SpanishPod101.com Blog

This Spanish All About Lesson you will learn about five of the more famous festivals in Spain and Latin America.

Sanfermines-“The Running of the Bulls”
This ten-day municipal festival in Pamplona, Spain is well known in the English-speaking world as the
“running of the bulls.” The festival commemorates Saint Fermin, a martyr and patron saint of the
participants, who dress in white with red scarves for the event.

Puente Guadalupe-Reyes – “Christmas Season”
Traditionally in the Spanish-speaking world, it is the Three Wise Men who mysteriously bring gifts to children on Epiphany, although some families also observe the Santa Claus tradition of gift giving on Christmas Day.

Semana Santa – “Holy Week”
Holy Week celebrations start on Palm Sunday and go through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter
Sunday. In addition to having Holy Week off, most of the Spanish-speaking world has the following week off from work as well.

Día de los Muertos – “All Souls Day”
On the Catholic calendar, All Souls Day is celebrated on November second. It’s observed throughout
the Spanish-speaking world as el Día de los muertos. Spanish speakers offer prayers to deceased loved
ones and spend time in the cemeteries visiting, cleaning, and decorating tombs.

Carnaval – “Fat Tuesday”
Ash Wednesday in Catholic countries is the beginning of Lent: the forty-day season of fasting, prayer,
and solemn reflection. Therefore, the days leading up to Ash Wednesday have developed into a
festival of gluttony and excess. Many cities have celebrations involving masks, costumes, dancing, and
parades.

There are many more festivals in the Spanish speaking world, but here are a few just to start you off.

Pack your beach bag with the essentials this summer – bathing suit, sunblock and SpanishPod101.com! The summer is officially here and what better time than now to become a SpanishPod101 Premium Member! To make things even easier for you, instantly knock $50 OFF 1 or 2 Year Premium subscriptions!

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In this month’s newsletter:

Study Tips from Peter – THINK in another language

Hey Listeners, Peter here.
Starting this month I’ll be sharing tips on learning languages to help keep you motivated and progressing. This month I’ll teach you how to THINK in another language. It’s not nearly as difficult as it sounds so don’t give up right away; try out …  Read More >>

Ultimate Getting Started with Spanish Sale!

If you’ve been waiting for the ULTIMATE way to learn Spanish, you must click here to get 50% OFF our secret weapon. Read More >>

Will The World Cup Champions Speak Spanish?

Chances look good! Spanish is the mother tongue of 7 of the 32 teams competing for The World Cup title! So, who are you putting your money on?  Read More >>

Get a Lifetime 50% Discount!

Never pay more than half the price of a regular subscription to any one of our new language sites! Join as a Founding Father and get this and so much more!  Read More >>

BONUS Spanish Lesson – World Cup Vocabulary!

We’re back with another free audio lesson just for you! This month, we’re going Cup Crazy with a World Cup themed bonus lesson!  Read More >>

The Focus of This Lesson Is Five Things You Should Know about Spanish-speaking Cultures.

1. The Kiss and the Handshake

• In the Spanish-speaking world, women are always greeted with a kiss, both as a hello and as a good-bye. Sometimes this kiss is a peck on the check, but many times, it’s that kiss where you touch cheeks and kiss the air.

• In general, you reach left for the first kiss; that is, it’s your right cheek that gets kissed first.

• Men usually greet each other with a handshake rather than a kiss, both as a hello and a good-bye.

2. La hora latina

• It is a widely held belief that Spanish-speakers always arrive late to events, even among Spanish speakers themselves. People often refer to this as la hora latina, meaning “Latino time.”

• much of the Spanish-speaking world is developing; transportation and communication are not as reliable as in more developed countries. Delays are often unavoidable.

• because everyone in the society is subject to the same delays, people in Spanish-speaking cultures tend to be forgiving about lateness.

• There are certainly many Spanish speakers who view punctuality as a form of respect and who strive to be punctual in their daily lives.

3. Lunch Time

• In the Spanish-speaking world, the midday meal is often the main meal of the day, every day of the week.

• There is regional variation as to what Spanish speakers call this meal, but more often than not, they refer to it simply as la comida, meaning “the meal.”

• The comida is often followed by la siesta, a customary mid-afternoon nap, which serves to both refresh people after a big meal as well as to keep people out of the sun during what is usually the hottest time of the day.

4. Regional Accents

• Like every major language, Spanish has regional varieties that have arisen over the generations due to patterns of migration and isolation. In Latin America, people often label regional varieties costeño or serrano.

1. The costeño dialects are characterized by the aspiration of syllables that end in -s. For example, someone speaking a costeño variety might say Hola, ¿cómo estás? [ola, komo ehtah].
2. Serrano dialects tend to be found in mountainous regions, and their pronunciation of syllables that end in -s reflects a more conservative dialect of Madrid.

5. Flirting and Sexual Harassment

• Culturally speaking, Spanish speakers tend to touch each other casually more than in North American, Northern European, or Asian cultures.

• Compared to North Americans, Spanish speakers seem to have a more tolerant attitude toward unsolicited flirting, finding it flattering or humorous rather than threatening or disgusting.

This summer, SpanishPod101.com’s Basic and Premium subscription pricing structure is changing.

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May 2010

In this month’s newsletter:

1. 5 New Innovative Language Sites are coming! What new languages will we be adding to the 101.com family?Click here to find out…

2. Cinco de Mayo! Cinco de Mayo is of course, celebrated on May 5th but do you know why? Click here to read about the significance of this day. 

3. BONUS Spanish Audio Lesson!  We’re back with another free audio lesson just for you! Click here to download and listen…

Welcome to the SpanishPod101.com newsletter. We’ve been really busy gearing up for summer and Innovative Language Learning has a lot of news to share! Stay posted throughout the summer! These periodic newsletters will deliver to you all the exciting developments that are going on at SpanishPod101.com. Read and Enjoy! And as always, if you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us atcontactus@SpanishPod101.com.
The SpanishPod101.com Team

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The cuisines of the Spanish-speaking world are as varied and diverse as they are delicious. If you haven’t tried these delicious dishes, we recommend you do!

If you are a meat lover, you should try “churrasco”, which in Latin America means “grilled meat”, and Argentinians are known for their love of savory steaks.

If you want to try and exotic and comforting dish, venture into Puerto Rico’s “mofongo,” a delicious dish of fried plantains and pork rinds, vegetables, meat, or seafood.

Also on the exotic side, unique technique of curing seafood with citrus juice rather than heat, ceviche, is also very delicious invented in Peru and elevated to an art form.

And while it’s difficult to pick one dish that represents the diversity and complexity of Spanish cooking, we recommend paella, the short-grain rice dish flavored with saffron. The classic paella of Valencia is made with escargot, meat, and vegetables. other popular versions are made with seafood or with meat and seafood.

Another very typical and accesible dish are tacos, from Mexico. There are different types, but we will feature los tacos al pastor, meaning “shepherd-style tacos,” made from pork that’s been marinated with spices and roasted with a hint of pineapple, making the meat tender and juicy.

Que delicioso! (How delicious!)
Venture into these culture’s rich offering in gastronomy, and tell us which was your favorite! You will surely not be dissappointed!

Have you wondered how much you know about Spanish-speaking cultures?take this quiz!

Quiz:

1.  in which of these countries is Spanish not the official language?
A) Uruguay
B) Guatemala
C) Brazil
D) Perú

2.Out of the following 3 famous people, match “person” to “profession”:
PERSON: <Diego Armando Maradona>, <Alejandro Sanz>, <Hugo Chavez>
PROFESSION: <singer>, <politician>, <sports Star>

3. Which country has the most populated city?
A) México
B) Argentina
C) Spain
D) Colombia

4. TRUE or FALSE: The native populations and cultures of Latin America have left without a trace in the modern culture.

Answers:

1. C, Brazil. The Portuguese colonized Brazil, leaving that country with Portuguese as its official language.
2.  Hugo Chavez – Politician ; Alejandro Sanz – Singer; Diego Armando Maradona – Sports star
3. A, Mexico. Mexico City has a population of approximately 8,841,916!
4. False! The modern populations have many who descended from pre-Columbian ancestors, and to this day some indigenous languages are still spoken in Latin America!

How many did you get correct?

1. 101 Million Downloads Reached!  On April 12th, SpanishPod101.com and Innovative Language Learning reached 101 million lesson downloads! Thanks to all the listeners for supporting us! The winners from our 101 Million Download contest have been picked and posted. Click here to see if you’re a winner!

2. Did you get fooled? Pranks, jokes and lies oh my! – did you dodge them all on April Fool’s Day? Click here to read more about this wacky holiday…

3. BONUS Spanish Audio Lesson!  We’re back with another free audio lesson just for you! We’re going green with this month’s theme. Click here to download and listen…

Welcome to the SpanishPod101.com newsletter. Spring is here and the warm weather has been inspiring us with fun new lesson ideas! These periodic newsletters will deliver exciting developments that are going on at SpanishPod101.com. Read and Enjoy! And as always, if you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at contactus@Spanishpod101.com.
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A BIG Thank you to all our listeners.

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