SpanishPod101 Advanced Audio Blog S2 Curriculum
In this 19 lesson series, you’ll learn about Mexico and different aspects of Mexican culture and society through audio blogs entirely in Spanish. Along the way, you’ll pick up sophisticated expressions and advanced grammar in this Audio Blog series geared towards higher level students..
| L# | Title | Topic | Summary | Cultural Fact | Vocab |
| 1 | Day of the Dead (Mexico) | Day of the Dead | Ways to celebrate: altars w/orange marigolds, colorful flags, and toys, candies, chocolates, and honey for deceased children; bakery buildup to the holiday | History of Day of the Dead | muertito, -a banderita pulque mole tamal atole cigarrito mezcal |
| 2 | Christmas Season in Mexico: 1 (Mexico) | Christmas | Definition, dates (12/8-2/2), Mexican menagerie (mule and ox), variable scope/mobility | Nativity Scene | aguinaldo arrullo barro epifanía nacimiento olla |
| 3 | Christmas Season in Mexico: 2 (Mexico) | Christmas | Length (9 days), program: procession around house with candles and nativity trays, people inside play innkeepers and refuse to let them in until holy message is delivered, snacks, piñata, dance | The 9 days before Christmas (Las Posadas) | aguinaldo colaciones copla letanías peregrinos piquete posada |
| 4 | Christmas Season in Mexico: 3 (Mexico) | Christmas | Piñatas: origin in the Inns, significance (7 corners for 7 cardinal sins, destroying sin, candy/fruit=blessings); pastorelas (shepherd's plays): funny face-offs between good and evil involving Archangel Gabriel | The history of the piñata and pastorelas | piñata picos humorístico huestes Náhuatl |
| 5 | Christmas Season in Mexico: 4 (Mexico) | Christmas | Santa=infant God, comes on Christmas Eve; 3 wise men bring toys+candy on 1/6 (wish balloons in Pachuca) | The Three Wise Men | asimilar humilde mirra petición provenir víspera |
| 6 | A Mining Tradition (Mexico) | Pastes (empanadas) | Mexico's 1st mining strike and soccer match in Real del Monte, pastes and what they're made of, origin of pastes as miners' lunch | The word "paste" | constatar empanada hojaldre picadillo fortuito mole |
| 7 | Sweet 15 (Mexico) | Quinceañeras | Preparation, dress, mass, speech, dances, dinner, more dances, duration | The significance of 15 years | ampón chambelán chico, -a coreográfico color pastel pretensión |
| 8 | The Serenades | The serenade | Purpose (declaring love, often on Mother's Day), where the musical groups hang out (Plaza Garibali in Mexico City) | El sereno | farol norteño recurso sereno trío vía |
| 9 | El Tianguis (Mexico) | Tinaguis | Dispersal, definition, influence on artists, peak on Sunday | Two types of markets | tianguis prehispánico, -a parasol dispersar preestablecido, -a |
| 10 | Gifts between Worlds (Mexico) | Culinary commerce between Mexico and Europe | Foods that crossed from Mexico to Europe; foods that crossed from Spain, Germany, Italy, and the U.S. to Mexico | Chocolate | bolillo chocolate embutido guajolote migajón |
| 11 | Candlemass (Mexico) | Candlemass | Date (2/2), origin (presentation of baby Jesus to temple), customs (taking a Jesus doll to church to have it blessed), foods (tamales and atole) | Niñopa de Xochimilco | Candelaria chinampero fiel mayordomo Xochimilco |
| 12 | The Subway (Mexico) | Mexico CIty's subway | 9 lines, things to see, starts running at 5, men and women separated, crowdedness, shops | The Mexico City subway | de correspondencia excavar templo mayor Tenochtitlan de reojo |
| 13 | Petates (Mexico) | Petates | Definition, many uses, linguistic contributions | Expression about petate | tiempos inmemorables junco mortaja palma Tollan |
| 14 | Taquiza prehispánica (Mexico) | Taquizas | Pre-Spanish origin, diversity of ingredients, enduring appeal | Worldly influences | criollo, -a epazote guajolote jícama jumiles taquiza tompiate |
| 15 | El Carnaval (Mexico) | Mexico's Carnival | Popular customs (floats, flower wars, election of king and queen), unique customs (Chinelos' Hop) | The start of the tradition | carnaval Cuaresma fuegos pirotécnicos terciopelo túnica |
| 16 | Chamanes (Mexico) | Shamans | Ideal climate of Tuxtlas region for growing medicine, corresponding rise of shamans, modern persistence | The shamans of Catemaco | Catemaco chamán curandero limpia mal de ojo malas vibras |
| 17 | Snakes and Sharks (Mexico) | Legends | Old people migrate to caves, grow feathers, fly away, drop into the sea, and become sharks | Quetzalcoatl, the Mesoamerican deity | ¡buenas! enigmático fijarse leyenda mitología |
| 18 | Day of the Masons (Mexico) | Day of the Holy Cross | Bricklayers decorate construction sites w/flowers, candles, colored paper, and crosses made from building materials; feasts | Catholicism and working-class solidarity | albañil barbacoa carnitas poner pozole |
| 19 | Plaza Day (Mexico) | Plaza Day | Variety of goods, measurements, bustling nature | What's a "plaza"? | cucurucho Día de Plaza galvanizado, -a pajarear peltre pendiente |