Archive for 'Spanish Culture'
Reguetón Posted by Adir on Aug 14, 2008
You’ve probably heard of reguetón, right? Reguetón “was born” in Puerto Rico about 10 years ago and it’s a blend of rap, hip hop, and reggae. In this post I’m bringing an all-Spanish text talking about reguetón. You also have the most difficult words translated to help you understand it. If you have questions, post…
Manolito Gafotas Posted by Adir on Aug 7, 2008
Have you ever heard of Manolito Gafotas? Manolito is a series of kids’ books written by Spanish author Elvira Lindo. They tell the story of Manolito in the district of Carabanchel, in Madrid. Manolito is a common kid and his stories are written with lots of humor and tenderness. These stories started on the radio…
Traveling through Andalusia Posted by Adir on Jul 27, 2008
Andalusia (Andalucía in Spanish) is the most populated and second largest autonomous community in Spain, as well as most visited, both by Spanish people and by foreign tourists. Among the most popular routes is the “pueblos blancos” route. On it, the traveler can visit small and medium-sized villages in Cádiz and Málaga (Sierra de Grazalema…
Che! Posted by Adir on Jul 24, 2008
¡Che! is an interjection used mainly in Argentina and Eastern Spain (Valencia) and it’s often used to get attention or express surprise. It can be roughly translated as “Eh!”, “Wow!”, or “Hey!”. It’s also used as a discourse marker to initiate an utterance, or tagged at the end of a sentence. ¡Che, está buena la…
Spanish or Castillian? Posted by Adir on Jul 21, 2008
To answer that question we have to go back to the origins of the language. Spanish comes from Latin, which arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 2,000 years ago. As in many other Roman provinces, Latin became Vulgar Latin by adopting some of the vocabulary of the indigenous languages and later developed even further into…
Idioms with Bread Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 2, 2008
The word bread (pan) is the source of several idioms and expressions. Contigo, pan y cebolla – We shall live on love alone. Para casarse se necesitan muchas cosas, no sólo decir que contigo pan y cebolla. Llamar al pan pan y al vino, vino. – to call a spade a spade. Voy a hablarte…
Body idioms II Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 30, 2008
We’re back with the second part of body idioms. This post will be totally dedicated to la cabeza (the head). Check it out! 1. ser la cabeza pensante – to be the brains. (Es la cabeza pensante de la banda. – He’s the brains of the band.) 2. tener la cabeza dura – to be…