El Afilador

Un afilador

"El afilador" is an old Spanish trade. A man goes around the neighbourhoods calling "afiladoooor" demanding knives, scissors and all kind of tools that need to be sharpened.

"El afilador" es un antiguo oficio español. Un hombre va por los barrios diciendo "afiladoooor", pidiendo cuchillos, tijeras y todo tipo de herramientas que necesitan ser afiladas.

"El afilador" by Goya

He also played a harp performing his unmistakable melody blowing it back and forth.
También tocaba un harpa haciendo sonar su inequívoca melodía soplándola de un lado a otro.

Flauta de afilador

You can still hear them in the streets of Chile, Argentina, Spain...
Todavía puedes escucharles en las calles de Chile, Argentina, España...

El Afilador

La reina del Sur - The queen of the South

La reina del Sur - The queen of the South

Spanish verbs conjugated as "gustar"

caer mal to get a bad  impression from someone cansar to be tired of convenir to suit/be good for doler to hurt encantar to love something fascinar to be fascinated by faltar to lack

hacer gracia to be amused by interesar to be interested by molestar to be bothered by  parecer to seem to oneself preocupar to be worried about quedar to remain/be left repugnar to be disgusted by

Spanish verbs conjugated as "gustar"

PIROPO

A "piropo" is "a flirtatious or poetic compliment to a woman". In Hispanic countries these expressions of admiration, when well constructed are not only traditional but even an art form. The more clever the piropo the more it is appreciated by its intended recipient.


Here is a great video by Harmony Korine for the Havana Club new advertising campaign.

PIROPO

Pasar la noche en Blanco

In the old times men had to spend the previous night awake before being apponited as Knights. They had to dress with a white tunic.That's why in Spanish we use "Pasar la noche en blanco" (Spend the night in white) to express that we couldn't sleep during the nightime. Other similar expressions are: "Pasar la noche en vela" which means: to spend the night in vigil. 

Pasar la noche en Blanco

USE THE DIMINUTIVES

To indicate something is small: casita (little house, cottage), perrito (puppy or little dog), rosita (little rose, rose blossom)

To indicate something is charming or endearing: mi abuelita (my dear grandmother),un cochecito (a cute little car), papito (daddy), amiguete (pal)

To provide a nuance of meaning, especially with adjectives and adverbs: ahorita (right now), cerquita (right next to), lueguito (quite soon), gordito (chubby)

To give a friendly tone to a sentence: Un momentito, por favor. (Just a moment, please.)Quisiera un refresquito. (I'd like just a soft drink.) ¡Despacito! (Easy does it!)

To talk to very young children: pajarito (birdy), camisita (shirty), tontito (silly), vaquita(cowie)

To indicate something is unimportant: dolorcito (tiny ache), mentirita (fib), reyezuelo(petty king), me falta un centavito (I'm just a penny short)

To form a new word (not necessarily a diminutive of the original): mantequilla(butter), panecillo (bread roll), bolsillo (pocket), cajetilla (packet), ventanilla (ticket office),carbonilla (cinder), caballitos (merry-go-round),cabecilla (ringleader), vaquilla (heifer), de mentirijillas (as a joke)

Note: The diminutive -ito ending should not be confused with the -ito ending of some past participles such as frito (fried) and maldito(cursed).

USE THE DIMINUTIVES

Stories of color in the city of light

Historias de color en la ciudad de la luz

New York is a city of light.

As clouds recede the big open skies light the streets and it's windows.

Skyscrapers, as reunited lighthouses, wait for the night to shine.

Stories of color in the city of light

Why learn Spanish? ¿Por qué aprender español?

"Aquí se habla español" by Twinkletinker

"Every child in the United States should learn Spanish... Chinese makes a terrific addition to Spanish, but not a substitute."
Nicholas D. Kristof

With well over 35 million Spanish speakers in the United States, and with over 40% of the population growth being among the Hispanic people, the stage is set for an enormous increase in Spanish usage in the United States. This has sparked a lot of interest among US citizens. This interest will only increase as the Hispanic population of the US approaches 50 million by the year 2015. But it's not only in the US where Spanish is popular. In Europe, Spanish is the second most popular second language, after English.


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Why learn Spanish? ¿Por qué aprender español?

MUSEO DE SI

Chance made me visit the Staten Island Museum (SI Museum). The big logo sounded funny to me and very positive since SI means YES in Spanish. It's an old style Museum; you don't see that anymore: botanical and biology specimens together with history of the Island and an exhibition about the first prehistoric islanders. I was there alone except for the people who work there, two nice ladies with impeccable manners and willing to ask any question. They also exhibit and sell artwork from local artists which can be pretty unusual.

When my wife asked me: "Te gustó el Museo" I replied: "SI, me gustó"

(Did you like the Museum? - Yes, I did)

MUSEO DE SI

That's what's up

Communication nowadays seem to be about inmediacy, about telling the world what's happening in your life. The kids don't talk to each other, they rather tweet. They used to ask: "what's up?" now they don ask, they tell the world what is actually up with them. Facebook, Tweeter and Stumble Upon are the new platforms and we have to be there if we want to learn how communication changes, but also work here if we want to keep analysis alive.

More on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/technology/internet/21blog.html?emc=eta1

That's what's up

SPANISH TRAVEL VOCABULARY

Luis Cardozo gives useful Spanish vocabulary for travelling.

SPANISH TRAVEL VOCABULARY

Bikes of New York

Artwork by Sarah Sze

Abandoned bikes can be art -como en la obra de Sarah Sze- but most of the time they are a headache for the city sanitation service. David Pogue presents a new gadget: an electric bike which folds to get the size of a hand luggage: The Yike Bike. It's small, it's fast, it's clean, pero probablemente no te ayudará a adelgazar (it probably won't help you loose weight :-) More expensive than an old bike and perhaps less safe, but looks really cool.

Bikes of New York

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Want to try out for yourself? Click here to try out a free demo. Click here to enroll! We guarantee you will have a very enjoyable experience learning Spanish with Senor Card

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