Animals in Spanish: The only guide you'll need
We all love animals, don’t we? I am sure you have a furry pet at home, or if not you may know someone who has a dog, a cat, or perhaps a hamster.
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.
Fall vocabulary in Spanish
Here is a list of Fall-related terms in Spanish. You can use some of them when you go apple-picking with your friends :)
Answering increasingly difficult questions in Spanish
If someone asked you these questions, would you be able to answer them?
A classic poem in Spanish: Nanas de la cebolla (Lullaby of the Onion)
Here are Miguel Hernández’s Nanas de la cebolla. He wrote them while in jail, in post-war Spain. He received a letter from his wife explaining how she and their baby were having very difficult times.
Zombie apocalypse vocabulary in Spanish
Here's a classic vocab list. It may seem silly, but some of these words may turn out to be extremely helpful should the zombie apocalypse strike.
Ir vs. irse
What’s the difference between ir and irse? Well, they are basically different verbs.
5 Spanish punctuation reminders
In this article, we’ll be discussing five cases in which punctuation in English and Spanish slightly differ. Here they are:
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.
Environment vocabulary in Spanish
Here is a list of environmental terms in Spanish:
Ser & estar quiz
Here's a quiz to test your ser & estar skills. If you need to review how ser and estar work, here are three articles.
Ser & estar, simplified
Ser and estar are tricky for anglophones. Here's a simple way of looking at them, for beginners:
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.
Spanish numbers 1-100: quick guide with pronunciation
Here's a quick review of how numbers 1-100 work in Spanish. From 1 to 15, you just have to memorize each one: uno, dos, tres, etc.
Tequila vs. mezcal: understanding Mexico's iconic spirits (artículo en español)
La creciente popularidad del mezcal en los últimos años ha despertado la curiosidad de muchos sobre su origen, su proceso de producción y, sobre todo, sus diferencias con la bebida mexicana de mayor reconocimiento internacional, el tequila.
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.
Cooking vocabulary in Spanish
Here is a list of cooking-related terms, along with a recipe. (If you decide to make it, remember to a. wait until the red peppers are cool enough to peel and b. send us a picture!)
Irse vs. dejar vs. salir
Students often get confused with these three verbs, as they can all be translated as to leave. Before we analyze the different uses, let’s review their conjugation for the presente, pretérito perfecto, and pretérito imperfecto tenses:
5 great horror movies in Spanish
Watching movies is a great way to improve your listening skills and your accent. Here are five great horror movies in Spanish.
Traer vs. llevar
¿What’s the difference between traer and llevar? Traer means to bring something (or someone) “here,” while llevar means to carry, to “transport from point A to point B,” or “to bring something (or someone) to a place other than the place where the speaker is located.”
Apples and oranges in Spanish
Here is an interesting expression in Spanish: ¡Estás mezclando churras con merinas! (You are mixing churras and merinas!)
Tax-related terms in Spanish
Here's a new vocab list. Not the most fun topic, but important, nevertheless. Here are some key tax-related terms in Spanish.
How to pronounce B and V in Spanish: they sound the same
Here are some tips for pronouncing B and V in Spanish: Tip #1: They are pronounced the same way: [b], with the lips touching each other. That's it.
Spanish TV vocabulary
Here’s a list of TV-related terms. They can be useful should you decide to move to a Spanish-speaking country and binge-watch local TV/Netflix/Hulu/HBO Latino for a few months to improve your Spanish listening skills.
10 iconic songs in Spanish everyone should know: from salsa to reggaeton
Here's a list of 10 very famous songs in Spanish (famous at the level of "I Will Survive", "Hotel California", or "Sweet Child O' Mine").
Spanish greetings beyond '¿cómo estás?': regional variations and slang
Here are some common and some less common greeting formulas in Spanish (there are so many!):
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 reflexive verbs for involuntary or accidental actions
Most of you are already familiar with the concept of reflexive verbs in Spanish. If you have taken only level one, you know the verbs we are going to label in this article as” directional verbs”.
Y vs. LL in Spanish: do they sound the same or different?
Un rayo cayó en Sevilla. Can you say this out loud? Did you pronounce the ‘y’ and the ‘ll’ differently? Can you ask your Spanish-speaking friends or relatives to say this?
6 common mistakes in Spanish you want to avoid
1. Not including the “personal a”. As we know, whenever the grammatical object is a person (or a pet), we must use the preposition a right before said object:
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.
Colombian New Year traditions: a personal story (reading practice in Spanish)
El pasado treinta y uno de diciembre de dos mil veintiuno, me preparaba para recibir el año dos mil veintidós junto a mi esposa y a nuestro pequeño hijo.
Spanish verbs of change: Hacerse, volverse, ponerse, quedarse
Change and adaptation is a constant in life that has been the topic of many theories and thoughts. We have several ways to express the nature of these changes in Spanish that could be confusing at first glance.
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.
How to use 'ya' in Spanish: meanings, examples, and common expressions
If you are slightly advanced in your Spanish learning journey, you have for sure come across the adverb ya many times.
What is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)? A beginner's guide
What do you think about when you hear IPA? Well, I probably just made you think about how you could really take a break from work and go for a cold beer; oops, sorry for that, that's on me.
Day of the Dead explained: traditions, altars, and cultural significance
It is said that on the nights of November 1st and 2nd the souls of the dead come home to visit their loved ones and have their favorite foods and treats left on an altar by family members for them to enjoy and remember the days when they were alive.
Soccer vocabulary in Spanish
Here is a list of words and expressions related to fútbol, the most popular sport in the world, in Spanish.