story published in 1921 in National Geographic about the Jivaro Indians in Ecuador. They were a ferocious people, famous for their bellicose nature and for being the only known South American tribe that successfully defied being conquered by the Spanish conquistadors AND being taken over by the Incas. Their reputation for shrinking the heads of their enemies as trophies became their calling card and probably one of their best weapons to ward off invaders. The National Geographic article, published 88 years ago, is fascinating. Here’s an excerpt about the souvenir trade of shrunken heads:

Because of the interest aroused in the outside world by tales concerning these head-hunters, there has been in the past a lively trade in human heads. The Jivaros, learning that there was a demand which could be capitalized into muskets, quickly gave a ready response; so that it became necessary for the Ecuadorean Government strictly to forbid the traffic in these objects.

Tales are told of the results of this practice which are not without a certain grim irony. There is a story, for example, of a red-headed white man who went into the interior on a trip of exploration charged with the commission of bringing out a dried and shrunken head. It was months after he had departed that a shrunken-head came out, by devious channels, from the Oriente, but the head had red hair. Perhaps a red-haired head brought the price of 2 muskets; who could tell?

Hmmm, could that have been the original Mr. Taylor, perhaps?

In any case, the National Geographic article goes on to say that the Jivaro Indians, despite their fearsome reputation, were quite nice to their researchers.  “Contrary to our expectations, after hearing stories of the Jivaro (and to the average Ecuadorean the word Jivaro is synonymous with violent death and all manner of disagreeable things), we found then a good-natured people and very friendly to us.”

Listen to Part 1 of Mister Taylor and visit Head-Hunter.com (how appropriate!) to read more about the Jivaro people. I’ll post part 2 of the story later next week.

Photo: Jivaro Shrunken Head by Ed Schipul

-Menos rara, aunque sin duda más ejemplar -dijo entonces el otro-, es la historia de Mr. Percy Taylor, cazador de cabezas en la selva amazónica.

Se sabe que en 1937 salió de Boston, Massachusetts, en donde había pulido su espíritu hasta el extremo de no tener un centavo. En 1944 aparece por primera vez en América del Sur, en la región del Amazonas, conviviendo con los indígenas de una tribu cuyo nombre no hace falta recordar.

Por sus ojeras y su aspecto famélico pronto llegó a ser conocido allí como “el gringo pobre”, y los niños de la escuela hasta lo señalaban con el dedo y le tiraban piedras cuando pasaba con su barba brillante bajo el dorado sol tropical. Pero esto no afligía la humilde condición de Mr. Taylor porque había leído en el primer tomo de las Obras Completas de William G. Knight que si no se siente envidia de los ricos la pobreza no deshonra.

En pocas semanas los naturales se acostumbraron a él y a su ropa extravagante. Además, como tenía los ojos azules y un vago acento extranjero, el Presidente y el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores lo trataban con singular respeto, temerosos de provocar incidentes internacionales.

Tan pobre y mísero estaba, que cierto día se internó en la selva en busca de hierbas para alimentarse. Había caminado cosa de varios metros sin atreverse a volver el rostro, cuando por pura casualidad vio a través de la maleza dos ojos indígenas que lo observaban decididamente. Un largo estremecimiento recorrió la sensitiva espalda de Mr. Taylor. Pero Mr. Taylor, intrépido, arrostró el peligro y siguió su camino silbando como si nada hubiera pasado.

De un salto (que no hay para qué llamar felino) el nativo se le puso enfrente y exclamó:

-Buy head? Money, money.

A pesar de que el inglés no podía ser peor, Mr. Taylor, algo indispuesto, sacó en claro que el indígena le ofrecía en venta una cabeza de hombre, curiosamente reducida, que traía en la mano.

Es innecesario decir que Mr. Taylor no estaba en capacidad de comprarla; pero como aparentó no comprender, el indio se sintió terriblemente disminuido por no hablar bien el inglés, y se la regaló pidiéndole disculpas.

Grande fue el regocijo con que Mr. Taylor regresó a su choza. Esa noche, acostado boca arriba sobre la precaria estera de palma que le servía de lecho, interrumpido tan solo por el zumbar de las moscas acaloradas que revoloteaban en torno haciéndose obscenamente el amor, Mr. Taylor contempló con deleite durante un buen rato su curiosa adquisición. El mayor goce estético lo extraía de contar, uno por uno, los pelos de la barba y el bigote, y de ver de frente el par de ojillos entre irónicos que parecían sonreírle agradecidos por aquella deferencia.

Hombre de vasta cultura, Mr. Taylor solía entregarse a la contemplación; pero esta vez en seguida se aburrió de sus reflexiones filosóficas y dispuso obsequiar la cabeza a un tío suyo, Mr. Rolston, residente en Nueva York, quien desde la más tierna infancia había revelado una fuerte inclinación por las manifestaciones culturales de los pueblos hispanoamericanos.

Pocos días después el tío de Mr. Taylor le pidió -previa indagación sobre el estado de su importante salud- que por favor lo complaciera con cinco más. Mr. Taylor accedió gustoso al capricho de Mr. Rolston y -no se sabe de qué modo- a vuelta de correo “tenía mucho agrado en satisfacer sus deseos”. Muy reconocido, Mr. Rolston le solicitó otras diez. Mr. Taylor se sintió “halagadísimo de poder servirlo”. Pero cuando pasado un mes aquél le rogó el envío de veinte, Mr. Taylor, hombre rudo y barbado pero de refinada sensibilidad artística, tuvo el presentimiento de que el hermano de su madre estaba haciendo negocio con ellas.

Bueno, si lo quieren saber, así era. Con toda franqueza, Mr. Rolston se lo dio a entender en una inspirada carta cuyos términos resueltamente comerciales hicieron vibrar como nunca las cuerdas del sensible espíritu de Mr. Taylor.

De inmediato concertaron una sociedad en la que Mr. Taylor se comprometía a obtener y remitir cabezas humanas reducidas en escala industrial, en tanto que Mr. Rolston las vendería lo mejor que pudiera en su país.

Los primeros días hubo algunas molestas dificultades con ciertos tipos del lugar. Pero Mr. Taylor, que en Boston había logrado las mejores notas con un ensayo sobre Joseph Henry Silliman, se reveló como político y obtuvo de las autoridades no sólo el permiso necesario para exportar, sino, además, una concesión exclusiva por noventa y nueve años. Escaso trabajo le costó convencer al guerrero Ejecutivo y a los brujos Legislativos de que aquel paso patriótico enriquecería en corto tiempo a la comunidad, y de que luego estarían todos los sedientos aborígenes en posibilidad de beber (cada vez que hicieran una pausa en la recolección de cabezas) de beber un refresco bien frío, cuya fórmula mágica él mismo proporcionaría.

Cuando los miembros de la Cámara, después de un breve pero luminoso esfuerzo intelectual, se dieron cuenta de tales ventajas, sintieron hervir su amor a la patria y en tres días promulgaron un decreto exigiendo al pueblo que acelerara la producción de cabezas reducidas.

Click here for Part 2

Madrid Confessions by Ben Curtis is an audio memoir about the evolution of a British expat’s life in Spain’s capital city. Ben, along with his Spanish wife Marina Diez, have a large and devoted following for their Notes in Spanish podcasts. In the Madrid Confessions, Ben satisfies his fans’ curiosity about aspects of his private life and reveals how a series of serendipitous events led him to launch, and now run, a successful internet business. This English-language audio book is approximately 2.5 hours long and costs 17 euros ($24).

Novel of Life: Madrid, Spain by Lethe Bashar presents the viewpoint of an American college student on a study abroad program. Bashar is actually the pen name of Chris Al-Aswad and the book is a novelistic treatment of his time in Spain.

He moves into an apartment with a sixty-five year old Senora. Within two weeks, he undergoes an extreme form of culture shock. Between quitting classes, falling in love with his Senora’s maid (and his psychiatrist), smoking hashish, and meeting a group of native Spaniards, an innocent study abroad program turns to living dangerously.

Chris describes his book as “autobiographical fiction” as most, but not all, of his protagonist’s experiences happened to him during his year in Spain. Bashar’s Novel of Life remains a work in progress since it is not yet finished, but the Madrid chapters are readable online and there is also an accompanying podcast. Click here for a Q&A with Chris about the book.

What should I call you? By your pen name “Lethe Bashar” or by your real name or can I use both?

You can call me by real name:  Chris Al-Aswad.  I use a pen name, which is also the main character of my novel, Lethe Bashar.

Your Madrid novel is autobiographical. Why did you decide to go with a novel treatment instead of a memoir?

I call the genre “autobiographical fiction”.  It is more or less a memoir with poetic license. I’m also a personal essayist and so I work within the memoir form a lot.  My blog of personal essays is The Blog of Innocence.

I choose the novel form so that I may explore the creative boundaries of writing about my life.  Spain is one of three novels that cover my adolescence.  The whole narrative is an epic retelling of adolescence in different locations, and at different time periods.

Yes.  This is a story I have been working on for over ten years, believe it or not.  I continually deepen the characters and go deeper with the story itself.  The only explanation for this is a meticulous love of the craft of fiction.

I would say about 70% of the story actually happened.  But whenever we try to parse reality from fiction, memory from lived experience, we run into major problems.  No representation, including a memoir, will be “the truth.”  Once words are formed about an experience of the past, fiction gets created no matter what.

The Novel of Life is far from finished.  But I approach this work not as a professional novelist but as an amateur and a hobbyist.  I leave it alone for weeks or months and then return to it and work diligently for awhile before I put it down again.

The Madrid section of the novel has one more part yet to be written.  Then the story will resume back on another blog called Lethe in Vegas, which is about what happens after Spain.

This is my first novel.  If there is enough interest, and if I am pleased with the final work, I may publish it.  Most likely, the graphic editions of the work will be published sooner.  An Argentinean illustrator is currently working on the Las Vegas story here.

I was 19 years old when I studied at the International Institute in Madrid in 1999. But I dropped out of school and joined a band of friendly Spaniards. I left my Senora’s house and moved into a pensione, where I wrote fiction and partied a lot. I was living in la Plaza del Sol for approximately one year.

I lived in Chicago for several years.  I was born and raised in Illinois, suburbs of Chicago.  I graduated from DePaul University.  Now I live in Central Illinois.

My favorite chapter is probably “Hashish”; but I don’t know if you want to include that one. I also should tell you that I do a podcast for every chapter on this site.

From what I’ve seen in the pilot episodes, the videos focus on undiscovered talent, unknown artists and off-beat cultural events unlikely to attract a lot of notice from the mainstream Spanish media. On its home page, LostIn.TV says that its mission is to tell people about “todo aquello que no puedes perderte en tu ciudad.”

Below is the pilot episode for Lost in Barcelona. I watched the videos for the other cities but the one for Barcelona is the best, in my opinion. Antonia Folguera, the presenter, projects the right attitude (young, fashionable and intelligent) and comes across as more polished than the presenters for the other cities. But that’s a minor quibble since overall the Lost In.tv project looks very promising.

El Instituto Cervantes is a non-profit organization created by the Spanish government to teach the Spanish language and raise awareness about Spanish culture around the world. And Starbucks, of course, needs no introduction as it is the world’s dominant coffee house chain.

The fact that the Instituto Cervantes got this contract is quite a coup, considering the size of the Starbucks operation in the U.S. The classes will take place online through the Instituto Cervantes’ Aula Virtual de Español (el AVE, for short, just like the acronym for Spain’s high-speed train), and the instructors will be from the University of Washington’s Spanish language department in Seattle. At this point it’s unclear exactly how many Starbucks employees will enroll and whether this education benefit is specifically for them to use Spanish on the job.

When I used to live in New York City I took three different courses at the Instituto Cervantes in Manhattan and the instructors were really top-notch. I think that Starbucks employees who take advantage of this company perk are going to be very satisfied, if they stick with the course. Their progress will be monitored quaterly, and at the end of 12 months they can take the DELE exam (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera), which is a nice piece of paper to have for anyone wishing to have proof of their level of Spanish.

And who knows? Maybe in a few months the Starbucks baristas will be taking your order in Spanish, instead of English.

That’s why this video clip is so funny to me. Cristina Kirchner, the current president of Argentina, has some snarky words for Obama. In a recent political speech, she sarcastically wondered aloud if Obama had been reading up on General Juan Perón, (dictator and husband of Evita). Kirchner also claimed that Obama was copying her (and her husband’s) economic model. (Her husband, Néstor Carlos Kirchner, was president of Argentina from 2003 until 2007 when Cristina was voted to succeed him in the position.)

Her comment about political plagiarism is laughable. That would be like me adopting an orphan from Africa and then holding a press conference to yell “copy cat!” the next time Madonna or Angelina Jolie decide to do the same. (Peruvian journalist Jaime Bayly, who appears in the following video, thinks la Sra. Kirchner is a little wacko too.)

Does Cristina Kirchner really believe that Obama even thinks about Argentina? In fact, it’s doubtful that he even knows who she is, as evidenced by the following video. Maybe her recent comments are a way to get back at Obama for this public snub or perhaps it’s just to prop herself up and recast herself as a strong leader by making some tenuous association between herself and Barry? Either way, it’s pretty amusing.