Posted by admin
Today we´ll see some idioms in Spanish that have to do with the word “get” in English.
To get back at - pagar en la misma moneda (lit. pay with the same coin)
He played a dirty trick on me, but I am going to get back at him. - Me jugó una mala pasada, pero le voy a pagar en la misma moneda. (jugarle una mala pasada a alguien - play a dirty trick on someone)
What’s gotten into him? - ¿Qué mosca le ha picado? (lit. What fly has bitten him?)
There’s no getting around it - no hay que darle más vueltas
There’s no getting around it, she made a mistake. - No hay que darle más vueltas, cometió un error.
To get along without - pasarse sin, arreglárselas sin
I can’t get along without coffee. - No puedo pasarme sin café, no me las arreglo sin café.
To get a kick out of – disfrutar de algo
I really get a kick of watching Monday night games. - Disfruto mucho viendo los partidos de fútbol los lunes por la noche.
To get away with – irse de rositas
After the fight, his mother didn´t tell him off, so he got away with it. - Después de la pelea su madre no le regañó, así que se fue de rositas.
To get down to business – ir al grano
Let´s stop being lazy and get down to business. - Dejémonos de flojera y vayamos al grano.
To get off to a good start – empezar con bien pie (lit. to start with a good foot)
In the first month we had a 20% profit, so we got off to a good start. - Durante el primer mes tuvimos ganancias del 20%, así que empezamos con bien pie.
Posted by admin
We all know Gloria Estefan and her love for her tierra. Gloria has tried to keep her Cuban flame burning over the years and she´s openly proud of her heritage. Gloria is one of the good examples of an immigrant who came to the US as a baby and set the platform for many Latin singing counterparts. Gloria speaks very good Spanish and in one of her interviews on a Spanish network she said that when she was growing up, her mother and grandmother hicieron hincapié (put their foot down) so that she would learn it properly.
But that´s not the case with many Latin-descendants in Miami, which in the late 50´s with the Cuban revolution sheltered nearly a quarter of a million Cuban exiles back then. Miami is becoming less and less Spanish-speaking nowadays, because new generations of Latinos are not learning proper Spanish to be in the business industry. They suffer from “incomplete acquisition”, which is enough language skills to ask abuela for a galleta but not to conduct business. Some companies hire language services to help them solidify their Latino employees´ gapped language skills. Coral Way Bilingual K-8 Center is the oldest and most extensive Spanish-English education program. Its mission include to bridge the gap in the “middle generation” of immigrant families who never mastered Spanish themselves and now want to make sure their children do.
It´s estimated that almost 20,000 students are enrolled in some sort of bilingual program. Though the “English-only” movement still remains in certain parts of Florida and southern states there´s a growing trend of getting Spanish back on track.
As we talked about Gloria Estefan previously, watch her Mi Tierra video, a duet with Marc Anthony in a concert in the Bahamas. Enjoy!
Posted by admin
The verb dar, to give, is used in many useful expressions.
Dar un paseo means to take a walk.
Ayer fuimos a dar un paseo por el bosque. (Yesterday we took a walk in the woods.)
Dar a means to face.
La habitación de mi mamá en la casa de verano da al mar. (My mother´s bedroom in the beachhouse faces the sea.)
The expression dar a entender means to lead or give one to understand.
Él me dio a entender que no iba a aceptar las condiciones. (He led me to believe he wouldn´t accept those conditions.)
Dar con means to run into someone unexpectedly.
Di con mi maestro de español en la calle. (I ran into my Spanish teacher on the street.)
Dar de is used in expressions such as to give someone something to drink or to eat.
Ella dio de comer al niño. (She fed the baby.)
Dar por means to consider.
Ellos me dieron por muerto. (They considered me dead./They thought I was dead.)
Dar por sentado means to take something for granted.
Doy por sentado que vas a venir a la fiesta. (I take for granted you’ll be coming to the party.)
The verb dar is also used in the expression dar las, which means to strike when referring to time.
Dieron las ocho. (It struck eight.)
Dar la lata o dar la tabarra means to annoy someone.
No me des más la lata con tus payasadas. (Stop annoying me with your antics.)
Posted by admin
A great and pleasant way of improving your listening skills in a foreign language is watching TV. So if you´re studying Spanish and have access to Telemundo or Univision, you´re in for great learning! Besides providing you with real, unedited listening practice, watching these channels will take you on a magic and wonderful journey of Latin culture. Soaps, news, game shows and gossip shows are only some of the programs.
If you don’t have access to either of these channels, don’t despair! You can go to YouTube or other online video resources and find videos by searching for words in Spanish. Here’s an example!
Nowadays there´s a wide array of resources for improving your listening skills and another one of them is radio. There are thousands of Spanish-speaking radios online and a famous Latin bombshell has a program of her own: Thalía (www.thaliaradio.com). Her shows are full of energy, fun and her Spanish is really easy for not very experienced ears. In addition to bringing music news, Conexión Thalía also brings support for the Latin community in the States in topics like law, immigration, finances, personal problems and they even have joke and karaoke competitions. So, log on to Conexión Thalía, find out more information about show times and enjoy! If you have a favorite Latin radio station and want to share with us, feel free! Take care and see you next time!
Posted by admin
Argentineans love to eat “asados” o “parrilladas” (barbecues) and unlike Americans, Argentinean asados are done on a parrilla (grill) and include meats like chorizo, sweetbread (molleja), chitterlings, morcilla (blood sausage) and some regional meat cuts. The barbecue is almost always served with chimichurri, which is a popular sauce used also in many Latin American countries. Brazilians have their own version of the chimichurri sauce called vinagrete and it´s usually made with chopped up tomatoes, onions, parsley, olive oil, vinegar and salt.
Making chimichurri is not difficult at all and here´s the recipe:
Ingredients:
1cup lightly packed and chopped flat-leaf parsley
4x cloves of garlic, minced
1tsp salt
1/2tsp freshly ground peppercorns
1/2tsp chili, pepper, flakes
2tbl fresh oregano, leaves, chopped
2tbl shallot, minced
3/4cup olive oil
sherry vinegar
3tbl lemon, juice
Method: Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until well chopped, but not pureed. And it´s ready to be spooned over grilled meat or chicken.
Here´s some useful vocabulary:
Aceite de oliva – olive oil
Cebolla picada en trocitos chiquititos – really chopped up onion
Cucharadita – a little spoonful
Ajo – garlic
Perejil – parsley
Granos de pimienta – peppercorns
Shallots – chalotas
Enjoy your asado con chimichurri!
