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Making Spanish Vowels Even Easier with the IPA Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Oct 26, 2015
Are you one of the many language learners who think Spanish only has five simple vowels? It’s true, Spanish has an easy system of pure vowels or monophthongs — a, e, i, o, u — but what about words like rey, aire, or bueno? Spanish vowels are mostly easy, but the diphthongs, vowels made up…
The IPA for Spanish Language Learning: Consonants Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Oct 14, 2015
Did you learn Spanish out of a textbook in high school but still struggle to hold a conversation that doesn’t involve ordering food? Or maybe you’ve been speaking Spanish for years but are fed up with that awful acent that gets you made fun of everywhere you travel? I’ve had plenty of students with both of these…
The Spanish Language in the 2016 US Presidential Race Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Sep 30, 2015
The United States is not an English-speaking country, and its linguistic diversity is already affecting the coming 2016 presidential elections. The argument is often made that the US federal constitution doesn’t recognize an official state language, which, while true, has few practical implications. What does matter is that 74 million Americans speak a language other than…
Mexican Spanish in 11 Phrases Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Sep 23, 2015
Many people immediately associate Spanish with its namesake country in Europe, but actually Mexico is by far the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Its more than hundred million inhabitants have taken this global language and in many ways made it their own: in Mexico, se habla mexicano. I recently spent about 8 months traveling…
Visiting Los Pueblos Indígenas in Mexico Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Aug 24, 2015
Of all the Americas, Mexico has the largest indigenous population, composed of nearly 16 million people from dozens of different Native American backgrounds, or almost a seventh of its massive population. For the language enthusiast like you or I, this offers 68 different idiomas indígenas with millions of speakers in this giant country. But even…