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Episode 50: Celebrate the Good Times!

Updated: Nov 8, 2023

We made it to 50 episodes!! To celebrate, I'm launching a surprise just for my listeners/readers! Thank you so much to everyone who has made this possible, both to old and new listeners/readers! Just as this podcast has greatly improved from when I first launched it, I hope that in a year or two it will be even better! (So of course, feel free to email me any recommendations you have!)


Read on to find out what the surprise is for Episode 50! :)

 
 

A New Language Resource Library!

Today's blog includes many affiliate links to Amazon. What does that mean? In essence, at no extra charge to you, I receive a small commission if you choose to purchase the product using my link. I only recommend products this way that I have bought and used myself and that I found useful.


As the title says, I'm currently creating a free language resource library! It will have helpful links and suggestions for podcasts, books, music, videos (mainly YouTube channels), blogs, and more for a wide variety of languages! Right now, the Spanish Resource Library is the only one ready for public viewing, so I'm giving all of my podcast listeners and blog readers early viewing access! :D To view it, simply go to the link in the show notes (or click here), and click on the Spanish section.


Eventually, I hope to have libraries built up for English, American Sign Language (ASL), French, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Icelandic, and more! I even want to include some endangered languages, such as Lule Saami.


I love finding new, reliable, fun resources to help me in my language journey! I also want to help others in their adventures, so this is the perfect place to share what I find! (And of course, if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them! Please send me an email with any resources you've found helpful on your language journey!)


To give you an idea of some of the resources I've gathered, here is a brief list of just a few items for Spanish:

  • Doorway to Mexico A delightful podcast, the creator, Paulina, works with the Baxter family in creating authentic Spanish-speaking scenarios that use real, every-day speech. It's like listening to a fun radio program (kind of like how they used to have it, with programs such as "The Lone Ranger"), followed by an educational discussion.

  • No Hay Tos This fun podcast (mostly in Spanish) by Beto and Héctor gives you a window into everyday Mexican Spanish.

  • The Everything Spanish Grammar Book by Julie Gutin [Affiliate Link] This is a great grammar resource for beginner and intermediate Spanish learners. It really breaks down difficult Spanish concepts in a clear, easy-to-understand approach. Back when I was working for a construction company in proposal writing, this was one of my reference materials that I used whenever they needed me to translate something into Spanish.

  • GoGo Lingo CD [Affiliate Link] This CD by GoGo Lingo is a fun way to teach your kids Spanish! Instead of traditional songs, GoGo Lingo has created fun and humorous, even a little hip!, songs that are sung in both English and Spanish. (Also, if you have Spotify, you can listen to the whole CD for free there! That's where I found it.)

  • Cocinando Corea This channel combines it all! Yuna and her family show everyday Mexico - while also highlighting their own Korean heritage - with lots of cooking videos! She teaches you how to make Mexican and Korean dishes, which is just delightful.

  • Diccionario de la Lengua Española This is the official Spanish dictionary, according to the Real Academia Española (RAE). This link will take you to the online version, which is fantastic! Whenever I need to make sure that a word I've looked up in my normal English to Spanish dictionary is correct, I'll use this resource. And if you're a word nerd like me, you can easily spend a few hours looking up different words! :D

As I develop this resource library, I'll be sure to keep you updated on when each new language is available!


Remember, learning a language is a lifelong journey.

¡Aprovéchalo, Disfrútalo y Compártelo!

 

Cultural Tip: Five Fun Sayings

As part of the fun, today's cultural tip includes 5 fun Spanish sayings. The three sayings highlighted in blue, and their English equivalents, I got from the book, "The Street-Wise Spanish Survival Guide". [This is an affiliate link.] The rest I got from FluentU!

  1. Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente. Translation: The shrimp that sleeps, gets carried away by the current. In other words, keep on your toes!

  2. Aquí hay gato encerrado. Translation: Here there is a locked up cat. In other words, there's something funny going on here / there is more to this than meets the eye. I prefer this one to the English equivalent; it just is a more interesting image.

  3. No todo el monte es orégano. Translation: Not everything on the hill is oregano. In other words, it's not all peaches and cream. I'd like to know the history of this one - why is oregano so important?

  4. Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda. Translation: Even if a monkey dresses in silk, she's still a monkey. In other words, you can't put lipstick on a pig. I really like this phrasing, although my favorite on this list is the next one. :)

  5. Quien fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla. Translation: He who left Seville, lost his seat. This fun phrase is used in situations where you leave something unattended and return only to find that someone else has now taken it! (It could be your spot in line, a chair at the movies, something at the store, etc.) The history of this saying is pretty weird, as it comes from a dispute between an uncle and his nephew, both archbishops named Alonso de Fonseca. In 1460, the nephew, Alonso de Fonseca el Mozo, was appointed archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. He asked his uncle, Alonso de Fonseca el Viejo, the archbishop of Seville, to help him gain the episcopal see while he stayed in Seville. El Viejo managed to restore peace, but when he went home to Seville, after doing this for his nephew, el Mozo refused to give him back his position in Seville! It required a papal order, the king's intervention and even some hangings for el Viejo to get back his archiepiscopal chair! Talk about an ingrate! There are other variations of this saying, such as "Quien fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla, y quien fue a Aragón se la encontró" (He who left Seville, lost his seat, and he who left Aragon found it.); "Quien fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla, y quien fue a Jerez, la perdió otra vez" (these two variations kind of rhyme, almost); "Quien fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla; quien fue y volvió, a garrotazos se la quitó" (this is essentially saying, if I understand it correctly, he who left and came back, through clubbings confiscated it/snatched it) ; "Quien fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla; quien fue y volvió, la recobró/encontró" (The same as the rest, but he who left and came back, he recovered/found it.); "Quien fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla, y quien fue a Morón, perdió su sillón"; y "Quien fue a Padrón, perdió su sillón" (these two are fun, and seem to focus more on the rhyming than on the original meaning).

 

SHOW NOTES:


Intro and Closing Music by Master_Service from Fiverr

Cultural Tip Transition Music edited from song by JuliusH from Pixabay


Resource Links

Episode Content

Cultural Tip

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