Posts under "Geography"

The Top 10 in Transparent Spanish blog

Posted by Magda No Comments
Jan 3 2012

As 2011 is already gone,  I think it would be a good idea to review what posts in our Transparent Spanish blog have been the most popular ones. Christmas topics, learning tips, cultural information and legends, and even different ways to chat people up! Here are our Top 10:

Las Posadas Songs

Posadas is a wonderful Mexican holiday that brings neighbors and friends together for nine festive nights of singing and eating. Beginning December 16th and continuing through Christmas Eve, Posadas reenact the experience of Joseph and Mary as they wandered from house to house, looking for shelter

Spanish Lesson Beginner 20 To need, to want, to prefer

Today we will look at three new, very useful, verbs: to need (“necesitar”), to want (“querer”) and to prefer (“preferir”). I will explain how you should form each of the verbs and how you can use them to make sentences.

At the airport: the check-in

Traveling is great, isn’t it? You get to meet people, be in places other than your regular city and learn a lot while traveling. So in this post I’m going to give you some useful expressions for when you’re at the check-in counter at the airport.

Problems using la, le, lo (laísmo, leísmo, loísmo)

When you are learning a language, you have to deal with correct grammar and vocabulary, but you also have to bear in mind its common usage. One main problem not only for Spanish learners but also for native speakers is the linguistic phenomenon known as “leísmo”, closely related to “loísmo, and laísmo”: they are variations from standard Spanish involving the third person object pronouns.

In order to avoid them, we have to bear in mind the form and function of these pronouns in Spanish…

Apenas

Apenas is an adverb frequently used in the Spanish language, and one that has a multiplicity of meanings and applications. It’s one of those words that require you to use the context to determine which meaning the speaker intends. My Spanish students would often complain about this phenomenon, until I reminded them how context-driven oral English is: just think of how confusing “two”, “too”, and “to” is! So, it is not my intention to confuse or frustrate you, but here are the four main meanings of the fickle yet utterly useful word apenas.

Columbus Day in the Spanish Speaking World

Given the importance of October 12th in Spanish history, perhaps it is surprising that Columbus Day was first celebrated in 1866 by the Italians of New York City, in honor of Columbus’ Italian heritage. It wasn’t until 1913 that the day was made an official celebration in Spain (and soon after in Latin America), as a way to commemorate the union of Spain with the peoples of the Americas, the forging of a new pan-Hispanic identity, and the spreading of the Spanish language. Generally, October 12th is considered a positive celebration of the mixing of peoples and cultures.

Learning tip: Attitude!

Well, I was thinking the other day and I came to the conclusion that one of the most important things when you set out to do something new is to have attitude. I mean, not a nasty attitude towards anything but a very positive and proactive attitude.

That takes a truckload of determination, patience, hard work and consistency. And let me tell you something: it feels awesome when things (language patterns) start falling into place and you see, in your head, how the language is built.

“La Llorona”, a Mexican legend

There are stories you hear when you are a child, and they scare you do death. In Spain we were always threatened with “El hombre del saco” (The man with a bag) or “El sacamantecas” to make you eat, vegetables in my case, or behave appropriately.

That must be the reason why I found this Mexican legend so interesting. “La Llorona” is the Spanish name for “The Weeping Woman”. Although this legend is originally from Mexico, there are several different versions in Spanish-speaking cultures in Central and South America. The basic story tells us about the ghostly apparition of a mysterious woman dressed in white, wandering at night and crying for her lost children: “Ayyy, mis hijos!” (Oh, my children!).

Pick-up lines in Spanish

This post goes for the ones who haven’t found their soul mate or only want to have some fun. ¿Me prestas una moneda? Tengo que llamar a mi madre y decirle que encontré el amor de mi vida. – Can I borrow a coin? I have to call my mom and tell her I’ve met the love of my life.
¿Tienes un novio? ¿No? ¿Quieres uno? – Do you have a boyfriend? No? Want one?
Sabes, chicas como tú dan a chicos como yo una razón para vivir. – You know, girls like you give guys like me a reason to live.

“Ser y estar”, jugando con frases hechas

I’m sure you have studied the differences between “ser” and “estar” tons of times, but as I see there are some friends asking about them these days both in our blog and the Transparent Spanish page, I think it’s a good idea to review them, now in a particular way: we are going to see how we use these verbs in some “frases hechas” (idioms).

- Estar de mala leche. To be in a bad mood

- Ser harina de otro costal. To be a horse of a different color

-No ser nada del otro jueves. To be no big deal

Happy New Year!

 

My one-day trip to Argentina

Posted by Adir No Comments
Jun 27 2011

Hey, there! How’s it going?

During Carnival here in Brazil I went on a sea cruise down to Argentina and Uruguay. We only had one day to spend in Montevideo and Buenos Aires, so we got off the ship at 9 am, hopped in a cab and drove along these cities. Montevideo is a beautiful and clean city but it was Buenos Aires that grabbed my attention completely.

Its architecture, squares, monuments, they’re all amazing. So we were there on a Thursday, a working day for Argentineans, and we had a three-hour drive around Buenos Aires. Taxi fares there are very, very cheap and we paid around 12 dollars each (4 people) for this sightseeing drive.

We had a little itinerary already planned out and we had the luck of having a driver who, even though he was young, was very knowledgeable about architecture and the city itself. So we asked him to take us first to see the Casa Rosada, the Presidential House. Cristina Kirchner, the President, was opening some public buildings so there were a lot of police there and traffic was extremely heavy.

One thing that struck me as highly interesting is that Argentineans protest for almost anything. In our three-hour drive around Buenos Aires we spotted at least five demonstrations. In one of them I saw this rainbow-colored flag so I asked the driver, ¿Es la comunidad gay que está protestando? and he gave me the dirtiest look ever and said, No señor, son los indígenas que a los que les quitaron sus tierras, that is, homeless indigenous people.

We also went to Caminito, which is a short street in the Boca district, where you can find colorful houses which date back to the 60s, when artist Benito Quinquela Martín decided to remodel the abandoned street, after the railroad was closed.

We saw a lot of historic and government buildings downtown and near Caminito our driver told me, Che, hay algo que quiero mostrarte (Hey, there’s something I want to show you). He drove us to this closed factory, which had a very unusual façade: a mythological orgy of people as beasts. So here’s one sight in Buenos Aires your travel agency won’t take you to. It is amazingly built and I’m glad the driver took us there. You can see the picture on the post.

So after driving for three hours we went to eat at the Puerto Madero area, near the Buenos Aires ports. They have a lot of good restaurants there and we ate at at Siga la Vaca (Follow the Cow). It is a self-service restaurant with a great menu of salads, rice, and you can go to the barbecue and order your meat. So here’s what happened, I’d had my salad, rice, beans, etc., and I went to the barbecue to get some meat. I ordered chicken breast and I thought the guy would serve me a small piece. Little did I know they serve you half a chicken breast, so when in Rome…

After eating we headed down to Calle Florida, a shopping street, to buy souvenirs. My friend Lavinia and I bought tons of alfajores Havana, magazines and some clothes at a good price. If you’re looking to buy leather jackets, that’s the place to go. One thing I noticed in Buenos Aires is that almost everybody speaks portuñol (portugués + español) and most establishments accept reais (Brazil’s currency) as payment method.

We had the hardest time getting a cab at rush hour, 5 pm, but we managed to arrive at the boat in time. I’m thinking of going back to Argentina really soon and spending some days there to walk around town and see the “hidden” Buenos Aires.

Volviendo a Chichén Itzá: sus edificios.

Posted by Magda 2 Comments
Jun 21 2011

Se acerca el solsticio de verano, y me preguntaba como sería pasarlo en un lugar especial, mágico. ¿Se os ocurre alguno? Dejadme que os hable de uno de ellos…

En la península del Yucatán, en México, quedan las reliquias de una de las ciudades mayas más poderosas: Chichén Itzá. Los mayas, una civilización que apareció hace más de 3.000 años en lo que hoy es Honduras, México, Guatemala, y Belice, y que alrededor del año 900 D.C. desapareció de forma repentina. Tan solo permanecieron en México hasta la conquista española en el siglo XVI.

Los mayas crearon un lenguaje escrito muy sofisticado, tenían un sistema de clases sociales, eran expertos matemáticos y astrónomos. Incluso los edificios de esta ciudad ceremonial fueron construidos alineados con eventos astronómicos: cada equinoccio la gente se congrega cerca de “El Castillo” o “Pirámide de Kukulkan”, la conocida pirámide en el centro de Chichén Itzá, para ver a la serpiente, una aparición creada por sombras que desciende por las escaleras. Se pensaba que era una manifestación de su dios Kukulkan (literalmente “serpiente emplumada”). Las combinaciones de luces y sombras reflejadas en la pirámide eran incluso usadas como un inmenso calendario para la siembra, la cosecha y las celebraciones.

“El caracol”, el edificio con la parte alta redondeada que vemos en la imagen, es una de las construcciones mejor preservadas: era el lugar donde, bajo los efectos de algunas sustancias, los astrónomos pasaban días y noches observando los cielos. También llamado “El observatorio”, estaba alineado con las posiciones de Venus, uno de los planetas más importantes para la cultura maya, así como con el amanecer del solsticio de verano y la puesta de sol del solsticio de invierno. Venus era considerado el planeta gemelo del sol, y un dios de la guerra, así que era el lugar perfecto al que mirar cuando planeaban una batalla. ¡Fueron grandes guerreros!

Llegó el momento de hacer una pausa, pero si no os importa, volveré a este tema en algún otro post. ¡Me fascina el mundo maya!

 

We are very close to the summer solstice, and I was just wondering what it would be like to live in a special, magical place. Can you think of any? Let me talk about one of them…

In the region of Yucatan, in Mexico, there lie the relics of one of the most powerful Mayan cities: Chichen Itzá. Mayans, a civilization which appeared over 3000 years ago in what today is Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, and suddenly disappeared around AD 900. They only remained in Mexico until the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.

The Mayans created a very sophisticated written language, they had a social class system, were expert mathematicians and astronomiers. Even the buildings in this ceremonial center were built to align with astronomical events: every equinox people gathered next to “El Castillo” (the castle) or “The piramid of Kukulkan”, the well-known piramid at the center of Chichen Itzá, to see “the snake”, an apparition made of shadows which descends down the stairs. It was thought to be a manifestation of their god Kukulkan (literally “the feathered serpent”). The patterns of light and shadow reflected in the piramid where even used by Mayans as a big calendar to sow, harvest, and hold ceremonies.

“El caracol” (the snail), the ruined rounded-top building we can see in the image, is one of the best preserved buildings: there, under the effects of some substances, astronomers spent days and nights looking at the sky. Also known as “The Observatory”, it was aligned with the motions of Venus, one of the most important planets for Mayan culture, as well as with both the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset. Venus was considered the sun’s twin, and a war god, so it was the perfect place to look at when planning a battle. They were great warriors!

Now it’s time to take a break, but if you don’t mind, I’ll return to this topic in some other post. I’m fascinated by the Mayan world!

Entrelobos

Posted by Magda 10 Comments
May 26 2011

“Pocas cosas he aprendido de los hombres…”

(Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja)

Todos estaremos de acuerdo en que una de las principales funciones del cine es entretener. Pero si además de conseguir hacernos pasar un rato agradable nos hace reflexionar, es algo muy de agradecer hoy día.

Nunca fui muy amante del cine español, supongo que porque lo consideraba demasiado limitado, pero poco a poco me voy reconciliando con él. Cada vez hay más directores, nuevas visiones y perspectivas en nuestra producción nacional. Hoy quiero hablaros de la última obra del director Gerardo Olivares, que vi hace pocos días con gran placer, “Entrelobos”.  La protagonizan un niño,  Manuel Camacho, y un joven, Juan José Ballesta, y los acompañan actores de la talla de Sancho Gracia.

Basada en la vida real de Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja, pastor nacido en Córdoba en 1946, la película nos narra cómo de niño fue vendido a un pastor del lugar para cuidar su rebaño. Marcos tenía siete años cuando lo dejaron en la sierra junto a Atanasio, anciano cabrero, y tras la muerte de este pasó doce años de su vida sin volver a tener contacto con otro humano. Siempre hemos considerado al lobo un animal peligroso, fiero, y sin embargo para Marcos fueron su única familia durante aquellos años, y a quienes extraña todavía. Incluso hoy día confiesa no estar adaptado a la sociedad. Ver a este niño convivir con lobos, águilas, búhos reales y un inteligente hurón nos obliga a pensar si quizá al dar la espalda a la naturaleza no estaremos equivocándonos demasiado.

Quizá la película podía explotar más el lado dramático de la historia, como algunos críticos dicen. Yo no lo creo. Mayor presencia humana no habría mejorado la trama. Marcos se integró en la naturaleza, fue como él mismo afirmaba “el rey del valle”, así que en la película sobran las palabras. Y no hacen falta, ya que tú como espectador percibes multitud de sensaciones. La belleza de Sierra Morena, su flora y fauna son un personaje más. Si te gusta la naturaleza, si amas los animales, no dejes de ver esta cinta.  ¡Y por supuesto, no dejes de compartir con nosotros tu impresión sobre ella!

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“Few things I have learned from men… “

We can all agree that one of the main functions of cinema is to entertain. However, if it also makes us think in addition to providing us with a good time, that is something to be grateful for these days.

I have never been a Spanish cinema lover, I suppose because I considered it too limited, but little by little I am being reconciled with it. There are more and more directors, new visions and perspectives in our national production. Today I want to talk about director Gerardo Olivares’ last work, which I watched a few days ago with great pleasure, “Entrelobos”. The main characters are a child, Manuel Camacho, and a young man, Juan Jose Ballesta, accompanied by actors of great stature such as Sancho Gracia.

Based on the life of Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja, a shepherd born in Cordova in 1946, the movie tell the story of how he was sold as a child to a local shepherd to graze his herd. Marcos was seven years old when they left in the mountain with Atanasio, an elderly goatherd, and after the old man’s death he spent twelve years of his life without having any contact with another human being. We have always considered the wolf a dangerous, fierce animal, but for Marcos wolves were his only family during those years, and whom he still misses badly. Even nowadays he confesses not to be adapted to society. To see this child coexist with wolves, eagles, royal owls, and a cunning ferret makes us think that maybe we are too wrong on having turned our back to nature.

Maybe the movie could exploit more the dramatic side of the story, as some critics say. I do not think so. More human presence would not have improved the plot. Marcos integrated with nature, he called himself “the king of the valley”, so in the movie there is no need for words. And they are not needed because you the spectator perceive a multitude of sensations. The beauty of Sierra Morena, its flora and fauna are also characters. If you like nature, if you love animals, make sure you watch this film. And obviously, make sure you share your comments with us!

El oso pardo ibérico

Posted by Magda 1 Comment
Apr 8 2011

¿Qué dibujos animados veíais de pequeños? Mis favoritos tenían como protagonistas a dos osos en un parque llamado Jellystone. ¿Sabéis de quiénes os hablo? ¡Del oso Yogui y su inseparable amigo BuBu! Quizá por eso siempre me pareció nuestro oso pardo un animal entrañable.

El oso pardo es el animal más grande de la fauna ibérica. Es la variedad de oso más pequeña del mundo, pero aun así pueden alcanzar los 180 kg de peso. Se caracteriza por un tupido pelaje, una altura de aproximadamente un metro, y unos dos metros de largura desde su gran cabeza hasta su pequeña cola.

Aunque siglos atrás poblaba todo el continente europeo, hoy día es una especie en gran peligro de extinción debido obviamente a la acción humana. La destrucción de su hábitat natural, la humanización de su territorio, la muerte por “disparos accidentales”, (ya que está prohibida su caza), los incendios, hacen que su situación sea de suma gravedad. En España quedan tres poblaciones de osos pardos, repartidos entre la cordillera cantábrica y los Pirineos, con un reducido número de ejemplares: apenas llegan a un centenar.

A pesar de la ferocidad que se les atribuye por su fuerza y tamaño, no son grandes depredadores. En realidad son criaturas más herbívoras que carnívoras, y es su dieta a base de frutos y tallos la que marca sus costumbres. Incluso el periodo de hibernación coincide con la época de escasez de alimentos. Normalmente duermen sobre pequeños habitáculos que escarban, y recubren con hojas y hierba, o en los huecos de los árboles, excepto en invierno, que buscan el abrigo de las cuevas. No suelen acercarse a núcleos urbanos, y solo hacen frente si se sienten amenazados, aunque rara vez culminan su ataque. Animal plantígrado, (apoya todo el pie al caminar, igual que el ser humano), es este uno de los pocos animales que puede mantenerse sobre sus dos patas, lo que usan tanto para conseguir su almuerzo como para asustar a posibles rivales. La que sí es bien merecida fama es la de golosos, ya que no pueden resistirse a un buen panal de miel, o un prado en el que encuentren sabrosas bayas.

Solitario por naturaleza, el oso establece una pasajera relación durante la época de celo y reproducción. Durante estos meses, puede verse a la pareja jugar, pelear o incluso hacer la siesta juntos. Cuando ya hay bebé oso en camino, el macho busca nueva compañera. El periodo de gestación dura entre 8 y 10 semanas, y el cachorro nacerá durante el periodo de hibernación de la madre. Las camadas son entre 1 y 3, lo que unido a la escasez de hembras hace que sea complicado que el número de osos aumente. El osezno permanecerá junto a la madre hasta su segundo año de vida, momento en que empezará su vida en solitario.

Y esto es todo por hoy. Seguiremos hablando en siguientes posts sobre más especies que, por desgracia, están en grave peligro. Quizá dándolos un poquito más a conocer podamos ayudar a su conservación.

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What cartoons did you watch when you were little? My favorite ones had as main characters two bears living in Jellystone Park. Do you know who I’m talking about? Yogui bear and its inseparable friend Bubu! That must be the reason why I always saw our brown bear as a very endearing animal.

The brown bear is the biggest animal of the Iberian fauna. It is the world’s smallest variety of bear, but it can still weigh up to 180 kg. It is characterized by a thick fur coat, it can be approximately one meter tall , and two meters long from its great head to its short tail.

Although several centuries ago it inhabited the whole European continent, today it is an endangered species, as an obvious result of  human action. The destruction of its natural habitat, the humanization of its territory, the death toll from “accidental shots”, (its hunting is prohibited), wood fires, etc., put them in a situation of great danger. In Spain there remain three populations of brown bears, distributed between the Cantabrian Range and the Pyrinees, with a limited number of specimens: there are scarcely one hundred left.

In spite of the ferocity we asume them to have because of their strength and size, they are not big predators. Actually, they are more herbivorous creatures than carnivorous, and it is their diet based on fruits and stems that defines their habits. Even the period of hibernation coincides with the time of food shortage. They normally sleep in a small dweling they scratch themselves, and cover with leaves and grass, or inside tree hollows, except in winter, when they look for the shelter of caves. They are not in the habit of approaching urban centers, and they only confront humans if they feel threatened, though they rarely carry out their attack. A plantigrade animal, (it leans on whole plant when walking, as human beings do), it is one of the few animals that can support themselves on their hind legs, something they use to feed from trees as well as to scare potential rivals. Their reputation for having a sweet-tooth is well deserved, as they cannot resist a good honeycomb, or a meadow where they can find tasty berries.

Solitary by nature, bears establish temporary relationships during the rut time and reproduction. Through these months, you can see  couples playing, fighting, or even having a siesta together. When there is a baby on the way, the male looks for a new companion. The gestation period lasts between 8 and 10 weeks, and the cub will be born during the mother’s hibernation period. Litters are between 1 and 3 only, and this, together with the lack of female bears, makes it harder for their numbers to increase. The cub will remain with its mother until its second year of life, when it will begin its independent life.

And this is all for today. We will continue talking in the following posts about more species that unfortunately are in serious danger. Maybe by raising awareness we can contribute to their preservation.

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