Archive for 'Spanish Culture'
The Origins of the Arepa (Advanced Listening Practice) Posted by Anais on Jun 30, 2022
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…
El Conejo y el León (Listening and Reading Practice) Posted by Anais on May 30, 2022
Welcome to a new listening and reading practice 🙂 Today’s short story was written by the Honduran writer Augusto Monterroso. The moraleja (moral) of this story is that you should never trust appearances. El Conejo y el León Un celebre Psicoanalista se encontró cierto día en medio de la Selva, semiperdido. One day a famous…
Oda a la manzana (Listening and Reading Practice) Posted by Anais on Apr 29, 2022
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…
Five Years in Latin America Posted by sasha on Apr 25, 2022
Do you know that old saying “El tiempo vuela cuando te estás divirtiendo” (Time flies when you’re having fun)? Well, it’s certainly true, because I just celebrated a milestone of cinco años en América Latina (five years in Latin America) and that time absolutely flew by! I always like to reflejar (reflect) in moments like…
Frida Kahlo’s Final Years and Legacy Posted by sasha on Apr 6, 2022
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…
Song: El Niágara En Bicicleta (+ Vocabulary) Posted by Anais on Mar 30, 2022
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…
Instrucciones para llorar (Reading and Listening Practice + Vocabulary) Posted by Anais on Mar 28, 2022
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…