Hablando Claro

Yesterday was Valentine's Day . In Spain , it's something commercial, more than anything else... and it's not very common to celebrate it. I have never done anything special with my husband on Valentine's Day. We celebrate our wedding anniversary or the day we met, but never Valentine's Day.  But the culture, the art, the language... In Spain you can find a thousand romantic st...

Today's podcast episode is a bit different. It's the first time I've talked about grammar on the podcast, an d I've put on my teacher's glasses. It's an experiment. If you like it, I'll do more. Of course, the podcast will always retain its essence, in fact we will have very interesting interviews very soon. But today I wanted to talk to you about some of the most commo...

After a few weeks, the podcast is back! In this first episode of the year, we talk about challenges, perseverance and frustration. In all areas of your life, but especially when it comes to learning a new language. We have talked about this in other episodes, but today I bring you a gift to help you persevere. It is our VOCABULARY CALENDAR 2024 , where you will find new vocabulary every week to le...

Today I bring you the last episode of the 2023 podcast. A podcast that takes a lot of time and effort, but gives me a lot of cheerfulness. Some of you have met me because of the podcast, others have told me how much you like it..... So I will continue next year, even if I win "El Gordo" tomorrow 😂. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's an episode from last season...

December is here and with it the madness. It is one of the most complicated (and beautiful) months for me, because it is very chaotic . If you live in Spain, you've probably noticed, if not, let me explain. At the beginning of the month we have holidays because the 6th of December is Constitution Day and the 8th of December is Inmaculada (The Immaculate Conception is the patron saint of Spain)...

Spain is a strange country in many ways, one of which is the use of surnames. Along with Portugal, it is the only European country where, traditionally, a woman does not lose her surname when she marries. It is changing in many countries now, but the interesting thing is that in Spain women have always kept their surname. This means that my grandmother, my great-grandmother and even my great-grand...

You probably know about the Grammy Awards, but .... Have you heard of the LATIN Grammy Awards? They are the most important Spanish language music awards and this year they will be held in Spain. These awards are always controversial, as there are those who think that Spain should not take part .... It all depends on the meaning we give to the word "Latin" . It's amazing how important...

I can't get used to seeing the shops and everything decorated with pumpkins, ghosts and witches when this date arrives. In Spain we have had Halloween for only a few years. When I was a child and during my university years, we only saw these things in American films. Here we bought chestnuts and sweets of the time, such as "huesos de santo" or "buñuelos". And on November 1s...

Last week someone wrote to me on Linkedin asking why I was wasting my time teaching Spanish and creating content . According to him, language teachers don't have any sense because of artificial intelligence. This person recommended that I quit my job and reinvent myself with something else because in a few months I would realise that everything I am doing is useless. With everything that is ha...

For the Spanish, football is almost a religion. I don't know if we are at the same level as the Argentinians or the Brazilians, but we are close. This summer we were crowned world champions - in the feminine, because I'm talking about the Women's World Cup. Women's football is not followed as closely as men's football, but this was a special occasion. Spain weren't the favo...

Empezamos una nueva temporada del Podcast que espero disfrutes mucho y te ayude a mejorar tu español! Este curso vamos a hablar sobre la actualidad en mi país, España. También sobre personajes conocidos y no tan conocidos que para mi son relevantes en mi país, o en algún país de habla hispana. Por supuesto tendremos alguna entrevista y os enseñaré expresiones, vocabulario....y todo lo que os ayude...

Today in the Podcast I show you 6 colloquial expressions in Spanish that we use a lot. Above all you can listen to it on the street..... I hope you like it! Before to start... I remind you that you can apply to our intensive summer courses in July!! There are a few groups nearing completion, so if you're interested, hurry up! They will be classes for 2 weeks, 1 hour per day, and are Online , y...

Today we have a new episode in our Podcast, and I want to speak about how the Spanish electoral system works. Last week we had elections for local government in all the country, and next 23th July we will choose the next President of the Government (it's like our prime minister). So, click play if you want to know better how the elections works in Spain. I hope you like it! And in July we are...

Just when I've finished editing the episode about the drought in Spain....it starts to rain in Málaga! ☔ I'm VERY happy. It hadn't rained here for many months, and the situation is dramatic, So I hope it continues to rain more days....I think it will give us a break....Although we need 2 months of rain for the reservoirs to return to 50 %, and I think it is very difficult for it to ha...

In the last episode of the Podcast I told you about the relationship that Spanish people have with food, and I explained 5 Spanish expressions related to food or cooking. Have you listened to it? If you didn't have time, you can do it HERE . As I was saying, many expressions in Spanish refer to food ... too many for a single episode of the Podcast, so today I am going to tell you about another...

As you know, food and everything related to it is very important in Spanish culture. In general, people in Spain cook quite well, although this trend is changing a bit because all the family members work and we have less time. But it still matters a lot. This can also be seen in Spanish. There are a lot of expressions about food in Spanish , in fact, I can't show you all of them because there...

Hoy es jueves Santo, y en casi todas las ciudades españolas es un día festivo. Como probablemente ya sabes, en España la Semana Santa es muy importante . En prácticamente todas las ciudades hay procesiones que salen a la calle con imágenes religiosas y bandas de música. Es una tradición muy importante en mi país, pero la sociedad está dividida entre aquellos a los que les gusta muchísimo, y aquell...

When I started with Speak & Learn, I never imagined that I would like it so much . I love teaching Spanish and helping my students. But I also love doing the Podcast, the videos, writing the Newsletter every week, organizing my schedule... I love everything! (Ok, except accounting, payments... but my sister helps me with this 😅) In recent months, some students told me that they wanted to star...

Last Sunday I ran the women's race. It's a 5 kilometers race in some Spanish cities to collecting money for breast cancer. The special feature of this race is that only women and girls can participate. If I'm honest, when I found out I didn't understand it. If we want to earn money for a good cause... Why the ban on men?? The more the better! After listening to the arguments for and against, I sti...

Spain is a bigger country than it seems, with very different regions. Not only geographically (we have sun, beach, desert, mountains...) Each region has its own cultural customs, gastronomy... and some of them even have their own language. In addition, it is one of the countries with the most sites declared World Heritage Sites according to Unesco. I talk about all these things in the today's&nbsp...

Next week is Valentine's Day. In Spain it is not very popular . Although it is very common to see stores with many hearts and cupids. But like so many others, it is an inherited celebration. In my case, my husband and I, we do not celebrate it. We prefer to remember other dates, like our wedding anniversary, or the day we met... but not Valentine's Day. But that does not mean that the Spanish are...

Today on the podcast I present to you my sister Beatriz.  Besides being my sister, she is one of my best friends. She is very intelligent and has a special sensitivity. She is a historian, flautist and music therapist. In today's episode I do a short interview where we talk about what music therapy is and her experience working with autistic children and teenagers with problems. I hope you li...

The other day I read an article that said that making New Year's resolutions is not good for our mental health. If you often listen to our Podcast, you know that I love beginnings and always set goals for myself . I love the feeling when I have a new challenge and try to do it, but without stress. As you can imagine, I am a mom in a large family and I need to change my goals every day. There are a...

You know? I don't like the games of luck . I never play bingo, slot machines or lottery.....Except in Christmas, with the Christmas Lottery. The Christmas Lottery in Spain is a tradition . Even the people like me, who never play anything, we do it on Christmas. Every year on 22th December, thousands of Spaniards participate in the raffle that is popularly called El Gordo. In this episode I tell yo...

I recorded this episode of the Podcast 3 weeks ago....I needed to make it with enough time because the transcription, the edition....it takes me very long. Now, writing the Newsletter I listened to it again, and I realized I need holidays... .up to twice I said we are at the end of 2023..., yes, I was wrong with the year twice. It also turns out that in Andalusia we don't have a long weekend 😂. Y...