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,... Show more

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... Show more

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... Show more

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... Show more

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... Show more

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... Show more

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... Show more

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. ... Show more

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... Show more

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... Show more