Blogs

A recent environmental campaign in Spain encouraging people to recycle paper has adopted a clever marketing slogan, linguistically speaking.

Do you get the pun or double meaning of the slogan on the paper recycling bin in this photo?

If you don't, here's some help...

All languages have their fun side …I mean, er, dark side. If you’re looking to add a little pepper to your Spanish, then keep reading. (If you’re easily offended or still live in your parents house, it’s best that you hace clic elsewhere!)…

What’s the deal with all these Al- words that we have to learn in Spanish vocabulary?

Well, the answer goes way back to the year 711 A.D., when the Arab forces, called the Moors, ousted the Visigoths who were controlling the Iberian peninsula (the current area of Spain), and set up an occupation that eventually led the way for a flourishing subculture of arts & sciences. These Moors, along with their progressive cultural pursuits, managed to heavily influence the tongue of would-be Spain with Arab-based vocabulary and structures...

Have you ever seen President Bush speak Spanish? I have, and honestly he’s not too bad. But one thing he and all new Spanish speakers need to learn in order to sound just a little bit closer to fluent is the use of crutch words...

One of the biggest problems for Spanish beginners is how to learn a large amount of vocabulary in the shortest time possible. Well, there are no quick solutions, but here are some patterns to help identify, write and learn Spanish words with more ease...

Vosotros is an odd little word, isn’t it?

For the longest time, I and other students in high school and college classes were convinced that it had no equal in English, and so was difficult to learn (kind of like that little subjunctive form, but let’s not go there). It’s in regular use in Spain, but pretty much no where else in the world, except maybe old movies and books. But we still have to learn it, understand it, and perhaps even be forced to use it now and then...

You’ve been studying Spanish a while and decide to take the next step: You’re going to a Spanish speaking country. Just make sure that you have researched the country well and I am not talking necessarily about safety and the hotspots but the vocabulary! That’s right, the vocabulary. Crazy?!? I don’t think so.

Many countries do not use the same exact vocabulary that we learn in the classroom. That seems obvious, but even the vocabulary we use in class may have a different connotation depending on the country you choose to visit. Two classic cases of miscommunication are local terminology and interpretation...