Monolingual vs. bilingual education: its implementation and effects
In Spain, a debate has been raging that extends beyond the subject to the language/s being used to propel it. The subject is the language/s of education in Catalonia, the autonomous region of Spain whose official languages include both Catalan and Spanish. The factions are not as distinct as the languages, and the genesis of […]
The meaning of ‘junar’
Argentine Spanish is strewn with words and colorful phrases from Lunfardo, a rich vocabulary born on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. Now considered a fixture of the Spanish language in Argentina (especially in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, linguists cite the use of Lunfardo as a […]
The Language of the future: Chinese, English or Spanish?
Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net For most former, current or potential foreign language learners, one of the most important motivations for doing so involves the language’s future relevance—both as the language is being learned and afterward; in other words, the question of What will learning this language do for me?. Of course, this varies from […]
Difficulties of ‘sounding right’ when learning English or Spanish as a second language
When learners of any non-native language reach a level of intermediate-to-advanced comprehension, new preoccupations emerge. In English, we might describe one of these as “speaking so it sounds right”, but of course the crux of this—“sounds”—is not so simple as the statement suggests. Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net One obvious sort of “sound” is pronunciation, […]
History of the letter eñe
Most people associate the letter eñe with the Spanish language. Yet it is actually present in no less than nine different alphabets spanning the globe, including the modern Latin alphabet, Galician alphabet, Asturian alphabet, Filipino alphabet and Guarani alphabet, among others. Additionally, it is currently used to represent the [ŋ] in the Tartar and Crimean […]
Cocoliche and the origins of a regional dialect
Regional differences in the way Spanish is spoken can usually be attributed to either the influence of native languages that exist in a particular area or the languages brought by immigrants that blend with Spanish to create a unique regional dialect. The Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires, as we have discussed in our series on […]
A Call to “Erase” Racism from Spanish
A new campaign is picking up steam to eradicate instances of racism in the Spanish language. The contentious phrase, “trabajar como un negro” (“to work like a black person”), is unifying musicians, famous athletes, and officials in a call to Spain’s Real Academia Española (RAE) to eliminate the phrase for being discriminatory and outdated. The […]
The Meaning of the Lunfardo Word ‘Gamba’
Argentine Spanish is strewn with words and colorful phrases from Lunfardo, a rich vocabulary born on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. Now considered a fixture of the Spanish language in Argentina (especially in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, linguists cite the use of Lunfardo as a […]
Language Barrier Linked To Worse Diabetes Control
The ability to receive effective health care and follow recommendations is contingent on open communication between doctor and patient. Barriers to communication not only hurt the doctor’s ability to understand what is ailing their patient, but they prevent patients from understanding treatment options and, often, how to implement them. Indeed, health-related problems are some of […]
Spanish Is Second Most Used Language On Twitter
According to Spain’s Cervantes Institute, Spanish has officially become the world’s second most used language on Twitter after English. With the most speakers of any language globally, Chinese is in third place. And while China does have its own version of Twitter, Weibo, it is undeniable that Spanish is currently seeing a growing presence on […]
