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Vocabulary
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Vocabulary

Visualization, etymology, word-association...every unconventional trick in the world to help you memorize and recall alien-sounding words in the Spanish language and boost your vocabulary effortlessly and painlessly.
Photo credit: peanutian licensed CC BY-SA 2.0

Street Spanish
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Street Spanish

Spanish is a language as diverse as its speakers and there’s more to it than just American vs. European. Learn the various dialectical differences between the innumerable versions of Spanish right off the streets.
Photo credit: Garry Knight licensed CC BY-SA 2.0

Immersion
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Immersion

Immerse yourself into an ocean of Spanish right where you live with these notes discussing several innovative ways of weaving the language around you. Building an immersive environment at home is ridiculously easy.
Photo credit: prayitno licensed CC BY 2.0

Deconstruction

Deconstruction

Learn Spanish by performing autopsies on simple Spanish sentences with us. These sentences range from colloquial expressions to well-known sayings, giving you subtle insights into the Hispanic culture as you learn.
Photo credit: Steve A Johnson licensed CC BY 2.0

Music
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Music

They say, music is the best healer. It’s the best teacher too! Find out how listening to Latino music can boost your rate of Spanish acquisition and also offer you a rich window to the tappy rhythms of Hispanosphere.
Photo credit: Doug Letterman licensed CC BY 2.0

Movies and Shows
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Movies and Shows

More Spanish can be absorbed from movies and television than from textbooks and dictionaries. Read all about entertainment as an input source and discover not only what to watch for maximum juice, but also what to!
Photo credit: r2hox licensed CC BY-SA 2.0

Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks

Loads of unconventional, radical, and otherwise unexplored tips and tricks to help you get results out of your Spanish learning programs. Also learn about how to stay motivated and entertained throughout the process.
Photo credit: woodleywonderworks licensed CC BY 2.0

Resources
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Resources

Absolutely unbiased reviews and practical information on dozens of extremely useful, and mostly free, Spanish learning resources available on the Internet and elsewhere to complement your existing learning programs.
Photo credit: Basilio Briceño licensed CC BY 2.0

Did You Know!

  • Everyone knows that Spanish and Castillian are synonymous. What not many know, however, is that all countries from Central America, except for El Salvador, use the term, “Español” to refer to this language whereas all the countries from South America, except for Colombia, use the term, “Castellano.” In Spain, the latter is also often used to distinguish the north-central standard from other dialects, such as Andalucian.
  • Modern Spanish, Mexican in particular, has quite a few words coming from English and replacing their standard Spanish counterparts in regular speech. Some examples include words like “chequear” (to check) and “clique” (click). What you perhaps didn’t know is that “carro” the Latin American word for “car” is not one of them! Instead, it comes from the Gaulish word, “karros,” (“cart”) and is older than the Peninsular “coche”!
  • Spanish is the language of choice when it comes to learning a second language across Europe and Americas. With almost half a billion native speakers across 44 countries over 5 continents, it is the second most spoken language on Earth. What you didn’t know perhaps is that there are already more native speakers of Spanish than of English worldwide! By 2060, 50% of Americans are expected to be native Spanish speakers!
  • With 228 million supporters, Real Madrid is the most popular and the richest football club in the world; FC Barcelona, on the other hand, has the biggest privately-owned stadium in the world! Though from the same country, the two clubs share a bitter rivalry that goes back to Franco’s days. While Barcelona represented opposition to the dictatorship, Madrid was seen as a symbol of nationalism and favored by the regime!
  • Despite FC Barcelona’s notably anti-nationalist views during the Franco-regime, the stance has largely reversed in more modern times with the club president, Joan Laporta, a self-proclaimed nationalist mandating all foreign players on the team to learn Catalan! Though largely similar, Catalan and Spanish are different languages. Barca fans are typically known as “culés,” the Catalan for ass. The Spanish word is “culo.”
  • Being a Romance language like Italian, Portuguese, French, and Romanian, Spanish owes much of its existence to Latin. However, what you didn’t know is that after Latin, the language that has the greatest influence on Spanish is far from European – Arabic! Spain is studded with cities and towns having Arabic names. The name, Madrid, for example, comes from the Arabic, “magerit,” which means “the place of many streams”!
  • It’s well-known that Mexico has the largest population of Spanish speakers in the world, way more than even Spain. What you didn’t know is that Mexico City is the oldest city in North America, that the Zapotecs of Mexico developed the first writing system in the Americas, that the National University of Mexico is the oldest university in North America, and that North America’s first printing press was used in Mexico!
You’re at ► ► Archives for March 2013

Watch Your Spanish – Ver Or Mirar?

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The Spanish vocabulary has two words for it, the English has at least three. We are talking about the act of perceiving something with the eyes. Quite often, multiple words can mean the same thing and yet can rarely be swappable; on the other hand, the same word can have different meanings and nothing but context can help one discern the right one! The English verbs, “to watch,” “to look,” or “to see,” have subtle differences and we know that. Coming to Spanish, all those verbs mean must morph into either mirar or ver. So, how does one decide which of the two to use in which context? Actually, it’s easier than you thought!
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Chatroom Spanish Decoded


Learning Spanish is impossible without proper immersion but can online courses and blogs like this one give you that? Never. Undoubtedly, the best way to immerse in Spanish is to live in Spain or Latin America. But it’s rarely practical for most of us. So what’s the next best thing? Make Spanish-speaking friends online and chat with them in nothing but Spanish! But are you ready for the chat with someone who speaks nothing but Spanish yet? Granted you can read Spanish newspapers and understand some telenovelas for most parts but, again, are you ready for a chat with a native Spanish speaker yet? You’re in for a rude shock!
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Easy Spanish – 1,000 Words Is All It Takes!

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Learning Spanish doesn’t have to be an ordeal if the right resources are employed at the right time in the right manner. While we have discussed the various tricks of acquiring new vocabulary in the past, it’s high time we discussed the size of vocabulary required for a desirable outcome. How many Spanish words must one master in order to get reasonably comfortable with the language? How many words before one can start discussing their hobbies with a native speaker? How many words before one can open that Spanish novel for easy reading? How many words before one can pick up an El Universal® and actually absorb some news?
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Fresas And Nacos: The Preppies And The White-Trash Of Mexico


No linguistic study of any human culture can ever be complete without a fair understanding of that culture’s social stereotypes. Yankees, redheads, hicks, yuppies, preppies, Valley Girls...you can’t fully understand the Americans unless you understand their clichéd stereotypes. In a similar fashion, if you are learning Mexican Spanish, it won’t hurt to get acquainted with the stereotypes that define their lifestyle and culture. While stereotypes are rightly frowned upon for their prejudices, using them without being judgmental can immensely help understand some of the most colorful and interesting aspects of a culture.
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