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Review: Become Fluent In Any Language

Too rushed to read my whole review? No problem. Here’s the important part: I strongly recommend this course for any language learner, whether beginner or already multilingual. It does a great job of presenting how to learn a language in a structured way, step-by-step while sharing the science of language learning as well as practical organization and tools to learn a language efficiently. Gabriel Wyner explains things simply and clearly. This is a course you should buy. The money is well worth it.

Football Phrases in Spanish: What is Your Favorite?

The World Cup is about to end. This past month I had a great time watching many of the matches here in Miami and also in Spain, where we spent half of the World Cup. Listening to the commentators in Spanish was so much fun; the phrases they used, the energy they had, and how […]

World Cup 2014 Teams From Spanish Speaking Countries: INFOGRAPHIC

The FIFA World Cup 2014 starts today with the first match and the opening ceremony. This bilingual infographic features the FIFA World Cup 2014 teams from Spanish speaking countries: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Spain and Uruguay. It includes these facts and statistics about each team: • First World Cup appearance: Primera […]

Spanish Saying: PONER UN HUEVO CUADRADO

Here is an illustration of a popular Spanish saying: poner un huevo cuadrado. This illustration is featured in the book Speaking Boricua. Spanish Saying: Poner un huevo cuadrado • Literal translation: to lay a square egg. • Meaning: to make a big mistake • Examples: “Apple puso un huevo cuadrado con la nueva versión de […]

Spanish Saying: ESTAR PARA CHUPARSE LOS DEDOS

Here is an illustration of a common Spanish saying estar para chuparse los dedos that I would like to share with you. Spanish Saying: ESTAR PARA CHUPARSE LOS DEDOS • Literal translation: Finger-licking • Meaning: something tasty (food). • Example: “La pizza que me hizo mi suegro estaba para chuparse los dedos.” La pizza que […]

Diccionario de Americanismos Online: List of Common Abbreviations and Symbols

If you have used the online search tool of the Diccionario de Americanismos you might have noticed that the results include many abbreviations and symbols. The Diccionario de Americanismos online is an exact copy of what you will see in the actual printed dictionary and they use abbreviations to maximize space. Understating them will lead […]

How Do You Say Corn In Spanish?

There are several ways of how to say corn in Spanish: maiz, mazorca, elote, choclo, jojoto and marlo. Due to the fact corn is used in many ways and has such a long history in Latin America – in summary, the Spanish word for corn can vary from one country to another.  Why Is There […]

Learn Spanish Quiz: Why Is It So Difficult To Identify Spelling Errors?

The mistakes on the back of this key card from a hotel in Puerto Rico are two simple spelling errors that could be avoided if someone had proofread the material. Before writing this post I showed the card to three native speakers and only one of them identified the first error. Apparently it’s too minor […]

5 Versions of Jingle Bells in Spanish

If you are looking for the Christmas song Jingle Bells in Spanish you have plenty of options. This song actually has two versions or lyrics: Cascabel, cascabel or Navidad, Navidad. Any of these versions have been adapted to different rhythms and here are some demo examples. Share with me which one is your favorite and […]

The Most Authentic Spanish Words from 11 Latin American Countries

Every country has a flag, food and symbols that identify them. But what about a single word? During the 6th International Congress of the Spanish Language (VI Congreso Internacional de la Lengua Española) celebrated in Panama, the blog Papeles Perdidos, created by the newspaper El País, published an atlas of the representative words of Spanish-speaking […]

The Death of Language Learning

The Future of Language Learning For three years now I have been following the Language Learning community online, occasionally even participating. During that time I have thought in-depth about the future of language learning. Where is it going? How will people learn languages? Why will they learn them? How can we use technology to learn […]

Cook and Enjoy the Language: The Best Spanish Food Books To Help You Cook

How many times have you seen a lot of beautiful Spanish food books, with great pictures that look delicious? You can start to browse them, and to read a recipe, but you give up when you find that the ingredients are absolutely unknown to you … and furthermore, you think you would not even know […]

Halloween Song in Spanish: CUANDO LLEGA EL MES DE OCTUBRE [VIDEO]

Cuando llega el mes de octubre is a Halloween song in Spanish taught to all kids in Puerto Rico. This song doesn’t talk about monsters or ghosts, it’s about a jack-o’-lantern. Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean where the traditional orange pumpkin doesn’t grow and, consequently, pumpkin carving is nonexistent. The song Cuando […]

How to say BACON in Spanish

The words tocino, tocineta, beicon, bacon, bacón and panceta all mean bacon in different countries.  When asked the simple question “How do you say bacon in Spanish?” there is no quick answer. The Spanish word for bacon varies from one country to the next as you can see from the list above. The Royal Spanish […]

Basic Spanish Lessons: Ordering Food

It’s pretty hard to get around in a Spanish speaking country if you can’t even order something to eat. This basic Spanish lesson will give you the vocabulary and phrases you need to order food in Spanish. First, let’s get your basic food vocabulary out of the way. You have to get past the menu […]

8 Kids Spanish Books About Hispanic Culture for Middle School Kids

If you are a parent of a middle school kid looking for stories to connect him/her to the Hispanic culture, check out these Kids Spanish Books options. These books are ideal for kids that speak Spanish as a first language between the grades of 6th to 8th. These titles are also available in English for […]

Video Spanish Lessons: Pronouncing the Colors in Spanish

The colors are one of the basic things you can teach your students. Here is a short video Spanish lesson on how to pronounce the colors. Video Spanish Lessons: Pronouncing the Colors in Spanish 1. amarillo: yellow 2. azul: blue 3. negro: black 4. naranja: orange 5. rojo: red 6. rosa: pink 7. café: brown […]

LADRON QUE ROBA LADRON Spanish Language Proverb in English

There are variations on how the same Spanish language proverb is known or expressed. For example, the complete saying Ladrón que roba ladrón… can be expressed as: 1. Ladrón que roba a ladrón, merece el perdón 2. Ladrón que roba a ladrón tiene cien años de perdón 3. El que roba a un ladrón tiene […]

Top 9 Reasons Why People Learn Spanish in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the Unites States where Spanish is the official language. This and many others reasons make San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, a good destination to learn Spanish. Sacha Delgado, owner of the Institute for Spanish Language Acquisition (I.S.L.A.), chatted with Speaking Latino and tell […]

First Spanish Lessons: Talking About Your Spanish Studies

When you are in the process of learning a language, you will generally get a lot a questions related to how you learned the Spanish you already know. Nothing kills your confidence more than not knowing how to respond to a question as simple as “how long have you been studying Spanish?” The phrases I […]