Archive for May, 2010
The origins of chocolate Posted by Magda on May 17, 2010
These days we don’t think twice when we’re eating a piece of delicious chocolate. We take it for granted, just as much as we do with running water and electricity. This delicacy, however, has a really interesting story. Chocolate was discovered and brought to Europe by the first Spanish settlers in America, who found that…
Mercedes Sosa Posted by Adir on May 13, 2010
This year the world lost one of the greatest singers and composers: Mercedes Sosa. Sosa was born in Tucumán, Argentina, in 1935 and at 15 won a radio singing competition and recorded her first album, La Voz de la Zafra. She was known as “the voice of the voiceless ones” and recorded 40 albums. Sosa…
Review: The Subjunctive Part I Posted by Adir on May 12, 2010
Let’s review the form of some irregular verbs in the present subjunctive. Volar – vuele, vueles, vuele, volemos, voléis, vuelen Querer – quiera, quieras, quiera, queramos, queráis, quieran Poder – pueda, puedas, pueda, podamos, podáis, puedan Volver – vuelva, vuelvas, vuelva, volvamos, volváis, vuelvan Pedir – pida, pidas, pida, pidamos, pidáis, pidan Sentir – sienta…
Spanish fried “roscos” Posted by Magda on May 11, 2010
Hi everyone! When I wrote the article about Easter in Spain, the fried roscos received a great deal of attention. As a result, I have decided to share the recipe with you all so you can try making them at home. They’re delicious! You can read the recipe in Spanish, or check the English translation…
Study tip: reading Posted by Adir on May 10, 2010
Let’s face it, we’re in the 21st century and we have no time to waste. We can’t spend 5 years in a language school and not speak effectively. One of the things that have helped me a lot is reading. But reading not just anything; you have to focus what you read. I started with…
Adverbial phrases Posted by Adir on May 6, 2010
There are some expressions that never change in Spanish. Some of them are called adverbial phrases because they relate to adverbs. Place phrases allá arriba (up there), aquí abajo (down here), por todas partes (everywhere), a la derecha (to the right), a la izquierda (to the left), fuera de (outside of), a lo lejos (in…
Verbs with two participles Posted by Adir on May 5, 2010
Some verbs in Spanish have two past participles: one is used to form los tiempos compuestos and the other is used as an adjective or an adverb. Here’s a list of some common verbs with two past participles. The first form is the regular form and the second one is irregular. absorber (to absorb) –…