El día del amor y la amistad This Valentine’s Day (el dia de San Valentín or el Dia del Amor y la Amistad, the Day of Love and Friendship) and to follow Roma’s post about Valentine’s Day for Language Lovers, I’d like to talk about how to talk about love in Span
Things to do when you’re in love with language I like Valentine’s Day. I know it has a dubious history and is probably the most commercialized holiday after Christmas. But setting heart-shaped chocolates and saccharine advertising aside, I think it’s quite lovely to
The Language of Los Abuelos Francisco Gabilondo Soler, better known as Cri-Cri El Grillito Cantor (Cri-Cri the Little Singing Cricket), was probably the most popular singer-songwriter of Spanish-language children’s music of the 20th century. I remember reading about Cynthia̵
A Great Supplement for Language Learners My partner, Gabe, is here with me in Peru. He had never studied Spanish before coming here and enrolled in classes when we first arrived. But the classes were too expensive for us to maintain long-term so Gabe has had to find other ways to impr
Why China? and the struggle for answers Only three months until I leave for China, which means it’s time for a countdown post. I was planning on sharing my preparation checklist, but then I decided that’s boring (I need to get a visa and some travel insurance and go to the travel clin
Some Tips for Spanish Learners Ready to Take Risks It’s a new year and the time when many of us set new goals. Perhaps your goal is to learn a new language or to take the language you’re learning to the next level. If that’s the case, I encourage you to take some ris
Learning a new language and rethinking the old Among the many pleasures of learning a new language is rethinking the meaning of words in your own language. As I wander back into the world of Turkish, I am reminded of this. I am especially interested in the reciprocal verbs, which we d
The Story Three years ago I made a music video about a city that I had the pleasure of living and working in–Tetouan, Morocco. In the music video, based on Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind, I hoped to celebrate the city and capture some experiences. Friends contributed their e
Keep Language Learning Relevant and Interesting Last week I posted the Spanish for Social Justice Quiz (the answers are below). I used this activity with students who were passionate about social justice activism, and they really enjoyed it. It has been shown that student motivation a
A Fun Activity for Progressive Spanish Students While living in Vancouver, I ran a monthly Spanish for Social Justice Conversation Group – a space for students to practice conversational Spanish while discussing social justice issues and solidarity with Spanish-speakers. One of
