Archive for the year 2011
Idiom: ¡Dichoso! Posted by Adir on Apr 25, 2011
¡Hola! The adjective dichoso comes from the noun dicha (happiness, luck), so dichoso literally means lucky, fortunate. But in informal Spanish it is also used to express the opposite. Check out this little dialog and the translation below. – Hola, Carmen. ¿Cómo estás pasándote las vacaciones? – Fatal. – Pero, ¿por qué fatal? – Es…
La saeta, sentir flamenco. Posted by Magda on Apr 22, 2011
“…son como flechas que atraviesan el corazón…” (… they are like arrows going through your heart…) Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet. If we look for the meaning of “saeta” (arrow) in a dictionary , wordreference for example, we will find this definition: “a weapon consisting of a stick with a sharp pointed head, designed to…
Las contracciones en español Posted by Adir on Apr 21, 2011
Hey, how’s it going? Spanish has contractions with prepositions and definite articles in some cases. Let’s learn them! A + artículos al (a + el) – Ellos van al teatro todos los sábados. – They go to the theater every Saturday. a la – Ellas van a la universidad por la mañana. – They go…
Spanish Lesson Intermediate 15 Differences between “Por” and ”Para” Posted by Laura & Adam on Apr 20, 2011
¡Hola a todos! Hoy vamos a ver las diferencias entre “por” y “para”. The differences between these two Spanish prepositions are subtle and a little confusing at first for Spanish students. It is often this way with prepositions when learning any foreign language. Prepositions may be short, apparently simple, words, but they are vital to…
Y de postre… ¡Arroz con leche! Posted by Magda on Apr 19, 2011
¡Cómo pasa el tiempo! Volvemos a estar en Semana Santa, época de marcado sentir religioso, pero también por suerte gastronómico. Si estos días de penitencia os lo permiten, no dejéis de disfrutar de este delicioso postre tan típico en estas fechas: el arroz con leche. Es este un postre con historia. Antiguamente solo degustado por…
El Vestibular, en español Posted by Adir on Apr 18, 2011
Brazil has a college entrance examination called “vestibular” in which students are tested in every subject they study in high school. These include a foreign language test in English, Spanish or French. Here’s a sample of the Spanish language test from PUC RS (Pontifície Univerdade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul). Care to try to…
La baraja española Posted by Magda on Apr 15, 2011
A few days ago I was having a drink with a friend, when we saw something that caught our attention: a woman came to a table next to us, and offered to read the cards to the couple sitting there. However, cartomancy is not the point here, it’s only the reason why I’m talking about…