Category Archives: Spanish

September 11…

Posted on September 11, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

…besides the obvious 5th anniversary that is all over the news, today is also a nationalistic day of celebration in Cataluña (like Quebec’s fête de la Saint-Jean on June 24), called La Diada Nacional de Catalunya. It “celebrates” (“commemorates” is … Continue reading →

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Let’s go baloncesto!

Posted on September 3, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

A big enhorabuena to Spain for winning the basketball world championship today! (English link here) For those who didn’t even know the basketball world championship was on, here’s all you need to know: the NBA-heavy U.S. team came in (cough) … Continue reading →

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Referendum time again

Posted on June 18, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

You’d be forgiven for thinking I’m talking about Quebec, where we have occasional referendums on sovereignty and (so far) have rejected it — often by a very close margin. But … no! I’m talking about Cataluña, where a referendum was … Continue reading →

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Catalan translator

Posted on May 31, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

As far as I know, this is the first online translator that supports all the native languages spoken in Spain (Castellano, Catalan, Galician and Basque). And don’t forget that (should you feel the need) you can always conjugate your Catalan … Continue reading →

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Roses are red, books are for you…

Posted on April 23, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

Today is el Día del Libro in Spain (Day of the Book). More importantly, in Cataluña it’s el Día de Sant Jordi (Sant Jordi — St. George — is the patron saint of Cataluña). Of course, Jordi/Jorge/George/Georges/Georgei/etc. was famous for … Continue reading →

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Palabritas favoritas

Posted on April 17, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

¿Tienes palabra favorita? Deberías saber que la mía es melocotón (aunque no puedo comerlos por alergias…¡snif!). Puedes votar a tu favorita aquí (¡quedan 3 días!)… También es muy agradable leer aquellas listas…puedes (y puedo, y tengo que) aprender mucho. Of … Continue reading →

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Palabritas del día — hebilla

Posted on February 24, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

A few silly ropa (or lack thereof) words for today, and a progress report on my Spanish vocabulary studies… la hebilla — buckle (e.g. a belt buckle). But (I think) you can also use it colloquially to say something like … Continue reading →

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Palabritas del día — amarilla

Posted on February 21, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

It’s been too long since I’ve done one of these palabritas posts. But I’m still chugging my way through my Interactivo del vocabulario, still averaging around 10 words per day (I’m well over 1000 words by now; will post another … Continue reading →

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Cartas españolas

Posted on February 11, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

A week ago, I had the opportunity to play cartas with a group of friends in Barcelona. We played a game they called hijoputa (literally, “son of a whore”). First of all, the baraja or deck is different. In our … Continue reading →

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The ‘experienced’ Barcelona tourist

Posted on February 7, 2006 by El jardinero zurdo

Since I’ve been here many times, I’m not doing all the “regular” touristy things people do in Barcelona, though I still love to pop on my running shoes and jog circles around the dazed tourists in Parc Güell. Here are … Continue reading →

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