Alejandro Navarro
How to order food in Spanish like a pro
Learning in a classroom setting can at times be reminiscent of walking or running on a treadmill. It’s good for building up your endurance, or skills in the case of the classroom setting, but it lacks the satisfaction of direct results....
Spanish subject pronouns explained: from tú to usted to vosotros
In the year 1660 George Fox, a leader of the Quaker movement, published a book with a short, catchy title: A Battle-Door for Teachers & Professors to Learn Singular & Plural; ...
Understanding 'ahora' in Spanish: when 'now' doesn't mean right now
The Spanish word ahora comes from agora, an archaic Spanish term which in turn comes from the Latin hac hora....
Thank you in Spanish: Etymology and alternative expressions
Desgracia, suceso que produce dolor o pena. As you may glean from the cognates in this definition, desgracia means disgrace, an event causing pain or shame....
Banana in Spanish: Two fruits, many different terms
It is estimated that the average person in the United States consumes twenty-seven pounds of Musa acuminata each year, or ninety per person....
La noche: Spanish for night owls
Recent studies have shown that forcing people to follow an early morning schedule can have harmful consequences....
How to use mucho and poco with nouns
As we move through our shared times, those of us born a few decades ago try to share our cultural references with the younger ones among us....
Spanish reading practice: A story about challenging traditional gender roles
Mis hijas son campeonas de taekwondo. Las tres tienen cinturones negros avanzados y van a competir para representar a Estados Unidos en las olimpiadas....
How to say 'meet' and 'know' in Spanish: essential social verbs explained
At our core we are social beings. The narrative of our life is built pretty much through meeting people and establishing and maintaining relationships. In English we use basically two verbs to talk about this process: meet and know....
Diego Maradona: understanding football's role in Spanish-speaking culture (artículo en español)
En YouTube hay un video que suma, mal contadas, 35 millones de impresiones. Son menos de cinco minutos en que no hay suspenso ni desenlace. ...
Ver vs. mirar in Spanish: understanding the difference with examples
Let's discuss ver and mirar. An English version of this text can be found at the end of the Spanish one you are about to read. Even if you are a beginner student, we encourage you to read the Spanish version first....
Spanish reading practice: a story about moving and habits (pretérito vs. imperfecto
Este artículo puede ayudar a los estudiantes de Nivel 3 en adelante a explorar las narrativas que incorporan diferentes tiempos verbales del pasado, en particular el pretérito perfecto simple y el pretérito imperfecto....
Spanish basic tenses explained: presente vs. pretérito perfecto vs. pretérito imperfecto
Verb conjugation is the backbone of Spanish learning. Strong conjugation skills allow students to ask and answer questions confidently and set the mood for a productive and fulfilling learning experience....
Spanish verbs ser & estar in depth
Beginner Spanish students are often told that ser is for permanent things and estar is for temporary things, except for location, which is always estar, even if it’s a permanent location....
The surprising origins of Spanish words: from Arabic to Basque
Have you ever paused to think that the words we use every day, such as perro, izquierda, albahaca, bufanda, zanahoria, naranja, toalla, reloj, piel, remolacha, azúcar, alcohol, toalla, mar, rival, puente, pais, ciudad, queso, ventana, tomate, aguacate, cabello and alcalde date back hundreds, if not thousands, of years?...
How to roll your Rs in Spanish
It may sound obvious, but effective, satisfactory learning requires a solid grasp of basic skills and rules. For Spanish students, a strong foundation includes, among others, mastering the conjugation of regular and irregular verbs;...
Perífrasis verbales: verbal periphrasis in Spanish explained (article in Spanish)
La perífrasis verbal es una combinación de verbos que se utiliza para comunicar diversos aspectos de una acción, tales como su intención, comienzo, duración, transcurso o fin....
Indirect speech in Spanish: How it works
We talk about the things we do, Vivo en Queens, and the things we want to do, Quiero vivir en una mansión frente a Central Park....