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! 

Carnaval de Canarias, probably the best Spanish carnival celebrations!

¡Hola! :) Today I want to share talk to you about this very famous celebration that takes place in las Islas Canarias every year. Actually I have never been there, but as I have heard it's a huge celebration, maybe near the well-known Brazilian Carnival celebration.

Moreover, there is a well-known kind of competition in which there are girls that wear really big and decorated costumes and show it to the people. As far as I know, there is a team behind each of that costumes, and it tooks months for them to prepare the costumes. It would be really interesting to go there in Carnival to see it! :)

Here you have some images and a little video, as I like to do.
Enjoy it! :)

 

 

¡Hasta pasado mañana! :)
See you the day after tomorrow!

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!