Christmas in Spain

If you love Spain and Christmas… You’re lucky!
You are going to learn in this post the traditions that we Spaniards live in at this time of the year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
DECEMBER 22TH
The Christmas Lottery Draw
Spaniards buy lottery tickets in the hope of winning the first prize: “El Gordo.”
DECEMBER 24TH
Christmas Eve
Spanish families meet for dinner, eat the typical sweets (Turrón, marzipan, polvorones) and sing Christmas carols.
At 00:00 many people go to church for “La Misa del Gallo”.
DECEMBER 25TH
Christmas
It is not a Spanish tradition Santa Claus visit but he does visit some houses and leave gifts.
DECEMBER 28TH
Fools Day
Day in which the Spanish play pranks to family and friends.
DECEMBER 31ST
New Years Eve
The Spanish say goodbye to the year eating 12 grapes to the rhythm of the 12 bells that sound from La Puerta del Sol in Madrid.
JANUARY 1ST
New Year
JANUARY 5TH
The Wise Men parade
Children and adults receive the visit of The Three Wise Men upon arrival in towns and cities.
JANUARY 6TH
The three Wise Men Day
It is time to open the gifts and eat Roscón de Reyes. If you have been bad you will receive coal.
Do you need to know more? Click here to learn more vocabulary about Christmas
Practice vocabulary with this game 🙂

VOCABULARY IN SPANISH: How to talk about TV in Spanish?

Do you love to watch television series, but still don’t know how to talk about them in Spanish? Practice with this infographic full of vocabulary and expressions and read the dialogue 😊
Let’s see an example:
  • Mi serie favorita es “La casa de papel”.
  • ¿Y dónde la ves? ¿La echan en la tele?
  • ¡No! La veo en Netflix. Es muy buena.
  • ¿De qué va?
  • Va de un grupo de personas que se juntan para atracar la casa de la moneda en Madrid, España. La casa de la moneda es donde se fabrica el dinero.
  • ¡Mola! ¡Qué guay!
  • Estoy super enganchada…el prota (el protagonista) es “El profesor” y es un tío muy inteligente que lo ha planeado todo. También hay más personajes y todos tienen nombres de ciudades.
  • ¡Eeeeeeeeh! ¡Para! ¡No me hagas spoiler que quiero verla!
  • Y tú, ¿estás viendo ahora alguna serie?
  • Estoy engachado a un reality que se llama “La isla de las tentaciones”.
  • ¡Dios mío! Suena a telebasura…
  • Jajaajajaj…Sí… ¡pero a mí me gusta! Un día estaba haciendo zapping y empecé a verlo y me enganché.
  • ¿Dónde lo echan?
  • En Telecinco los domingos y los miércoles. La presentadora me encanta. Ésta es la segunda temporada, pero en la primera la presentadora era una cantante muy famosa que se llama Mónica Naranjo.
  • ¡Sí! En la primera temporada vi uno o dos capítulos, pero no me gustó. Prefiero los concursos o los documentales.
  • Entonces te recomiendo ver La 2 que es uno de los canales de la televisión pública de España y que tiene muchos programas culturales.
¿Cuál es tu serie de televisión favorita? Could you talk about it in Spanish? Leave a comment and practice!
Learn more with this wonderful video 🙂

Thanksgiving

El día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving) 

THE CELEBRATION

Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States on the 4th Thursday in November and in Canada on the 2nd Monday in October. Families and friends gather for dinner and give thankswith abanquet. The traditional dish is the turkey with filling, cranberry sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes with cravy and sweet potato. The most popular desserts are pumpkin pie and pudding(natillas).

The typical decoration is cornucopiathat adorns the center of the table as a symbol of abundance and prosperity.

It’s also a traditionparadeofMacy’sin Manhattan, New York (Broadway) with huge balloons and musical shows Another tradition is watching an NFL (National Football League) football game on television.

The Friday after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday and stores offersalespand discounts on their products.

THE HISTORY – THE ORIGIN

in 1620 some colonizingpilgrimssailed from England to North America on a ship called the Mayflower. The first winter it was harsh from the lack of food and the cold. The natives(indigenous) , theWampanoag, helped the pilgrims by teaching them to cultivatecornand to fish and thus the pilgrims were able to survive..

After theharvestIn 1621 the pilgrims, very grateful, made a party to celebrate with the natives that lasted 3 days with a banquet like the one we know today.

VOCABULARIO ESPAÑOL – INGLÉS

Dar las gracias – To thank

Banquete – banquet, feast

Pavo – turkey

Relleno – stuffing

Salsa de arándanos – cranberry sauce

Judías verdes – green beans

Puré de patata – mashed potatoes

Salsa de carne – gravy

Boniato – yam

Pastel de calabaza – pumpkin pie

Pudin (natillas) – pudding

Cornucopia (Cuerno de la abundancia) – cornucopia

Desfile – parade

Rebajas – sales

Peregrino – pilgrim

Colonia – colony

Navegar – To sail

Nativo / Indígena – native american

Maíz – corn

Cosecha – harvest

Here is a video where I explain all this 🙂
Practice this vocabulary with this word search puzzle

Spanish vocabulary: Hygiene, beauty and makeup products | Cosmetics

In this video you are going to learn a very important vocabulary lesson in Spanish: The products we use on a daily basis
Hygiene products such as shampoo or cream, beauty products such as nail polish and makeup products such as mascara or glitter.
In this lesson I explain how to correctly use the basic vocabulary that we use in the bathroom and cosmetics and its correct pronunciation in Spanish.

Muletillas en español | Filler words in Spanish

Muletillas are Fillers words or phrases that we use to “support” ourselves when speaking in Spanish.
The fillers exist in all languages ​​and help to sound more natural and in some cases they help us to buy time to think about what we are going to say or what word we are going to use.
Here you have some very practical material and a very fun exercise for you to practice. Leave me a comment;)
Replace English words with Spanish fillers (there are many options!)

Pretérito pluscuamperfecto

It’s very simple. Pretérito pluscuamperfecto is the past of the past. When we talk about a story happened in the past and make reference to another that happened before … We use Pretérito pluscuamperfecto! As you already know the irregular participles it is very easy! Combine the auxiliary verb HABER in Pretérito imperfecto.

When you started studying Spanish, had you visited any Spanish-speaking country before?

Answer in the comments! (In Spanish!)

Still not sure about when to use each tense? Check this post >> Contraste de pasados.

Do you want Rocío to explain this to youWatch this video! 

Pretérito indefinido

Pretérito indefinido is the tense we use to talk about actions completed in the past. They have no relation to the present and are temporary. They are not usual or lengthen in time. Here you can find how to use it and its regular and irregular conjugation.

When was the first time you studied Spanish? Practice your Spanish answering in the comments 😊

Still not sure about when to use each tense? Check this post >> Contraste de pasados.

Rocío explains this all in this video 😊 

Pretérito perfecto

We use Pretérito perfecto to talk about actions that have happened in the past but related in some way to the present and to talk about experiences we have lived (without a specific time). Its conjugation is very simple: We use the auxiliary verb HABER + the participle but… watch out for the irregular participles!

Have you studied Spanish today? Have you ever lived in a Spanish-speaking country? Leave your comments (In Spanish!) and doubts!

Still not sure about when to use each tense? Check this post >> Contraste de pasados.

Rocío explains this all in this video 😊 

Spanish idioms with colours: AZUL (Blue), NARANJA (Orange) and MORADO (Purple)

This week you are going to learn some Spanish idioms with colours: AZUL (Blue), NARANJA (Orange) and MORADO (Purple)

SER EL PRÍNCIPE AZUL 

We call “príncipe azul” to the perfect man, although he doesn’t exist XD 

 

SER DE/ TENER SANGRE AZUL 

It means being part of the royal family.

Felipe VI, el Rey de España, tiene sangre azul. 

 

SER LA MEDIA NARANJA 

Being someone else’s better half.

 

PONERSE MORADO-A 

It means to eat…A LOT

Do you need Rocío to explain this? Look at this video! 

Do you want to learn more expressions with COLOURS? 

Spanish idioms with colours. VERDE. GREEN 

Spanish idioms with colours. BLANCO.  WHITE

Spanish idioms with colours. NEGRO. BLACK 

Spanish idioms with colours. ROJO. RED

Spanish idioms with colours. AMARILLO, MARRÓN, ROSA. YELLOW, BROWN, PINK 

Spanish idioms with colors: ROJO (Red)

This week you are going to learn expressions in Spanish with the color ROJO (Red). 

PONERSE ROJO-A 

Feel ashamed. 

Siempre que tengo que hablar en público me pongo roja. 

 

ESTAR AL ROJO VIVO 

When a topic is current and everyone talks about it. 

Todo el mundo habla del Coronavirus…Este tema está al rojo vivo. 

 

SER ROJO-A 

In politics being red means being a communist. 

 

ESTAR ROJO-A 

Having a red face from shame or from being burned by the sun. 

Olvidé echarme protector solar y ahora estoy roja. 

 

ESTAR EN NÚMEROS ROJOS 

When you have debts with the bank and your account is below 0. 

Este mes no puedo pagar el alquiler porque estoy en números rojos. 

Do you want Rocío to explain it to you? Look at this video! 

Do you want to learn more expressions with COLOURS? 

Spanish idioms with colours. VERDE. GREEN 

Spanish idioms with colours. BLANCO.  WHITE

Spanish idioms with colours. NEGRO. BLACK 

Spanish idioms with colours. AZUL, NARANJA, MORADO. BLUE, ORANGE, PURPLE 

Spanish idioms with colours. AMARILLO, MARRÓN, ROSA. YELLOW, BROWN, PINK