The Sephardic Spanish, a part of Spain

Sephardic Spanish were Jewish people who lived in Spain for centuries before 1492. They held important position in the Government and other important institutions in the country. Moreover, it is said that most of the counselors of Alfonso X El Sabio (The Wise) were Sephardi.

For them, Spain is Sepharad, a promised land in the Bible (Obad. 1:20). When they arrived to Spain, the country was really in a golden period of its time, being a source of culture and a bridge to new knowledges coming from the Arab world, thanks to the Spanish translator monks.

              

In 1492, Spain was in a period of time when it was still building itself as a country unified under only one kingdom. Before that, more than 2 had been ruling different parts of the territory. At around that time, the Catholic Kings became the Kingdom of Spain, and therefore they needed to reorganize some aspects of the Kingdom. Moreover, they were concerned about Sephardic people, because of their economic and social power, while not being Catholic... Therefore, they let them choose to convert to Catholicism, or leave the country. Although many people (really or just admittedly) converted and remained in Spain, some of them decided to leave the country... However, they left it full of sadness, because of their deep roots with Spanish culture and people.

                      

It needs to be said that these event is not exclusive of Spain. It is the only one that happened in Spain and, actually, it is one of the last ones that happened in Europe. Before this one, England and France, among other countries, had done it in a forceful way to Jewish people for the same or similar reasons.

After hundreds of years, these amazing people kept their Spanish roots and carried Spanish language with them. However, it was separated from Spain before it made huge changes and became the current Spanish.
For that reason, "Judeoespañol", or Sephardic Spanish, is more similar to the Middle Age Spanish than the current one. In the next post, I will talk about this language. I am amazed to listen to it, it is a language treasure and, in my opinion, its people is very creditable.

Some references to learn more (please be aware these are long articles):

- Sephardic Jews
- Sephardic laws and customs
- History of the Jews in Spain


¡Gracias y hasta pronto!

What's the weather like ?

Hi there! Today I would like to show you how we talk about the weather in Spanish.

The question would be: ¿Qué tiempo hace?

Note that we use the noun "tiempo" both for "time" and for "weather" in Spanish.

Then, we may reply one of the following expressions, depending on how the weather is like:

Hace sol - It is sunny (literally "it does Sun")
Está nublado - It is cloudy (literally "it is cloudy")
Llueve - It rains (literally the same)
Nieva - It snows (literally the same)
Hay tormenta - It is stormy (literally "there is storm")

Besides that, you may want to talk about the feeling of warmth:

Hace calor - It is hot (literally "it does hot")
Hace frío - It is cold (literally "it does cold")
Se está bien - It is fresh and nice (literally something like "it is felt as good")
Ni frío ni calor - Nor cold neither hot (= good weather)

Note the difference with the following expressions:

Tengo frío (I am cold)
Tengo calor (I am hot)

The first one is about the weather, the second one is how do you feel.

Hope you like it, have a nice day! :)

What's the time in Spanish

Hi there! In this post we will see how to say what time it is in Spanish.

First of all, we need to remember the numbers from 1 to 60. Do not worry, let's review them now!

Alright! Having that in your mind, we can see the words that we need to say what time it is... Note that the hour (la hora) is a femenine noun, therefore we need to write the number in female.

one o'clock = la una.
a quarter past one = la una y cuarto.
half past one = la una y media.
a quarter to one = la una menos cuarto.
two o'clock straight = las dos en punto.

Note: Do not forget that number higher than 1 are plural (obvious, right? =), then you need to use the plural article with them (las dos, las tres... las diez, las once, las doce...)

And finally, what about the 'digital' way of telling time? just say the hour and replace the bold part above with "y" followed by the specific number of minutes... like --> 1:25 pm = la una y veinticinco.

Now let's see if you can tell me what time it is in the clocks below. ¿Qué hora es? Feel free to let me know in the comments section below :)

   


        


Thank you for reading and hoepe it is useful for you! See you around! :)

Differences in vocabulary between Spanish from Spain and Spanish from Latin America

Hi there! Today I want to show you some differences in vocabulary between the Spanish language that is spoken in Spain and the Spanish language spoken in the Spanish-speaking countries in America.

By the way, please note that when we say 'American Spanish', we are referring to the Spanish dialects of America, which means that there are differences in vocabulary between those dialects as well.

American Spanish	Spanish from Spain	English
gancho	percha	hanger
platicar	charlar	chat
conmutador	centralita	switchboard
encendedor	mechero	lighter
papa	patata	potato
computadora	ordenador	computer
tomar (una cosa)	coger (una cosa) *	take (something)
florería	floristería	florist
fotocopiado	copistería	copy shop
estacionarse	aparcarse	park
mesero	camarero	waiter

* Be careful not to use it in America trying to say 'take a thing', because over there that verb has a completely different meaning (to have sexual relations). Although people would understand what you mean, that is the first meaning of that verb in America. Therefore, please say 'tomar' or 'agarrar' in America for 'take something'.

And if you want to see how confussing could it get (making an admirable effort =), please listen to the following song: Qué difícil es hablar en español! from Inténtelo Carito (thank you, it is a very nice song!)

¡Gracias y hasta pronto! :)

Volverán las oscuras golondrinas - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

¡Hola golondrinas (a type of bird)! :) Today I want to share with you a very well-known and beautiful poem called Volverán las oscuras golondrinas, written by the famous poetist Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer.

He was kind of famous during his life, but he really became an icon in Spanish Romantic poetry after he died. He was from Sevilla (Spain), in the southern part of Spain. He also did some painting, but the poems were the key of his success.

He died from tuberculosis when he was 34 years old. Before dying, he asked his friend Augusto Ferrán to publish his work. He had the feeling that he would be much more famous after dead. And he certainly was right. It was the painter Casado del Alisal who made it possible, after raising a fund and getting enough money to publish it and help his family.

You can find the full poem Volverán las oscuras golondrinas here.
And its translation is here.

Following you can watch a beautiful recitation of the poem:

And here you have a romantic ballad made with its lyrics. Thanks to its author!

Hope you enjoy this unvaluable piece of the Spanish poetry!

¡Hasta pronto!
(See you soon!)

Pu Jie, the succesful Chinese singer who sings in Spanish

Talking about Bésame mucho, it worths reading this... :)

Pu Jie is a Chinese singer. When she went to Cuba, she started to enjoy Latin American music. Since then, she has been passionate about it. She has even recorded an album in China entitled "Gracias a la vida" (Thanks to the life), in which she sings Hispanic music known worldwide, like "Bésame mucho".

Check this video, she sings very well! :)

Pu Jie says that she admires Violeta Parra and Mercedes Sosa, and she dances and sings salsa. She started to learn salsa thanks to the Chinese internship program in Cuba. Apart from "Bésame mucho", she has also performed other hits like "Alma llanera", "Guantanamera" or the tango "El día que me quieras". And you know, although she pronounces quite well, she admitted that she is still not a fluent Spanish-speaker. =))

However, her willing is not to sing only Latin American songs in China. Actually, she wants to be a "cultural connection", a bridge so that both countries get to know each other better. In addition, she wants to introduce Chinese culture to Cuba, as well as Cuban culture in China. That is why she sings popular Chinese songs with her traditional dress, during her performances.

Therefore, this is a curious and interesting piece of news, and if you want you can check the complete explanation in Spanish for more details.

¡Muchas gracias por leer el post! :)
(Thank you very much for reading the post! :)

Bésame mucho, a great sucess of Consuelo Velázquez

Who in the Spanish-speaking world does not know this song? I have heard it even in China, from a big speaker in the street! This song was composed by the singer Consuelo Velázquez in 1940, and since then it has never became out of fashion. In fact, it has became a standard in Romantic music, one of the first songs in which you will think when someone asks you for a love, romantic song in Spanish.

Consuelo was a Mexican composer who became very well-known after this song. And Emilio Tuero was the first singer who recorded it, achieving immediate worldwide success. As a curious fact, it worths saying that it is one of the most recorded Spanish songs in the whole History, if not directly the most recorded one.

Here you have two links to videos of the original songs. Hope you enjoy them! :)

Link: Bésame mucho, cantado por Consuelo Velázquez

Link: Bésame mucho, cantado por Emilio Tuero

¡Que tengáis una muy buena semana! ¡Hasta pronto!

(Have a nice week ahead! See you soon!)

Let's talk about wine!

As you probably know, Spain is a wine producer country. It is an important tradition that has been inherited by descendants of wine producer families. Wine is produced everywhere in the country, and we call it 'Vino'.

We have 'Vino blanco' (White wine), 'Vino tinto' (Red wine) y 'Vino rosado' (Rose Wine). We also produced our own kind of Sparkling wine, called 'Cava'. It is produced in Catalonia and it is delicious! Enjoy Spanish wine!




And if you want to learn something else about wines, check this documentary. ¡Tiene muy buena pinta! (it looks very interesting!) =)

Espero que os guste (hope you like it). ¡Hasta pronto! :)