Not that I have to, but that I want to
Anna Babel, a Spanish professor at an American university, linked perception of language efficiency with social characteristics. Professor Babel used examples from both Bolivia and the USA to show how a person’s social group and ethnicity can influence others’ perception of whether they are a native speaker of the national language.
This blog post by Nicolas Bello lists 15 books that will help you understand Peru, its history and culture.
I am reposting the following currency trivia from the Spanishdict website. Enjoy. Name a Spanish-speaking country that uses the same currency as 19 other countries. Name 2 Spanish-speaking countries that use the USD as their national currency.Hint: The 2 names share the same first letter. Name the Paraguayan currency.Hint: It shares the same name as …
What is your favorite comic strip and character? Your answer will most likely give away your age bracket and gender. My wife adores Peanuts and her favorite character is Snoopy. Another comic strip from around the same era is Mafalda which was written and illustrated by Quino, an Argentine. The main character in Mafalda is …
The Paraguayan War: Causes and Early Conduct is a protracted account of the 1864–1870 Paraguayan war, aka the Triple Alliance war. This is a story about the smallish Paraguay at war with the triple alliance of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The author spent considerable effort in explaining the backdrop of the conflict, going as far …
Language learning can be monotonous and discouraging at times. Anything that can spice up the process is a welcome relief. Listening to Spanish pop music became one of my favorite Spanish learning tools. My previous blog posts here and here listed some of my favorite artists and songs. I found listening to Spanish hit songs …
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All 3 series below are currently viewable on Netflix. 1. Money Heist (La casa de papel) The wildly popular Netflix series has reached global cult status. The storyline follows heists in Madrid including 1 on the central bank of Spain. The crimes were orchestrated by a character known as the Professor and executed by a …
Food is an important part of any culture, and street food embodies an authentic gastronomic cultural identity that is tasty and affordable. Typically, street food businesses are small and family-owned. Munching on street food directly supports the local economy. Besides the economic benefits, street food vendors help keep age-old recipes and local gastronomic culture alive …
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Spanish language learners in this time of COVID-19 may have more time in their hands to read. Some may yearn to read a good novel in Spanish but their proficiency level may not be quite there yet. But, there is value in reading English translation of great Spanish novels. Although the language is not original, …
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Two recent additions to my bookshelf: One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) by Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian author, Nobel laureate in literature. This 1967 novel is my first foray into the ‘magical realism’ genre, often associated with Latin American literature of that time. Novels of the genre are based on real-world settings …