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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!

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?

Every month, we are giving away great SpanishPod101.com prizes to 4 lucky listeners. Sign up to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or SpanishPod101.com to be eligible to win. Increase your chances of winning by following us on all three sites!

Here are March’s winners:

Facebook: Katie Kim
Youtube: michaelmathieu
Twitter: guenats
SpanishPod101: spence25usn

See your name here? Email us at contactus@spanishpod101.com to claim your prize. Check back next month for April’s winners!

In this month’s newsletter:

1. Knocking on 101 MILLION! SpanishPod101.com and our sister sites at Innovative Language Learning are fast approaching a big milestone – 101 MILLION lesson downloads! You could win a Premium LIFETIME Subscription! Best of all, you’re already entered to win! Click here to find out more…

2. I Am Woman! March 8th was International Women’s Day! Click here to learn more about these holidays……

3. Best Lessons and Blog Entries for March! Find out what’s popular this month! The blog has great content for you to see.
Welcome to the SpanishPod101.com newsletter. Spring is coming and we are ready to welcome in the new season with fun and exciting lessons! These periodic newsletters will deliver exciting developments that are going on at SpanishPod101.com. With each issue, you will receive the latest announcements, promotional offers, blog news, and forum news, while getting a rare glimpse of the behind-the-scenes life at the SpanishPod101.com office!

Read and Enjoy! And as always, if you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at contactus@Spanishpod101.com.

The SpanishPod101.com Team

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In par with the culture, festivals and holidays in the Spanish-speaking world are fascinating and lively! Here are some very famous festivities:

-Sanfermines-“The Running of the Bulls”
This 10-day festival in Pamplona, Spain, also features dancers, street performers, and actors in costumes.

-Christmas Season
Traditionally in the Spanish-speaking world, the Three Wise Men are who bring gifts to children, though nowadays most families follow the Santa Claus tradition.

-Semana Santa – “Holy Week”
Holy Week celebrations start on Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Every community has a unique Holy Week celebration. Most of
the Spanish-speaking world has off days on Holy week and the following as well.

-Día de los Muertos – “All Souls Day”
On November 2nd, prayers are offered to deceased loved
ones and  tombs are visited, cleaned, and decorated. In Mexico, it
is celebrated with colorful festivities and festive decorations.

– Carnaval – “Fat Tuesday”
Before the period of Lent(a season of fasting, prayer,
and solemn reflection), beginning on Ash Wednesday, it is festival of gluttony and excess involving musics, costumes, and parades.

Did you know about these festivities, and have you ever participated in them?

The Spanish-speaking world has some unique aspects we would like to share with you. See if you are aware of these cultural bits!

1) Greetings
Have you noticed that usually, women are greeted with a kiss? And to avoid confusions, it is a general motion to let your right cheek get the kiss.

2) La hora latina
“Latino time.” It is believed that Spanish-speakers are always late, but there are cultural factors explain this tardiness. Many Spanish-speaking
countries’ transportation and communication system are not as reliable, making delays unavoidable;so people tend to be forgiving about lateness. However, this is a stereotype, as there are Spanish-speaking people that are often punctual as well.

3) Lunch Time
In the Spanish-speaking world, main meal of the day is at mid-day, “la comida,” (meaning “the meal”). It may begin as late as 2pm, and some shops and offices close as people enjoy their comida at home with family.

4) Regional Accents
Like every major language, Spanish has regional varieties, however, Spanish speakers often say “El español
es el español (“Spanish is Spanish”).

5) Flirting
People from Spanish-speaking cultures compared to others, can be more flirtatious in public. Flirting is seen as flattering or humorous rather than threatening or disgusting.

Unlike English, Spanish sentences are not so dependent on word order. Instead, Spanish uses a system of suffixes and particles to help mark the subject and object. Spanish verbs’ tense suffixes, for example, carry information about the person and number of the subject. This system of verb tense suffixes is called “conjugation,” and though it sounds challenging, don’t give up!  After learning to conjugate, Spanish becomes a smooth sail!

It is important to remember the following points: gender and number.

“Gender” – Spanish nouns fall into two categories, “feminine” and “masculine” .
Generally, feminine nouns end in an”  -a “vowel, and masculine nouns end in an ” -o” vowel.

“Number” – Check if the noun is singular or plural.
Usually, plurals end with an ” -s”.

Furthermore, adjectives and articles in Spanish reflect the gender and number of the items that they modify. This is called “agreement.”  If you remember how to keep your agreements flowing smoothly, you will be speak just like a native! Surprise Spanish speakers by keeping to these rules of Spanish, which the speakers are aware of might be difficult for learners, and your efforts won’t go unappreciated!

Spanish and English are cognate languages; that is, many words in Spanish sound and look similar to their English equivalents. Because of these cognate words, and because of the similarity in alphabets, learners of Spanish can often guess the English equivalents of a Spanish word with a high degree of accuracy, and vice versa.

The Spanish writing system is based on the Roman alphabet,though some features are specific to Spanish, like the letter -ñ (as in Español!) , as well as the digraphs -ch, -ll, and -rr, which we traditionally analyze as single letters.

In addition to these peculiarities, a few Spanish words carry a written accent to distinguish homonyms, as in “él”  (definite article “el” vs. subject pronoun “él”).

Thankfully enough, the Spanish alphabet is very similar to English and you will probably have no trouble with is small differences. Do keep in mind though, that missing these marks can lead to some confusion and even change the meaning of your sentence.
For example, “uña” (fingernail)  and “una” ( the article “a”) are distinguished only by the “ñ”, though context can make it apparent which one you are using.

Either way, it is important to keep your eyes open and identify them, and you will be well on your way to becoming an expert in Español!

Every month, we are giving away great SpanishPod101.com prizes to 4 lucky listeners. Sign up to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or SpanishPod101.com to be eligible to win. Increase your chances of winning by following us on all three sites!

Here are February’s winners:

Facebook: Ashley Gelpi
Youtube: HeartlessAngelD
Twitter: travelojos
SpanishPod101: ysolberg

See your name here? Email us at contactus@spanishpod101.com to claim your prize. Check back next month for March`s winners!

Having been developed from Latin and part of the Romance languages, Spanish was born in Spain, from where Spanish colonials spread the language to the western hemisphere, and to this day, remains the official language of the majority of Central and South America, and the Caribbean. However, you may have noticed that nowadays, people all over the world are studying Spanish in Brazil, the United States, and much of Europe.

The Spanish spoken in most of the world is the “Castellano” type of Spanish (originating from the Castille region of Spain), and is usually the Español we are mostly familiar with.

Today, Español keeps becoming more popular as a language for business, tourism, and travel. That is because Spanish is the native language of about 350 million people worldwide!

However, business aside, Spanish is a great language to learn if you want to experience all the delicious cuisines and fascinating culture that Spanish speaking countries can offer.

And most of all, don’t be shy! Generally speaking, Spanish speakers are very glad to help those who want to learn, and will gladly open the doors to their  friendship if you just give it a try and say a simple “Hola!”

It is not in vain that native Spanish speakers have a well-earned reputation of warmth, friendliness, and great sense of humor.

Don’t miss out on the chance to learn Spanish; great times, great fun,and great friends await you in the Spanish-speaking world!