Archive for 'Spanish Culture'
Frases hechas y expresiones figuradas: de igualdad y de superioridad Posted by Adir on Apr 8, 2010
Spanish has a variety of colorful idioms and expressions of comparison (both of equality and superiority). Let’s learn some more of them! De igualdad 1. andar como Pedro por su casa – to make yourself comfortable, feel like you’re at home. 2. estar como un tren – to be very handsome/pretty 3. estar como sardinas…
Semana Santa in Spain Posted by Magda on Apr 2, 2010
We talked about Carnavales (Carnival) a few weeks ago, and now it’s time to do the same about Semana Santa (Easter). The weeks after Carnaval leading up to Semana Santa are known as Cuaresma (Lent), a word related to the number cuarenta (forty), because forty days is the period when Christians prepare themselves with prayers…
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…
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…