Tag Archives: Spanish Culture
Spanish Set Expressions: Giving Someone a Hand (II) Posted by Paula on Sep 23, 2016
This week post continues with the set expressions in Spanish. Let’s study more expressions with hands, since the Spanish language has a wide variety of meanings for this part of the body. ¡Manos a la obra! Poner las manos en el fuego por alguien (to place one’s own hand in the fire for someone): To really show…
Spanish Set Expressions: You’re in Good Hands (I) Posted by Paula on Sep 15, 2016
In the process of acquiring any foreign language the importance of set expressions cannot be underestimated. You have to invest time in learning and implementing these expressions if you want to sound more natural and also to understand the natives better. Spanish has many of these expressions and today we will practice those related to the word…
Three Latino Crooners You Should Know (I) Posted by Paula on Mar 14, 2016
Do you like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra? Then perhaps you will enjoy the music of these three Spanish and Latin American singers. Latino crooners, who are sometimes called cantantes de boleros, are very famous across the Spanish-speaking world, and their lyrics are often a very good resource to practice your Spanish and learn new vocabulary (particularly about love, ¡oh…
Spanish traditions: Fiestas de la Magdalena Posted by Paula on Feb 26, 2016
¡Buenos días! Entre Carnaval y Semana Santa, la tradición católica (muy arraigada en España y muchos países latinoamericanos) celebra la Cuaresma. Durante la Cuaresma, las actividades en la iglesia se relacionan con el arrepentimiento, el recogimiento, la reflexión y el sacrificio. Sin embargo, el calendario de la Cuaresma también sirve para establecer muchas fiestas locales…
Carnival in Latin America Posted by Paula on Feb 4, 2016
These days we are enjoying the Carnival (Carnaval, en español) season all over the world, mainly in countries that follow the Christian tradition. Carnival comes 40 days before Easter (Pascua)and takes place during the three days before Ash Wednesday (Miércoles de ceniza). More or less all countries respect the calendar, but traditions and celebrations are…
New Year’s Eve and traditions in Spain Posted by Paula on Dec 31, 2015
New Year is here and this is on of the most important celebrations in Spain. Do you feel like brushing up your New Year vocabulary? Check out our previous posts on this subject. You can also check posts on Christmas vocabulary, Christmas food and the Spanish Christmas lottery. Let’s go through some of the traditions…
Spanish Vocabulary: Politics and Elections Posted by Paula on May 28, 2015
Last Sunday Spain held several elections at local and autonomic levels. Many cities changed the political party in charge of government and broke with the usual split between two parties, PP and PSOE. Here we have an interview of Pablo Iglesias, head of the Podemos party, which was part of many coalitions that won in…