Spanish language is the 2nd language in the world, after Chinese

Very informative piece of news here, about the current situation of Spanish language worldwide!

Image: 7.6% of the world population is today Spanish-speaking.

Spanish is the second most spoken mother tongue in the world, behind Mandarin Chinese, and the third most used on the Internet, according to the yearbook "Spanish in the world" 2018, presented today by the Cervantes Institute in Madrid.
The number of Spanish speakers increased to 577 million (from 572.6 million last year), of which 480 million have Spanish as their mother tongue. The figure implies that 7.6 percent of the world population speaks the language of Cervantes

In addition, it is the most studied foreign language in the United States. Nearly 22 million people learn Spanish in 107 countries, said the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, and other authorities during the presentation of the study.

Spanish is thus disputed with French and Chinese second place among the languages ​​most studied as a second language, behind English, and is perceived as "the most important language for the future" in the United Kingdom, according to the yearbook.

The 386-page study collects key data on Spanish in various scientific and economic sectors. They stand out for example those of the publishing house, where Spain appears like third exporting country of books of the world behind the United Kingdom and the United States.

With regard to the Internet, it is the third most used language - behind English and Chinese - and the second one in portals such as Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter. Mexico is among the ten countries with the largest number of users on the Internet.

Instituto Cervantes was created in 1991 to promote the teaching, study and use of Spanish throughout the world. It has 87 centers distributed in 44 countries across the five continents, as detailed on its website.

"Spanish in the world" is its main specialized publication and this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary since it began to be published in 1998. Since then it has become a reference on Spanish-speaking demolinguistics for experts from all over the world.


Translation from the source in Spanish right here.

"Bien" and "mal" against "bueno" and "malo"

Hi there!

Many students struggle to understand the difference between these two couples of words:

Which are the main differences?

- Bien and Mal are adverbs. They follow a verb. For example:

"Yo estoy bien", "Ellos están mal".

And note that they do not need gender neither number concordance with subject or object. They only have one way to be written in any case, "bien" and "mal".

- Bueno and Malo are adjectives. They follow a noun. For example:

"Él es alto", "Ella está contenta", "Ellos son altos", "Ellas están contentas".

In this case, they need to have gender and number concordance with the subject / object, as they are adjectives. So you have these four forms: "bueno", "buenos" and "buena", "buenas".

Here is an additional short explanation that may help you. 

And here another one! It also talks about the adjective form "buen" and the adjective "grande", which works similarly.

Hope this helps. Thank you for reading ! :)

Talking over the phone

¡Hola!

Today I want to tell you about the different ways we have to answer and talking over the phone, let's see some situations!

Answering the phone:

¿Sí? (everywhere) / ¿Bueno? (America) = Yes? (Who is there?)
¿Quién es? = Who is there?
¿Hola? (Spain) / ¿Aló? (América) = Hello.

The person who calls may reply saying "Hola" or, if that person knows with who is talking after hearing his/her voice, maybe the name of the person. Ex: ¿Antonio?

Asking for someone:

¿Está (name)? = Is (name) there?
¿Podría hablar con ... (name)? = May I talk with ... (name)?
¿Se puede poner... (name)? = Can (name) take the phone and talk with me?

Leaving a message:

¿Le quiere dejar un recado? / ¿Quiere que le diga algo de su parte?
= Do you want to leave him a message?

Saying bye: There is no special way of saying bye over the phone, just:
"Gracias, adiós" or "Hasta pronto" sounds good enough.

I hope it is useful for you. ¡Hasta pronto!

Some video examples below:

Phone conversation (American Spanish). The pronunciation is a bit exaggerated, a short 2-min video, but the good side is that it could be a typical conversation, and it is easy to understand.

Phone conversation (Spanish from Spain). This conversation is done at a normal pace. It is a 5-min short film. Actually, it might be hard to understand the whole conversation. But still, you can learn about the situations that we checked out in this post.

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! :)

Spanish Sayings 2

SPANISH SAYINGS 2

¡Hola! :) Here I am, to share with you two Spanish sayings that you can use in a daily conversation.

-> ¡Se lo merecía! (because of being a nice person)
It couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke/person!

Ejemplo:
-> Ganó 150000€ en la lotería. ¡Se lo merecía! :)
He won 150000€ on the lottery. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person! 

As in English, it can be used to express just the opposite, i.e., that someone really deserves a bad thing that has happened to him/her.

Ejemplo:
-> Siempre se reía de nosotros y hoy un chico se ha reído de él y lo ha hecho llorar. ¡Se lo merecía! 
He always laugh at us and today a boy laugh at him and he started to cry. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person!

We can translate that sentence into English as 'He/she deserved it!"

-> Ser de buen corazón
-> Ser buena persona
(one's) heart's in the right place

Ejemplo:
-> Pedro siempre ayuda a sus vecinos y escucha a sus amigos cuando tienen problemas. ¡Es buena persona! / ¡Es de buen corazón!
Pedro always help his neighbours and listen to his friends when they have some problems. His heart is in the right place!

I hope you like it ;) If it is, let us know it  by clicking on an advertisement :)))

¡Buenas noches!
(Have a good night!)

Alegría! - Spanish Expressions 2

¡Alegría! 

¡Hola! :) Sorry for the delay to post again, I have been busy this week. But I
guess that I come here with an interesting post for you :)
¡Alegría! What's that? You can translate it as happiness, however it's different from the Spanish word for happiness, that is 'felicidad'.
Alegría could probably translated as a mix of joy and fun hehe.
And here you have some useful expresssions about it :)

(estar) loco de alegría - (to be) blown away

       Ejemplo: Hoy Pedro está loco de alegría porque ha aprobado el exámen.

                      Today Pedro is blown away because he passed the exam.

(estar) encantado de la vida - thrilled to bits

       Ejemplo: ¿Cómo estás, Juan? Tengo un buen trabajo y tiempo libre,
                      ¡estoy encantado de la vida!

                      ¿How are you, Juan? I have a good job and free time,
                      ¡I'm thrilled to bits!

más contento que unas pascuas - happy as a cloud

       Ejemplo: Terminó su carrera y está más contento que unas pascuas.

                      He finished his degree and he's happy as a cloud.

más feliz que una perdiz - happy as a cloud (2)

       Ejemplo: Terminó su carrera y está más feliz que una perdiz.

                      He finished his degree and he's happy as a cloud.


I hope this has been useful for you all, and hope to see you around here soon enough! :)

Expresiones sobre el pajar - Expressions about the haystack

¡Hola! :) Today I will show you two Spanish expressions more, both of them related to the haystacks hehe. Here you have them!

¡Es como buscar una aguja en un pajar!

Example:
A: ¿Has encontrado el papel amarillo?
B: Todavía no, ¡es como buscar una aguja en un pajar!

Translation:
A: Have you found the yellow paper?
B: Not yet, ¡it's (as difficult) as looking for a needle in a haystack!

Explanation: When you're looking for something, and it is mixed with a lot of other similar things, and it's very very difficult to be found because of that, you could use this expression.

 

Separar el grano de la paja

Example:

Ese libro explica muchas cosas inútiles, así que tenemos que separar el grano de la paja y quedarnos con lo útil.

Translation:

That book explains lots of unuseful things, so we have to separate the grain from the hay and keep the useful things.

Explanation: 

When you obtain a new information about something, but a lot of the contents in that information doesn't really talk about the main thing that you are looking for, then you need to "separar el grano de la paja" to have just what you wanted from that information.

 

And that's all for today! Visit the blog frequently to read new posts :)

¡Buenas noches! :)

Have a good night!

A caballo regalado, no le mires el dentado!

¡Hola! :) Today I have a Spanish common expression for you.

"A caballo regalado, no le mires el dentado"

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

So when someone gives you a present, it's better to accept it without checking its quality or complaining about it. Just take it and say thanks to that friend, because it's free! :)

¡Hasta pronto! :)

The languages of Spain: there's not only Spanish! :)

¡Hola! :) Today I want to let you know something about Spain that a lot of people from other countries don't know, as I have seen.

Most of the people think that in Spain there is one language: the Spanish language. It looks evident and of course it is. But that is not the only language we have. Actually there are 4 languages in Spain! :)

You need to know that Spanish is the main language, the language which all Spanish people know and speak as a native language. But appart from it, there are big zones in Spain, groups of cities, that also have another official language, spoken by a lot of people of that places.

For instance, myself hehe. I'm Spanish but I come from Menorca, a little island where people also speak Menorcan, a dialect of the Catalan language which is spoken in the Balearic Islands, in Cataluña, and even in some little cities in France and Italy.

Here you have an example of each other first language that Spanish people could have depending on their birth places :)

English: 

Hello! How are you? I'm fine thanks, and you?

Spanish: 

¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Estoy bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?

Catalan: 

Hola! Com estàs? Estic bé, gràcies. I tu?

Galician: 

Ola! Como está? Estou ben, grazas. Vostede?

Basque: 

 Kaixo! Nola zaude? Fina naiz, mila esker. Egin duzu?

I guess you are now newly surprised about Spanish culture if you didn't know this, and I hope that you like it! :D

¡Hasta pronto!
Fins aviat!
Vexo vostedes en breve!
Laster arte!
See you soon! 

It's something! - Spanish Sayings 1

I would like to post some Spanish sayings that Spanish people often use, so you can study the ones that are more used and leave that others less used.
In this post I will show you some sayings that tell what you have is not totally bad, at least.

¡Algo es algo! - It's something.

Explanation: You could have obtained nothing from an action, but at least you obtained something, so you have to feel good for that.

Example:
- No podemos ir al cine pero por lo menos podemos ver una película en casa.
- Tienes razón, ¡algo es algo!

Translation:
- We can't go to the cinema but at least we can watch a movie at home.
- You're right, it's something!

Es mejor que nada - It's better than nothing

Explanation: It refers to the fact that if you have obtained nothing from an action, it would have been clearly worse, and because of it you have to feel good for the current result.

Example:
- Somos tres personas y ahora sólo tenemos una galleta para comer.
- Bueno, es mejor que nada...

Translation:
- We are three people and now we only have one cookie for eating.
- Well, it's better than nothing...

Más vale pájaro en mano, que ciento volando - One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. (Literraly =  One bird in the hand is worth a hundred of them flying)

Explanation: It refers to the fact that is better to have something for sure than aim to have more being in risk of loosing everything.

Example:
- ¡Qué mal! Si hubiera jugado un rato más, habría ganado más dinero...
- No pienses así, más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.

Translation:
- That's so bad! If I have played for some more time, I would have won more money...
- Don't think so, it's better

Es mejor estar sólo que mal acompañado -  Better alone than poorly accompanied. 

Explanation: It's better to stay alone than going with bad people (friends, boy/girlfriend or other people in general).

Example:
- La novia de Juan dejó a Juan por otro hombre después de seis meses de relación.
- Fuf, pobre Juan... sabes que, es mejor estar sólo que mal acompañado.

Translation:
- Juan's girlfriend left Juan for another man after just six months of relationship.
- Uf, poor Juan... you know, better alone than poorly accompanied.

Más vale poco y bueno que mucho y malo. (Literally = A few and good is worth lots and bad [friends])

Explanation: It means that is always better to have a few trustful and loyal friends than a lot of friends that are not reliable and could hurt you, so they are not really good friends.

Example:
- Roberto tiene muchos amigos y yo sólo tengo dos amigos...
- Pero tus amigos son amigos íntimos, y Roberto en realidad no tiene ningún amigo íntimo. No olvides que más vale poco y bueno que mucho y malo.

Translation:
- Robert has a lot of friends and I only have two friends...
- But your friends are very close friends, and actually Robert doesn't have any close friend. Don't forget that 'a few and good is worth lots and bad'.


And that's all for today! I hope you like it. Don't forget to read the note below ;)
¡Hasta pronto! :)

Español, the fastest language!

¡Hola! :) I just have found a very interesting video! It says that Spanish is the fastest spoken language that exists at present. I'm not sure at all if it's true or not, but I admit that Spanish can be spoken in a way that each word is very near the words beside them, so it could seem fast hehe.
Anyway, it doesn't have too long words and the pronunciation is easier than the most of the language, I think. Moreover, the writting is very intuitive because it follows almost exactly the way Spanish is spoken.

¡Disfrutad del vídeo! :)
Enjoy the video!