The pronunciation of letter “ñ” in Spanish can be a little tricky for Spanish learners, especially if this sound is not present in their native language. This peculiar letter does not derive from Latin as some might think. Its origins date back to the 12th century, when monks used to copy books by hand in the monasteries. At that time, as parchment was very expensive and scarce, the monks had to save space in words that contained the spelling “nn”, which is common in Latin, and chose to write a simple “n” and add a “virgulilla” on top as a form of abbreviation. Practice the pronunciation of th ..read more

Arepas are a staple in Venezuelan and Colombian homes, but it has grew in people’s hearts throughout the American continent thanks to immigration. In 2014, Venezuelan arepas ranked first on the list of the 18 best breakfast around the world according to Thrillist. The arepa is not only the queen of breakfast, it is very versatile and is often eaten as a side for main dishes either for lunch or dinner. You can have fried or roasted, make them sweet or salty and you can fill them with anything and everything! just don’t forget to put some butter inside first for epic results. Making arepas is ve ..read more

Welcome to a new blog! Today you will practice your listening and reading skills with Oda a la manzana, a poem written by the acclaimed Chilean poet at writer Pablo Neruda. This poem is part of a collection of odes Neruda wrote between 1954 and 1957. It is a reflection of the poet’s dream for a united and peaceful world. In the following video you will listen to the poem narrated by its author. Enjoy!   Oda a la manzana                                        Ode to the Apple A ti, manzan ..read more

Do you want to practice your cooking skills while learning Spanish? Then today’s blog is for you. Here you have the recipe of alfajores de maicena, delicious cookies filled with dulce de leche that melt in your mouth and are very popular in several countries around South America, specially in Argentina. This recipe is very easy to follow and I have included the Spanish transcription and the English translation to make it even easier for you and encourage you to try this recipe. This recipe you will see in the video was made by an Argentinean YouTuber, so bare in mind that the Spanish variety t ..read more

In my last post, we took a closer look at Frida Kahlo’s later years. This included moving back to Mexico and her subsequent divorce from Diego Rivera. The couple were later re-married, although they lived rather separate lives. The intersection of politics and art continued to be a theme in her later years. Unfortunately, her health problems did as well. Things only got worse with a heartbreaking event, which is where the final post in this series begins… Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash Gone too Soon Kahlo’s father died in 1941, which sent her into a severe depression. Her own health problems ..read more

Today’s blog post is a listening practice. Sing along this song written and performed by the Dominican cantautor (singer-songwriter) Juan Luís Guerra. If you read my post on the of rhythms Latin America, you will recognize that this song belongs in the music genre merengue. This canción (song) is very popular in the Spanish-Speaking world since the late 90’s. Letra (lyrics) Me dio una sirimba un domingo en la mañana cuando menos lo pensaba I fainted one Sunday morning when I was least expecting it Caí redondo, como una guanábana, sobre la alcantarilla I fell in a heap, like a soursop fruit ..read more

In this lesson of our English Spanish Parallel Texts course and we are going to practice more using Spanish Reflexive Verbs. Start by reading the text in Spanish below. The English translation is provided later but please try not to look at it until you have read the Spanish version various times and tried your best to understand it. There may be some words and phrases in the text that you are unfamiliar with, but you should be aiming to capture the main essence of what is happening. There will always be words and phrases popping up in real-life situations that you have never heard before, so ..read more

Image courtesy of Pixabay.com   To help you keep practicing your Spanish reading and listening skills, this week I introduce Instrucciones para llorar (Instructions on How to Cry) written by the Argentine writer Julio Cortázar. 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, est ..read more

In this lesson of our English Spanish Parallel Texts course and we are going to practice using Spanish Reflexive Verbs. Start by reading the text in Spanish below. The English translation is provided later but please try not to look at it until you have read the Spanish version various times and tried your best to understand it. There may be some words and phrases in the text that you are unfamiliar with, but you should be aiming to capture the main essence of what is happening. There will always be words and phrases popping up in real-life situations that you have never heard before, so it is ..read more

In this lesson of our English Spanish Parallel Texts course and we are going to practice using numbers from 1000 in Spanish. Start by reading the text in Spanish below. The English translation is provided later but please try not to look at it until you have read the Spanish version various times and tried your best to understand it. There may be some words and phrases in the text that you are unfamiliar with, but you should be aiming to capture the main essence of what is happening. There will always be words and phrases popping up in real-life situations that you have never heard before, so ..read more