Learn Spanish Through Hispanic Culture archivos

Un trocito de Real Spanish: "¡Qué vergüenza!" (Transcripción)

This video is one of our "Trocitos de Real Spanish". Un trocito is a little bit of something — usually something to eat, like "un trocito de queso" (a little bit of cheese). This Trocito is a preview of a full lesson,”¡Es una chapuza!»” from our course Español con noticias y documentales 1: Entrevistas y reportajes. It's about Spain's artistic heritage — and what happens when a restoration goes so badly wrong that it becomes a national embarrassment. You may already know of some examples. That even appeared in newsppers in other countries. What an embarrassment, indeed! You'll also pick up one of the most notorious false friends in Spanish: embarazada does not mean embarrassed. Did you know that? Note: This transcript has been lightly updated to reflect our current courses and resources. The video may vary slightly. Hello and welcome to Real Spanish! Take a look at this clip from one of our video lessons — it's about two art restoration cases that went so badly wrong they became a source of national embarrassment. Spain invests a great deal of money, technical expertise, and care in the upkeep and restoration of its artistic heritage: its monuments, buildings, paintings, sculptures, and other works of art. Spanish people are very proud of their monuments and works of art. These words are used in the video: invertir to invest la destreza skill, expertise el esmero care, diligence el mantenimiento upkeep, maintenance el patrimonio (artístico) artistic heritage By the way, do you know the difference between ser orgulloso and estar orgulloso? For example: Ellas están orgullosas de haberse graduado (they are proud to have graduated) Me parece que este hombre es orgulloso por naturaleza (I think this man is proud by nature). We explain the use of ser and estar with various adjectives in the grammar notes.* Anyway — I said Spanish people are very proud of their monuments and works of art… but not always. Every so often, a restoration job comes to light that shocks everyone. — ¡Por favor! ¡Madre mía! — ¡Es una chapuza! Chapuza is a colloquial word used to describe a job that has been done badly. Antonio: Tenemos que llamar al fontanero, se nos ha vuelto a estropear el grifo de la cocina. (We need to call the plumber — the kitchen tap has broken again.) Celia: ¿Otra vez? Bueno, pero esta vez llamamos a un profesional porque la última vez nos hicieron una chapuza. (Again? Right, but this time we're calling a professional — the last timer they did a botch job.) Antonio: Sí, es verdad, es mejor pagar más por un trabajo bien hecho. (You're right, it's worth paying more for a job done properly.) By the way — I imagine you already know that avergonzado/avergonzada means "embarrassed", while embarazada means "pregnant". Embarazada and embarrassed is one of the many false friends in Spanish and English. Chico: ¿No vas a ir a la fiesta de tu amiga esta

30 de May de 2026

Un trocito de Real Spanish: «Cómo Pedro por su casa»

First of all: If you want to push yourself, try reading the Spanish version of this blog post and video first. You can always click on “English” in the menu above to come back here and check the meaning of a word or phrase. Hi everyone! I’m Elizabeth from Real Spanish, a dedicated Spanish student. I’ve been living in Spain for over a decade and I’m still learning new words and expressions. In fact I have a document where I record at least one a day, gathered from a newspaper, a Netflix show or a normal everyday conversation. Today’s Spanish idiom, "Como Pedro por su casa", is one of them. Sometimes a new phrase is so intriguing that I end up making a video, one of our "Trocitos de Real Spanish", about its origin and meaning. Un trocito is a little bit of something, like a little piece of cheese. This trocito is also a preview of our course "Español con noticias y documentales 2: La historia de tres regiones bilingües de España". So what does “Como Pedro por su casa” mean? It’s an idiomatic expression that means acting as if you own the place (making yourself very much at home somewhere, or taking liberties you probably shouldn’t). But the really fun part is where the expression comes from. The origin is medieval and surprisingly dramatic — watch the video to find out the full story! Would you like to see a related Trocito? It's longer, and explains the expression No hay moros en la costa, another popular Spanish saying that comes from the history of the country. Wishing you all the best for your adventures in Spanish, Elizabeth from Real Spanish Transcript translated from Spanish. It has been lightly updated to reflect our current courses and resources. The video may vary slightly. King Pedro I of Aragon is famous for his conquests. In the year 1096 he conquered Huesca in the famous battle of Alcoraz against the Muslims. This battle gave rise to the well-known phrase entróse como Pedro en Huesca, since he won easily and unexpectedly thanks to his qualities as a strategist. Over time, this saying entróse como Pedro en Huesca gave way to a more current one: como Pedro por su casa which means feeling very comfortable in a place that is new or unknown. It is also often used to say that a person takes a lot of liberties in a place or environment. You might also be interested in our complete course Español con noticias y documentales 2: Tres regiones bilingües de España. Sign up today to learn more and try some free sample lessons. If you enjoyed this video, you'll like a related video featuring the expression «No hay moros en la costa» It's another preview of our course Español con noticias y documentales 2: La historia de tres regiones bilingües de España — have a look if you’re curious! * The full video, vocabulary notes, grammar sheet, and interactive practice

11 de May de 2026

¡Ojalá me toque El Gordo! La lotería de Navidad en España

This lottery takes place in the Teatro Real or the Palacio de Congresos in Madrid and crowds of people attend. Children from San Ildefonso school, one of the oldest in Madrid with more than 400 years of history, practise singing out the winning numbers. One child takes out a numbered ball from a rotating drum and the other takes out of another drum ball that announces the prize for that number. The first prize is known as El Gordo (The Big One) and the winner receives 400,000 euros. The ticket with the number is known as el decimo (one tenth), because each number appears on ten different tickets: that is, there are ten tickets with the same number. There are four other prizes as well as El Gordo, worth from 125,000 euros (second prize) to 6,000 euros (fifth prize). Then there is what’s known as La Pedrea, consisting of lots of smaller prizes. Crowds of people queue up at the lottery offices to buy tickets, which cost 20 euros each. The most famous place to buy tickets is Doña Manolita, en Madrid, which started in 1904 and became very popular because so many of the tickets sold there won prizes. Many people buy shares in a ticket; that is, a ticket is shared among friends and family. Sometimes local businesses sell shares to their customers. The cost of shares is much lower and the prizes are shared among all the participants. The television advertisements for the lottery (see below) feature moving stories which encourage solidarity. The message is: “The best prize is sharing.” If you are in Spain around these dates, why not try your luck by buying a ticket or a share? Share the dream! Links to other articles and videos: Wikipedia article (in Spanish or English and several other languages): Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad TV ad for the 2019 lottery: TV ad for the 2025 lottery: Sign up or log in to learn more about all our great materials

5 de December de 2023

Confused about when to kiss or shake hands? In this video, Virginia explains an important aspect of Spanish culture.

Hi! I'm Elizabeth, from Real Spanish, and a Spanish enthusiast just like you. The first time I came to Spain was to give a talk to groups of teachers in the Basque Country. I left Toronto on a cold and miserable late winter day, and arrived in bright spring sunshine in Bilbao. Sandals and shirtsleeves weather! That trip marked the start of my love for Spain. The teachers seemed to appreciate my work, and over the following years I was invited to work with primary and secondary teachers in many parts of the country. With each visit, I discovered more to admire: the relaxed lifestyle, excellent food, beautiful architecture, and stunning scenery. In time, I realised Spain was where I wanted to retire. I did, and I have been learning the language and adapting to the culture ever since. Why am I telling you all this? I’m telling you about my first trip to Bilbao because it was on that occasion that I was introduced to a woman — an important civil servant in the Department of Education of the Basque Country — who ignored my outstretched hand and kissed me on both cheeks. What Spaniards call the “dos besos” — two kisses, one on each cheek. Then I noticed a lot of cheek-kissing going on around me as people (mostly women) met old friends and new acquaintances. It took me a while, and several more embarrassing occasions when I lunged left just as the other person went right. Awkward! When I started this blog and our YouTube channel I decided to include some videos on cultural aspects of living in a Spanish-speaking country — including customs like the “dos besos “greeting that can catch newcomers completely off guard. This is one of those videos. Why don't I appear in the video? The video is in Spanish, narrated by Virginia, because although I speak Spanish, my accent remains stubbornly British (my original nationality) — and I felt it was important for the videos to be narrated by native Spanish speakers, to give you an authentic Spanish-language experience. So here is Virginia to help you with this important aspect of Spanish culture (transcription below). Hi, great to see you! Today I’ll explain the cultural norms in Spain regarding kissing or shaking hands. In an informal situation, when a friend introduces you to someone else, it’s normal for women to kiss each other on both cheeks, beginning with the right. Men usually shake hands, although when friends meet, it’s normal to hug or to pat each other on the back. In a formal setting, such as in a job interview, it’s normal to shake hands. However, don’t be surprised if, when you meet someone in a meeting or a conference, they kiss you on the cheek… as long as one of you is a woman. When you greet your colleagues whom you see every day, a greeting such as ¿qué tal? or ¿cómo va todo?, etc., is fine. So, some

6 de October de 2023

«Ponte las pilas!»: Improve your vocabulary by reading extensively

This blogpost is about the importance of reading to improve your Spanish. You'll get some useful advice on how to choose your reading material. You'll also learn how the Día del Libro, also known as the Day of Sant Jordi in Catalonia, is celebrated in Spain on April 23rd each year. Read extensively to improve your vocabulary and broaden your cultural knowledge According to applied linguists such as Stephen Krashen, the best way to improve your vocabulary is to read a lot, just slightly above your present level. According to Paul Nation, a leading expert on vocabulary development in a second or foreign language, to be able to get meaning from what you read, and to be able to figure out the meaning of most of the words you don’t know, you should already know at least 95% of the words in a text. To check the readability of a text, read a page without looking anything up but underlining or highlighting each new word. Count the number of words in several lines. Average out the number of words per line then multiply it by the number of lines on the page. Then count each underlined or highlighted word once, no matter how many times it appears on the page and whether it appears in only one form or several (e.g., mentira, mentir, mentiroso/a). Then calculate the percentage by dividing the number of known words by the total number of words. If this comes to more than 5%, this material will be hard going. Struggling with text is not motivating, so save it for later and look for something more accessible for now. You can read whatever interests you: novels, biographies, magazines, press articles, children’s books, graphic novels, practical or informational books or articles on cooking or gardening or the climate crisis… But read a lot! The first time you meet a new word, decide if it is essential to your general understanding of what you are reading. If not, skip it! It will surely come up again, and each time it does you will get a clearer idea of its meaning. Alternatively, if you don’t like ambiguity, use a reading app that has a built-in bilingual dictionary. Click on the word, and it will pop up with a translation. Sometimes you will encounter a known word that the writer is using in a more figurative or idiomatic sense. For example, if you know the word leche but you don’t understand how the writer is using it, click on the word and you’ll get not only a definition but also various expressions such as tener mala leche (to be bad-tempered) or estar de mala leche (to be in a bad mood). (Check out our post on the many ways of using leche in Spanish.) If you can find audiobooks, so much the better… you will improve your listening comprehension too! You can also look for a good text-to-speech app if you are reading electronically. Once you know the text well

18 de April de 2023

Solemne y alegre: Holy Week in the Hispanic World

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a religious festival that lasts a whole week. It begins on Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) and continues until Domingo de Resurrección (Easter Sunday). The dates change ever year, according to the lunar calendar and the arrival of spring. During the week the streets are filled with processions of pasos, huge wooden platforms carrying religious figures of Jesus and the Virgin. The pasos are carried through the streets on the shoulders of men called costaleros. The processions are accompanied by musical bands as well as Nazarenes and Pentinents, members of religious cofradías (brotherhoods) who participate in the processions wearing capes, tunics, and pointed hoods in colours that represent their cofradia. The Nazarenes carry cirios (huge candles) while the Penitents carry crosses or wear chains on their ankles. The hoods seem very menacing to some people from other countries because they resemble those worn by the Ku Klux Klan, but they do not have the same significance. The hood in Semana Santa dates from the Inquisition, when people who were being punished for religious reasons were made to wear them as a symbol of penitence. In Andalusia, in southern Spain, this celebration is intense. Many people feel enormous devotion to one of the pasos, and many get up very early or go to bed very late in order to see the procession leave the church. The pasos usually come out in the evening, during the night, or very early in the morning. People may also pay to sit on chairs that the town hall provides in the streets where the processions pass by. Others remain standing and always in silence, to show respect to the figure of Jesus or the Virgin. People really dress up for the occasion, and some women wear a black dress and a mantilla (a traditional head-dress of silk lace held in place with a high comb). Sometimes the procession stops near the balcony of a house and someone sings a saeta, a sacred Flamenco-style song typical of Semana Santa, sung with great emotion. Although it is a religious festival, many people enjoy the week going out to bars and meeting friends, while others use the time to travel. Special foods include torrijas, desserts made with fried bread, milk and honey. In Latin America Semana Santa is also celebrated with great passion, and each country has its own traditions. In many countries “carpets” of flowers, sawdust or sand are created in the streets. Many people participate in the creation of these colourful carpets. In Ayacucho in Peru indigenous traditions are mixed with the Catholic religion. On Palm Sunday there is the Entrada del Chamizo, a procession of mules decorated with traditional embroidery and carrying dry palm branches which will be burnt a week later on Easter Sunday, as a symbol of purification. The celebration, the music, the joy, and the colourful traditional clothes are mixed with moments of

1 de April de 2023