Episode 89: Back-to-School Vocab!

Since this is August, the month where many are going back to school, let's review some back-to-school vocabulary! We'll first talk about the different levels of school, followed by some general school subjects you might have (so you can practice your Spanish as you get ready for the new school year). The story format seems to be working well, so we're going to stick to that again for this episode. And we will also finally begin our Cultural Tip on Honduras. Let's begin!

Once again, I would like to apologize for being late. I had several projects that needed completed and worked on this past week, and since those are paid, they took priority. ;) I have tried to make this episode jam-packed with vocabulary to make up for it!

Are you ready for the new school year? I remember always being excited to go back to school, ready to learn new things and see my friends again. Or perhaps you're more like some of my siblings, dreading the start of another school year. Whatever your situation, August is a month of new beginnings. Hopefully today's episode will equip you with the Spanish you need to talk about them!

I'm trying a different layout for the blog this time. For the first read through, please click on the first drop-down item. This one will have the English translations and explanations. Then, for your second read through, click on the next drop-down item. This will not have those English tips, so you can practice reading through and seeing how much of the Spanish you remember from the first read.

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list of all possible school subjects. Rather, it's a general compilation of the most common ones (or what are the most common in my mind. If I didn't include your favorite classes, please don't take it personally:D).

What do you think, is the story format helpful? Do you have thoughts and opinions on which words to use for "high school" and "middle school"? Please let me know at contact@languageanswers.com.

See you in two weeks!

Country Facts

Name: República de Honduras (Republic of Honduras)

Size: It is 112,090 square kilometers. According to the CIA World Factbook, it is just a little bit bigger than the state of Tennessee. It is divided into 18 departamentos (departments).

Location: It is located in Central America, right above Nicaragua and to the east of Guatemala and El Salvador. A small part of its western side touches the Pacific Ocea, but most of its ocean-facing borders are along the Caribbean sea.

Government Type: Presidential Republic, just like with the Dominican Republic. The executive branch is not accountable to the legislature, and the government is elected directly by the people. But there are a lot of differences between Honduras and the Dominican Republic. The President is both head of state and chief of state and is elected via simple majority popular vote. The President serves for 4 years, and as of 2015 the Honduran Supreme Court struck down the Constitution's term limits for presidents. As of January 2022, President Iris Xiomara Castro de Zelaya has been their first female president. There are three Vice Presidents and a unicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) made up of 128 seats. Members of Congress are elected directly by, according to the CIA World Factbook, "closed party-list proportional representation vote" for 4-year terms.

The Judicial Branch has the Corte Suprema de Justicia, or the Supreme Court of Justice, which has 15 principal judges (with a court president) and 6 alternates. The court president is elected by the other members of the Supreme Court, who are all elected by Congress for 7-year terms.

Capital City: Tegucigalpa (even though the Honduran Constitution claims both Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela are both the capital, but almost all of the governmental institutions are in Tegucigalpa).

Religion: Mainly Christian, with Evangelical/Protestant at 48% and Roman Catholic at 34%.

Official Language: Spanish

Currency: Lempiras (HNL)

Brief History

Many indigenous groups lived in the area prior to Spanish colonization, especially the Maya. When the Spanish took over, gold-mining played a key role and made the Honduran town Gracias the capital of la Audiencia de los Confines, or Spanish Central America in 1544. Honduras later became a province of the Kingdom of Guatemala. The British and Spanish fought for control of the area, with Spain coming out triumphant in Honduras.

Honduras gained its independence from Spain in 1821, only to join the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide in 1822. Then in 1823, when Iturbide abdicated, Honduras formed the United Provinces of Central America with Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, all simultaneously declaring themselves independent of Mexico. It was supposed to be a federal republic, but tensions between liberal and conservative policies caused it to fail (these are not the same terms as used in the US, so be careful not to confuse them. For example, Honduran conservatives tended towards monarchism). Honduras then became an independent nation on November 5, 1838.

While most of the political history after that deals with Conservatives and Liberals alternating being in power, things were a bit unstable. There was a military revolt in 1957, resulting in a congressionally elected president, who in turn was overthrown in 1963 by a colonel. Then Honduras went to war with El Salvador in 1969 with the Soccer War. Yes, there were serious underlying issues between the two countries, but a soccer game really did trigger the war. Basically, there was a lot of government upheaval - all with military rulers - until 1982, when Honduras finally elected a civilian government.

Beginning in 1979, Nicaragua went through a violent revolution, as did El Salvador, and Honduras was an interesting cross-section for Nicaraguan guerrillas fighting against the communist Nicaraguan Government and Salvadoran forces fighting against their leftist guerrillas, as well as the workings of the US. The country next went through Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed around 5,600 people, caused about $2 billion in damages, and ruined Honduran infrastructure (not to mention destroyed its economy). Politically, modern Honduras is still very unstable, with constant power struggles between the National and Liberal Parties, claims of unfair elections, violence, and protests. According to the CIA World Factbook, it is one of the poorest Latin American countries with one of the highest murder rates in the world.

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Cultural Tip