Here is a little secret… If you are able to master the proper pronunciation of diphthongs in Spanish, you will automatically sound like a native speaker. Even if a person speaks Spanish super fluently, their pronunciation of diphthongs can give away that they are not native speakers. But let’s start by understanding what a diphthong is. A diphthong, if you […]
Just like children learn their native language by imitating and repeating the words they hear from their parents and siblings, students learning Spanish, or any other language, can greatly improve their pronunciation by imitating, not just words, but how the intonation of entire phrases sound. I have come across some students who sound pretty much like native speakers when you […]
After living half of my life in Latin America and the other half in North America, it is quite easy to spot certain cultural differences that become apparent in the way people behave or speak to one another depending on their culture of origin. Here are five examples so that you are aware of if you are travelling to Latin […]
For a lot of English speaking people who come to North America at an early age from a Hispanic country, or grow up with parents or family who speak Spanish as a native language, it can be quite common to misuse certain words that sound similar in both languages (false cognates), but have different meaning. Here is a list of […]
If you have travelled before to Mexico or another Latin American country or Spain, chances are you had probably found yourself in a situation where, after asking a local person for directions, e.g: “dónde está el restaurante del hotel?”, you are just bombarded by words coming out of his/her mouth in their response to your question and you have no […]
As you become more comfortable and fluent in Spanish, you need to remember that the ultimate goal is to think in the new language. Of course, this requires a lot of practice and exposure, but in the meantime, be aware that oftentimes we translate directly from English; and as you will see, this doesn’t always work. Uno otro – translating […]