Check out these interesting websites and blog posts from around the world that will help you learn Spanish: 1. Here’s a long list of Mexican slang from the website Mexico Guru. 2. Life in Cuba direct from Conner Gorry, who lives there and blogs about everyday life from the view of a long-term “local” who […]

You would think a word as simple as slice would have only one translation. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The noun SLICE in Spanish has seemingly countless translations, each one is specific to whatever you are slicing. Here are a few of the more common translations: 1. Trozo Used for slices of cake or […]

Now, if you are looking at the word BOMBA in Spanish for the first time or even as someone who has studied Spanish for years, you are probably thinking it means “bomb”. Well, that is correct. Most of the time. I studied Spanish for several years before I headed to Mexico. I was pretty confident […]

Straight ahead, go straight, forward. They all mean keep going in the same direction you are currently facing. What about recto, directo, de frente, p’alante, t’o tieso and derecho? Any guess as to their meaning? These are some Spanish synonyms for… You got it: Straight ahead. Good guess. Was it the title of the post […]

STAMP. This simple word becomes complex when translated into Spanish. Spanish differences give us two possible words. Spanish Language Words for STAMP I remember learning estampilla in my early studies for STAMP. Only when I began to travel did I learn that another option exists. The other option I know of is sello. Generally estampilla […]

This also happens to be a mega blog post about Spanish differences. The word PALO includes many meanings and phrases tied to it. Check it out. PALO generically refers to a stick, like a broom stick, a pool stick or baseball bat-type stick. However, PALO may also refer to the soccer goal posts. Also, in […]

Yet again, we have what should be a simple word, ZIPPER, identified by a variety of Spanish synonyms. Depending on the country a zipper may be referred to as bragueta, cremallera, cierre or zíper (pronounced zeeper). Anyone care to identify the country or countries that correspond to each? HINT: Some of the answers are here […]

As you learn a language, one of the major tasks is vocabulary acquisition. The more words you know, the better you communicate. Occasionally, you run across words that are not translatable, but for the most part words in one language have an equivalent in another. In the process of acquiring more vocabulary you will notice […]

You’d think that the Spanish word for KITE would be an easy word. Four letters, nothing fancy, just some twigs, paper and string. A mere kid’s toy. Simple, right? Quite the opposite, folks. It turns out there are at least 15 Spanish language words for the same object. KITE comes to mind as the word […]

For years now one Spanish word beat up on me regularly; I could never pronounce it properly. I learned to hate it, even avoided using the word. This lasted for years until last week when my girlfriend (a Puerto Rican native Spanish speaker) walked me through the Spanish pronunciation a couple times. It now rolls […]

The Spanish language has its own day for celebration. And it’s so big that countries such as Japan, Turkey, Australia, Russia, and China have joined. I am talking about El Día E: La fiesta de todos los que hablamos español, a project that the Instituto Cervantes will celebrate for the fourth time on June 23th, […]

Just ran across this sign this weekend, waiting outside an Asian market. This is a quick Quick Quiz with only 6 words on the sign. In case the paint makes it hard for you to read on the bottom the sign reads “Watch Your Step! Mire….los escalones.” So, what’s wrong with this basic Spanish mistake […]

A few days ago, I sat down at my favorite Italian place in South Beach. It’s a locals place where the prices are reasonable and the food amazing. Many of the staff are Italian and speak Spanish. And being Miami, lots of other people speak Spanish too. Almost more than English in some areas. The […]

Overall, spelling in Spanish is pretty straightforward and easy. It’s one of the many reasons I love Spanish. If you can pronounce a word in Spanish, you can generally spell it correctly. However, there are a few common mistakes. Interestingly enough, these are more often made by native speakers than those who study Spanish as […]

This Orlando hotel should be ashamed of itself. This Spanish translation mistake is just a complete disaster. There are so many reasons this should not happen. First off, Orlando has a large population of Spanish speakers. I guarantee there are several native Spanish speaking employees at this hotel. It would be so easy just to […]

On a recent stroll through Puerto Limón, Costa Rica this street vendor’s marketing efforts caught my attention. For two reasons. The first reason is given away by this post title. For the second, take a stab to see if you know why. I’ll give you the answer at the end of this post. For any […]

The words cultivar, crecer, and madurar all mean to grow in Spanish but are used in different contexts. Let’s take a look. • Cultivar is used for plants. For example, “En mi jardín, cultivo tomates, albahaca y cebollas” translates to “In my garden, I grow tomatoes, basil, and onions.” • Crecer, on the other hand, […]

There are several levels of translation and interpretation as well as different rules and norms. There is everything from the formal certifications that involve taking tests in order to receive legally recognized certification to helping a Spanish speaker in the grocery store, but they all require certain etiquette. Legal and Medical Translation Legal and medical […]

If you are learning Spanish, I’m sure you have been given the advice to read in Spanish. I know I have told you to do it. Reading news, stories, magazines, and books in Spanish is an excellent way to keep your Spanish sharp and/or learn new words. Of course, it can also be incredibly frustrating […]

Taking the step into creative writing in a foreign language is difficult. I have been writing poetry for most of my life, but it took me 6 years of studying Spanish before I could write in Spanish a halfway decent poem. If you love to write in English, chances are you will want to learn […]

It never ceases to amaze me how many Spanish differences exist for a word. This one is straight-forward for the most part, with one word dominating throughout Spanish countries. For that reason, all you need to do is to learn one word, but you may hear some of the others so it helps to be […]

I used to think Spanglish was just a silly pseudo-language I spoke amongst my fellow Spanish students. Now that Spanish and English are constantly mixing, Spanglish has really become a sort of dialect. If you speak Spanish as a second language and learned it formally, you might actually have trouble with the mixture. The Easy […]

My friend Fabby emailed me these directly from the La Guardia Airport the other day. As a native Spanish speaker, and a translator to boot, she was appalled by the basic Spanish translation mistakes here. It’s incredible that with SO many Spanish speakers in the United States, errors such as these still abound. It’s shameful […]

In English, you can use the word love in a couple of ways. You can love persons, things, actions or foods. But when it comes to translate love in Spanish, there are particular words you can use. Here are the Spanish words for love. I love you The English I love you has two different […]

Why the Spanish language is easier than English When I was teaching Spanish and dealing with expats in Argentina trying to learn Spanish, I constantly heard about how difficult the Spanish language is to learn. I actually wholeheartedly disagree. I learned through textbooks, the hard way, and I still stand by my stance that Spanish […]

When learning a new language, it can be frustrating when you believe you are saying things correctly yet for some reason cannot make yourself understood. Living in Argentina, I have heard foreign friends say “oh they are just pretending not to understand me because they know I am foreign” or something along those lines more […]

Most Spanish-speakers and learners would recognize the word atún as the translation of the fish tuna, from English. Which is how I also said the word in Spanish. But then I arrived in Puerto Rico and began hearing in Spanish tuna. I had never heard this translation anywhere else, and still believe only Puerto Rico […]

The word “gordo” is translated as “fat” so you would think there wouldn’t be much room for discussion about this word. But hey, this is Spanish and simple words are often a lot more versatile then they seem. Gordo in Spanish doesn’t always have to refer to weight. In some Latin American countries, people will […]

For Latin America, Christmas Holidays does not end on December 25th with the celebration of the birth of Baby Jesus and Santa Claus bringing gifts to children. In fact, this is just the beginning because twelve days after Christmas, we celebrate El Día de Reyes on January 6th. This day is also known as the […]