It is a fact that English is the language that most influences Spanish today. On the other hand, Spanish has more native speakers than English, so the blend among these two languages is inevitable… Spanglish! Spanish mixed with English in music has been around for decades. At least since Doris Day’s 1956 singing of Que […]
Puerto Rican Spanish: An Interview With Luz Nereida Pérez
Today Puerto Rico commemorates the date when Christopher Columbus arrived to the Island in 1493. Referring to this historical event as a “discovery” has become controversial recently. A “discovery” or not, we can say without any doubt that this was the date that Borikén –native name of the island of Puerto Rico- met the Spanish […]
13 Cool and Interesting Facts About Mexico Day of the Dead INFOGRAPHIC
The traditional Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos has become more prominent in recent times. Why is there a celebration for death? Aren’t we supposed to be sad? Is the Day of the Dead related to Halloween? Why don’t they combine both holidays? What is the relation of the […]
4 Confusing Puerto Rican Spanish Slang Words: BICHO, BICHA, BICHERÍA and BICHOTE
Although the Spanish slang words from Puerto Rico bicho, bicha, bichería, and bichote seem to have the same “root” they don’t mean the same. For foreigners this will be confusing to the point that I consider them “false friends”. The two similarities these four words have are the root bich- and that they all have […]
Spanish Language and the Media: 27 Headlines With Spanish Slang
This is the second part of our series Slang in the News where we share Spanish slang examples from newspapers around Latin America. In this post of headlines from September, I identify 29 Spanish slang words from 27 newspaper front covers. Using slang in headlines makes them catchy and appealing to the masses. Writing a […]
A List of Spanish Slang Expressions Using CHINGAR: 22 Mexican Spanish Examples
There are a lot of books about Mexican Spanish, but there is one exclusively dedicated to the word CHINGAR. The book El Chingonario: Diccionario de uso, reuso y abuso del chingar y sus derivados published by Editorial Otras Inquisiciones includes about 150 sayings with definitions and examples. This book was a recommendation from a Mexican […]
CHINGAR: The Most Important Mexican Spanish Slang Word
The verb chingar is known throughout Latin America, but there is no other country that uses and abuses this word like Mexico. Chingar is the most important word in Mexico. Here is the official dictionary definition by the Royal Spanish Academy versus the Mexican Spanish meaning of chingar. Chingar according to the Royal Spanish Academy […]
Hispanic Heritage Month: 10 Amazing Facts About Hispanics in the United States & Video
The Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year in the United States as a recognition of the contributions that the Hispanic Americans have made for the development of our Nation. What started in 1968 as a one-week celebration, nowadays is a full month from September 15th through October 15th. The selection of these specific dates […]
Which Are the First 3 Puerto Rican Spanish Words Kids Learn to Read?
When I started learning to read at 5 or 6 years old we used the traditional Cartilla Fonética or a phonetics booklet. The Cartilla Fonética is a tool used at school to teach the name and particular sound of each letter, how to make the consonant and vowels liaison to form syllables and how to […]
6 Inverse Colombia Spanish Slang Words
One of the particularities you can get in the slang of a country is the phenomenon of creating new words by inverting or changing the order of the original. These new inverted words keep the same meaning as the original one. Argentina was the first country where Jared identified 24 inverted words and dedicated a […]
COJONES: 33 Phrases With the Most Important Spanish Slang Word in Spain
According to the Royal Spanish Academy a cojón is a testicle and cojones is an interjection used to express diverse moods, especially surprise, something odd or anger. This a polite way of translating cojones. The Real World Spanish translation is a guy’s nuts or balls. The renowned Spanish author and journalist Arturo Pérez Reverte wrote […]
65 Spanish Slang Words for Vagina
Warning: This post includes an incredible volume of words that are not suitable for young eyes. Senator Mitt Romney once visited Miami as a quick stop on his presidential campaign. Part of the media tour included an interview for Radio Mabí with Carlos Santana. The nine-minute phone interview ended with giggles from Santana and the […]
Shame on Spain: A List of Spanish Slang Expressions Used to Insult Puerto Rico
One of our recommendations in the article 4 Strategies to Learn Spanish Slang Abroad when you want to know the language of a specific country is to read the local newspapers. The sports section is an excellent source of colloquial vocabulary you can find. A journalist that write sports news has more flexibility in the […]
ESPANGLISH: The English and Spanish Dictionary Definition of Spanglish by the RAE
Last week the Royal Academy of Spanish Language (RAE, in Spanish) announced the incorporation of the word espanglish (or Spanglish) in the next edition of their dictionary that will be published in 2014. The definition that will accompany this term reads as follow: “A form of speech used by some Hispanic groups in the United […]
6 Spanish Slang Expressions With The Word CAT
Cats are cute and mysterious, loyal and traitorous, independent and loving. If you are a cat lover, here are six Spanish slang expressions or modismos that use cats as their central figure. Idiomatic expressions are an important part of the Spanish learning process and perhaps one of the most difficult. In many cases, popular sayings […]
8 Tools Spanish Speakers Can Use to Improve English Pronunciation
This is the last article of the series English Pronunciation Challenges: What a Latina Learned in an Accent Reduction Class where I share some of the resources I used during my class. These “tools” includes books, apps and web pages that will help you during this process. Posts in this series: English Pronunciation Challenges for […]
10 Most Shocking Things I Learned About English Pronunciation
This is the second article of the series English Pronunciation Challenges: What a Latina Learned in an Accent Reduction Class where I share some of the resources I used during my class. These “tools” includes books, apps and web pages that will help you during this process. Posts in this series: English Pronunciation Challenges for […]
How To Say EARRINGS In Spanish
Women simply love jewelry and my mom is one of them. Genuine or costume, the bling-bling always amazes her. If you want to flatter a Spanish-speaking lady with a pair of earrings, you will need to take some notes on how to many words there are in Spanish for this word. The Dictionary of the […]
Spanglish Words: 4 Spanish Words from the English Word LUNCH
The Spanish language has been influenced by Latin and Arabic throughout its development. But today, the language that has been contributing to the Spanish vocabulary is English. Think of words like junior, píxel, jacuzzi, copyright and flirtear. All these words have been accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy. But the following set of Spanish words adopted […]
13 Cool and Interesting Facts About Spanish: Infographic
13 facts about the Spanish language with their sources. Historic and current facts about Spanish language plus a shareable info-graphic. Download and share this infographic with 13 facts about Spanish created by Speaking Latino to celebrate El Día E.