In Spanish, a lot of words may be altered slightly with diminutives or colloquialisms and still mean more or less the same thing, for example with “galleta” (cookie/cracker) and “galletita” (little cookie/cracker”). Chileans, in particular, are famous for their -itos. It is then understandable that one might confuse the words “caballo” and “caballero” and assume […]

When you are learning a language, it is easy to brush off certain things as unimportant. You simply want to get your point across, so you can’t waste time trying to perfect every aspect of your speech when you need to communicate. Usually, this is fine and with enough context, you will be understood, more […]

You’d think the largest shopping center in the Caribbean would get this right. This Quick Quiz basic Spanish mistake is straight-forward. There’s only one mistake to find. Plus, a bonus: Identify a Speaking Latino local Spanish vocabulary word. Take a look at the picture. Have you identified the error? How about the vocabulary discovery? Ok, […]

Here is a collection of product names in Spanish I found on a recent trip to the Western Caribbean. Throughout a 10-year career in Marketing, I experienced the importance of establishing a strong brand name. These products names are catchy and funny and now that I am more aware of the differences of Spanish languages […]

Parecer and parecerse a both mean “to resemble” or “to look like” but they cannot be used interchangeably. Parecer is used to describe the appearance of something, such as “He looks like a teacher” while parecerse is used to compare between items, such as “He looks like my teacher Mr. Sanchez.” or to give an […]

This post is part of the series Warming up for El Día E: Posts to Improve Your Spanish. El Día E is a world-wide celebration of the Spanish Language that will take place on June 23th, 2012. Posts in this series to celebrate El Día E: 1. Join the Celebration of El Día E 2. […]

Ahora is a universal word in Spanish that means now. It is simple, easy to remember, extremely useful and one of the first words a Spanish learner picks up. It would be so helpful if there also existed a universal word for right now. Alas, twas not to be. The words ahorita, ahora mismo and […]

After five years working for Avon, I’m definitely hooked on their products. So the other day I went to their store in Miami to stock up with some of my favorites. At the entrance there was this sign with their return and exchange policies. Guessing what’s wrong with this sign is easy. If you don’t […]

The TU and USTED Joke in Spanish Un señor decide averiguar qué es lo que hace un empleado suyo que sale a la calle a las 11:00 a.m. y regresa a la 1 p.m. cada día. Contrata a un detective y a la semana éste le dice: “Cada día a la misma hora coge su […]

The verb GUSTAR and other verbs like GUSTAR confuse many Spanish students because these sort of verbs do not really exist in English. The literal translation of GUSTAR is “to please” which is unfortunate for anyone who has to teach high school Spanish as you will have to tell them the way to say “I […]

This is the review of the Gritty Spanish audio program to improve listening and reading comprehension. Download a free eBook.

Speaking Latino interviews Eldon Mirjah, creator of Gritty Spanish audio program.

This is what I learned from my first 5 hours with italki classes and how to use the time wisely when you start your online Spanish lessons.

Spanish teachers: check out this beginning Spanish lesson based on the book Cuadros de Familia / Family Pictures, a bilingual book by Carmen Lomas Garza.

Writing in a foreign language can be a difficult task. Students often make common mistakes when writing their first essays in Spanish. My first Spanish writing lessons involved answering a question in a full sentence. I moved up to writing 10 page papers discussing full-length Spanish novels, but while I was in school, I still […]

My very first Spanish lessons often left something to be desired. While knowing how to tell people your birthday and ask them about theirs is great and all, I didn’t find it all too easy to apply in real world situations. I’d like to give you some first lessons in Spanish that you can use […]

As with all different areas of languages, vocabulary dedicated to car parts varies from one country to another. In Spanish, the car is el auto in one country, el coche in another, and el carro in a third. Let’s take a look at a couple of simple parts. In countries like Chile the clutch pedal […]

Learning new vocabulary words in Spanish is an important element in the language acquisition process. Teaching vocabulary should be constantly taught and reviewed during a lesson as a phonological awareness activity, or to pre-teach new vocabulary of a story or text. Teaching vocabulary is also important because it increases the chances to become a better […]

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 […]

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 […]

If you need a lesson to learn Spanish and would like to move past talking about the weather and your age, this real-life lesson is for you. I am going to cover the basics of talking about your interests, which is much more likely to come up in casual conversation than your birth date or […]

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 […]

So, you have made the decision to take Spanish lessons in Puerto Rico. But to maximize your learning experience you need to be prepared. Sacha Delgado, founder of the Institute for Spanish Language Acquisition (I.S.L.A.) in San Juan, gave us some basic tips you should do before; during and after you attend an immersion program […]

Creating fun Spanish lesson plans can be a complicated process especially when you are trying to create meaningful lesson plans as well. To make sure you have a complete, and effective lesson plan, it is necessary that you create your objectives for the lesson. What should the students be able to do after the lesson? […]

A Spanish greetings lesson is usually one of the first things done at the beginning of a novice Spanish class. Spanish greetings are usually taught as vocabulary words, but why not try to create a bit more excitement? Think about this from the viewpoint of a brand-new learner of Spanish. These greetings are the first […]

Doing Spanish lessons fast is not the way to go unless your only goal is to complete a series of lessons in that time frame. Which, by the way, is a bad goal. Learning a language quickly can be detrimental to your comprehension and production of the language. Usually the primary goal of learning a […]

In learning a language, there are 4 main components: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. All 4 are of equal importance, however, when developing one’s communicative skills the specific focus will be on listening and speaking. When students are asked at the beginning of the year what their goal is for Spanish class, 9 out of […]

A Spanish lesson for kids is going to look much different than any other lesson you plan for a group of teenagers or adults. This lesson needs to be uncomplicated, engaging, and include regular changes in activities, so you can maintain their interest. Many children will not sit for a traditional high school Spanish lesson, […]