Being bilingual is cool, at least for the preschool set. Dora the Explorer, a Nickelodeon show for preschoolers that includes a bilingual lead character, has become the most popular show ... Read More

The fact that soccer superstar Dave Beckham is learning Spanish now that he has joined a Madrid team will encourage more British youngsters to study the language, the British schools ... Read More

Which language is more useful, Spanish or French? The question is prompting a lively discussion in our forum. Here's one viewpoint, the one I agree with: "Why do people have ... Read More

Comedian Bob Hope, who died Sunday at the age of 100, had his film debut in a 19-minute comedy titled "Going Spanish." In the 1934 film, the Hope character (named ... Read More

What's your learning style? Knowing and adjusting your studying accordingly could pay off for learning Spanish — and other subjects as well. All of us learn in our unique ... Read More

On the one hand, prepositions in Spanish are easy to understand, because they usually function in almost the same way as they do in English. On the other hand, prepositions ... Read More

What should U.S. people of Latin American ancestry be called? Some prefer to be referred to as Hispanics, but others resent the term. Read more... (Source: Austin American-Statesman)

It had to happen sooner or later: Telemundo, a U.S.-based Spanish-language TV network owned by NBC, is jumping on the "reality" bandwagon. A new fall series, La cenicienta (Cinderella), is ... Read More

Two Spanish-language films are opening in limited release in the United States this weekend. The more highly acclaimed of the two, Los lunes al sol, stars Javier Bardem as a ... Read More

Spanish and Catalan are similar enough structurally that students in the Catalan-speaking areas of Spain will be able to fulfill a part of their Spanish-language requirements by studying what the ... Read More

Moreno is one of many adjectives that can be used for "brown," but there are many instances in which it isn't appropriate. Which word you choose can depend on whether ... Read More

What's the hardest part of speech to learn for people studying Spanish? Participants in our forum seem to agree it's the preposition. In the words of one, "Prepositions are a ... Read More

I heard a radio commercial some time ago in which one man yells at another, "¿Cuál es tu problema?" to ask "What is your problem?" Do you know why ... Read More

Add David Beckham to the roster of famous people learning Spanish.  The world's best-known soccer player today met his new teammates from Real Madrid, which offered him some €35 million ... Read More

La cantante cubano-estadounidense Gloria Estefan relanzará su carrera con su primer álbum en inglés en los últimos seis años. Lee más... (Fuente: EFE)

El gobierno francés ha anunciado la eliminación del término «e-mail» en todas las dependencias del gobierno, documentos y publicaciones oficiales. Lee más... (Fuente: Noticias.com)

As one reader noted recently in a letter to this site, knowing whether to use the preterite form of ser (fue) or the imperfect form (era) can be difficult at ... Read More

Un columnista de Costa Rica escribe sobre los "falsos amigos" — palabras que hacen "creer a los hablantes de un idioma que significan lo mismo en el otro, cuando no ... Read More

Its decision to prevent its Spanish-speaking employees from using their native language on the job is costing a Colorado casino (and/or its insurance company) $1.5 million. The casino, Colorado Central ... Read More

The Generalitat, a governing body in the Catalan-speaking area of Spain, insists that goods sold there include labels in Catalan. But one newspaper writer isn't happy: if he wants to ... Read More

One might think that a band going by the name of Salvador (Spanish for "Savior") whose leader has Mexican roots would be one that performs in Spanish. Not so — ... Read More

It wasn't all that long ago that someone wanting to buy a Spanish-language book in the United States would usually be limited to one of the classics, such as Cervantes' ... Read More

Should native Spanish speakers be required to speak English on the job? María Elena Salinas, a news anchor for the Univision TV network, offers her perspective in a recent column. ... Read More

Celia Cruz, cantante cubana de salsa, murió el miércoles a causa del cáncer cerebral. Estaba en su residencia de Nueva Jersey con su esposo Pedro Knight cuando murió. Tenía cerca ... Read More

Km.0, a sex farce about relationships among 14 people on one the hottest days of the summer in Madrid, is opening across theaters in the United States. Km.0, released as ... Read More

Add Howard Dean to the list of U.S. presidential candidates who have spoken to their potential constituents in Spanish. According to one press report, Dean spoke "smooth Spanish and fiery ... Read More

Compay Segundo, el músico famoso de Cuba, murió el domingo en su casa de La Habana. Segundo tenía 95 años. Logró la fama mundial durante los años noventa con ... Read More

Some readers in our forum have come up with some ways to remember whether to use ser or estar as the verb for "to be." One of them is a ... Read More

The state of Georgia apparently didn't have anyone proofread the Spanish-language brochures made for visitors to the state Capitol, and it showed. The brochures were filled with so many mistakes that ... Read More

Like many other things in life, the answer depends on whom you talk to. Some people in our forum think those nifty translation gadgets are a great idea, but others ... Read More

How many confusing word pair can you name? Let's see, there are qué and cuál ("which" or "what"), por and para (often meaning "for"), de and desde (usually meaning "from"), ... Read More

Editorialists in Spain are abuzz these days over a recent report that shows that the Spanish language itself generates about 15 percent of the gross national product of the country. ... Read More

Ricky Martin doesn't seem to be doing well these days in English or Spanish. Martin had hoped that his recently released Spanish-language album, Almas del silencio, would garner more sales ... Read More

The headline of the blurb is decidedly bad grammar in English. But in Spanish, double negatives are often acceptable and sometimes required. Learn more about them in this lesson.

El amor es como la salsa mayonesa: cuando se corta, hay que tirarlo y empezar otro nuevo. (Enrique Jardiel Poncela, escritor español, 1901-52) Translation: Love is like mayonnaise: once it spoils, ... Read More

From the forum: "I can understand written Spanish fine and I also totally understand the Spanish sung in songs, but it's another story when I watch the TV or listen ... Read More

Maná, la banda mexicana de rock, ha donado $43,000 dólares a una organización ecologista gallega. El dinero fue recaudado durante la gira de conciertos del grupo en España el pasado ... Read More

Tener, usually translated as "to have," is one of those indispensable verbs in Spanish. It is used not only to indicate possession, but also to indicate moods and various states ... Read More

There are plenty of Spanish-language courses on the market, and I'm frequently asked which is the best one. The quick answer to that question is that it depends on you ... Read More

Comienza hoy la fiesta de San Fermín, una fiesta muy conocida en el mundo entero. Desde hoy al 14 de julio, Pamplona, España, se convierte en capital de la fiesta. ... Read More

Who are the kindest people on the planet? Robert V. Levine, a professor at California State University at Fresno, set out to find out recently, performing experiments across the globe ... Read More

Céline Dion started recording music in French, then successfully crossed over the English-language market with a string of hits. Shakira did the same from her Spanish-language roots. Now Thalia, a ... Read More

Del foro: "¡¡¡Muchísimas abrazos y sonrisas para cada uno de este foro!!! Me alegro estar aquí otra vez. Con tan muchos amigos que tenga yo, voy a tener éxito." ... Read More

Looking for a place to practice your Spanish? Think Eastern Europe. According to a report issued this week by the Instituto Cervantes, Spanish is growing in popularity among students in ... Read More

If you're reading this, you've probably noticed the new format for the home page of this site. What you're seeing is a new approach — at least a new approach ... Read More