Archive for March, 2010
Evita, el musical Posted by Adir on Mar 29, 2010
El musical Evita, con música de Andrew Lloyd Weber y letra de Tim Rice fue todo un éxito en Broadway y debutó en 1978. La canción ‘Don’t Cry for me Argentina’ has a version in Spanish, No Llores por Mí Argentina, and it is sung by many artists until today. Here’s a video of Spanish…
Greguerías Posted by Magda on Mar 26, 2010
Today we are going to talk about a literary device that is part of Spanish culture: a mixture between “juego de palabras” (pun) and metáfora (metaphor), known as Greguería. The name was coined by the Spanish author Ramón Gómez de la Serna, one of the first writers to use this device. He was born in…
Ser vs Estar Posted by Transparent Language on Mar 26, 2010
One challenge for Spanish learners is distinguishing when to use ser or estar, both of which translate into “to be” in English. Generally, ser is used with adjectives expressing permanent characteristics (including nationality, physical appearance and personality) while estar is used for temporary states or conditions, such as emotions. Sometimes learners believe that a given…
Dequeísmo Posted by Magda on Mar 24, 2010
“Dequeísmo” It is becoming increasingly more common to hear incorrect expressions in Spanish such as: Pienso de que… Creo de que… Opino de que… Dije de que… Not only among students of the language, but also native speakers. There are certain verbs that require the preposition “de”, but to do so when it is not…
Christina Aguilera en español Posted by Adir on Mar 22, 2010
¡Hola, mi gente! ¿Cómo les va todo? A todos nos gusta aprender con música, ¿verdad? La cantante Christina Aguilera tiene madre estadounidense y padre ecuatoriano y en su álbum del 2000, Mi Reflejo, Aguilera le rinde homenaje a sus orígenes y quedó en primer lugar en la lista Billboard de álbumes latinos. Aquí les traigo…
El Hormiguero Posted by Adir on Mar 19, 2010
El Hormiguero is a Spanish talk show broadcast on Cuatro TV Station and it focuses on science, humor and politics. At first it was a 2-hour show but it was so successful that it is broadcast from Monday to Saturday in a 40-minute show. The video below is for more advanced learners because Pablo, the…
¡Carnavales! Posted by Magda on Mar 17, 2010
This last month has been a busy one, not only for the celebration of St. Valentine’s day all over the world, or the beginning of the Chinese New Year, this year in honor to the tiger, but also for the celebration of the Carnival: most of us know about the parades in Brazil, and the…