Foreign Words in Spanish Posted by Adir on Nov 19, 2009
Spanish has borrowed words from many other languages, and that is one of the reasons why it is such a colorful language. Here’s a list of some foreign words (extranjerismos) with their equivalent Spanish expressions. Baby-sitter – niñera, canguro Best-seller – superventas Blackout – apagón Buffet – bufé Cassette – (cinta) casete Chantilly – nata…
Colombian accent with Shakira Posted by Adir on Nov 16, 2009
Here’s a very cool interview with Colombian singer Shakira for CNN en Español. She talks about a law to help education in many countries. Listening tip: listen and watch the video many times, get used to real spoken Spanish. Input is of extreme importance to be fluent in any language so the more you listen…
G or J? Posted by Adir on Nov 12, 2009
Choosing between G or J in Spanish is not an easy task. So here’s a small test for you: fill in the blanks with G or J. ___enaro ___erardo ___erona ___erónima ___imnasia (gymnastics) A___enda (diary) Án___el (angel) Beren___ena (eggplant) Ciru___ano (surgeon) Ciru___ía (surgery) Co____er (to take) Co____o (I take) Co___ín (cushion) Cónyu___e (husband or wife)…
Giving directions Posted by Adir on Nov 9, 2009
Here are some very useful sentences for giving directions in Spanish. Siga todo recto … – Go straight ahead … Doble a la derecha … – Turn right … Doble a la izquierda … – Turn left … Entre en la 1ª sala … – Go into the first room … Baje la escalera ……
Entrevista con Ximena Posted by Adir on Nov 5, 2009
I first started studying Spanish when I was in high school. There were a boy and a girl from Chile who lived in my town and I was fascinated by their bilingual background and they were the first ones to teach me the basics. Tomislav’s dad was the manager of a hotel here and Ximena…
Chilean comedian: Coco Legrand Posted by Adir on Nov 2, 2009
Alejandro Javier González Legrand, “Coco Legrand”, is a Chilean comedian and his debut was at the Festival de Viña del Mar in 1972. The festival is known for its very demanding audience, called “El Monstruo” (The Monster). His humor is filled with social criticism towards the people of Chile and his texts always focus on…
Entrevista con Óscar Posted by Adir on Oct 29, 2009
Hey, I’m going to start a series of interviews with people who speak fluent Spanish. I asked them how they learned their second language (Portuguese, English, etc.) and they talked about other topics too, like their occupations, family, etc. The first interview is with Oscar Eduardo Gamboa. He’s Mexican and lives in São Paulo. He…